[nabs-l] Philosophical Terminology

[Antonio Guimaraes]

Hello,

I think it is important to recognize that not every person will identify 
themselves as blind. It is difficult to comprehend why a young elementary 
school student would resist braille just because she can see 5 feet in front 
of her face. Yet, I've seen this happen, and witnessed people, professionals 
in the field, parents, and those who should know better, avoid the child's 
resistance to learning braille.

Do we drill into the student that they are blind, and will be blind, and 
that there is no way to avoid it? Or, do we invite that person into a group, 
where they can learn the philosophy that it is respectable to be blind?

At what point do we give up our long held beliefs? I hope that we do not 
give them up. I also think that opening up the door by allowing a more 
diverse language, we participate in the blindness field without the militant 
perception.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Antonio Guimaraes

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Karen Anderson" <kea_anderson at cox.net>
To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: <nebraska-students at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 2:48 AM
Subject: [nabs-l] Philosophical Terminology


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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