[nabs-l] Training centers and their structure

[Darian Smith]

Hello all,

 Joe: I don't think   your first reason for not attending a training
center   was invalid at all.  how one values their education is a very
important thing, and I much appreciate   and respect your dicision not
to take on something  that takes a chunk of time out of your life
unless you really wanted it.
Re: hatlin-- I'll simply put it like this...
 I know plenty of people who have gone to hatlin and gained some
self-confidence and have gone on to live on their own.  However, I'm
not very impressed with  the  training set-up from what I have  heard
from many alumni of the program.  Training is  pipically a year, and
while you have blind role models  as staff, you don't have the
sleepshade training, the  equil and intensive focus on the core skills
of blindness, and most important bi-product to me I don't get the
sense that they are  on the road to  acheving what they truly desire
in life.
 Now granted,  that last partis  subjective to some degree, but I
think  you can see it in someone's eyes, hear it in their voice that
they have a goal and that  if they are going to be stopped in
completing it, it's because they themselves have made that dicision on
their own terms and not anyone else's.
 So, I wouldn't suggest hatlin, though it is right down the road from
san francisco and berkely, and we   can always use a few students out
here :), nor would I really suggest the orientation center for the
blind out here (seems like  OCB has really become a shell of it's self
over the years).  This all of course is depending on what you want.
If you want the NFB training center  expirience, I would go for
something like  B.L.I.N.D. Inc, LCB or CCB. I would also find out a
little more about  training centers in  other states that take on the
same philosiphy.  I have a dear friend who  went to a center in
nabraska, I know of a center In  Verginia, BISM is in Maryland, the
new mexico comission is out there, there is a center in Hawaii, and of
course  Iowa can't be left out. I would get a hold of people I know of
who went to these places, or contact these centers if I was on the
search for some serious high-quality training.
   thanks,
  Darian


On 2/8/11, Bridgit Pollpeter <bpollpeter at hotmail.com> wrote:
> I still encourage training, but let me amend my argument.  I view most
> training centers as facilities for newly blind people or blind people
> who did not receive proper training as a child.  If you possess the
> proper skills and have confidence, I say go for your goals.
>
> Taking six to nine months off to learn skills you already know and gain
> confidence you already possess, does not seem like the best option.
>
> Again, I speak from my personal experience, but many blind people do not
> have a positive and strong sense of confidence instilled in them.  The
> skills mean little without nerves backing them up.
>
> A training center allows one to experience independent living in a
> controled environment.  Some may be able to pack up and take their
> skills to an independent living situation, but many lack this ability.
> Training centers, like the NFB centers, provide this vital part of the
> equation.
>
> Centers that offer extra curricular activities are simply trying to
> demonstrate all the things blind people can do.  It is a sneaky way to
> educate us on our own abilities.
>
> Choose what is best for you, but remember, what we want, and what is
> best for us, do not always coincide.
>
> Bridgit
>
>
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-- 
Darian Smith
Skype: The_Blind_Truth
Windows Live: Lightningrod2010 at live.com
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/goldengateace

"You could be shown the road, given the vehicle, even handed the key.
But only you can have the drive."