I'm waiting for June the 30th to arrive. That's when I will take the final step to complete the process of my being accepted as a volunteer for the CNIB. They are a much needed and valuable organization. Working for them is something I want to do, something with meaning for me. My father was blind in one eye. I have had eye surgery twice and without my glasses, the world becomes a huge blur. I have volunteered there before, long years ago when Hector was still a pup. As a teacher, I have opened my classroom multiple times to speakers and guests from the CNIB. I have learned from them how to give sighted guide. I have learned from them how to learn in a manner that best fits this context.
Now, having said all of that, here's the bone I have to pick. When I attend this "training session", one of the things I will be expected to do is something I have done before, and I will do again. I will have to don a blindfold and be guided about the room, as well having a partner do the same with me, in turn. WHY? WHY? WHY? Can anyone tell me what on earth this is really supposed to accomplish? And please, do not tell me that it will give me, or any other prospective vounteer, an "understanding" of what it is to be blind. It can not. It simply can not. Think about it. When someone sighted ties on that blindfold, they KNOW that all they need to do is be patient for a little while, and then the thing comes off. For someone who is visually challenged, their 'blindfold' will never come off, and they KNOW that, too. Where is the sense in this? Teach me, instead. Teach me specifics, like touching the back of my hand to the back of theirs when I am first offering to guide them. Teach me not to take their arm, but to wait until they take mine. Teach me these things and others, but don't ask me to play this silly game, a game that I can't help but feel is demeaning to the very individuals I am there to help. Get real, people!
Let's think about this, and extend it to other situations for a moment. If I wanted to volunteer help to the War Amps Association, for instance, which body part would they lob off, in order for me to "experience" being an amputee? And, what would they do for their equivalent of 'taking the blindfold off' again? Some surgeon could really make his/her living being on call for their volunteer orientation sessions! What if I volunteered to work with the Cancer Society? Notice they don't ask you to submit to any strange injections with cells they won't identify? They don't ask you to pretend, they just ask you to get going with the job at hand. Get real, people! Your "training methods" date from the dark ages. Bring yourselves up to this century.