So @Doug_Lemov has posted a response ( https://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/cameras-on-a-response-to-the-outrage/) to the outrage over his tweet (see below). Nowhere does it acknowledge (let alone apologize for) how offensive this this is to the visually impaired/blind community.

In short: Words matter /1

Obviously I get that @doug_lemov was making a pedagogical point about keeping the cameras on. I am taking no position on this. I am taking issue with the unmistakable implication that you cannot be an effective educator if you are severely visually impaired. /2

I don’t think that is what @doug_lemov intended to convey, he doesn’t seem like a bad guy from a cursory look at his feed. But he has a huge platform and that is what he DID say. /3

For some context, I am legally blind, and have been so since birth. I have had 17 eye surgeries, and my corrected visual acuity in my best eye has fluctuated between 20/300 and 20/600 throughout my life (uncorrected was functionally blind the majority of my life). /4

Growing up disabled, you are always told what you cannot do. Sometimes this is done explicitly, but much more often it is implicit messages about what you would clearly not be good at and thus you shouldn’t try. /5

This is why @doug_lemov ‘s words matter, because any visually impaired student (or the parent of one) who reads that tweet just got another dose of “don’t go into this field, you won’t be good at it”. /6

Shortly after my family first learned how bad my vision was, my dad was told by a well-meaning acquaintance about the huge advancements in opportunities for the blind, and that they were now able to work in broom factories. /7

My elementary school repeatedly tried to ship me off to a special boarding school for the deaf and blind because I wouldn’t be able to succeed in a mainstream school (Narrator: They didn’t want to provide ADA accommodations) /8

I could write a thread a mile long about other examples throughout my life of this type of messaging. I am beyond blessed to have had parents who 1) fought for me and 2) never let that messaging get through. But many aren’t as lucky as me /9

So to sum up:

Words matter

Please delete the tweet

10/10