Even though I used to find public speaking a nightmare, I consented to be the senior speaker at my Amherst College commencement. I say “consented” because I’d promised Andy, the friend who nominated me, that I would go ahead if elected, as I was.
Disability
Twilight of a Stock Broker
Finally a novel has been given mainstream publication that has a principal blind character and is written by a blind author. Edward Hoagland’s In the Country of the Blind appeared late last year, but became available in audio only recently. Because I
Journalism and Disability
Media coverage of visually impaired people can distress their subjects. One reason might be that visually impaired people disagree among themselves about the best ways to write and talk about their experiences and how they feel they’re perceived by
A Flawed Teacher’s Elegant Legacy
Can a teacher who is deficient at her subject be a lasting positive influence? We’ve all encountered experts who do harm. I had two science teachers who were knowledgeable in their field but who taught so badly, one even sadistically, that I still
Why Must the TSA Target Disabled and Elderly People?
Hip and other joint replacements are made of metal, and so anyone who has an artificial joint triggers metal detector alarms. When the Transportation Security Administration is in charge, the alarm results in an automatic pat-down or full-body scan.
The Ophthalmologist
I’ve come to dislike articles by blind people that expose the insensitivity that sighted people can display. They tend to be one-sided, with the sighted offender looking stupid while the blind character is all innocence. But once in a while such a