[blparent] Educating society about blindness

Thu Mar 1 21:56:57 UTC 2012

On 3/1/12, Lisamaria Martinez <lmartinez217 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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