[Blindtlk] Use of the Term Visually Impaired

[Tatiana N]

Hello everyone from a blind folk living in Athens of Greece!
I've been following with lod of personal interest this discussed subject, and I thought there are similarities of sort almost globally!!
What do I mean? We, greeks, for exaample, tend to avoid using the term blind that exists in our language, as it is considered tough, cruel, as opposed to People with Sight Loss, or People with Sight Conditions,, wich is - considerably - closer to human rights respect.
As far as I know, the same goes for Italy, where they use the terms "Bon vedenti ed ipovedenti", that is to say "non-sighted and hypo-sighted". And o on for France (but I can't spell the words), and maybe for other countries.
I agree with what just Robin stated, which is more accurate and descriptive, it also distinguishes the two categories.

Warm greetings!



Από το iPhone μου

24 Ιουν 2013, 7:03 μ.μ., ο/η Robin <robin-melvin at comcast.net> έγραψε:

> Personally, I think people, who are TOTALLY BLIND should be referred to as Blind, and people, who have any vision should be referred to as LOW Vision as opposed to Visually Impaired.
> 
> We as a community should take control of the way we are identified just as people, who have difficulty hearing have by referring to themselves as DEAF as opposed to Hearing Impaired, but we as a community are NOT unified as they are.
> 
> Sent From Robin M.
> At 05:51 AM 6/24/2013, you wrote:
>> Good morning. Many of us who have been blind, to whatever degree for a while,  use the B word for a couple of reasons. Terms such as visually impaired, hard of seeing, unsighted, multiply blind, unsightly, visually diminished, (please add other euphemisms as you see fit) do so because we want to promote the inherent respectability of being blind. Now everyone will use whatever they are comfortable with, I know. The other factor is that Blind has a legal definition. Some states have a definition of Visually Impaired, some do not. I think it may sometimes encourage people to learn those alternative techniques which, may help them in their daily lives.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carly Mihalakis
>> Sent: Saturday, June 22, 2013 7:52 PM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List; Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Use of the Term Visually Impaired
>> 
>> Good afternoon, Mark,
>> 
>> Agreed! Have you not visual perception, at all? What then, could b characterized as impaired? When used to describe folk like you, or I, as well as many, many others on this here list,  it's plain inaccurate!
>> People ought be called whatever makes them feel comfortable. I don't feel comfortable with a term like "vision impaired" Last I checked, my vision is not impaired. Do they have a box called vision nonexistent? I believe myself amazingly suited for such a box.