[nabs-l] Debra Kendrick's article on Gov David Paterson

[Jedi]

Alex,

I agree with you, and I suspect that debra would also agree, that David 
paterson has accomplished a great deal given the current climate 
concerning blindness. Unfortunately, the fact that he hasn't got 
blindness skills is starting to confirm the public image of blindness. 
debra mentions articles in which sighted commentators are starting to 
blame his blindness for various political mishaps and bad decisions on 
his part. Some of them, as exemplified in the two Saturday night Live 
skits featuring the Governor, make fun of him and his blindness and I 
suspect that there's some truth in what they're saying. That may be 
unpleasant to hear, but humor doesn't come from thin air. Usually, 
blindness humor comes from lack of information, fear, and often 
observations of blind people who seem not to be well oriented to life 
in general. I'm not saying that Paterson is disoriented to life in 
general, but it is fair to say that his lack of blindness skills may 
cause him to appear less oriented in public than his sighted colleagues.

Debra also mentions his rather conservative stance in disability 
politics. Interesting enough Helen Keller was, like Paterson, very 
liberal on most issues but very conservative in disability politics. In 
Paterson's case, I suspect that his stoic upbringing caused his 
conservatism: if I can do it without special treatment of any kind, so 
can they. Unfortunately, from what I've read, Paterson seems to have 
confused special treatment with access to very unique skill sets and 
opportunities for access to ppublic environments Ironically, it's these 
opportunities for access which make us able to compete equally with the 
nondisabled and blindness skills are one example of that.

I have also heard references made by Paterson about his childhood. I 
think he recognizes that he missed out on opportunities that many other 
blind people have had. I think to some extent, he understands that he, 
in an effort to avoid looking different or helpless, lost out. Surely, 
his parents did the best they could with the information and blindness 
resources they had at the time. Maybe they wanted him to pass as much 
as possible so he wouldn't be negatively associated with a minority 
class and thus lose opportunities as a result. Keep in mind that 
Paterson's parents (and even Paterson himself) grew up in an era when 
Black people also tried to pass because being Black meant less 
opportunity. It still does. I suspect that living as members of a 
heavily stereotyped minority class informed their opinion on how 
Paterson's blindness ought to have been dealt with.

I think these are the concerns that debra brings to the conversation 
about david Paterson, and in my opinion, her points are well taken.

Respectfully,
Jedi

.
Original message:
> Hi list, Debra Kendrick, in reference to Governor Paterson of NY"s
> upbringing writes “it sounds to me like being perceived as
>> sighted was more important to the family than
>> getting the best education possible." Having heard Governor Paterson 
>> speak in person about this issue in particular at the NY State 
>> convention this October, I can say that this might be a 
>> misinterpretation of the goals of Governor Paterson’s, family. The 
>> article is correct in stating that his family moved so that the 
>> Governor could receive an education which was equal to that of his 
>> peers, but it lacks to mention that this also meant
>  That he would be somewhat isolated from the technology and
> innovations which his peers grew up being very familiar with. His
> family had a choice between raising a blind child with extremely low
> opportunities for a healthy and successful life, and raising a healthy
> child with the opportunities to be successful in spite of his
> blindness. They chose the ladder and so far, they have proven to have
> made the correct decision.

> Personally, I would love to see someone in a high public profile
> position who possesses the abilities often positively stereotyped with
> the blind, being a magnificent Braille reader, the ability to
> understand speech at over 350 words a minute, impeccable travel
> skills, knowledge of every accessible device known to exist, but these
>  are stereotypes, perhaps not negative ones like the meek and feeble
> blind person, or the blind person who has superhuman abilities to make
> up for their lack of sight, and these stereotypes are not inclusive of
> those people who are blind, and have found different methods of
> adapting to the world around  them.

> Let’s also consider that this is a person who has achieved a good
> level of success, and who has mastered certain tasks and techniques
> which have helped him adapt and function in a career where typically,
> there are very few other blind individuals working in. How likely is
> it that he will change his methods of interacting with the world at
> this point of his life? He is not a computer programmer, or an IT
> expert, or someone who may have easily been guided to use those tools
> which we would today consider crucial for being a successful person
> who happens to be blind. He has done great with a Telephone and a
> couple of office workers. I am not saying that he couldn’t do much
> more, I am saying that he’s done a lot, and again, it has not been in
> light of his blindness, or because of his blindness that he has been
> successful, it has been in spite of his blindness that he has done so.


> Thank you,
> Alex Castillo

> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/loneblindjedi%40samobile.net

-- 
Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network.  Visit 
www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.