[Colorado-Talk] my thoughts on living the life you want

[Holly Scott-Gardner]

Hello all,

This has been a lively and interesting discussion, I've enjoyed reading all of your responses.

"Live the life you want," is a powerful statement that has guided me towards a more positive future. And yet whilst it is strong, it is also something which we take for granted and do not explore often enough. I appreciate the discussion that has sprung up around it and would like to offer some of my own thoughts.

Firstly, live the life you want does in some ways refer to our own choices as individuals. I can live the life I want and my blindness need not change that. Perhaps I won't find enough hours in the day to do all the things I would like, or I am limited by a lack of resources that I cannot change, but in respect to my blindness I have the skills to make choices regarding my own future. My recent training at CCB has enabled me to do this.

Something I haven't seen much discussion on is how it also applies to our legal rights as disabled people. I am only able to live the life I want because I have legal protection that allows me to do so. The ADA in the US, and the Equality Act back home, means I am entitled to access public places and obtain an equal education. I have legal rights, and thus choices about how I live my life. This is where we must continue to support one another as a federation. We have to continue to dedicate resources towards advocacy and lobbying in order to uphold our rights as blind people and ensure that when we do experience discrimination we have the resources to fight it. I am extremely grateful to everyone who works within the NFB in that capacity as they create a more equitable future for us all.

The topic of training centers is absolutely related to living the life we want. I benefited directly from training at CCB but I fundamentally believe that we must be able to choose what kind of training we receive. CCB has the right to enforce policies like the use of sleep shades, however you as a blind consumer can also choose to receive training at a center that does not implement such policies. This is the beauty of such a varied rehabilitation system.

But wherever you go, and wherever we work we must ask ourselves is the training we receive of a high enough standard. At the 2019 national convention I attended an event for blind rehabilitation professionals. One of the most significant things I took away from it was a question which was asked to the room at large. "How do we ensure that we are preparing our students for 21st century employment?" The question stuck with me throughout the rest of my training as an ITP student and is something I cannot avoid examining in more detail now I am beginning my journey as a rehabilitation professional.

The world is changing at a staggeringly fast pace. I'm young, a recent college grad and yet I look back at the resources that were available to me as a child vs the resources that blind people have now and the difference is almost unbelievable. We are able to access millions of books and we hold devices in our hands that are fully accessible and which we can use to manage almost all aspects of our lives. Technology is changing life for blind people, but it is also changing employment prospects for everyone, blind or otherwise. It's absolutely essential that blindness training keeps up with the demand for comprehensive tech skills or blind people are going to be left behind very quickly, in fact I'd argue that this is already happening.

We can't just hold onto the philosophy of the federation when implementing training programs, powerful and essential as it is. We also have to examine wider society and what is required in order to be successful in the workplace or in education. "Live the life you want" should underpin what training centers like CCB do, but in order to live the life they want, students must be prepared for the real world in 2020, not the world of the 1990s or early 2000s.

It would be unfair to say that instructors at the center don't recognise this because they absolutely do. From my perspective it's a much greater issue than CCB itself, we also have to look to the NBPCB for guidance and stronger certification programs and to divisions of the federation such as the National Association of Blind Rehabilitation Professionals to make stronger statements on how best to serve blind consumers.

So how do we change this? What do you want to see, from the federation and from the rehabilitation field? How do we keep living the lives we want in an ever-changing landscape? It is so easy to present problems and less easy to present solutions, yet we must do both if anything is going to change. My personal goal for this year is to meet students where they are at and to look at them as individuals, with their own unique hopes and dreams. How can I best work with them to ensure that they are ready to break into whatever field they want to? I am also going to strengthen my knowledge of advocacy, both self advocacy and advocating for others. Finally, I will support either the federation if I'm in the US, or advocacy groups back home with lobbying governmental departments to ensure our legal rights are upheld.

I can't change the whole federation, none of us can. But we do have a choice to commit to more decisive action as individuals.

Holly Scott-Gardner

-----Original Message-----
From: Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ryan O via Colorado-Talk
Sent: 11 January 2020 12:53
To: 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ryan O <rryano218 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Colorado-Talk] my thoughts on living the life you want

Hello, Colorado!

Greetings from Nebraska, where the temperature is 6 degrees and we just endured our first major snow of the season.  Yes, I’m rubbing it in.  You guys deserve it after stealing the Baldwins from us.

I still miss Denver and all of you terribly (except Kevan, of course) and long for the days when the climate and public transit were more temperate.

I’ve been following this thread for the past week with great interest.  Frankly, I was glad to see that someone raised the issue.  For many of us outside of the leadership ring of the Federation, there has been a growing perception of a widening disconnect between the leadership and the general rank-and-file movement.  The Federation has always emphasized leadership, of course, and it’s top-down style has engendered criticism over the decades.  Perhaps nothing has changed.  Perhaps the leadership is the same as it has always been.  Or, perhaps the emergence of social media as a dominant force has magnified the cracks that have always existed in the NFB armor.  Or, perhaps it merely gives our critics a larger megaphone with which to shout at us.

I think that there is a kernel of truth in all of these possibilities.  Whatever the case, this is a conversation that needs to happen.

I found Scott’s remarks on the branding process to be of particular interest.  I shamelessly acknowledge that I am a free market capitalist.  That said, I think it is a mistake for the NFB to take a corporatist approach to our messaging.  We are a non-profit organization, not for-profit.  The methods by which we recruit and motivate our membership should be entirely different than that of a for-profit enterprise.

My criticism of the slogan itself can best be summed up by a friend of mine (who shall remain anonymous) who said that our new slogan, “Live the life you want,” sounds like the tagline of an ad that you would see for a retirement community.  His/her critique is profound.  Even though a select group of people chose this slogan, there is nothing in it that really stands out as uniquely NFB.

I was a fan of our prior slogan, “Changing what it means to be blind.”  I thought it was simple, direct, accurate and most important of all, it contained the word, “Blind,” within the slogan.

I have a larger point in bringing this up.  This is the first time I’ve expressed my view about our slogan on any platform, or in any venue.  No one asked me my thoughts when we adopted the slogan a few years ago.  The first I ever heard of it was in the summer of 2014 when a group of us filmed a video singing around the piano in the CCB lobby for publication on the NFB YouTube channel.  By then, it was already our official slogan.  I don’t recall any discussion of it at chapter meetings, on list serves, at conventions or in casual conversations with NFB leaders.

This is why I was glad that Jenny wrote the message that she did.  I believe that the leadership needs to hear feedback like this from outside of their comfort zone.  Unfortunately, we now live in a time when like-minded people seem to congregate together, excising those with whom they disagree from their sphere of interaction.  This phenomenon has created an echo chamber effect.  If the leadership has always been this way, our recent shift toward further societal and cultural polarization has probably exacerbated the problem.  This is why I think Jenny’s message was healthy and necessary.

Before I continue, I’m going to take a fit break in honor of Jessica and Maureen.

I’m back now.  My fit break consisted of me getting up, stretching, then going to the kitchen for a root beer.  If you ladies don’t feel that this was adequate, take heart in the knowledge that it’s a diet root beer.

Talking of comfort zones brings me to my next point.  Jenny, while I applauded your initial message, I do feel that you and others have subsequently muddied it more than a bit.

It’s one thing to criticize the Colorado leadership for their approach to state conventions.  These are conversations that the leadership has been holding for some years now.  Like national, I think they need input from those outside of their comfort bubble.  That said, criticizing a policy at the CCB is quite a different matter.

Here’s where I acknowledge a bias.  While I am increasingly skeptical of our national leadership, I have great heart for the mission, the staff and the students at the Colorado Center for the Blind.  I worked there for three-and-a-half months and it was enough to scar me for life.  That aside, unlike a random, superficial slogan, the CCB is transforming our high-sounding words into concrete action.  They aren’t merely changing what it means to be blind; they are illustrating one course of action for doing so.  The sleep shades are an integral component to this.  Anyone can use their residual vision for everyday tasks, but it is quite another proposition to go outside of your comfort zone in order to experience an alternative, non-visual method of performing an ordinary task such as crossing a street, frying bacon or hammering a nail.  The use of the shades is a compulsory means of pushing a student into that mode of learning.

Maryann kind of stole my thunder on this point.  I will merely echo what she suggested and urge you to study your rights as a consumer; rights that the NFB was instrumental in defining.  As blind consumers, choice is a right that we all have, but the choice of the CCB to implement a curriculum that aligns with its philosophy is just as important as your right to choose as an individual.

If you want to criticize the leadership for their messaging or their convention agendas, fine.  More power to you.  This is a relatively new conversation and it is worth having.  If you want to take issue with the sleep shades, the long cane, the importance of braille, etc, just know that folks like Diane, Julie, Dan and Brent have been weathering storms of criticisms surrounding these issues for decades.  Their arguments are well-honed and have withstood the test of time.

Finally, I will toss out the Nebraska state motto; a slogan that has proven somewhat controversial.

“Nebraska: It’s not for everyone.”

The simple truth is that the NFB could adopt this same slogan.  The Federation approach is not for everyone.  I know the leadership is resistant to this reality, but that doesn’t change it.  Yet, our presence is vital as an option for those who wish to pursue their growth and independence as blind people living in the world.  If choice is a basic human right, the NFB must be a choice.

On the other hand, if the leadership is not effectively communicating that choice, it is incumbent upon them to modify their outreach.  I believe that such modification depends upon honest dialogue, not that which is manufactured and controlled by a mere few.

Sorry for the length of this message.  I’m off now for another fit break; Sam Adams and a cigar.  Love y’all.

… Except Kevan, of course.

Sincerely,

Ryan Osentowski

http://www.conservativeblindguy.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Colorado-Talk [mailto:colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Maryann Migliorelli via Colorado-Talk
Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2020 11:27 AM
To: NFB of Colorado Discussion List
Cc: Maryann Migliorelli
Subject: Re: [Colorado-Talk] my thoughts on living the life you want

Hi Jenny, it is absolutely worth a conversation to talk to Julie or someone at the center and explain what things you believe you can want to. The centers certainly are able to adjust the requirements to meet somebody’s needs. As far as things like sleep, shades it’s best to think of them as just part of the curriculum. You couldn’t go to a college and say ”I want to graduate but I don’t want to use the textbook you’re providing.” I’m not saying this specifically to you but the others were thinking about canes and sleep shades. I think about it like attending the physics class and saying, ”That’s great, but I don’t want to use the physics textbook you have.”  It wouldn’t be accepted.   Most people do have some  choices about which centers  too attend.You can choose a Center anywhere in the country if you can justify why you need that over another place. It is not easy, but it is part of the freedom of choice act.
On another subject entirely I’m very proud to hear of your volunteer accomplishments. Are you aware that we have a community service division? It sounds like something you should really consider joining. Any of the activities are by    phone.


Being a homemaker is certainly a good profession, even though vocational rehab doesn’t consider it so. There used to be a time when their were services or people whowork at home taking care of families. Perhaps we can look into that again as an organization and ensure that Blind parents are able to get skills that they need and technology that facilitates then being at home. 
Scott, please think as I do that using assistance and crossing cards is certainly a choice. There certainly is an opposite choice which is much less desire such as staying home or completely relying on somebody to do what you need for you. Either way living the life you want  is about making your own choices instead of having somebody make them for you

I apologize for the length of the message and several subjects, but I wanted to get them all in while I am making the choice to ride a greyhound from New York City to Albany. Have a wonderful day. 
At your service,
Sent from Maryann Migliorelli's iPhone

> On Jan 9, 2020, at 5:58 AM, Jenny Perdue via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Melissa, I enjoyed your comments greatly.
> 
> Yes you’re told the requirements for CCB, but if you can’t be under sleep shade, if there are things that you can’t do. You shouldn’t just be booted out because you don’t meet the requirements.
> 
> I thought if anyone the NFB‘s Colorado Center for the blind would be Accommodating and such as that. I have never called, because honestly, all the centers for the blind sound like their run very similarly and I don’t think that I would really be able to do it.
> 
> Everybody doesn’t fit in a box. And that includes those of us with multiple health problems.
> 
> I am so grateful for this Dialogue, conversation. Thank everybody for being so wonderful and understanding. Even the thoughts that we don’t agree on, we can still respect them.
> 
> Jenny
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Jan 7, 2020, at 7:15 PM, Melissa R. Green via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> First, thank you Scott. For sharing your views and the background. 
>> Now, I will share my thoughts, and then continue to comment and read, as webbl as live the life I want.
>> Growing up, I got little mentions of the NFB. Like many I got the little callendars in braille. My teachers would give it to me.' as a gift.
>> I didn't really know about the NFB until 1992.
>> I had made up my mind that I was not going to be in any more organizations. I was leaving the ACB. I was done.
>> So I sat at the table with my aunt and a couple of people that I had met. While Peggy Pinder, at that time, walked around the room, and my aunt whispering in my ear about her.
>> I didn't like it. But, Peggy came over and spent time with me.
>> Thats where I met my cousin who was a leader in the federation. I did join.
>> I read the braille monitor. I kept reaning it when I moved back to NewJersey. 
>> No matter how depressed or upset I got about the commission not helping me, I stikl kept reading the braille monitor, and teaching myself things like computers.
>> As well as talking with my cousin. Him encouraging and listening and making suggestions.
>> One day I got a cabbl, from Mrs. Maurer. She told me about the centers. I got a better response from Diane Mcgeorge.
>> Smile! We started working me getting to CCB.
>> After, the NFB of NJ president, joined the reverend moon church, and lots ot talks with Duncan, and asked to consider mo"ing to Colorado. 
>> I moved and yes as the youngest, my mom came with me. I got flack for that, but it worked out. 
>> For me it was more than river rafting, cooking a big meal, and rock climbing. I learned that the center gives you choices and the training is tools in my tool box.
>> We had many students that had other disabilities. Their program was 
>> indevidualized. The staff worked to help these students. One student 
>> had a stroke. It was other diffeculties that were hendering her, the 
>> staff didn't kick her to the can-rb, they found other programs for 
>> her. Nother student graduated and recieved his bell. I tell you all 
>> of this because, CCB will try, and sometimes they have a comversation 
>> about if this program will work for the person. As someone that is 
>> human, I get tired of people blaming the center for the program. You 
>> are told the requirements, and if not, then it
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Have a enjoyable and blessed day.
>> Sincerely,
>> Melissa R.  Green and Pj
>> "If you have a goal, make it something you strive to accomplish. If you have a hope, then hope for it with all your heart.  
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Scott C. LaBarre via Colorado-Talk  <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> To: colorado-talk at nfbnet.org
>> Date: 01/07/2020 5:02 pm
>> Subject: [Colorado-Talk] my thoughts on living the life you want
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> First of all, I want to wish everyone here a very happy new year!  My hope is that 2020 will be outstanding for all of us.
>>> 
>>> Next, I want to thank Jenny for raising the topic of what our tagline "live the life you want!" really means.  I appreciate everyone's thoughtful comments about how it should be interpreted and implemented.
>>> 
>>> Before I delve into the substance of my comments, I want to give you a little  background which helps to form my perspective.  I first joined the NFB in 1986, and I have had the honor and privilege of being a very active member and leader on many different levels.  As part of that experience, I served on a committee which was formed in 2013, maybe even late 2012, whose purpose was to develop our plan for celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Federation.  After some discussion, we decided that it was time to rebrand our messaging so that we could more effectively communicate who we are.  One part of that rebranding was changing our tagline from  "we are changing what it means to be blind" to the current "live the life you want!"  Beyond just the tagline, we developed a comprehensive brand architecture which has many elements that would serve as an excellent focal point for future discussions.  In any event, I mention all this because I think I have some idea of what we intended regarding the message we were attempting to  communicate.
>>> 
>>> Ever since I have been involved in the NFB, there has been this conception that the NFB only supports and celebrates the "super blind" and that if you don't go about blindness in a very specific manner, you are not really living the life the NFB endorses.  I emphatically and whole heartedly believe that this misconception is not true!  There is no such thing as a model Federationist, and there certainly is not one, singular script from which we must all lead our lives.  
>>> 
>>> The idea of "live the life you want!" is that your blindness should not hold you back from pursuing your dreams and ambitions.  Undeniably all of our dreams and ambitions  are limited and somewhat governed by the realities we face, whether those are financial, educational, , health based, or otherwise.  There is no one way to live the life you want.  It doesn't matter if you are pursuing a high stakes profession, working from home, volunteering in the community, or not working at all.  Our main message is that whatever you are doing with       your life, your blindness should not be the chief reason holding you back from whatever brings you fulfillment and purpose in life.  Our one minute message, another creation of our rebranding, brings this point out.
>>> 
>>> "The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back."
>>> 
>>> A key part of this message is that we are raising expectations.  That has both an external and internal aspects to it.  On the external side, we are working to convince the general population that they can and should expect more from us.  All of us often run into very low expectations held by the public.  Pretty much every time I travel to and through an airport somebody tells me how amazing I am for simply putting one foot in front of another.  
>>> 
>>> On the internal side, we should encourage one another to become the best versions of ourselves that we can.  Doing so must always be done with love and understanding.  Every year that I am in the Federation, I learn so much from our members on how I can lead my life in a better way, a new technology trick or something that enhances my independent travel or whatever it might be.  I certainly haven't figured it all out, and I know that some times I do in fact let my blindness limit me in a way that isn't truly necessary.  
>>> 
>>> Regardless, we must accept people where they are in their lives and be ready to encourage them to achieve more when that is appropriate.  This is what we aim to do at our centers.  We work with people from all walks of life and who have a wide variety of challenges.  No student's program is or should be the same.  We have some general policies and expectations, but same are always adjusted to the individual student.
>>> 
>>> Living the life you want is all about independence and freedom.  As our founder Dr. tenBroek so eloquently  put it, we have a right to live in the world.  That means we have the right to be free and independent and to determine our own destiny.  The exact mechanism we use to achieve that freedom and independence is not the key issue, but rather that we  know and believe that we have the right to achieve it.  I think the Federation's best speech regarding independence is the Nature of Independence by Dr. Jernigan from the 1993 Convention.  If you haven't read it, I encourage that you do so.    It is available through our national website.
>>> 
>>> Before closing this out, I want to address another point Jenny raised in her original message, the idea that perhaps we some times focus and emphasize success stories based on traditional notions of success and that we don't celebrate other forms of achievement.  I think this is a great point, and we should endeavor to paint a more comprehensive picture.  Convincing an animal shelter to let you volunteer despite your blindness is just as important as someone winning a national scholarship based on academic achievement at the highest level.  Both are part of living the life we want.
>>> 
>>> In closing, I want to share two other element from our brand architecture, the Brand Promise and Value Proposition.  I do this because, for me, it so eloquently sums up why I am involved in our Federation.  "Together with love, hope, and determination, we transform dreams into reality.  I am filled with hope, energy, and love by participating in the National Federation of the Blind because my expectations are raised, my contributions make a difference to me and to others, and I can celebrate the realization of my dreams with my Federation family."
>>> 
>>> Warmly,
>>> Scott
>>> 
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>> 
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