[Blindtlk] Use of the Term Visually Impaired

Sun Jun 23 00:27:06 UTC 2013

Indeed, I think you are right.  My thinking is this:  if you choose to use 
words like "visually impaired" or "visually challenged," I am not going to 
bludgeon you into using "blind."  However, I do think a step toward 
integration is to recognize that there is absolutely no shame in being blind 
and in referring to oneself in that way.  I also think we might gently point 
out to our sighted friends that they need not tiptoe around it by using 
terms like "sightless."  I am blind.  I am also fat, energetic, fair 
complexioned, assertive, empathetic, left-wing, and plenty of other 
characteristics.  If we really believe that it is respectable to be blind, 
than I think we need to be examples of that in how we talk and what we do. 
The more we do not shy away from words like "blind, I think we will 
ultimately make our friends more comfortable.  Just my opinion.

Mark Tardif
Nuclear arms will not hold you.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Paul Wick
Sent: Saturday, June 22, 2013 2:57 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Use of the Term Visually Impaired

I know people get all in a tizzy when you make an analogy to
race/ethnicity, but here goes:

In the 19th century black people were classified as Octoroon (1/8th
African-American ancestry) Quadroon (1/4th) etc. as these labels had
both social and legal significance. It was in a black person's
interest to minimize just how black they were.

I think there is a tendency among many people with vision loss to
minimize just how blind they are.

Black people are proud to be black, but I get the impression that many
people (not all) label themselves as visually impaired because they
are less than proud to be blind.

Best,

Paul

On 6/21/13, Danielle Antoine <singingmywayin at gmail.com> wrote:
> Amen Sister Karly!
>
> On 6/22/13, Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at comcast.net> wrote:
>> Hi, Laz,
>>
>> Good point. Only way someone embodyies "ugly" is by their actions,
>> self-serving, erogant, hateful. Those charicturistics are not seen
>> ocularly.
>> Carly/21/2013, Laz Mesa wrote:
>>>I myself am totally blind and resist being labeled visually impaired.
>>>I do however wish to point out that the term visually impaired has a
>>>negative connotation that the person is visually unacceptable in some
>>>way, as in ugly. This was pointed out to me by an Australian friend.
>>>For that reason, I choose to use the term vision impaired instead. Of
>>>course if the person is butt-ugly, then I guess the term visually
>>>impaired might be acceptable. (just kidding) But I'll tell you what,
>>>since I lost my eyesight, I haven't run into one ugly person. Everyone
>>>I come across is beautiful to me, unless their behaviour or actions
>>>make them ugly.
>>>
>>>All the best,
>>>
>>>Laz
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Kelby Carlson
>>>Sent: Friday, June 21, 2013 3:24 PM
>>>To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>>Subject: [Blindtlk] Use of the Term Visually Impaired
>>>
>>>Hi everybody!
>>>
>>>So, since I'm not aware of any incendiary debates flaring up
>>>around here recently, I thought I'd bring up something I read
>>>recently that I found utterly baffling.  This was on a blog
>>>thread about proper etiquette around people with disabilities.
>>>Towards the end, a discussion of language appropriateness came
>>>up, and someone said that "visually impaired" was an unacceptable
>>>term that should not be used.  Instead, one should say "with a
>>>visual impairment." I have heard similar things regaring the
>>>phrasing of a "blind person" versus "a person with blindness",
>>>but this was especially perplexing because I can't recall ever
>>>meeting someone in my entire life who was opposed to the term
>>>"visually impaired", at least when it was used to describe
>>>someone who had some functional vision.  I don't have strong
>>>feelings either way, but I would actually lean more to towards
>>>preferring visually impaired than "partially sighted", though I
>>>think neither one is more linguistically accurate than the other.
>>>
>>>I have encountered the issue of language surrounding disability
>>>many times, and it's always been a bit strange-don't we, as blind
>>>people (among other people with various kinds of disabilities)
>>>have higher priorities on our lists of "things to fix in the
>>>world"? These are just my thoughts on the matter.
>>>
>>>Kelby S.  Carlson
>>>
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>>>Email:  accessibleelectronics at gmail.com
>>>Skype: lazmesa
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>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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>
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