The National Federation of the Blind is not an organization speaking for the blind, it is the blind speaking for themselves. It is estimated that about 1.1 million people in the U.S. are blind. Each year 50,000 more will become blind. Studies show that only AIDS and cancer are feared more than blindness. However, blindness need not be the tragedy which it is generally thought to be. In the NFB we say, "The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight, but the misunderstanding and lack of information which exist."