Striving to remove barriers that prevent us from building Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive, Accessible Communities!
Gary Wunder describes how People who are Blind are harmed by everyday disrespect: a sighted stranger may gush that independent travel is “inspirational,” or insist on doing what blind people can do perfectly well alone. He argues that Language does matter, but empty word-swaps do not stop discrimination—especially when the underlying belief remains that blind people cannot work, marry, or raise children. The real demand is not polite phrasing; it is the full acceptance that People who are Blind are equal participants in society.
The article also names the long pattern of exclusion—People who are Blind being kept out of schools, professions, and civic life—driven by institutions that treated blindness as unemployability and urged families to “expect little.” Wunder points to White Cane Laws in the states and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as protections, while emphasizing that expectations shifted because blind people themselves pressed their case through advocacy, lawsuits, and collective insistence. He backs this with concrete examples: blind lawyers arguing before the Supreme Court, blind engineers designing software used worldwide, and blind parents raising children who never doubt their parents’ capacity.
Wunder insists that attitudes change when bias is confronted in daily life, not hidden behind “respectful” terms. He acknowledges the dignity of privacy, yet urges People who are Blind to recognize how public encounters can ripple outward: a child watching confident cane travel, a coworker seeing a blind employee solve a problem, or a neighbor observing a blind parent organizing a school fundraiser. He calls for stories, visibility, and accessible media—blogs, podcasts, community talks, and mainstream press—so the public learns the truth from lived experience instead of stereotypes.
Finally, the piece challenges the prejudice that dismisses knowledge because it comes from People who are Blind or from their organizations—treating firsthand expertise as suspect rather than essential. Wunder argues that the deepest change is internalization: not just avoiding discriminatory language, but hiring, promoting, educating, and welcoming People who are Blind with high expectations. For Community Builders, his conclusion is a blueprint: progress grows when individuals act together with purpose and infrastructure, so equal access and full participation are not favors but the community standard.
Read the Full Article: Changing Words, Changing Minds, Changing the World.
By: Gary Wunder
