[nabs-l] Philosophical Terminology

[Corbb O'Connor]

Hi Karen,

Use of the term "visually impaired" is a marketing strategy. Many
students with some residual vision may shy away from a group that says
"blind," thinking that it is strictly for those who are totally blind.
This is the same case when working with seniors, when we say "for
seniors dealing with vision loss" as opposed to "blind seniors."
Explaining the NFB philosophy in a nutshell on a group or marketing
literature is tough, and I believe that is why we used that term. I've
copied Rosy Carranza from the National Center on this list, and hope
she might be able to provide some clarification.

Corbb O'Connor
studying at the National University of Ireland, Galway

On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 7:48 AM, Karen Anderson <kea_anderson at cox.net> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
>
>
>            I was looking around on facebook and noticed several new groups
> for students affiliated with the NFB. And I must say, several of them look
> really interesting. However, I have one concern. Since joining the
> federation it has been my understanding that we encourage everyone, whether
> they are a high partial or totally blind, to consider themselves blind. Our
> taglines are things like, "Changing what it means to be blind," and "Voice
> of the Nation's Blind." Yet more and more frequently I find other terms
> showing up in our literature. The term "visually impaired," is used in the
> group descriptions for both The NFB Café and Blind 411. I believe one of our
> greatest strengths, one of the things that sets us apart from other
> organizations, has always been that we do not divide people into categories
> based on how much vision they have. We believe that those with no vision at
> all can be just as successful as the highest partial. It seems to me that
> using terminology such as "visually impaired," and "low vision," changes
> that, and I fail to see what good can come from that division.
>
>            I am extremely interested to see what the list, and particularly
> the members of the NABS board, have to say about this issue.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Karen
>
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