7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1
1. Non-profit that brings awareness to blindness.
2. Visually impaired and blind individuals in America do not
receive the same opportunities as their sighted counterparts because of the
lack of advocacy for blind individuals and their abilities throughout the
country.
The who: blind and visually impaired individuals.
The what: the blind do not receive the same opportunities as
sighted individuals.
The why: the lack of advocacy for blind individuals.
3.
·
Testing the who:
o
Including other disabilities.
o
Excluding people with higher acuity who may not
see the need for this service.
·
Testing the what:
o
Was not able to expand the what.
·
Testing the why:
o
Teaching parents of blind children.
o
Teaching/reteaching society because their former
knowledge of blindness is incorrect.
4. After interviewing 5 people to manipulate the “who, what
and why” concepts of my opportunity, the results were interesting. For the “who”
factor, I noticed that all five interviewees believed that all visually impaired
and blind individuals have the same need. They considered friends, family, and
people they have met throughout their lives, and they have only come across people
who do not meet the need because they are not ambitious with their lives. Also,
one interviewee noted that this need is not exclusive to blind people, this
need is also obvious for people with other disabilities as well. Something else
that was brought to my attention was the fact that the better an individual vision
is, the less they see their need for this type of service. So, this need may
not exist for people whose vision is higher than a certain acuity. For the “what”
factor, most blind individuals do not receive the same advocacy or opportunity
as most other people. The interviewees said that there are some outliers, but
those are few and far between. For the “why” factor, the people that were
interviewed think that there are a couple entities to blame for those issues. First,
parents who have blind children who limit them and do not allow them to
experience the world. When parents raise their children this way, it tells the
child from day one that they are incapable and a lot of the time they live the majority
of their lives believing those lies. Also, some of this “why” can be attributed
to the social stigma that blind individuals have. For example, one of the people
I interviewed said that just the other day, someone asked them how they live on
their own. This question reveals a lot about society. It shows that not only
were they not taught about the abilities of blind people, but that at some
point they were taught the opposite of what these capabilities consist of. Overall,
these interviews helped me to see that I can extend the “who” and the “why” the
most. For the “who,” I can include people with other disabilities and I can
exclude individuals with a higher acuity. The “why” taught me that I can target
more than just employers and the general public, but I also need to target the parents
of blind children, schools, and other developmental entities. Also, society as a
whole needs to be taught or retaught what the capabilities of blind people
really are.
Hey Austin, I can see you are pretty passionate about this topic and I find that in itself interesting. I thought this was well written and I too believe that we should be giving the same opportunities to everyone. I think people should be more aware of what blind people are capable of. I was fortunate to have a blind student in my class last semester, which was eye opening. He walked to class every day and read in braille. It was motivating to see how an impairment could not stop him, and when he spoke you could tell he was one of the more intelligent students in the class. Very nice topic and good luck on the rest to come.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the things you wrote in this! In one of my other classes I actually made a marketing strategies that would pair with a blind help organization in order to spread awareness and raise money for technologies in assisting the blind. I definitely agree that people are largely ignorant when it comes to this sector and the majority of us do not know what that experience can be like. I think theres a major opportunity here to shed light on these individuals and do our best to learn and adapt just as they have to. Its incredible the abilities people tend to generate if one sense is deprived from them. Human beings are resilient and very adaptive and we need to learn more about those with visual impairments. Great piece!
ReplyDeleteHey Austin, great opportunity! I think with you experiencing all of this yourself, allows you to create a goal that's achievable and you know needs to be done. You asked good questions and your layout was easy to read. Bringing awareness to the uneducated is always needed in societies that are growing. This was an interesting article to read, and I look forward to more pieces of yours.
ReplyDeleteAustin,
ReplyDeleteThe way you describe this idea makes it seem so simple and yet it has not been pushed for as aggressively as it can be. Opportunities for the impaired can only be best promoted by the impaired themselves. It is difficult for someone who can see to know what it is like to be blind. I think this is a great opportunity for you! This is a niche which you are uniquely equipped to handle, and I am sure that you as well as others with your insight will do well to push for more opportunity in the future.