[nabs-l] Training: As needed, or all at once?

[Jedi]

Joseph,

amen. I couldn't have said it better myself. I  wish more low vision 
people would watch themselves doing visual tasks versus watching a 
skilled blind person use alternative techniques to do the same thing. 
It's interesting to me how hard people will fight just to be normal, 
yet it makes them seem more disabled than they really are. You know?

Respectfully,
Jedi
Original message:
> Ashley,

> No attack from me.  Disagreement, sure.  The best time to get
> training is before you enter the workforce.  Once you have a job, you
> are going to have financial responsibilities and training will get in
> the way.  If you get them while you're young, your job prospects are
> going to be better.

> I use the skills I learned every day.  Oh I don't work in a shop, but
> I use what I learned about safety in the shop everywhere else.  I
> don't read Braille daily and my speed has dropped down to a paltry 40
> words per minute, but I know I can have it back any time I need it.

> I use the skills I learned for working with screen readers to reduce
> my dependency on the mouse.  I work much faster because of it.

> I can tell you what the traffic patterns are two blocks away through
> my open window.  I never used to pay attention to the fact that there
> were traffic patterns until I got to an intersection.  (Thank you
> Eric Woods!)

> Every day the little things that I now can do things without burying
> my nose against them, all because of the skills I got in Colorado.
> Since you're talking about people with lots of stable vision, do you
> have any idea what such a person looks like doing visual tasks?
> Record yourself on video sometime and watch it.  It's not flattering,
> and it will cause you to want to not look like that.

> In a perfect world, I'd agree with you.  Get what you need when you
> need it, and do what works.  But it's not a perfect world.  We have
> responsibilities and others' perceptions to deal with.  That changes
> things a bit, to my mind.

> Joseph


> On Mon, May 11, 2009 at 06:03:47PM -0400, Ashley  Bramlett wrote:
>> Hi Jim,

>> This is my opinion and  I will be in the minority and hope not to be
>> attacked.  If your vision is stable and you
>> can function well with print and other visual skills, then don't do
>> training now.  Yes its a lot of time  and effort on your part to learn
>> skills you'll likely never need.

>> Some visually impaired people I know never learn braille and they do
>> well; they are successful at work.

>> NFB centers imerse you in nonvisual skills and you are blindfolded.  Does
>> your state offer a state rehab center?  Often state centers allow you to
>> use low vision techniques and use nonvisual ones as needed.  What state
>> do you live in?  You may consider a state center where you can choose
>> what you need rather than a nfb center first.
>> So I think if your vision is stable there is no need to go for blindness
>> training now.  I commend your decission to learn to use a cane. Many high
>> partials like yourself never try it.  Learning and using a cane will not
>> only help you travel better but it will identify your visual impairment
>> and eliminate the need to explain sometimes.  I have usable vision
>> although not as much as you.  We both have tunnel vision.  So I've always
>> used visual and nonvisual techniques to function.

>> Ashley


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