[blindlaw] Question About Rental Discrimination

Ross Doerr rumpole at roadrunner.com
Mon Aug 31 22:02:18 UTC 2009


I couldn't agree more. The parade of tragedy and terror that will follow the 
blind or visually impaired is truly astounding. Your comments that the 
sighted cannot imagine life without sight as a cause of those types of myths 
is probably the reason.
I recall when I was in college many, many years ago - a friend of mine, with 
great concern in his voice told me that he'd read a study that had been 
conducted by the Mary Hitchcock medical center out of Dartmouth - this was 
back in the early 1980's - that noted a remarkable statistic:
The suicide rate among people diagnosed with terminal cancer was second to 
those who had gone blind later in life.
Apparently the thought of being in permanant darkness had a whole lot to do 
with it.
Of course, my buddy was all concerned that I was going to take some rash 
action as I was going blind. Well, there is just no understanding some 
people out there.
One of these days I should try to see if I can find that Mary-hitchcock 
study he was talking about. I'd like to read it sometime.
    But there you are, even if someone knows you, blindness changes the way 
they all look at you.
I could tell you stories about being a blind attorney that would make your 
hair curl though - and I'm sure that others on this list can do the same 
from their own experiences.
The depths of some people's lack of education is simply amazing though. Like 
the time I was being interviewed for a job by a private practice attorney 
who had just left the attorney general's office - he asked me if I'd learned 
how to use a telephone yet. He followed that one up with the best one I've 
ever heard to date: "Did you take the real bar exam, or one of those tests 
for handicapped people?"
    They're out there folks - they really are, and they outnumber us.
So, when someone relates stories like the landlord in this first posting - 
about all I can say to myself is: "Well, there is someone else who puts his 
logical reasoning "on hold" when he meets a blind person."
But when it comes to tragedies and disasters as a blind man --- I did break 
my foot once about 7 years ago when I stepped into a pothole that was in a 
crosswalk. Does that count as a tragedy?
 Hey, you ever try to walk on crutches with a white cane? There is a trick 
to it...

Ross Doerr



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <ckrugman at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 3:29 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Question About Rental Discrimination


> being that you have a disability and specifically being blind you don't
> realize the fears and myths that sighted people have about blindness and 
> the
> misunderstandings that the sighted have about how blind people are able to
> function. We know that for sighted people vision is the most used factor 
> in
> a person's life and many sighted people cannot fathom how a blind person 
> is
> able to do anything without the use of vision. It is not a question of
> mental illness or anything like that, it is a question of lack of exposure
> and information that is logical. I frequently have had to explain to many
> people that blindness is actually an easier disability to accommodate or
> adapt to as physical barriers do not need to be overcome or the blind 
> person
> is not isolated because they cannot hear or participate in conversations
> around them, etc. Much of our job as Federationists is to constantly 
> educate
> people and not jump to conclusions that because a person makes an 
> uninformed
> statement regarding the blind or asks questions about how blind people
> function they are mentally ill. The fear factor is very prevalent on the
> part of many sighted people when it comes to losing their sight which is
> discussed in many classes in the counseling professions which is off topic
> for this list.
> Chuck
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mark BurningHawk" <stone_troll at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 7:28 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Question About Rental Discrimination
>
>
>> I'm still missing something here; why would a blind person burn the 
>> house
>> down?  I didn't even know it was legal to privately own a fire  truck,
>> much less keep on residence. :)  I just don't understand the  magical
>> thinking that goes on between noting that someone's eyes don't  work and
>> extrapolating every conceivable disaster possible.  When I  see a deaf
>> person or a person using a wheelchair, I don't  automatically start
>> watching out for fires or hurricanes or falling  bricks; the landlord
>> sounds like he might need to be on meds. :)
>>
>> Mark BurningHawk
>> stone_troll at sbcglobal.net
>> Skype and Twitter:  BurningHawk1969
>> Home:  Http://MarkBurningHawk.net/
>> Namaste!
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
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