[blparent] Educating society about blindness

Thu Mar 1 21:33:33 UTC 2012

Hi Everyone,

I think this is why this list is so great. We all understand how we
are educating the public every time we step outside our door. However,
I'm sure we also understand that the burden of educating every day,
all the time, gets tiring, and sometimes, we just have to stop being
worried about being educators and just be okay with being human.

I've had my days when I snapped at the person who tried to put my
son's shoes on for me because he kicked them off for the umteenth time
and I didn't see it happen. I've also had my days where I've just
smiled at the person who sat down next to me on BART and said that I
was such a strong woman for being a blind mom. Sometimes, I follow
that smile up with a joke about how I'm not any different than any
other working mom or how stay-at-home moms are even braver than I
because they have their child 24-7.

Anyhow, life is but a stage and we are all actors ... but even actors
get to have intermission.

On 3/1/12, Jo Elizabeth Pinto <jopinto at msn.com> wrote:
> Well, apparently we have a long way to go.  Sorry for the sour grapes, but
> I'm really exasperated.  I took cupcakes to my daughter's preschool for her
> fourth birthday this morning.  Besides the fact that I had to reject the
> cupcakes I had ordered and scramble at the last minute to get some from
> another store because the first store had peanut oil in theirs, even though
> I had asked them twice if they used any peanut products and they said
> no--but that's another story--I won't ever shop the Target bakery again.
> But anyway, we got to the school, and Sarah was proudly showing me "all the
> beautiful things" in her classroom, those were her words, like the toy
> kitchen and the library and the carpet where you had to sit if you didn't
> behave.  She introduced me to a couple of the kids, and then she went up to
> the teacher's aide and said, "Miss Laurie, this is my mom."  And Miss Laurie
> said, "No, honey, that must be your aunt or something."  Sarah reaffirmed
> that I was indeed her mom, and Miss Laurie said, "But you can't see."  I
> wanted to tell her that when it came right down to babymaking, my eyes
> didn't have a whole hell of a lot to do with it.  But there were kids
> around, so I just said, "No, I can't.  That's why I have a white cane."
> Grrrr!
>
> Jo Elizabeth
>
> "How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
> compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of
> the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of
> these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 11:34 AM
> To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [blparent] Educating society about blindness
>
>> I completely agree with what you say here, and it back-ups what I
>> posted. I believe people learn best from us when we show through actions
>> rather than words, though words are important as well. Can it be
>> tiresome at times, sure, but if we stop "educating" society, nothing
>> changes. We live our lives, go about our business, and by doing this, we
>> show the world what blind people can do.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
>> Read my blog at:
>> http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>>
>> "History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
>> The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan
>>
>> Message: 37
>> Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2012 09:46:18 -0700
>> From: "Veronica Smith" <madison_tewe at spinn.net>
>> To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Taking advantage of parenting classes
>> Message-ID: <007b01ccf7ca$d39fa010$7adee030$@net>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>
>> Bridget, we live each day learning and educating.  Each day we step out
>> of our home, we educate the public of what we can or cannot do as a
>> blind individual. Each and every time I walk my daughter to the corner,
>> I am educating others of how I use my cane, how I don't fall into cracks
>> along the edge of the road or how I know when to cross.  I am educating
>> them on how I, a blind mom, keeps my child safe. On the otherhand I am
>> learning each and everytime I take a step, whether it is in my own home
>> or out in public.  I am learning what to do when the dog darts  in front
>> of me, I am learning how to solve problems that might arise during a
>> given minut.  I am learning when I walk out the door. It is crazy for
>> anyone to say, that educating and learning is not important.
>>
>> Educating/learning, whether in a classroom, online or experiencing life
>> is necessary. Some of the things we learn, should be common sense, but
>> what is that?  An idea of what should be, some of us, just don't think
>> that way.  We need someone to put the idea, the flame on the candle to
>> start it burning. Sorry about that. I just hate when peeps say that we
>> shouldn'tlearn and are tired of educating others. V
>>
>>
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>
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