Blind Americans Equality Day

A message from our colleague Alyson Perry:

In 1964 a joint resolution of Congress authorized President Johnson to proclaim October 15 “White Cane Safety Day,” and since 1964, Presidents, regardless of party affiliation, have made similar proclamations each year until President Obama officially renamed the observation “Blind Americans Equality Day” in 2011. Since then, Presidents of both parties have made proclamations using that name. 

Of course, the detailed grassroots activism of Blind citizens behind the names used for this occasion are missing in these proclamations. President Johnson did not invent the name White Cane Safety Day. And President Obama did not invent the name Blind Americans Equality Day, and neither came up with the idea. Under both names, October 15 has been set aside to celebrate the achievements of Blind Americans and to encourage improved access of Blind people to all parts of our community. 

At this point, I feel it’s important to point out that I really struggled and procrastinated writing this post. As a Blind person, I have had the byproducts of Awareness days and months and events used against me. Empowered by lists and articles about technology, well-meaning sighted people, and on occasion, other blind people, have told me (unasked) what color my cane should be and what technology, invasive surgery, or dog I should/ should not have. They even have told me what I should and should not call myself. And someone once told me what kind of (very expensive) scented candles I should use without knowing whether or not I even use scented candles. And random strangers think it’s my job to answer their questions about Awareness even on a bad day when I’m just trying to cross the street with a headache and no audible walk signals. 

Blind American Equality cannot be a special occasion. It cannot only be annual lists of Blind artists, engineers, and scientists who’ve contributed to our country and our world.  Blind American Equality Day needs to be every day: ordinary access and inclusion of Blind people needs to be part of every community.

And every single one of us, blind and sighted, needs to work for this in our professional lives, in our social lives, and in every community we are a part of. This may seem weird at first for some. But we can get the hang of it just as we’ve adjusted to including and supporting sighted people in all aspects of society. 

Let’s imagine a classroom environment that proclaims and teaches that people, both sighted and blind, belong. This inclusive environment would exist from the first day of school to the last, regardless of the visual acuity of the teachers, staff, students, and family members making up the classroom community. 

Here are some things to consider (but it’s not an exhaustive list): 

First, is the technology you use in your classroom and for communicating with families accessible to Blind students, teachers, and family members? Do you know how to find out to what extent it is accessible or inaccessible? Are you advocating for accessible school websites and other means of communication? (Not just advocating for the minimum access required by law, but for complete access?)

Do you demonstrate inclusion in the way that you present materials? This is something all students, sighted and blind, need to learn and practice. Make describing visual information an ordinary part of teaching and of student presentations even if students and teachers need to work together to make this happen. Tell students why It’s important to include blind listeners and to make information accessible. Invite hard questions even if you have to tell the questioner that you need to research the answer, too. 

If you label objects in your classroom in print, consider using large print and braille labels, too, even if you do not currently have blind students or students with visual processing disabilities. Let all students observe that accessible and inclusive spaces are ordinary, not special. (Think about the implications of your students taking this knowledge into their professional, family, and social lives.) 

Include blind artists, engineers, advocates, scientists, writers, and other notable blind people throughout history in your lessons. There are plenty to choose from. 

If you have a Blind student or a student with a visual processing disability in your classroom, do you use Audio Description on all videos? What do you do if there is no description available for a video to make it equally accessible? If there is no reason that another student in the classroom needs to avoid the addition of Audio Description, do you play the Audio Description for the whole class? If there is an inclusive reason to avoid Audio Description for the entire class, do you at least listen to the Audio Description yourself? (There may be vocabulary words used in the Audio Description that the students needs defined. And the Audio Description may include details you have missed or exclude details that you think are important.) 

Are you modeling inclusion and access as an ordinary part of the environment in your classroom? Do all of your students know that each one of them is an important part of making their communities accessible? 

Because we so often live and work in communities that effectively segregate and fail fully to include blind people and people with visual processing disabilities, this may be a lot of work at first. And after spending so much time setting up an accessible environment, you may end up with a blind student, teacher, staff member, or family member, who needs you to do something different to include them. That’s wonderful! It really is. This is exactly how inclusion works. 

First, we make sure all blind people are effectively welcome in our community and can show up and participate. Blind people aren’t clones of each other. And for a number of reasons, there are often differences in the ways we access information and our physical environment. We have and make different choices about the adaptive aids we use. So you know that you are doing access and inclusion right when people actually show up and change everything. Relationships with blind members of a community are as complicated as relationships with sighted members of a community when everyone is equitably welcomed and included. 

I thank the Blind activists behind the scenes in making Blind Americans Equality Day a celebration of Blind citizens, access, and inclusion. And I thank the sighted people, who know that equitable access and inclusion are essential. Let’s make the equality of Blind Americans not just a special occasion, but an everyday, ordinary event.