[Colorado-Talk] Helen Keller Video

[maurice at maurice-amines.com]

Good afternoon my friends in Colorado as Doula mentioned earlier today I have become aware of this. I have gone through twice. And like the original post

the passing, that Helen Keller would attempt to make us seem like we are helpless, hopeless. I've always believed with the right skills and training deaf blind person can do anything that she, or he wants to do. You just have to adapt things a little.

 

The bigger question here and I did ask this earlier today of our entire board and the deaf blind division should Helen Keller speak for us? What should we blind people and will importantly deaf blind people speak for ourselves. The other question is, before the board is if we are to find ways to have positive DeafBlind is training outcomes why can't the National Federation of the Blind training centers do this. It is a good topic of discussion. I have reached out of course to Julie to have a conversation about that. But I want to caution anyone who thinks the NFB centers are going to start doing training deaf blind people if they need sign or any major accommodations anytime soon. I think we’re going to do that meeting PNT centers in the in a we have to get all of our "ducks in a row" before we even consider going down that road.

 

In closing I believe it is respectable to be a DeafBlind person in America today. If anyone on this list wishes to have an email conversation with me or texting conversation with me please reach out to me I would be happy to talk about some of our issues with you. I would also like to take the opportunity to mention two things here. One if you're interested in what we’re doing, on November 15 at 8 PM Eastern anyone can come to our public board meeting. I'm sure that our secretary who is in your state will be happy to provide you with the zoom information.

 

We are in the midst of a fundraiser, if you wish information on that fundraiser again please reach out to me or our national secretary in either one of us will be happy to provide information. I hope you all had a great state convention. And just as an aside I had computer and technical issues yesterday morning or will have on zoom. And I was able to certainly get the satellite radio equipment to work perfectly in the afternoon so it was great to hear the Broncos beat the Chiefs. They well everyone.

Please note that all of my comments have been dictated to the computer. Unfortunately no dictation software is ever going to be perfect. So there's something that you didn't understand, that I have written, and you truly do not understand it. Please feel free to write me and asked me what did I really mean, and/or intend to say. Thank you very much for reading this.

 

 

Maurice Mines, President 

National Federation of the Blind Deaf-Blind Division 

Email: presidentdeafblindnfb at maurice-amines.com <mailto:presidentdeafblindnfb at maurice-amines.com>   

Website: www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org>  http://www.nfbdeaf-blind.org 

Live the life you want. 

The National Federation of the Blind Deaf-Blind Division, a proud division 

of the National Federation of the Blind, is a community of members and 

friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day 

we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.         

 

 

 

 

From: Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Cerridwyn Nordstrom via Colorado-Talk
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2023 4:58 PM
To: colorado-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Cerridwyn Nordstrom <iamcerridwyn at gmail.com>
Subject: [Colorado-Talk] Helen Keller Video

 

Hi All, 

 

I hope you all are well after the Convention this weekend. I mostly just lurk in the forum, however, a viral video with 1.3 million views has been brought to my attention. I am going to tag the video below, but I also want to put a trigger warning here for ableism, particularly towards the Deaf Blind community. 

 

Here is the link to the video: https://www.tiktok.com/@immadisonnn/video/7290734183389957418?_r=1 <https://www.tiktok.com/@immadisonnn/video/7290734183389957418?_r=1&_t=8gwoYAbTBxG> &_t=8gwoYAbTBxG 

 

The video is a family discussing Helen Keller and how there is no way that she can be real. They talk about how there is no way she could have written books, flown a plane or done any of the other great things she did. Basically, this video just reinforces the the idea Deaf Blind people can't achieve the great things that Helen Keller achieved, that her sighted teacher was really the one doing everything, and just generally reinforces low standards. The ablism in the video is so blatant. I am not sure what, if anything we can do it combat the impact of this video which has over a million views, but this is not the first time I have heard the sentiment online that Helen Keller is not "real" and the idea seems to be becoming more mainstream. 

 

I hope you all are keeping warm in the snow, and I would love to hear y'all's thoughts. 

Take care,

Cerridwyn Nordstrom (She, her, hers)

“‘No’ has fueled many a revolution.”
                                                      - Cheryl Marie Wade 

Member of the National Federation of the Blind and the National Assocaition of Blind Lawyers

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