[Cabs-talk] studying "the blind,"

Mon Oct 4 00:16:54 UTC 2010

I'll take a stab at Darien's third question;
"when does education end and living our lives as the fully functioning,
desire-having, dream-seeking human beings that we are begin?" 

I actually have a couple of responses. First, why do the two need to be
separate? Not only can we educate and live our own full lives at the same
time, but I've found that the act of educating often enriches my life,
allowing for relations to form which might not have had I not attempted to
educate.
	Second, we have a responsibility to educate, not only for ourselves
but for those who come after us. Is it fair? No. I've often cursed it
myself, wondering why I should have to take extra time to tell people how I
do the simplest tasks, while my sighted classmates cruise blithely through
life secure in the knowledge that their abilities to do those same tasks
will not be questioned. Since the realities of life are that we do things
differently, and we do desire to live the "fully functioning, desire-having,
dream-seeking" lives Darien referred too with as little superfluous
interference as possible, it is necessary albeit inconvenient at times that
we educate.
	Now, let me clarify that we have shifted the focus of our
discussion. Aziza was originally asking about responding to requests that we
participate in research studies and other such projects. I'm referring to,
and I'm sure Darien was referring too the tasks of educating in the context
of every-day encounters.
Hope this helps,
Angela    

-----Original Message-----
From: cabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:cabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Aziza C
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2010 4:59 PM
To: 'California Association of Blind Students Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Cabs-talk] studying "the blind,"

Judgement defines intent. You can tell a lot about someone on how they
approach you. I think. If someone is truly interested in blindness it is
noticeable.

If it isn't our responsibility to educate, who's is it? It may not be by
default ours, but we have taken it on for the entire blind community, and
tend to pass it on with what we've learned about the responsibility to those
blind people we meet.

Not really sure how to respond to the third.
AC

-----Original Message-----
From: cabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:cabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Darian Smith
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2010 5:53 PM
To: fowlers at syix.com; California Association of Blind Students Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Cabs-talk] studying "the blind,"

 slightly shifting the topic:
I pose these questions  for consideration to the list.
1. how can we   realisticly judge  intent?
2. what"makes it" our "responsibility" to educate?
3. when does education end and living our lives as the fully functioning,
desire-having, dream-seeking human beings that we are begin?
Darian

On 10/3/10, Angela Fowler <fowlers at syix.com> wrote:
> Aziza brings up a question which I've been wrestling with off and on 
> for almost a year.
> At times I receive emails from people wanting to interview a blind 
> person
as
> part of some project they are doing, or seeking information about some
other
> aspect of life as a blind person. I rarely respond to such a request, 
> as much as anything because I can't verify that the person making it 
> is legitimate.
> 	The dilemma however, is this. If the person making the request has 
> preconceived notions about blind people, and is trying to reinforce 
> those notions, nothing we say or do is likely to have any effect. On 
> the other hand, if the person making the request is open-minded, 
> thoughtful, and is undertaking a project which is going to be seen by 
> a wide variety of
people,
> we have a good opportunity to educate.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org 
> [mailto:cabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On
> Behalf Of Darian Smith
> Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2010 1:39 PM
> To: California Association of Blind Students Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Cabs-talk] studying "the blind,"
>
> Aziza,
>  this is a very interesting topic, and I want to thank you for 
> bringing it up.  I, like alot of us on this list  are subscribed to 
> alot of blindness-related list serves and I find it  interesting that  
> some
amungst
> the sighted public turn to  the blind as a sort of  case study hot bed.
>  This said, it is difficult to say what is the case with  the
communication
> you recieved,  because only you have the ability to make
> the determination with regards to what you  have   been approached
> with.  I guess it is really a judgement call.  If you really  think 
> that someone  is  taking interest in blindness  just  as a case study,  
> you obviously  don't need to assist them,  nor do you if they  seem to  
> have a good cause behind their wishing to survay-interview  you.
>   Basically, it's a subjective thing  as I personally see it.
>  respectfully,
>   Darian
>
>
> On 10/3/10, Aziza C <daydreamingncolor at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi guys,
>>
>>
>>
>> So I may be completely off based, but I will let you decide.
>>
>>
>>
>> I got a message on facebook from an individual who wants to write a 
>> paper on a blind person. Personally this infuriates me. It frustrates 
>> me that the only reason someone would contact me is to try and make 
>> their misconceptions fit into my life so they can write their paper 
>> and pretend they actually understand what its like to be blind.
>>
>>
>>
>> Now don't get me wrong, I love to inform and teach, but there is a 
>> difference in sitting down and discussing blindness as a whole with 
>> someone pursuing an education in disability services, or allowing 
>> someone to document what kind of lives we lead, or even working with 
>> children who want to learn how to develop something to help the blind 
>> community. These kinds of efforts, in my opinion, are helping us.
>> However, when someone contacts me, as if I am a rare case study they 
>> must speak with because I am blind, I get a little frustrated.
>>
>>
>>
>> Where does general affective curiosity cross the line into rude 
>> invasion of our blindness? How do we decide who to help with projects 
>> like these, and who is not really interested in blindness, but just 
>> wants a good topic to bluff his/her way through with preconceived 
>> false
> notions?
>>
>>
>>
>> Aziza
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Cabs-talk mailing list
>> Cabs-talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> Cabs-talk:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org/dsmithnfb%
>> 4
>> 0gmail.com
>>
>
>
> --
> Darian Smith
> Skype: The_Blind_Truth
> Windows Live: Lightningrod2010 at live.com Follow me on twitter: 
> http://twitter.com/goldengateace
>
>
> "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are 
> spiritual beings having a human experience." - Teilhard de Chardin
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cabs-talk mailing list
> Cabs-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Cabs-talk:
>
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org/fowlers%40syix.co
> m
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cabs-talk mailing list
> Cabs-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Cabs-talk:
>
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org/dsmithnfb%40gmail
.com
>

--
Darian Smith
Skype: The_Blind_Truth
Windows Live: Lightningrod2010 at live.com
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/goldengateace

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are
spiritual beings having a human experience." - Teilhard de Chardin

_______________________________________________
Cabs-talk mailing list
Cabs-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Cabs-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org/daydreamingncolor
%40gmail.com

_______________________________________________
Cabs-talk mailing list
Cabs-talk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Cabs-talk:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cabs-talk_nfbnet.org/fowlers%40syix.co
m