Seventy percent of blind people in North America are unemployed. In 1960, fifty percent of blind people could read braille, now that number has dramatically dropped to only eight percent – finding a direct correlation between braille literacy and employment. So, what exactly are we missing as a society?
Author Ruth E. Vallis shares her incredible story of trailblazing for the disabled and showcases the power of tough love in her debut memoir, Love is Blind. Blind before the age of three, pioneer of integration of the blind into the public school system in Canada, Ruth offers incredible insight into growing up blind, navigating an international boarding school, hospital programs and finding her way to a profoundly remarkable and inspiring life.
Written in an honest, humbling and generous voice, Love is Blind details Ruth’s own challenges throughout her life, sharing the biggest obstacle of all—the low expectations of others. Determined to succeed, Ruth quickly learned that you can let those who don’t understand you define who you are, or you can ignore them and follow your dreams—as Ruth did.
At every stage of her extraordinary life, Ruth defied the low expectations of others, and took on such challenges as biking from Ottawa to Toronto, completing a Master’s of Science degree online before technology accessibility was legislated, and more. Through it all there was her tender, tough-loving mother, Peach, offering encouragement, support and humor to overcome enormous challenges.
“In Love is Blind, I hope readers learn about the importance of integration between the disabled and non-disabled living and working together to break down barriers stemming from prejudice,” says Ruth. “Over my years I have learned that we can all be instruments of love and encouragement to others.”
Discover the power of women working together for good. Seeing how obstacles can become stepping stones, Love is Blind will have you laughing, crying and being inspired within moments of reading through the first chapter.
I had a chance to interview the author to learn more.
Q Why did you decide to write this book?
A I was encouraged by my eighth grade teacher to write a book someday and call it, “Love is Blind”. I was also encouraged to do so when speaking at various medical conferences and those related to the education and training of the blind. People often described me as inspirational but I feel the real inspiration was my mother and the world needs to know about what is possible when one has a mother like her.
Q What are some of the unique challenges that blind children face?
A I think one of the biggest challenges for a blind child is being believed. If we say we can do something we are either told we can not or we are cautioned that we will get hurt or fail in some other way. The other, and very annoying, challenge is being taken as mentally subnormal because we can’t see. It often results in vary condescending tones as people remark, in surprise, that we are able to achieve even the simplest tasks.
Q How can parents and caregivers support their children with disabilities while also pushing them to be successful?
A My mother has often said that disabled children are just children and they must be treated the same. If they are right, praise them. If they are wrong, punish them but, no matter what, love them all the time. I would add that disabled children should be exposed to everything academic, in music, art, sports, and be encouraged to read! We can never know an individuals possibilities until we stretch them. There is nothing wrong with parameters but it is a problem when it is allowed to become a barrier.
Q How can those with disabilities find encouragement and support as they go through life?
A As in the previous question, the more we do the more we learn about ourselves and, hopefully, believe in ourselves. Often a disabled person will have to be their own best advocate and may have to learn how to say, “watch me!” The more we achieve, the greater our confidence grows and the more people believe in us. Sometimes we have to work twice as hard to be accepted as equal but don’t complain about it just be prepared for it. As far as the support of others is concerned, it happens as we succeed because everyone wants to be in the company of success and that can be anything from functional independence to winning awards or just being a nice person to be around.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RUTH VALLIS lives in Toronto with her guide dog, Darwin. This is her first book. Written after a thirty-two-year career in Physiotherapy, mainly at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. Entertaining her patients with humorous or touching anecdotes to distract them from their pain or discomfort. Further to this end, she would not allow “organ recitals.” That is what she called it when patients tried to one up each other with lists of their kidney, liver or heart ailments.
This book is dedicated to the memory of my Mother, Blanche (Peach) Vallis, 1923-2011. Gone but never forgotten!!!
To learn more about Ruth Vallis, please visit ruthvallis.com.
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