[il-talk] Fw: Here is yet another reason why our work in the NFB is necessary. Read this article and the attitude displayed by the subject of the article.

Wed Nov 20 03:38:45 UTC 2013

It sounds like Miss Gibbs is fighting what is going on with her through
sheer aggression.  Eventually, this approach will get her in trouble.
Hopefully, she won't get hurt too badly.  Unfortunately, if she continues to
use this approach, she will be hurt in some way though it may not be
physical.

This article makes me think of my roommate when I was in a rehab program in
Minnesota.  He finally realized he was blind when he lost a good sales job
after totaling three company cars in 28 days.  He told all of us that his
vision was so bad when he stopped driving that he would open the window and
try to anticipate when to stop by trying to listen for the cars in front of
and behind him.  He was one of the best travelers I ever saw, with a cane,
of course.

David Meyer, NFB of Illinois
Coordinator and channel administrator, NFB-NewsLine
Chicago Chapter PresidentDavid Meyer, NFB of Illinois
Coordinator and channel administrator, NFB-NewsLine
Chicago Chapter PresidentDavid Meyer, NFB of Illinois
Coordinator and channel administrator, NFB-NewsLine
Chicago Chapter PresidentDavid Meyer, NFB of Illinois
Coordinator and channel administrator, NFB-NewsLine
Chicago Chapter President

-----Original Message-----
From: il-talk [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of NFB Related
Robert A Hansen
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 2:37 PM
To: NFB of Illinois Mailing List
Subject: Re: [il-talk] Fw: Here is yet another reason why our work in the
NFB is necessary. Read this article and the attitude displayed by the
subject of the article.

I hear a lot of experience and strength.  Maybe she has not hit her rock
bottom yet.  There is always the yets.  Maybe she can give a lead some day.

RH

On 11/19/2013 2:31 PM, Edwin wrote:
> I just hope she isn't hurt by a car or even killed because of her
reluctants
> to use a cane.		
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: il-talk [mailto:il-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of NFB 
> Related Robert A Hansen
> Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 3:02 PM
> To: Jemal Powell; NFB of Illinois Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [il-talk] Fw: Here is yet another reason why our work in 
> the NFB is necessary. Read this article and the attitude displayed by 
> the subject of the article.
>
> the thing is, none of her neighbors will mind if she uses a cane or not.
> this is simply her thinking.  eventually her neighborswill think there 
> is something wrong with her if she does no find something and soon.  I 
> find that most people have better things to concern their time with.  
> She acts like her eye sight loss is temporary.
>
> RH
>
>
> On 11/18/2013 6:33 PM, Jemal Powell wrote:
>>
>> ----- Forwarded Message -----
>> From: NFB-NEWSLINE Online <nfbnewsline at nfb.org>
>> To: Jemal Powell <derek2872 at yahoo.com>
>> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 11:49 AM
>> Subject: Article from New York Times National Desk 2013 11 17
>>
>>
>>
>> THE NEEDIEST CASES: SIGHT LOST, SIGHT RESTORED. A Tool Meant to Keep 
>> Her
> Safe Makes Her Feel Like a Target. By JOHN OTIS. Cynthia Gibbs-Pratt 
> would rather walk into walls than use a cane to guide her. And often, she
does.
> She had 20/20 vision most of her life. Last April, Ms. Gibbs-Pratt, 
> 47, learned she had macular degeneration, a progressive disease that 
> robs those who have it of their sight.. 'If somebody came to you today 
> with this cane and said you had to use it, would you accept it? she 
> asked. Pride plays a clear role in Ms. Gibbs-Pratt's unwillingness to 
> embrace her disability, but fear is the more potent force girding her 
> stubbornness. She believes that walking the streets of her Bronx 
> neighborhood with the cane would present her as weak, that it would 
> provide a bull's-eye for anyone seeking an easy target. 'I feel 
> vulnerable, because people always see me by myself,' she said. 'I 
> don't want people to know I'm disabled. It does not help that her
>>    neighborhood is unfamiliar, and so very far from her family in 
>> Brooklyn,
> where Ms. Gibbs-Pratt spent most of her life. She moved into her 
> current apartment with her husband after they wed two years ago. The 
> two separated in February, shortly after he revealed that he had 
> cancer. Ms. Gibbs-Pratt was confronting her own significant health 
> issues at the time, including chronic bronchitis. 'He said it would be 
> too much for me, to deal with what I'm dealing with, and take care of 
> him,' she said. 'He didn't grow up with the same family values I grew 
> up with. I just pray, 'God have mercy on his soul.' Last summer, Ms. 
> Gibbs-Pratt's misfortune was further compounded when she fell behind 
> on bills after her illnesses kept her out of work for three and a half 
> months. She holds a job as a food stamp eligibility specialist and 
> received $1,400 a month from her union while on sick leave, which was 
> significantly less than her usual income. She was unable to cover her
>>    $1,071 monthly rent or her Consolidated Edison bill. No assistance 
>> was
> offered from her absent husband. Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New 
> York, one of the agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest 
> Cases Fund, provided $351, applying $200 to Ms. Gibbs-Pratt's back 
> rent and $151 toward her electricity bill. Her rent troubles may be behind
her, but Ms.
> Gibbs-Pratt still lacks the financial stability to move back to her 
> old neighborhood. Coupled with her deteriorating eyesight, her 
> seclusion has led to mounting paranoia. She covers her reduced-fare 
> MetroCard to hide her disabled status when swiping it. As she fumbles 
> to fit her keys into her door, watched by a cluster of 
> marijuana-smoking neighbors, she fears for her safety. Despite her
isolation, Ms. Gibbs-Pratt has no shortage of support.
> Two cousins, who regularly trek in from Harlem and Coney Island, 
> provide an immense amount of help. Her husband's aunt, Sharon Bouyer, whom
Ms.
> Gibbs-Pratt
>>    calls Mama, offers telephone counsel from Jacksonville, Fla. And 
>> her
> biggest source of support, she said, has been Catholic Charities Guild 
> for the Blind. The agency helps her acclimate to her new world, 
> teaching her how to traverse the city's streets by using landmarks and 
> counting steps. The guild has fitted her desk at work with a special 
> computer station and provided her with other items, like a talking 
> watch. And a mobility specialist, who often visits her home, has 
> equipped her kitchen with Braille-like bumps that allow her to safely 
> use the knobs on her stove and properly work her microwave. But she 
> has yet to warm up to that cane. 'I'm not totally rejecting it, 
> because I know at some point I'm going to have to use it,' she said. A 
> recent series of near-misses forced Ms. Gibbs-Pratt to confront the 
> dangerous consequences of her stubbornness. She was nearly sideswiped 
> by three different vehicles in one week. Acceptance of her impending 
> blindness
>>    comes in dribs and drabs. Tears come whenever she dwells on her 
>> fate,
> but so too does a mustering of courage. 'I used to do so much,' she 
> said. 'I was the one always running and jumping for everybody. I still 
> don't want to accept it. But God brought me through so many things. 
> This vision thing is only temporary. PHOTO: Cynthia Gibbs-Pratt
(PHOTOGRAPH BY MARILYNN K.
> YEE/THE NEW YORK TIMES). This article is provided to you as a courtesy 
> of NFB-NEWSLINER Online for your sole use. The content of this E-mail 
> is protected under copyright law, and is not to be distributed in any 
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> signed when you signed up for NFB-NEWSLINER Online. Please do not 
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> The
>>    NFB-NEWSLINER Team.
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