I was invited to speak to high school students at the W. Ross Macdonald school for the Blind in Brantford, Ontario on Friday, September 26th from a career coaching organization, called HEIC, and participate as a panelist with a group of Blind and low vision folks from all kinds of careers and backgrounds. I and the panelists were asked to answer questions related to our experiences in high school, post-secondary school, and how we developed our career path.
Public speaking is not my strong suit, especially when it’s to young people who need engaging and inspiring speakers, but I tried to answer in ways that would be beneficial to my younger self.
I found the panelists’ journeys very interesting; some were Blind from birth, some became Blind later in life, some knew what they wanted to do as a career, some changed careers multiple times. I connected with Yvonne Felix, who is the Executive Director at Centre[3], a gallery where I am a current board member of, and Yin Brown, the Manager of Accessibility and Inclusion at George Brown College. With opportunities like this that come out of the blue, I’m finding it easier to make connections and network with like-minded people as I continue developing my artistic career, despite the challenge of coming out of my introverted shell.
One of the panelists was answering a question about how hobbies impact work and she was describing her love for knitting and crocheting, but mentioned that she was upset when sighted folks say that they could never make something like what she made. She had to learn those skills without the luxury of vision, and when someone with vision disregarded her Blindness, she became frustrated with this lack of awareness and refusal to try to learn. Her frustration and reason for it really struck me and I thought that stories like these should be shared to bring awareness of care.
One student had asked the panel the daily challenges we faced in our careers with our disability, and I, not being completely Blind, felt a bit out of place amongst the fully Blind panelists. I felt that my answer was from a place of privilege as I still rely on my vision, and so I sometimes struggle with fitting in with the Blind community. I don’t want to pretend that I understand their lifelong experience with Blindness, but as I have both sight and Blindness, I see myself as a bridge between the two groups, which comes out in my artwork. It’s still a complicated thing I wrestle with, but I’m finding that art has been a medium that I can best express these emotions openly and still inspire people of all abilities.
Overall, this was a great exercise that opened some possible doors for collaboration with the school, with my fellow panelists, and potentially with the students. With an exhibition coming up in my hometown, Cambridge, in 2027, I’m thinking of partnering with the W. Ross Macdonald school for a talk/workshop/tour exclusively for the students and teachers. I need to grow my network of folks from the Blind community from all ages in order to cultivate and encourage a safe space and accessible culture in visually dominant spaces.
