[Blindtlk] People How Asking How one Became Blind

Kelby Carlson kelbycarlson at gmail.com
Sat May 18 02:33:27 UTC 2013 

Something about this sentiment has always vaguely bothered me.  
It's not as if I want to say that my blindness is something that 
constantly brings horrible suffering insmy life, but simply 
describing it as "a nuissance" seems pretty reductionistic, as 
does saying that it's "just a characteristic." Both things are 
true, but blindness affects me in more contexts and in far more 
ways
than, say, having brown hair does.  It also tends to shape my 
outlook on life, the world and events-consciously and 
subconsciously-a lot more than other "minor" characteristic.  It 
would be hard to try and rank it on a scale along with other 
things like personality, religious convictions and the like, but 
I think a disability can have a pretty important relationship to 
how one forms one's identity and I don't necessarily see anything 
wrong with that.
Kelby



 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Fri, 17 May 2013 18:56:15 -0700
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] People How Asking How one Became Blind

You got it! However, we do offer this view with the provisos that 
if and
only if the blind person has good training and opportunity, 
his/her
blindness can be reduced to a damned nuisance.

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
Carly
Mihalakis
Sent: Friday, May 17, 2013 12:35 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List; Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] People How Asking How one Became Blind

Good morning, don't organizations such as the Federation teach 
that
blindness is nothing more than an inconvenience, another personal
characteristic, like eye or hair color? Oughtn't then we also act 
as such,
while speaking of the condition of our peepers, and how they came 
to be as
such?Ray Foret Jr wrote:
Ah, but, aren't we trying to educate the public that it's 
respectable
to be blind?  Well, aren't we?  IF not, then you are right.  IF 
so,
well, perhaps it's time to see just where or if the rubber truly 
meats
the road.


Sent from my mac, the only computer with full accessibility for 
the
blind built-in!
Sincerely,
The Constantly Barefooted Ray
Still a very proud and happy Mac and Iphone user!

On May 17, 2013, at 12:05 AM, Desiree Oudinot 
<turtlepower17 at gmail.com
wrote:

 I understand what you're saying.  But would you advocate that
 everyone should know this person's history? Blindness is an
 uncomfortable topic for the average person in society to talk 
about;
 suicide, or attempted suicide, even more so.  Combine the two 
and you
 might just send someone running away screaming.  Sure, you could
 claim that they're not worth your time, but the fact remains 
that
 discretion is the key in such sensitive situations.
 As I said, though, something like that is probably the exception
 to the rule.

 On 5/17/13, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:
 It came to my mind that syphilis would also be one of those
 less-than-savory blindness causes -- but that's rare now.

 Incidentally, Desiree, I also knew a person who tried to commit
 suicide; she shot herself, woke up realizing she hadn't done the
 job, shot herself
 *again* and woke up in the hospital realizing all she'd done was
 blind herself.  She had been a brilliant mathematician and that
 brilliance was gone when she recovered but she was still very
 bright -- and blind.  She went on to lead a normal life.

 Mike


 -----Original Message-----
 From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
 Desiree Oudinot
 Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 4:47 PM
 To: Blind Talk Mailing List
 Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] People How Asking How one Became Blind

 Hi,
 I think there are two angles to consider here.  If, for example, 
you
 became blind after trying unsuccessfully to kill yourself (I 
knew
 someone like that, he shot himself in the head, survived, but 
was
 blinded), I can see how one might not want to talk about 
something
 like that with strangers.  Even veterans might have this problem 
if
 their war injuries caused them to lose their sight.  In other 
words,
 I can see both sides of this.  I think you should only tell 
people
 what you're comfortable telling them.  If how you became blind 
is
 something highly personal or traumatic, you shouldn't have to
 reveal that to everyone you meet.  After all, we don't
 normally go around
 displaying our emotional baggage for all to see, that's 
considered
 by most to be undignified.  But for someone like me, who was 
born
 blind, or for people who have lost their sight to things like
 glaucoma or what have you, there's no shame in talking about it.

 On 5/16/13, wogg le4 <woggle4 at gmail.com> wrote:
 Hi, I often people ask what is a personal question when they 
don't
 know one very well.  Why do they feel justified in doing so?

 I have no difficulty in discussing the subject but don't always
 think it appropriate in the particular context.

 this email was prompted by a girl who remarked that she had
 wondered about this all the time she knew me.

 I think she's a bit wierd anyway - it just got me thinking, as 
I'm
 currently stuck on a train sitting beside this girl, struggling 
to
 make conversation, which I'm finding particularly difficult - 
she
 really is an annoying individual.

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