Learning to See

Abstract

This essay chronicles a series of profound learning experiences. Thanks to the dynamism and confidence of the director of a prominent center for the blind, Kramer had the opportunity first to conduct weekly poetry sessions with a small group, then to present a full evening of Shakespeare before hundreds of unsighted people with virtually no literary background, and finally to direct blind actors in complete staged productions of Our Town and The Time of Your Life. Although he abhorred society's tendency to categorize and isolate blind people, Kramer discovered he had some preconceptions of his own about the blind that were proved wrong. Their zest for learning and doing was as limitless as was their capacity to achieve; all they required was to be seen and challenged as dimensional individuals rather than as disabled stereotypes. Despite personality clashes and formidable setbacks, their flowering was swift and beautiful, more surprising to their sighted family members, the center's staff, and Kramer than to themselves.