[blparent] Educating society about blindness

Mon Mar 5 18:08:31 UTC 2012

True, but for some reason we don't get to take as long a break as others.
Sure everyone has bad days but unfortunately our reactions reflect stronger
than others. When I go out each day I don't think who am I going to educate
today but I know from past experience, I am going to educate at least one
person and I cross my fingers mentally, that I educate them in a positive
way.  

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Lisamaria Martinez
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 2:34 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] Educating society about blindness

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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