Critical Issues Confronting the Blindness Field: Can Providers and Consumers Agree?

Recently, I was invited to speak to a gathering of service providers about issues confronting the field of visual impairment and blindness from a consumer's perspective--a perspective that I believe is very different from my own views, even though I am blind myself. Although I am a professional in the field of blindness and visual impairment, I am visually impaired and therefore simultaneously hold the perspective of a professional and that of a consumer. In preparing my remarks, I decided to contrast and compare my observations of the critical issues based on my own point of view as a service provider with my point of view as a blind person. The following views, which are adapted from that speech, are mine, but they also reflect what I have heard from other service providers and blind consumers. I have done no surveys and conducted no research, although I asked the blind professionals working at the American Foundation for the Blind for their points of view. I have based my opinion on my observations and the reactions I have received to the talks I have given over the last 20 years on my views of the critical issues confronting our field. It should be noted that in this discussion of critical issues, I do not make reference to personal issues, such as "service providers never make enough money"; nor will I attempt to represent the views of people who have not yet undergone rehabilitation services, whose critical issues may be very different from the ones identified below. THE SERVICE PROVIDER'S POINT OF VIEW In no particular order, the following are my view of the five most critical issues affecting the field of visual impairment and blindness from the service provider's point of view. Personnel shortages and encroaching outsiders We in the blindness field have always believed that direct services should be provided by specially trained personnel who know about the needs of visually impaired people and how to meet those needs. The field is experiencing a severe personnel shortage among orientation and mobility instructors, vision rehabilitation therapists, educators of students who are visually impaired, and low vision specialists. We are witnessing encroachment by outside professionals, such as occupational therapists and special educators, many of whom do not possess backgrounds in working with people who are blind or visually impaired. Should we fight them or welcome them? Should we offer them training and assistance or ignore them? By my use of the word "encroachment," you might infer that I believe these outsiders are bad for our field. In fact, I believe it might be in our best interests to welcome and offer training to them. All of us, as stakeholders and supporters of the Medicare Low Vision Rehabilitation Demonstration Project, are striving to prove that our disciplines are well-suited for the rehabilitation of individuals with low vision and deserve Medicare funding. We should continue to support our university preparation programs and certification through the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals. Through means such as these, the numbers of professionals serving visually impaired individuals will grow. Consumers who are blind generally do not view personnel shortages as one of the five major issues confronting the field of visual impairment and blindness. Some blind people would say, "As long as a trainer is visually impaired, he or she is qualified." Others would object to the emphasis of the term "professional" in this context and feel that such titles are overrated. Thus, consumers in general, and perhaps naturally, are not as concerned with professional issues as we service providers might be. Demographics Most prognosticators project a dramatic increase in the numbers of visually impaired people, especially among newborns and the older population. If service providers are having trouble serving the current number of people who are visually impaired, how will we be able to serve greater numbers in the future? …