[nabs-l] living in a sighted world

Jacob Struiksma lawnmower84 at hotmail.com
Sun Jul 26 10:01:35 UTC 2009


What assistive tech company   are you working for?
From
Jacob Struiksma


-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of alena roberts
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 11:38 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] living in a sighted world

I think that the attitude towards those with disabilities is a combination
of ignorance and prejudice. For the most part I would like to believe that
it is simply ignorance, but I know some people just don't like those with
disabilities because they're different. I am currently working for an
assistive tech company where I feel like I am teaching my sighted peers
something new on a more regular basis than I should be. I also am helping
them with social media, and people say the dumbest things on twitter, which
makes me frustrated. I think the best thing we can do is educate people as
much as possible, and encourage people to think outside of the box they live
in. I am glad to hear that you had such a good conversation with someone on
a plane.
I find that the people who are enquisitive about how I do things tend to be
the most open minded about accepting that people with disabilities can learn
to do almost anything with the right training and modifications.

On 7/25/09, Teal Bloodworth <tealbloodworth at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello All
>
> Since i have joined a widely discussed topic has been the treatment of 
> the blind and visually impaired in society. Recently when flying back 
> from New York after recieving my new guide dog i had a very 
> interesting conversation with a woman on the plane about this actual
problem.
>
> This woman was a very intellegent bilingual (not sure of her 
> nationality) whom i suppose was  handicapped. She shared that she had 
> had extreme arthritis since the age of 8 and went through numerous 
> surgeries and years of dialisis (sp?). When first boarding the plane 
> she had already been seated bulkhead and respectfully asked me if she 
> could pet my dog. Replying with a friendly "yes" she informed me of 
> her friend sending her an email informing her of how to act around a
service dog because of her frequent traveling.
>
>  Later in the flight since it was long (new york to memphis) we 
> started a conversation about the ACB and NFB. She seemd very well 
> informed however i told her the main differences. The ACB focuses more 
> on changing the world for us, and the NFB has a more realistic 
> approach to the world since we are the minority in helping us adapt to 
> the world. She actually made a very good point that it would be good 
> for the two to work together and create a happy medium, however she 
> doesnt know the controversy between the two. This actually seemed like 
> a good idea when we started talking about the change of money. Word is 
> that the ACB is going to change either the size or the color of the 
> bills. This is more like foreign money and seems useful to some but it 
> is just as useful to ask what the order of your change is and folding 
> the bills or putting them in the appropriate place. We said that it 
> would be a good idea even for the two to work together and keep the bills
the same size/color but maybe making them tactile?
>
> This flight was interesting and this woman made me feel the least 
> uncomfortable and unworthy that anyone sighted has done in my 2 1/2 
> years of darkness. Also this brought up the previous topic on 
> discrimination or ignorance. This is a very fine line and my current 
> thoughts are this. When we are walking on the street and someone doesnt
"think you can do this"
> maybe they are not informed of our capabilities. Also even something i 
> have said on here before about a landlord not calling me back because 
> of my blindness....perhaps they felt i was a liability issue because i 
> was more likely to be injured? is there really any actual hate towards 
> us because of our physical disadvantage? Or is it simply lack of 
> knowledge? People may not know of the many things that are available 
> to us so that we can gain independence and sense of self sufficiency 
> because not even i knew of these before i needed them.
>
> And as for another question on guide dogs they are allowed anywhere 
> the general public is allowed and no you do not have to pay extra fees 
> for pets because they are not pets.
>
> If anyone has any thoughts, feelings or comments i would love to hear
them.
>
>             -Teal
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--
Alena Roberts
Blog: http://www.blindgal.com/

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