[Blindtlk] Encouraging Medical Students To Be Retina Doctors

Wed Feb 22 03:03:00 UTC 2012

Desiree:

My immediate reaction is of course to jump to the defense of the NFB 
and our affiliated training centers.  However, I don't think you 
would buy it anyway, and that really isn't the point.

It seems to me that you are saying -- this is the way it is, and it 
is going to be this way for a long time.  Indeed, this is true, until 
you decide things need to be different.

Also, it seems to me that the system has convinced you of the 
relative worthlessness of blind persons and what we have done for 
ourselves.  For this I am sorry.  You don't trust blind travel 
teachers, and condemn a system developed by blind persons.  I realize 
that our approach isn't for everybody, and shouldn't be the only 
approach out there, but for many it truly does work -- it changes 
people's lives.  However, the system has drummed into your head that 
blind people are less, and you, and your parents have bought into it.

I know you won't see it my way -- and I may not have all of it right 
-- but I hope you do think about what I have said.

Dave

At 01:34 PM 2/21/2012, you wrote:
>I attended a training center that was non-NFB affiliated, and despite
>what some of you may think, it was actually very helpful to me. The
>problem was, as soon as I returned home, I could no longer use a lot
>of those skills. Mobility, which has never been my strong point, was
>built up only to crumble, because there's nothing for me to walk to
>except maybe some farms, and why would I do that? The nearest grocery
>store is about 5 miles away. As for other skills, like cooking, those
>are things I could do but choose not to at this point. What's the
>point when I'll only get criticized for it anyway?
>As for attending an NFB training center, let me make a couple points
>none of you will like:
>1. I will not go to a place called Blind, Inc. I'm not a sum of broken
>parts on an assembly line, waiting to be swept back together into a
>neat, politically correct, socially acceptable,
>oh-so-cool-and-collected package. I'm me, no matter what my flaws are,
>and no one size fits all model is going to change that. Anyone with
>half a brain should see something wrong with the name of the center
>alone!
>2. I use a standard folding graphite cane. I do not fold my cane to
>hide my blindness, rather, because in places like movie theaters, the
>long cane is a tripping hazard. I exercise a little thing called
>common courtesy in these situations. It would be idiotic to try to
>hide my blindness, seeing as how I only have light perception, and
>trying to walk without a cane would not only be dangerous but
>pointless. I like my graphite cane, and have ever since I started
>using it; as long as I'm traveling safely and efficiently with it,
>which I've been told I do, mind your own damn business about what I
>prefer.
>3. Having been totally blind since birth, I'm fluent in Braille. I do,
>in fact, hate audio books, preferring to download books from Bookshare
>or Web Braille or using a good old-fashioned hardcopy whenever
>possible. While I'm not wonderful at it, even my knowledge of the
>slate and stylus probably goes a lot farther than the current
>generation of IKids, kids who are so absorbed in the wonders of this
>new technology that they probably never will learn Braille, to which I
>say, I feel sorry for them.
>4. Since I only have light perception, why should I *have* to wear
>blindfolds in training? (FYI, I won't call them sleep shades, because
>I prefer to call things what they are, stigma and all, to make my
>point. And anyway, if they're sleep shades, you're basically giving
>the student a license to not take them seriously. Congratulations!) If
>your goal is to integrate someone into the real world, how does making
>them stumble around on public transportation with blindfolds on
>accomplish this? Surely people will stare 10 times more than they
>ordinarily would at a cane or a dog alone. It's degrading to put
>someone through that, especially if they're newly blind.
>And my final point:
>5. I do not trust a blind mobility instructor. There are certain
>things that we, the blind, should not be doing, such as driving buses,
>flying planes, and yes, being mobility instructors. Now, working with
>someone like me, I could sort of see it--I know the ropes, so to
>speak, so the danger level is much reduced. What truly chills my soul
>is the thought of a blind O&M instructor working with young children.
>As we all know, a kid might dart into a street without even thinking,
>vision or no vision, not anticipate a large drop or flight of stairs,
>run full speed into walls, the list is endless. And you, as a blind
>person, are ok with being powerless to prevent serious injury and
>maybe even death? That makes me sick.
>That's it for my rant; now I'm making good on my promise to leave
>before I'm forcibly dragged away and subjected to a public execution.
>But wait, no, you won't even stoop to my level. What if the big bad
>employer decides to search for all of your names tomorrow? You won't
>allow yourselves to get any blood on your hands, while I will never
>get a job in my life now because I've said this. These lists are
>archived for Google searching, right? Of course they are, what am I
>saying, everything is nowadays. But don't worry, the fault is mine and
>mine alone. I started it, and I ended it.
>
>On 2/21/12, Hyde, David W. (ESC) <david.hyde at wcbvi.k12.wi.us> wrote:
> > I think we all think, once in a while, what we would have done if
> > circumstances were different. For me, I do not think I would have had the
> > opportunities I have had were I not blind. My family was lower income, mill
> > workers, loggers and waitresses. Where I not blind, I too would have
> > probably been in that kind of employment.
> >
> > Now to the physiological and psychological end of the "what if", if you
> > haven't done so, read Mike Maye's book, Crashing Through. He discusses not
> > only what it was like to get some vision back using electronic 
> means, but as
> > importantly, how it was useful and how it wasn't. His experience is much
> > like those who have Cortical Visual Impairment.
> >
> > Finally, on limitations. Some are real. We can't drive. I can pay people to
> > do that, either in money, or in services that I can render to them. It's
> > like shoveling snow. I could and have done it myself. I am pleased that I
> > have other alternatives. Some limitations are imaginary. You can fill in
> > your own favorite.
> >
> > Just imagine how difficult it would be to be saddled with 
> enormous wealth! I
> > would like to try out that problem for a while.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> > Behalf Of Michelle Medina
> > Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 8:56 PM
> > To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> > Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Encouraging Medical Students To Be Retina Doctors
> >
> > Johanna,
> > First off, allow me to say that I was born without eyes and therefore have
> > never had eyesight. However, if you will accept my word for what 
> it's worth,
> > the story goes that you 'can't miss what you do not have'.
> > I'd venture to say at least partially that this is a falsehood.
> >
> > I live in a rural area and am unable to drive a car. Most people
> > think: "So what. You can't drive a car, big deal."
> > What they think and sometimes say is NOT how I feel. I feel like 
> it's a huge
> > deal. There is no transportation *no buses and noone available to drive me
> > somewhere to catch a bus* even that isn't the route of it though.
> >
> > My best friend is also legally blind though she does have some sight.
> > We used to sit in what would have been her car on her sixteenth birthday if
> > she would have been able to get her license and crank the stereo 
> in the dead
> > of summer with the windows down just to imagine the feeling of freedom, the
> > roadtrips we would take, the growing up we would have done over the course
> > of a spring break or a summer spent roadtripping around the country.
> > Ovbiously, as blind individuals we can still do this, however, to me it is
> > the 'absolute freedom' of getting up and leaving exactly when I Desire to
> > versus waiting for someone else. It is the 'absolute freedom' of walking
> > into my parents room and saying: "I'm going to visit Elias now, 
> I'll be back
> > in a couple of hours!" versus waiting for one of them to drop me off. It's
> > getting out of the car and walking into Walmart and reading the labels on
> > food products and picking out what I believe to be the healthiest choice
> > versus going in with a companion whose in a hurry, or waiting at the
> > customer service desk for an hour and 15 minutes. *Note: our 
> Walmart doesn't
> > have shoppers as I said I'm in a rural place, and I like alot of 
> people live
> > off of SSI so don't have the money to buy a label reader*
> >
> > Ultimately though, it isn't about money anyway, or even convenience, though
> > I would find these things convenient, who wouldn't? Smile.
> >
> > It really boils down to the feeling I got the first time I tied my shoes or
> > the first time I rode a horse by myself or the first time I Brailled up
> > something without needing any help. It's that "I can do this!!!" feeling
> > that I get. That feeling of as I said before, absolute freedom and
> > excitement that I didn't rely on anyone, I did it myself!! And I'm sooooo
> > proud of myself for doing whatever thing it might be, ON MY OWN! There's
> > nothing like that feeling. You can't buy it or have it given to you or find
> > it in a food or pill or even another person. You can only find it within
> > yourself.
> > And if I had my eyesight and could experience the glory of a 
> sunset/rise, or
> > of looking into someone's eyes and seeing through to the depths of their
> > soul, or laying eyes on my baby daughter for the first time, or the person
> > who would become my romantic partner I can only imagine the 
> exhilaration and
> > excitement and utter pleasure it would bring me.
> > Michelle
> >
> > On 2/20/12, Johanna Baccan <24kjo at optonline.net> wrote:
> >> To All:
> >>
> >> I was asked by Dr. Steven  Sang one of the top Retina Doctors at
> >> Columbia Presbyterian  Hospital in New York City, new York  to speak
> >> to Columbia University Medical Students.  He wants me to encourage them to
> >> become Retina
> >> Doctors and Retina Researchers.     I am a 54 year old woman and have a
> >> unusual form of Stargardt's Disease and have been visually impaired
> >> for 34 years.  I know that we all have mastered some if not all the
> >> Techniques of Blindness.  But my talk is going to be on what it would
> >> mean to regain my vision and what I have missed out on for 34 years.
> >> I would like to hear from all of you to let me know what it would mean
> >> to you to have or regain your vision.  What struggles have you had.
> >> There has been a declined in Medical Students to become Retina Doctors and
> >> Researchers in this country.
> >> As a whole the Blind Community seems to function in a way that people
> >> don't realize how difficult it really is.  So instead of talking how I
> >> mastered the Techniques of Blindness I have to talk about the reality of
> >> vision loss.
> >> These students are exposed to other patients with diseases that are
> >> much more visible and pronounced then our vision loss.  At times my
> >> particular eye disease has been called a Hidden handicap.  Because to
> >> look at me even though I use a cane I do not look visually impaired at
> >> all.  Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.  Thank
> >> you.
> >>
> >> Sincerely,
> >>
> >> Johanna Baccan
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >> ail.com
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to
> > learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too 
> small for you.
> > ~ David Whyte ~ (House of Belonging)
> >
> > Sadie Marie Medina!
> > Original birthdate unnone.
> > First birthday with us: 2/15/2009
> > Welcome home baby!