‘Dialog in the Dark’ exhibit simulates blindness — Associated Press in the Boston Herald

… “It is not blindness that is the disability. It is fear.”

Fear of the unknown, of what we cannot see, is indeed a scary thing, and I recognize for the first time how right he is. We leave the room and enter a corridor that gradually reintroduces us to the light.

I emerge squinting and probably more than a little relieved, but determined to see the world with new eyes.

‘Unconditional love is a good name for it;’ Parents adjust to children with Down syndrome – Rapid City [SD] Journal

Wichita special ed has fewer kids, costs more — Wichita Eagle

Blogging the world, from a wheelchair’s view — Boston Globe

Op-ed: Teachers need training to handle diversity, disabilities in class — Newsday

Utah parents fear special ed funds were siphoned to sports — Salt Lake Tribune

Kids with disabilities run coffee shop, create a buzz — Arizona Daily Star

From the Boston Globe:

First, classroom teacher Maggie Doben developed a curriculum to help elementary school students understand physical disabilities. Then she made a documentary film about the process, “Labeled Disabled,” that shows how personal interactions with people with disabilities can help kids put aside preconceptions, stigma and fear.

Along the way, kids ask tough questions and get unexpected answers. For instance:

If you could wake up tomorrow and be able to see (hear, walk, etc.), would you want that?

Most often, the answer is a resounding “no.”

Among the visitors to her classroom are people who talk firsthand about paralysis, blindness, deafness, about being little people or having a prosthetic leg. They’re satisfied with their lives, and able to do everything anyone else can do — although perhaps in a different way.

Doben’s goal: To help the kids move past cultural stigmas and respect all people.

(Graphic from labeleddisabledfilm.com)

Michael Gormley, AP capitol editor in Albany, writes in Newsday that New York Governor David Paterson’s speech at the Democratic convention was a “rare and serious foray for Paterson into the topic of disabilities.” Paterson, who is legally blind, spoke about the need for supports for people with disabilities.

Paterson has traditionally avoided all the familiar cliches about inspiration and overcoming adversity, and has also avoided mentioning his disability except in jest. Instead, he has focused on using his considerable intelligence and memory to leave Albany power brokers “in the dust.”

In recent years, however, Paterson has realized that “pretending he wasn’t blind didn’t help those who were.”

Related post here: Disability wasn’t Paterson’s choice for convention speech topic

Editors of the Los Angeles Times analyze the decision by Target Corp. to settle an accessibility lawsuit brought by shoppers with visual impairments who weren’t able the retail giant’s website. It would have been cheaper for the company if it had designed the site properly in the first place, the editors say. An excerpt:

The problem is that, like Target, too many companies didn’t focus on accessibility when they made the leap into e-commerce. If they had, they would have found an underserved audience of disabled shoppers. A website can be a far more inviting place for a blind person than a crowded mall, if the site is designed the right way. And the number of vision-impaired Americans (at least 1.3 million are legally blind) is expected to grow as the population ages and the incidence of diabetes climbs. With more commerce and services moving to the Internet, it’s increasingly important that companies make accessibility a part of everything they do online. If that’s not clear in federal law, it should be.

Earlier post here.

The New York Times reports that Obama campaign image managers told New York Governor David Paterson to talk about disability in his speech to the Democratic National Convention — which wasn’t Paterson’s first choice. An excerpt:

Mr. Paterson had hoped to emphasize the poor state of the economy, a central issue on his agenda, during his turn at the lectern on Tuesday. Instead, the campaign persuaded Mr. Paterson, who is legally blind, to talk about his disability, which he often avoids discussing in detail for fear of being pigeonholed as an advocate for the blind.

In the end, he said Wednesday, the response to his speech was generally favorable.

“When I was walking around last night,” he said, “people who had been at both days of the convention said, ‘You were the only one to touch on that subject.’ ”

Paterson stirred protests from disability advocates in Albany last week when he brokered a $1 billion budget cut package that included $1.5 million in cuts for the state’s Center for Disability Rights, as well as cuts in Medicaid healthcare. Even with the cuts, the state’s deficit will be $5.4 billion.

From Youtube, Newsday, the New York Times and elsewhere:

Framing his remarks within his own personal saga as a person with near-blindness, New York Governor David Paterson told the Democratic National Convention that Barack Obama could bring new economic opportunities to all Americans, including those with disabilities.

In a speech that was described as militant and partisan, Paterson told of graduating from Columbia University and Hofstra University School of Law, and then being turned down for a job because of his disability. He said his recovery from that defeat embodied the promise of America.

The governor hammered hard at the need for government intervention to provide supports for people with disabilities. Only 37 percent of people with disabilities are working, Paterson said, and only 29 percent of blind people; the unemployment rate of deaf people is nearly 90 percent. He said Obama would work with Congress to overturn Supreme Court decisions that wrongly narrowed the Americans with Disabilities Act

From the New York Times report:

… like many supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, [Paterson] was shunted to a marginal time slot — 5:50 p.m. Eastern time — and given just four minutes to fill.

The advance text of Paterson’s speech is here.

From the New York Times:

After Ugandan boxer Bashir Ramathan lost his sight twelve years ago, he found himself with few options in a nation that offers virtually no assistance to people with disabilities.

For years, Ramathan hid himself away and subsisted on donations from the local mosque. Then, two years ago, he decided to return to the ring.

Now the middleweight takes on fighters who will wear a blindfold. He is being hailed as a national inspiration.

Officials in Uganda’s blind community say Mr. Ramathan has become a hero to the estimated 500,000 Ugandans who are blind.

“Here is a man who is showing that blindness is not the end of the world,” said Francis Kinubi, chairman of the Uganda Blind Sports Association.

Ramathan says he wants to start a worldwide blind boxing league.

(Photo from the New York Times)