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

Tue Jan 12 01:47:14 UTC 2016

I also agree that medical staff, both office staff and doctors need to be 
educated about blindness and other eisabilities.  Remember too that eye 
doctors are in the business of sight, not blindness, so once you lose your 
sight and they can't do anything more for you, well, that's where their 
knowledge often ends.  As far as that receptionist is concerned, some people 
do need to be "clubed over the head," figuratively, of course, (though 
sometimes one might want to do it literally) before they get it.

Mark Tardif
Nuclear arms will not hold you.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Ericka via blindtlk
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2016 8:27 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: Ericka
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Non 24, Sleep Problems,and how our blindness weighs 
in

>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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