Out of sight, out of mind; changing people's perceptions

Don't worry! This is not going to be an English literature lesson on Shakespeare. Rather, I want to address the whole issue of the way we see -- the way we perceive -- people and events or objects through the ocular process as well as what alternatives might present themselves in the event that we are born, or become blind. I, fortunately, have reasonable though not perfect sight. I need corrective lenses in spectacles to be able to read and to write, but otherwise, I enjoy competent vision. I am only able, therefore, to imagine what sightlessness could be like as a permanent factor in my life.

We live in an age obsessed with image and we are bombarded with visual ballistic missiles, whether from TV, magazines, movies, billboards or buses. Politics too has descended from the Olympian hills of persuasive debate to the arid plains of the photo opportunity. Looks are very important it would seem, but often the way we look may be more so. Studies in psychology show that the human infant responds directly to parental eye contact. In fact, even the youngest infants prefer staring at any shapes that resemble the human face. More than that, they prefer adult faces that stare directly at them rather than with eyes averted. Anyone who has bottle-fed or nursed an infant cannot help but notice how the baby's eyes stare directly into their own. Through this eye contact, the infant learns a lot about human communication and interaction. Considering the fact that much of human interaction is non-verbal in nature, eye contact is a major medium through which we communicate our needs and wants.” We can conclude from these quotes that the eyes are very important both for ourselves as well as for others.

We often get a first impression of a person's character via their eyes and the eyes feature a great deal in descriptive language. In his blog, available through MentalHelp.net, Dr. Allan Schwartz writes: “Language is filled with metaphors referring to eye contact. During the Cuban Missile Crisis during the early 1960s it was said that the Soviet Union ‘blinked first.' The meaning was clear in that the Soviet Union submitted to American pressure. Other metaphors are those such as: He or she had a ‘cold stare,' the eyes were ‘steely and hard,' she had a ‘penetrating look'; shame faced, the child ‘stared at his shoes.' Through the ‘fog of war,' it is difficult to see the outcome of battle; ‘He and I came to see eye to eye,' and there are thousands of metaphors referring to the eyes.”

“I can see it in my mind's eye” is another expression that suggests that we can visualize something that we are not physically able to see at the time, or of which we make a mental construct from imagination. Apart from the anatomical connection between the eyes and the brain, there is also the metaphorical one whereby we can “see” something; in other words, understand it. The same goes for our impression of other people and theirs of us. In Shakespeare's Sonnet 113, he begins: “Since I left you mine eye is in my mind,” and ends: “My most true mind thus maketh my mine untrue.” What we see is not always what it appears to be. “Love is blind” is a Shakespearean concept and we so often do not come to the right conclusion on the mere evidence of our eyes. Indeed, it is very interesting to note that the blind are often more “seeing” than the sighted insofar as they are able to rely on other sensory and intuitive perceptions from which to draw conclusions. How else can we explain the case, for example, of former Labour Cabinet Minister David Blunkett, who has been blind since birth? Functioning perfectly well as a minister, recently re-married after an infamous detour via romantic liaisons, Blunkett is a high-profile example of the way that life is not all about what, or whether, we can see.

Talking to blind people can be disconcerting -- even embarrassing -- for the sighted as their eyes are not directly in contact with ours, may be occluded, or even protected behind dark glasses. It forces us to rethink how we communicate. In addition, it requires us to tap into other sensory sources of perception that involve actually listening, recognizing body language as well as allowing a certain level of trust when, for example, a non-sighted person might want to physically feel our face or hands in order to “read” us and establish an internal, mental picture.

Much controversy currently surrounds challenges to Gordon Brown's ability to continue as Labour Party leader, and Britain's prime minister, on the basis that he is blind in one eye following a teenage rugby accident. So what? If Blunkett could first be a local councilor and subsequently the home secretary, what prevents Brown maintaining his positions even if he were to totally lose his eyesight? Nothing apart from fear; and, as has been said, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

At the forefront of assistance to the visually challenged or impaired in Turkey is the Six Dots Foundation for the Blind (ANKV) which can be accessed via the Internet at www.6nokta.org.tr. Recent foundation initiatives include the opening of its sports and social facilities in the year 2000, which enable blind people to participate in sports and to contribute in the education of blind individuals, and the establishment of the Digital Library for the Blind in 2004.

 Here in the UK we have a specialist organization called the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association which is also working worldwide to empower the blind through the assistance of “man's best friend” the dog. The organization is working in Turkey as well and can be reached through www.guidedogs.org.uk. I was always touched in İstanbul when observing passers-by helping the blind and I was likewise impressed by a blind student of mine who was one of the best in his class. But if there are ways to grant greater autonomy as associations for the blind prefer to say, then these channels should be explored and expanded and encouraged.

 The disabled may function in a different way to the able-bodied, but this changes nothing insofar as their humanity, intelligence, emotional and physical needs and dignity are concerned. In fact, many people who I have come across who work with the physically and mentally challenged, both here and in Turkey, have testified to the inspiration and hope that they have derived from those they are caring for.

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” wrote the Apostle Paul. If “seeing is believing,” then not seeing is about faith. The blind may be “out of sight,” so to speak, but they are not out of mind. Let's take the opportunity to change our perception and open our minds to the truth of our human equality and individual worth. After all, there are none so blind as those who will not see.