QUE PASA
Newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico
March 2013
MEET THE NFB of NEW MEXICO STATE PRESIDENT, ADELMO VIGIL
By Pat Munson
Introductory Note: I first met Adelmo at a National Federation of the Blind (NFB) educators meeting at our national convention in 1983 when we were both teaching in the regular public schools. I was teaching foreign students English and he was educating third graders. However, neither he nor I could have taught had it not been for years of work by NFB members who preceded us both. There was a clause in every contract pertaining to teaching which mandated that a teacher have normal sight. I’m sure Pauline Gomez and others cleared the vision requirement at the state House in New Mexico. The following is Adelmo’s story in his own words, as told to me.
I was born in a very small community in southern Colorado called Jarso. I grew up in Amalia, a farming area where my family had a ranch. When I was very young, just old enough to walk, I tended cows, horses and sheep. Of course, I hauled and stacked hay and then fed the animals (alongside the other family members.) Blindness did not hold me back!
I was very, very lucky because I was first brought home by my adoptive parents when I was only ten days old. I was their first and only child, so you can imagine how happy they were to have me. I was very happy to be with them, also.
Although I had trouble seeing, I was sent to the local school because that was the only school my family had any knowledge of. Even with the best glasses, I could not read a word, so there I sat and listened but could not read. After joining NFB, I learned of many other blind children who sat in public school classes because their families did not want their child labeled blind. The child suffered academically as well as psychologically. Thank goodness attitudes have changed concerning the word blind.
By the time I entered my teens, with encouragement from others, my parents finally decided to send me to the other end of the state so I could attend the New Mexico School for the Blind in Alamogordo. Being their only child, the decision to send me was very, very difficult. However, had I not gone, I never would have been educated. The only employment for my future would have been bleak.
I made my first wrenching journey to the school for the blind in the fall of 1964 by myself. Since my family did not even have a telephone, letters were our only communication. The only times I could return home were Christmas and summer vacation. But, I was learning to read which unlocked endless doors of opportunity for me. I always thank my family for putting my education ahead of everything.
Now, let me tell you about my first couple of years at the blind school. You will not believe this but it is sadly true. Since I wore thick glasses and could see a bit, they tried to make me read what I could not see. Shame on the school. Anyone with vision loss can profit by using Braille.
I wanted to please the teachers so I pretended to read, but it was material I had memorized. I also invented ways to pretend to read my handwriting. The teachers were not paying attention.
Finally, the nurse at the blind school took me to the eye doctor. He told me that I could not see, which I knew, but he said I would have to learn Braille. Then the nurse repeated the news as if a dread disease had taken hold of me. I surprised them all by saying that I was very glad because I really wanted to read. I knew blind kids could read as well as sighted kids and I wanted to join the ranks of the literate!
Back in the stone age when I was in school, cane travel was not even mentioned until my late teens. I got a cane and shortly thereafter I was driven to El Paso so I could learn to use a cane crossing wide, busy streets, taking buses and so on. My cane travel teacher said that I could travel in New York City or anywhere in the world because I used the cane safely and could solve travel problems. Perhaps my working on the ranch taught me spatial and directional movement.
Participating in sports helped in developing my confidence in myself. I ran track and wrestled. My coaches and dorm parents encouraged me to push myself harder.
I helped with the younger students. I taught them sports and other subjects and really enjoyed helping them learn the skills of blindness.
When I was nearing graduation, my dorm parents and others told me that I had done very well in assisting with the younger blind students and that to further my life skills I would need to go to college to become a teacher.
I went to Western New Mexico University and obtained a degree. While in this process, I met and married my lovely wife who was also a student.
I found a wonderful teacher (under whom I did my student teaching) and loved every minute of it. It was after completing my student teaching that I hit a brick wall, because I had not joined the National Federation of the Blind yet.
The Silver City school personnel director told me that school principals could be calling me. When I did not hear, I went to a principal myself. He told me that my name was not on the list. I then made a visit to the superintendent. He said that they are probably not hiring you because they see on your application that you are blind. He suggested that I talk to the principals and let them know that I was interested in working at their school.
When I spoke with each principal, I got the same story that my name was not on the list of available hires. I then filed a grievance with the Human Rights Commission. Had I been a member of NFB I would have gotten legal assistance and perhaps my case might have been settled much quicker.
While my case was very slowly moving through the legal system, I did apply at other school districts, and did get hired in Shiprock. So, my wife and I rolled up our tent and moved to the other end of the state.
I was hired to teach remedial reading. My new principal was not happy with me and thought he could say whatever he wanted. He said that he felt stuck with me. The superintendent had hired me.
When I had first called the Shiprock district I had not told them I was blind. Two days later I thought I had better tell them, so I did.
The top administrator of the Shiprock schools told me that he did not care if I was blind or not, but that I had gotten my teaching credential with the rest of the students, and that was good enough for him. He further stated that he knew I could do a good job.
So, my wife and son made the long move and I taught reading and then third grade for six years. I then transferred and taught first grade for one year. I found them very difficult to teach because they were so young. Then I moved to teaching second grade for six years.
While time passed, situations for the blind changed dramatically. The National Federation of the Blind was expanding. In the early 1980’s Fred Schroeder and Joe Cordova came to Shiprock and helped me found an NFB chapter. I had known Joe from school so I was anxious to learn about NFB and how in turn I could advance its work and opportunities. Then, before I knew what was happening, Fred had me on a plane to talk to NFB Californians about my teaching. I then attended my first state and national NFB conventions. The Commission for the Blind was founded in New Mexico, and Fred Schroeder was assisting greatly to bring about a very positive movement for the blind in this state. So, I retired from teaching elementary school to work with blind adults at the Commission’s training center.
I had proven to everyone that a blind teacher could do the same teaching as a sighted teacher, and I had loved my work, but I wanted to broaden my teaching skills in working with adults.
By 2006, I had had a variety of jobs which for a number of years had me living in Albuquerque. I decided it was time for me to retire. By the following year, I found I had a bit too much free time, so I started doing contract work for the commission. By 2009 I was back working a full week. Then in 2010 I took over running the orientation center fulltime. In January 2012 a new director was found so I then was only teaching cane travel.
In 2010 I took on a vice president’s position of NFBNM, and this past April I became president. In years past I had had a variety of offices both in and out of NFB. I served on the board for the school for the blind, and was also active in the NFB Educators Division.
As you see from these pages, I have had an interesting life so far. Had I been born fifty years earlier, my future as a blind person might not have been so bright, but it did not happen. Where my path will wind, only time will tell. But with the National Federation of the Blind as an integral part of my life, the future is mine, and it can be yours, too, if you so choose!