[nabs-l] FW: ALERT! Sign-On to Letter to Congressional Leadership Concerning Health Reform and Vision Loss]

[Jim Reed]

Jedi, 
You said, "First, blindness is not necessarily a health problem. If anything, 
blindness is a social issue of an economic and educational nature 
rather than a health care problem." I have to completly disagree. 

I support the NFB's philosopy that with training, blindness can be reduced to a mere nucance, but there is a difference between optimisim and ignorance. At some point we have to be realistic as to what blindness is. Blindness is the result of a medical disorder, disease, or trauma. No amount of training is going to change the fact that I have a genetic eye disease called Retinitus Pigmentosa that is treated (or atleast monitored) by a doctor. I am sorry, but I don't go to a doctor to be treated for a "social issue of an economic and educational nature"; I go to a doctor to get medical treatment for a medical deseaae/disorder. If I wanted to be treated for a "social issue of an economic and educational nature", I would go see a therapist, a preist, a teacher, or a librarian, not a doctor. 

It is true that "blindness" itself is not a disease/disorder, rather blindness is a symptom of many different diseases/disorders. But, just because blindness is a symptom, rather than a cause does not give blindness some sort of special, non-medical classification. You cannot seperate the medical diagnosis from the symptoms is causes. For example, unquestionably,  diabeties is a medical condition, but what about the low blood sugar it causes? Is low blood sugar also a "social issue of an economic and educational nature", or is low blood sugar a medically relivant side-effect of diabeties?  What about diabeties-related blindness? Is the side-effect of "blindness" a medical condition or a "social issue of an economic and educational nature"? Why is there a difference between diabeties's  side effect of low blood sugar, and its side-effect of blindness?

I wonder if there is a relucance to call blindness a medical condition because for the most part, blindness is untreatable/uncureable? I wonder if more forms of blindness were medically treatable and cureable, would more blind people be willing to admit that their blindness is indeed a medical condition? 

Thoughts?
Jim


Homer Simpson's brain: "Use reverse psychology." 
 Homer: "Oh, that sounds too complicated." 
 Homer's brain: "Okay, don't use reverse psychology."
 Homer: "Okay, I will!"