Who are "the blind"?

They are not "the blind." They are individuals --

housewives, scientists, artists, business people ...
maybe you or me, sometime.

That must be emphasized: our individuality, the

individuality of folks dealing with some kind of sight
loss.

And most blind people are not blind -- most at one point
had all or some of their sight and now they may have
low vision, impaired vision, residual vision, partial
vision . Some see shapes and only shapes -- shadows,
blurs, blobs -- or have "tunnel vision."
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The following images illustrate how a person’s

vision is affected by several vision-related

conditions --

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Myopia

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Hyperopia

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Macular Degeneration

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Glaucoma

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Strabismus

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Astigmatism

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Cataract

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Retinal Detachment

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Folks who have low vision or no vision and who
generally use other senses/capabilities to perceive
the world. And they are people with a wide range of

ABILITIES –

blind skiers,
blind photographers,
blind visual artists,
blind bowlers,
blind restauranteurs,

And blindness need not rob anyone of his or her

sense of humor! Have you heard the one about
Stevie Wonder challenging Tiger Woods to a golf
game? Or the story of the blind airline pilot? Both
told to me by blind friends … 11
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 STEVIE AND TIGER
Stevie Wonder and Tiger Woods are in a bar. Woods turns to
Wonder and says: "How is the singing career going?"

Stevie Wonder replies: "Not too bad! How's the golf?" Woods
replies: "Not too bad, I've had some problems with my swing, but
I think I've got that right now."

Stevie Wonder says: "I always find that when my swing goes
wrong, I need to stop playing for a while and not think about it.
Then, the next time I play, it seems to be all right.”
Tiger Woods says: "You play golf?"

Stevie Wonder says: "Oh, yes, I've been playing for years."

“I get my caddy to stand in the middle of the fairway and call to

me. I listen for the sound of his voice and play the ball towards
him. Then, when I get to where the ball lands, the caddy moves
to the green or farther down the fairway and again I play the ball
towards his voice.”
Woods, incredulous, says to Stevie: "We've got to play a round
sometime. When would you like to play?"

Stevie says, “Pick a night.”

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 The Blind Pilot
I was flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles. By the time we took off, there had been a 45
-minute delay and everybody on board was ticked.
Unexpectedly, we stopped in Sacramento on the way. The flight attendant explained that there
would be another 45 -minute delay, and if we wanted to get off the aircraft, we would reboard in
30 minutes.
Everybody got off the plane except one gentleman who was blind.

I noticed him as I walked by and could tell he had flown before because his Seeing Eye dog lay
quietly underneath the seats in front of him throughout the entire flight. I could also tell he had
flown this very flight before because the pilot approached him and, calling him by name, said,
"Keith,
we're in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?”
Keith replied, "No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs."
Picture this: All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up
and saw the pilot walk off the plane with the Seeing Eye dog! The pilot was even wearing
sunglasses.

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Now let’s allow a very young Russell
Crowe and Hugo Weaving provide a
chuckle or two courtesy of the savvy
blind character in the Australian film
PROOF.

Following this excerpt, share your

thoughts on the MESSAGE BOARD.

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