[Blindtlk] Non 24, Sleep Problems, and how our blindness weighs in

Tue Jan 12 01:27:33 UTC 2016

From the original intent of the subject, I completely agree with all who posted suggesting that education for medical professionals is needed. I also think office staff needs to be educated to. I have some usable vision but it never need that at least I doctors offices and related places didn't have paperwork to fill out in a different format. How many of us go to these places often? How hard is it to change fonts and print your forms for us? I asked you W Madison I clinic to do that and they said they never thought about it that way. I haven't been back to find out if they have created a policy. I have also encountered receptionists that were less than respectful. Mmy 79-year-old neighbor who gave me a ride to an appointment one day had a great laugh when I chewed out as respectfully as I possibly could a receptionist because she tried to get information out of him rather than ask me. He kept telling her "ask Ericka,  The came doesn't mean she can't talk! "

Ericka Short
"Friends are like flowers in the garden of life"

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 11, 2016, at 7:00 PM, Bob Hachey via blindtlk <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello Chaim,
> I hear you loud and clear about how badly the medical profession is in need
> of educating when it come to dealing with us blind folks.
> That is a shame about no gym class for something like two years of school. I
> was very fortunate living in Reading Massachusetts. Our public school gym
> teachers were very good about including me in gym classes. When the class
> did things like Soccer, I lifted weights and ran the ttrakc with a student
> volunteer. IN flag football, I played center, though it was hard to get the
> hang of blocking an opponent. They put sounders on the basketball hoops and
> I tried using a beep basketball but I had trouble trying to get the hang of
> both sounds at once and tracking the ball.
> I did calesthenics, gymnastics and wrestiling along with the group. 
> WE must be ever vigilant so as to ensure that all of our brothers and
> sisters get proper physical education.
> Bob Hachey 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chaim B.
> Segal via blindtlk
> Sent: Monday, January 11, 2016 6:54 PM
> To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Chaim B. Segal
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Non 24, Sleep Problems, and how our blindness weighs in
> 
> Hi Folks:
> 
> I have not posted on this list in a great number of months, as work duties
> circumvented my opportunity to read as many messages from listserves as
> before. I decided to start receiving mail from these nfbnet.org lists again,
> because I think there is pertinent information out there I should be aware
> of. Even if I end up running behind on digests, better to be informed.
> 
> When I think of the Non 24 issue, something entirely different comes to
> mind. As was stated on this list a few days ago, many sighted people also
> have sleep-related difficulties, which have nothing to do with blindness. My
> own father, bless his memory, lost a job in his later days because he kept
> falling asleep. Falling asleep on the job was the last straw which caused my
> release from my previous job, but that was largely caused by stress on
> account of a new order of rules-entirely different subject.
> 
> A good number of years ago, my older blind brother was diagnosed with sleep
> apnea. To make a long story short, his doctor-ordered sleep study led to his
> being prescribed a C-pap. Parenthetically, he was extremely overweight,
> which may have been part of the cause of the sleep apnea.
> 
> I have been married, thank-God for six years and counting. Early on, I
> discovered that my wife had an extremely serious problem with narcolepsy. I
> don't want to make myself a laughing stock, but I'll say that she and I are
> not exactly thin. I will spare unnecessary detail. I discovered on my own
> that she had serious trouble breathing throughout the night, and was often
> awaken by her gasping for air in her sleep. Recalling these symptoms from my
> older brother, I took it upon myself to engineer her getting a referral for
> a sleep study. Turned out, she also had sleep apnea. Like my brother, she
> uses a C-pap, and has much more energy during the day. The sleep doctor (who
> just retired) nearly insisted that she try Non 24. She and I were adamant
> that this was not a matter of interest. Like a number of unfortunate sighted
> folks out there, the guy was under the impression that blind people cannot
> really move comfortably beyond their own space. He was, in fact, surprised
> to find out how many  blind couples exist.  I am glad we had the opportunity
> to set him straight. It bothers me that there is not a mandatory course in
> disability awareness for doctors and nurses in medical and nursing school. I
> think that anybody entering the medical field who may, at any point in their
> career, treat a disabled person be notified concerning appropriate personal
> etiquette in dealing with us.
> 
> I know that some of us bld do exercise and try to watch what we eat. Sadly,
> a number of blind people don't. There are a number of reasons for this,
> including in some cases fear among gym staff that we will get hurt on their
> equipment, or their insurance does not allow it. My oldest (sighted) brother
> pointed out that with a number of us not being able to see our own body
> profile in the mirror, we don't realize how unhealthy we look in comparison
> to other people around us. While he may have a valid point, my argument to
> him is that from what I have heard, the majority of the US population is
> indeed overweight. Be that as it may, you don't have to be overweight to
> have sleep apnea. Maybe, a number of blind and sighted people alike have
> sleep apnea, but are not being treated for it. Maybe a number of blind and
> sighted people are not getting adequate exercise throughout the day and are
> not eating right. Maybe, there are many factors involved.
> 
> I think that before doctors prescribe this "antidote", they ought to take a
> person's daily factors into account. I also think that gyms, spas, and the
> like, should be encouraged to run specials which encourage blind and
> disabled folks to come and work out. I'll take it a step further. For those
> blind people who attend regular mainstream school classes, there should be a
> law which demands that any physical fitness instructor in a public
> institution be given the means to include a blind or disabled student along
> with the rest of the class.
> 
> On this note, I'll add one more comment. From mid way through my seventh
> grade year through my freshman year, I received no gym instruction in my
> local public school. Indeed, one reason I decided to attend the Ohio State
> School For The Blind for high school was that I was told physical
> instruction was taught there. During my sophomore year there, they did some
> repairs on their gymnasium and there was a big ribbon-cutting ceremony. We
> had been swimming in their pool in place of gym instruction. What happened
> after the big fanfare? Some well-meaning folks decided that we had to have a
> similar experience as sighted folks. So, they decided to teach us how to hit
> a tennis ball with a tennis racket. It flopped! As soon as we were shown how
> to do it and commanded to do so, the teacher(s) had to go show another blind
> person the same thing. So, A would shove the ball out of his hand with the
> racket, and have nothing to do until it could be retrieved. I felt it was a
> complete waste. And, as  Mr. Robert Mills, one of the  best o&m instructors
> in the country said, "This is a blind school! You students are blind! They
> have a g d big beautiful gym! They should use it for what it is supposed to
> be used for!" 
> 
> Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow or next day on an entirely different subject.
> 
> Chaim
> 
> Chaim B. Segal
> Contact Marketing Representative
> Sinclair Community College
> Dayton, Ohio
> 
> Every Man, woman, every boy and girl,
> Let your love light shine, make a better world.
> 
> Daryl Hall And John Oates
> 
> Sent from my Braille Sense U2 Mini  
> 
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