Mobility Discrimination

While at the National Federation of the Blind’s National Convention, I heard more than one tale of mobility discrimination. Since returning I’ve talked to a few of my blind friends (especially those who use guide dogs) and have heard more accounts of similar woe.

The National Federation of the Blind has many good points and I certainly reccomend it over membership in the American Council of the Blind, as I think its been shown time and again that the NFB has a much more proactive philosiphy and actually teaches their members to live as blind people rather than telling them they’ll never be able to fold their clothes or write their own checks.

Yet, one of my major frustrations with the NFB is what I’ve come to call mobility discrimination, or the tendency to push one very specific method of blind mobility on everyone.

The NFB has a general policy of providing long, straight white canes to its members, especially new people and people going to any of the affiliated blind skills training centers. Oftentimes these canes are too long (the NFB wants them to come up to just under your nose) and can actually pose a threat to others. (Case in point: A woman at convention had a cane longer than her body, which I tripped over. There’s a difference between clearing one’s step and transforming oneself into a juggernat of irritation) and are inextricably bound up with blindness philosiphy in many people’s minds.

When I first joined the NFB, I used one of these canes for several months. I think it was ultimately positive, because for someone like me who has been trying to downplay my blindness my whole life, the long white cane does make it impossible to hide and forces you to deal with how the sighted world sees an obviously blind individual. However, for me, the straight cane’s usefulness has passed and I now use a cane that folds into four sections.

I know many other people in the NFB who feel the same. One of my close friends, for example, uses a folding cane with a rolling tip when she leaves her guide dog home. (Hey, guide dogs need breaks too!) According to her, a rather highly placed member of the NFB tore her apart for using that type of cane. The woman whose apartment I am moving into soon is also blind and was forced to endure rudeness because of her choice to use a guide dog. This must stop. The NFB is about freedom in that it fights to give blind people equal opportunity next to our sighted peers. Part of that freedom is the right to choose the mobility aids that work the best for the individual.

I would suggest the following etiquette, because may not always agree with one another’s choices. If you are curious as to why a fellow blind person is using a particular aid, ask politely why they like it. You might learn something. However, this is not an invitation to moralize or try to convince them to learn something else. Many blind people have been blind for many, many years and know what works for them. Do not presume that you know better. To suggest that a person with a folding cane is ashamed of their blindness is not only very frequently inaccurate, but rude and intrusive. Some people, like me, are very comfortable with animals and do not mind relying on them, though personally I would suggest keeping one’s cane skills sharp, simply because, as I mentioned earlier, guide dogs need breaks. Some people may even eschew mobility aids altogether. These decisions must be respected. If you wish to enter into a dialouge with someone about their mobility choice, do so respectfully and in the spirit of learning, not in the spirit of lecture.