由下而上建立值得人民信賴的司法

Jing Kai Chen Case Reflection: Visually-impaired doesn't mean disability

「失明並非失能」

遇見陳敬鎧讓我更了解了這句話的意思,和視障者在生活中的種種可能性。

其實我以前對盲人不是很了解,常常想到視障者的就只有聯想到太陽眼鏡,手杖,和導盲犬。但其實盲人可以是律師、鋼琴家、作家,還有歌手。他們是某個人的兒女、爸媽、兄妹,或是愛人,而且有著自己的個性、情緒、專長,和夢想。因為盲人跟你我一樣,也是一個人。

比方說,陳敬鎧擅長各種運動,還是台灣盲人棒球隊的隊長。他在國際上被認定為台灣的年度最佳新秀、最佳防守球員,和打擊王。他戴著防光眼罩也能透過球和壘包發出的聲音打擊、防守,和迅速的跑向壘包,戴著眼罩跑的速度比我平常跑得還要快。

可惜的是,我第一次看到陳敬鎧不是在棒球場上,而是在法庭觀察的時候。敬鎧被指控為了拿保險金而詐盲,只因為他平日的生活能力和運動能力看起來太厲害了。法官捨棄多家醫院報告、台大教授的科學鑑定、和服務視障專業人士的評估,堅持盲人沒辦法擁有陳敬鎧努力適應後學來的生活方式。

希望陳敬鎧的案件能讓我們看清社會對盲人的誤解,還有對於身心障礙者的偏見。雖然陳敬鎧的努力練習和復健讓他在法庭上遇到了困境,但他還是告訴了我們:如果身邊有視障者,可以建議他們去盲人重建院,學習適應生活的策略。視障者的生活能力是可以提升的,也能夠透過練習漸漸在這世界上找到自己喜愛的事情,做到自己覺得有意義的工作。

就像陳敬鎧之前的辯護律師,全台第一位盲人律師李秉宏,所表現的:失明並不等於失能。我們從視障朋友身上可以學到的不只有他們擁有的障礙和生活中的困難,還包括我們同樣身為人擁有不一樣的能力和可能性。

陳敬鎧在面對困難和傷痛之下,今天卻能向前看勇敢的繼續活下去,帶給視障朋友更多希望。雖然陳敬鎧是被迫磨鍊出這種生活態度,也說不希望任何人有需要有跟他一樣的經歷,但他慢慢找到的堅強是我很尊敬也想努力去學習的。

“Visually-impaired doesn't mean disability.”

Meeting Jing Kai Chen helped me understand what this quote might mean and changed my assumptions about blind people’s potential abilities.

I used to have a stereotypical imagination of blind people: sunglasses, walking sticks (white canes), and guide dogs. But blind people can be lawyers, pianists, singers, and writers. They are sons, daughters, parents, spouses, and siblings, and have different personalities, skills, and aspirations. Because blind people are first people, just like you and me.

For example, Jing Kai Chen is the awe-inspiring captain and internationally recognized MVP, best offensive player, and best defensive player for Taiwan’s Beep Baseball (baseball for the blind) team. He can bat the ball, play defense, and dash to the base while wearing a light-blocking eye mask, just based on the sound that the ball and base emits. He runs faster with an eye mask on than I am usually able to.

Unfortunately, the first time I saw Jing Kai was not on the field, but as an observer in court. This is because Jing Kai was accused of faking blindness to commit insurance fraud, even though multiple scientific diagnoses show that Jing Kai is indeed blind. The judges dismissed multiple electrophysiological studies (VEP, ERG, EEG), fMRI scan results, psychophysical evidence, and blind rehabilitation specialists’ witnesses in favor of what they thought blind people’s daily actions and athletic abilities should and shouldn’t look like.

I hope this case can bring more awareness to assumptions about blind people and institutionalized prejudice against those with disabilities. Despite the troubles that being “too successfully” reintegrated into daily life has caused him in court, Jing Kai still told us: If you know any blind people around you, please recommend them to go to blind rehabilitation centers,  and learn strategies that help them use their remaining senses to reintegrate into society. Jing Kai’s belief in rehabilitation centers emphasizes the endless possibilities for those who are visually impaired.

Jing Kai and his defense lawyer Bing Hong Lee, who is the first blind lawyer in Taiwan, shows us that having a disability does not mean that one must be unable in all aspects of life. We can learn so much more from blind people’s abilities than just their disability.

That Jing Kai is able to look forward and live on today despite facing so many challenges and painful experiences is one thing that I really look up to and hope to learn from.