For too long, Western senior Jedi Moerke believes most people have bought the notion that people with disabilities are different from the rest of society.

Moerke started Straight Talk About Blindness (STAB) through Fairhaven College this quarter to address issues around blindness in society. She said she wants to enlighten students about history of prejudice toward the blind, as well as where and how society gains preconceived ideas of blindness.

To bring together community members with or without disabilties during one of her classes, Moerke instructed her seven students to stand up out of their chairs and participate in a short step-dance routine.

“A lot of times there’s no reason why disabled and non-disabled people can’t integrate together,” Moerke said. “But unfortunately it doesn’t happen that often.”

Western sophomore Katie Gronsky, who is enrolled in Moerke’s class, said by the end of the quarter she hopes to understand what actions and words are reasonable to do and say around blind people and she hopes to abandon stereotypes about all minorities.

Moerke’s unconventional teaching styles help facilitate discussion within the class, Gronsky said.

“We’re all kind of teaching each other. I feel like she’s not telling us what to think,” Gronsky said.

Moerke said sighted people often associate blindness with their fear of the dark. But she wonders if that fear stems from physical darkness or from fear of the unknown.

“What this class will hopefully tell students is blindness does not mean unknown,” Moerke said. “When you’re blind you don’t not know something. It means you’ll get information differently.”

At a young age, Moerke learned that teachers were often more ignorant about blindness than her elementary school classmates.

“Adults are more clever about how they word their curiosity,” Moerke said. “Sometimes their attempts at being tactful are offensive.”

Moerke said some teachers would limit her activities based off the individual perception of what they felt a blind child could handle. She said other teachers did not comprehend her constant frustration with her disability. Instead of being empathetic, teachers would tell her not to be negative and not to pity herself, she said.

Growing up as the only blind student in most of her schools, Moerke said her blindness created a social barrier to her peers. Although she still made friends, many of them were ridiculed for associating with Moerke.

After graduating from Bellingham High School in 2003, Moerke went to Louisiana to attend a six-month specialized blindness-training program, which teaches the blind how to use a cane, read Braille, use special computers and how to manage their living space with little or no assistance.

“A lot of blind people who are born blind are very sheltered,” Moerke said. “They didn’t have a lot of opportunities to learn those skills.”

Moerke, who is partially blind, used a “sleep-shade,” a large blindfold that eliminates all of its user's vision, during her training, challenging her to rely on other senses to complete daily tasks.

During training, Moerke said members enrolled in the program were allowed to experiment with tasks they were prohibited from doing when they were younger. For the first time, Moerke said she was able to operate power tools while other members learned how to cross the street by themselves.

After returning to Bellingham, Moerke enrolled at Whatcom Community College and earned her associate degree in spring 2007. She began at Western the following fall to study blindness and society, with an emphasis in communication in pedagogyŃthe philosophy of teaching.

To navigate around campus, Huxley College loaned Moerke an audio GPS to notify her of how far she was from a building and in which direction the building was in. Moerke also pays attention to other audio cues, such as fans within buildings, to guide her to her destination.

David Brunnemer, director of the Disabilities Center at Western, said the size of Western’s campus is ideal for students to experience diversity with their peers. He said some of the universities he worked at were too large for students to interact with other students from different backgrounds.

“[At Western,] students have enough room to have anonymity, but enough opportunity to develop relationships with the same people over time,” Brunnemer said.

Many students and faculty members help the disability center recognize areas that can be improved on campus to make accessibility easier for students with disabilities, such as the unlevel bricks throughout campus and buildings without accessible bathrooms, Brunnemer said.

However, Moerke said the physical accessibility problems on campus are small compared to social tolerance issues. Moerke said she often becomes frustrated when people attempt to give her assistance without asking her first. Moerke said people frequently inform her when she comes across a flight of stairs or grab her arm to guide her without permission.   

“I’m not above asking for help because everyone needs help sometimes,” Moerke said. “It’s all about respect and respecting boundaries.”

Betty Sikkema, president of the United Blind of Whatcom County, experiences similar frustrations around Bellingham. When she begins to cross a street, people often grab her arms without permission to help guide her to the other side. She also receives encouragement from people passing by when she walks around town, she said.

While walking through Red Square, Moerke said religious groups have stopped her and asked if they can pray for her. She said she has been told it pains God that she is not “whole” and another individual told Moerke her blindness was a result of a sin in a past life.

Although Moerke said she understands their concern, the forwardness is offensive.

“I understand where they are coming from. They are trying to improve my quality of life,” Moerke said. “But what they are saying is, ‘you are not acceptable the way you are.’”

Moerke aims to reach a larger audience, helping to close the gap between people with and without disabilities and to connect other minority groups with the rest of society.

Be first to comment on this article

Only registered users can post comments.
Please login or register.