John M. Hull - Work On Blindness and Disability

Work On Blindness and Disability

John Hull became blind in 1980, and beyond his academic work on religious education is best known as the author of the autobiographical account of blindness, Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness (1990). This was later re-published with additional material as On Sight and Insight: A Journey into the World of Blindness (1997); which tends to emphasise features of the state of blindness, rather than the experience of losing sight. Of this work, the neurologist and writer on disability Professor Oliver Sacks commented in the New Yorker, "There has never been, to my knowledge, so minute and fascinating (and frightening) an account of how not only the outer eye, but the 'inner eye', gradually vanishes with blindness; of the steady loss of visual memory, visual imagery, visual orientation, visual concepts... of the steady advance or journey... into the state which he calls 'deep blindness'.".

His experiences led John Hull into further consideration of blindness and disability, particularly in a Christian context, on which he has written a number of challenging articles. He has also written another book, In the Beginning there was Darkness: A Blind Person’s Conversations with the Bible. (2001); in which he interprets the Bible as the product of a sighted culture, with a negative attitude towards blindness.

In 1988 John Hull initiated Cathedrals through Touch and Hearing, a scheme which has provided 17 English cathedrals with wooden models and elevated ground plans for the benefit of blind visitors. In 2003 the Vice-President of the Republic of China presented him with a 'Global Love of Life Award', given by the Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Education Foundation of Taiwan to honour those who have contributed to the cause of disabled people, or have overcome personal disability.