Helen Keller Ruined it for Us

I'm livid right now.

I cannot believe how stupid and judgmental the online world is right now. What frustrates me most is not the skepticism itself. Skepticism is healthy. The problem is how people choose to use it.

The internet is completely backward. Millions of people will look at a melted, totally fake AI video and instantly believe it – like the "Hollywood Disaster" behind-the-scenes video that got over 500 million views in two days. Yet, those same people will look at a real video of Dr. Alexandra Adams, MBBCh, MA, the UK's first DeafBlind doctor, and confidently call what she's doing impossible.

I've seen enough comments on several videos to know that this isn't simply ignorance. I can deal with a few people not understanding disability and willing to post explanations, but a huge number of people refusing to believe what's right in front of their fucking faces and not even thinking "oh, I should look into how they do it".

All because it doesn't fit their version of disability.

This is pure stupidity and deep ableism. Viewers will use their imagination to justify how an ai slop video "makes sense", but refuse to learn how adaptive technology lets a disabled person save lives. They prefer to be fooled by a machine than accept a real human achievement that challenges their narrow mindset.

It proves that online audiences would rather believe a lie than respect a disabled person's hard work.

Deafblindness is a Spectrum

As soon as people see "DeafBlind," they automatically assume totally deaf and totally blind. This is actually a really rare combination, in the United States, the estimated number of totally deaf and totally blind adults is roughly 450 to 500 individuals out of the 40,000 to 50,000 individuals who call themselves DeafBlind. (This doesn't count senior citizens experiencing age-related loss.)

Deafblindness is actually a spectrum, with people experiencing varying degrees of hearing and vision loss, ranging from low vision and hard of hearing to blindness and deafness.

Let's look at my experience for example. I call myself DeafBlind, it's a label I like. I am "deaf" but I can hear environmental sounds and voices. I just can't comprehend speech. I can pick out a few words here and there but not enough to get the gist of the conversation.

Yes I have a cochlear impant that works, before you jump to that arument.

I'm legally blind, I have almost no peripheral vision and my glasses can only correct me to 20/100, if that. So there's no "you can't be blind, you have glasses!" argument either.

Surprise, surprise CIs and glasses are tools, not freaking miracle cures.

We Have Tools for That

Many people assume that DeafBlind people either need someone with them 24/7, akin to Helen Keller's Anne Sullivan, or that we walk around waving our arms wildly, again like the movie The Miracle Worker about Helen Keller.

People forget there are a multitude of adaptive tools available for disabled people to use to interact with our surroundings, communicate, and just live our lives.

DeafBlind people use a variety of equipment that matchs their individual level of hearing and vision loss. Different tools include white canes, refreshable braille keyboards, computer screen readers with either with braille or voice output, and tactile alerts for phone, door, and smoke alarms. These alerts can come through a a pager-like device worn on their belt or connected to their watch. There is a whole bunch more, and we can mix and match these tools depending on what works best for us.

In the case of Dr. Adams, she uses a specialized stethoscope that bluetooths sound directly to her hearing aids. This allows her to hear the sounds she needs to do her job as a doctor.

We're Not Sitting Around Waiting for Help

When The Odessey movie came out recently, John Leguizamo, who played the blind character Eumaeus, talked about his experience in an Entertainment Tonight interview. He described how difficult it was to spend 12 - 14 hours a day wearing vision-blocking contact lenses during filming. He described being unable to read, check his phone, or make calls. He needed production assistants to physically guide him to the bathroom and help him get food. He said he was left alone with nothing to dobut sit with his own thoughts. Without access to the usual things he would see to occupy himself, he felt completely isolated and trapped in his own head.

I can understand why that would be frustrating. Spending an entire workday without access to your usual vision would be an incredibly difficult experience, especially when you're not accustomed to navigating the world that way.

But the sarcastic part of me is going "Oh Boo-boo", with a very condescending pat on the hand.

Here's the problem: he was experiencing a temporary simulation of a disability. He was suddenly deprived of his usual abilities without having the tools, technology, or adaptations that we use every day.

That's a very different experience from actually living with a disability and figuring out how to navigate the world around us.

The Helen Keller Model

I think part of the problem is that when most people hear "DeafBlind" they immediately picture Helen Keller.

Many people have seen The Miracle Worker, which emphasized her isolation, inability to communicate, and dependence on Anne Sullivan. And there was a wild food fight scene in the dining room, to boot, showing her as being "untrainable".

So, people think of all that instead of newer examples like Haben Girma, The Smithdas, John Lee Clark, Elsa Sjunneson, or Alan Constable.

Helen Keller was DeafBlind. She was not the definition of Deafblindness.

Stop Expecting Helen Keller

DeafBlind people are not a single experience, we have different types of vision and hearing loss.

We have a variety of tools that enable us to travel, work, communicate, and live happy, productive lives. Yet, y'all are shocked and automatically assume we're faking it. Independence and reliance on others do not prove or disprove a disability.

Helen Keller should not be the litmus test for the rest of us!

Now back to all those doubtful and hateful comments about Dr. Adams. Google is free. Fucking use it!

Instead of letting your ableist doubts and skepticism be your first instinct, try Googling:

• How does she do that?

• What tools does she use?

• Wow, she's pretty determined to work on passing all those tough exams while fighting barriers and doubt throughout medical school.

Yeah, that last one never fucking occurred to you did it??

Y'know for people who can see and hear perfectly, y'all are pretty dumb.