[Ag-eq] Shows

[Peg Brandt]

Oh, Jody!  How true our lives have been!  My name is Peg and every once in awhile I pop in here to see if it is active or not!  Glad to have you here!  My life mirrors yours to a tee!  At our age there wasn;t much out there for us except that there were no real expectations for us.  Sadly to say that there weren't enough of us out there as many otheer blind individuals believed that there wasn't really alot available for them to do out ini the real world so they just adopted John Q. Sighty's expectations!  If there had been more trailblazers 
like us there wouldn't be all this litigation and fears out there about our safety!  Sure like you I had my share of problems out there but still have plugged on forward and glad I did!  If you care to shat privately my email address is:  hazer100 at hotmail.com  and anyone else wishing to dump on all the crap they deal with I'm here!  Peg in Iowa 
> From: jody at thewhitehats.com
> To: ag-eq at nfbnet.org
> Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:26:32 -0500
> Subject: [Ag-eq] Shows
> 
> 
> Hello Aleeha,
> 
> No, I haven't shown yet. I will be showing in western events including 
> barrel racing and eventually reining and pleasure. I know of three blind 
> barrel racers who Gallup just as fast as the sighted riders.
> 
> They might be some people who are scared or who want to limit me because of 
> their prejudice or their projected limitations but they better get out of my 
> way because I don't plan to let them stop me.
> 
> Let me explain. I am 57 years old. When I went to school blind kids 
> mainstreamed in public school were just expected to do everything the 
> sighted kids did. We had no aides, no hand holding and absolutely no 
> concern over liability.
> 
> Now I know an eight year old boy who is not allowed to run on the playground 
> without someone holding his hand. Concerns of liability have gotten so 
> extreme that it is outrageous. I know a 14 year old blind girl who was on a 
> bus with her class for 40 minutes when the bus driver refused to drive 
> because there was no aide on the bus for the blind girl.
> 
> Now the thing that bothers me the most is that kids growing up in this 
> environment actually think this is OK. They believe there must really be a 
> reason for caution and over concern because of their blindness.
> 
> To me, I have done everything anyone else has done making adjustments for 
> being blind. I have raised two children, refinished furniture, landscaped 
> my houses, cooked holiday dinners and you name it. I am a black belt 
> martial artist and I qualified for my two black belts just like all the 
> sighted members of my classes. I am also a major in the civil air Patrol/ 
> Air force Auxiliary and I am a mission qualified radio operator.
> 
> Have I had people say I can't do it because I am blind? sure, but when they 
> say it I just smile and say 'Watch me".
> 
> I am very concerned that my maverick attitude has been buried in so many 
> blind kids who were just worn down to believe there must be a real reason 
> why they have to only walk and trot. the fact is this is just plain and 
> simple prejudice. They don't have a clue, they are just projecting the 
> limitations they think they would have if they couldn't see.
> 
> I have spent a life time proving people wrong when they say "you can't do 
> that" and I don't plan to stop now.
> 
> JODY 
> 
> 
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