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220 Part 2 / Into the Light of a More Modern World nence; a few suffered the indignity of stardom as freaks in circus sideshows. But history tells us little about the living experiences, occupations, marriage patterns , child-rearing practices, and recreational activities of the average disabled adult. Only sparse and scattered data exist-institutional records offer little information , the vagaries of the public record even less. Exceptional people themselves left little in writing. Although their silence may be attributable to their disabilities, we must not overlook the possibility that, by and large, they simply melded into the general community. The Blind Graduates Throughout history, blind persons have been viewed somewhat more favorably than have persons who are mentally retarded, deaf, or disabled in other ways (Anagnos, [1882] 1904; H. Best, 1919; French, 1932). Aristotle thought blindness to be more physically debilitating but deafness, more intellectually devastating . Moreover, it was said that blind people elicited more sympathy from others; "the blind have probably have had less of positive suffering from cold, nakedness, and hunger than other dependent classes. Neither the deaf-mute, nor the lunatics, nor the idiots, nor the halt, nor the crippled, excite so much compassion, nor receive such ready aid, as do the blind" (Perkins Inst., 1873, p. 31). John Kitto, deaf himself, concluded that with regard to "the culture of the mind," deaf individuals were more deprived than blind persons (Kitto, 1852, p. 8). Samuel Gridley Howe agreed, observing that deafness "does necessarily lessen the amount of human pleasure and enjoyment more than blindness" (Howe, 1875). Blindness was a handicap, he said, but not one of the most devastating ; it constituted "a mere bodily infirmity or imperfection, which deprives a man of the perception of light, and limits the freedom of his locomotion, but which impairs not his health, which dwarfs not his mind, which affects not his soul, which crushes not his affections, and which puts him off from none of the high and essential sources of human happiness" (Perkins Inst., 1850, p. 34). Further , said Howe, "in all that regards his moral nature and his social affections, he has capacities far higher than the deaf mute" (Perkins Inst., 1850, p. 25). Blind people, said Howe, "are cheerful, hopeful, sociable and confiding, while deaf mutes are inclined to melancholy, to be uncommunicative, unsocial, jealous, suspicious and dissatisfied with their lot in life" (Howe, 1875). Despite its supposed advantages over other disabilities, blindness has been perceived as social liability, as punishment for sin, or as uselessness to self and others. And whether blind persons are protected or harassed, their disability arouses special responses from the sighted (Farrell, 1956b; French, 1932; I. Ross, 1951). Seeing persons tend to be ambivalent toward anyone who is blind-contradictory and paradoxical beliefs abound. Along with overprotectiveness and the expectation that blind people are innately dependent on charity, there exists the naive belief in the blind person's special powers. It has long been believed that blind people have the capacity to compensate for their loss by the development of special acuity in the other senses and of some magical inner vision (see Koestler, 1976). Myths, stereotypes, and prejudices that have traditionally surrounded blind persons have forced them into roles of dependency. As beggars, mendicants, Chapter 6 / More Than Three Rs 221 paupers, they were throughout the ages "thrown upon the charity of their more favored fellows" (Ounscombe, 1836, p. 96). The begging concessions allowed blind persons right through to the late nineteenth century had their beginnings in early Christianity. The tin cup, still common, emphasizes the helplessness of the blind person. Until the early decades of the twentieth century, blind persons were allowed to peddle without licenses; laws respecting vagrants and tramps did not apply to blind people, as begging was still seen as their natural way (H. Best, 1934). The reformers in special education of nineteenth-century North America focused on the need to lift blind adults out of these stereotypical, dependent roles. To break the begging cycle and provide paid employment, for example, Howe opened an adult workshop for blind persons in 1840, and the Perkins Institution began a work department for blind adults a decade later (Perkins Inst., 1864). By 1908 there were sixteen workshops in North America for blind men and women, with 583 blind workers; broom making and chair caning were the major industries (Koestler, 1976). The Deaf Graduates The lack of a common mode of communication and similar ways of expressing thought sharply separated the...

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