[nabs-l] waver

[humberto]

Oh other little thing here: Some people are saying in these 
threads things like, "Oh, it sucks being blind," or "Oh being 
blind is hard," or "Oh, there are things I don't like about being 
blind." Honestly, and essentially, everyone can feel that way. 
But that shouldn't be my attitude, nor your attitude, nor our 
attitudes, nor everyone who is blind's attitudes.
My attitude is that BLINDNESS is BEAUTIFUL!! I LOVE BEING BLIND! 
Being Blind is just being someone ordinary in our world, and we 
are normal people who can't see, and life should be worth it!

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Sean Whalen" <smwhalenpsp at gmail.com
>To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:50:49 -0600
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] waver

>Good afternoon,

>I don't necessarily think that it is the purpose of NABS or the 
NFB to
>prescribe rigid stances on issues like class waivers, paratransit 
use,
>reduced price tickets for transport, when to accept or not accept
>assistance, etc. In fact, I think that is not our purpose at all. 
People,
>both inside and outside of the organization, seem to get the 
impression that
>we are some monolith that holds clear positions on such issues. 
If you want
>to know what the NFB thinks, go look at our resolutions and the 
programs we
>implement. Those are the policies of the organization. And, while 
we all
>work to further them, the policy objectives of the organization 
may or may
>not be in line with the thinking of any particular member of the 
group. I,
>for instance, certainly have my points of disagreement with the 
NFB's
>policies in certain areas, and just because I have chosen to be a 
member
>does not mean that I have forfeited the right to my own opinions. 
Like
>anything, you take the good with the bad. If I tell you I'm a 
Democrat,
>would you automatically assume that I hold a specific set of 
views? Would
>your knowing that I am a democrat entail your knowing how I feel 
about every
>issue, abortion, economy, education, etc.? Of course it wouldn't. 
So, why
>does your knowing that I am an NFB member entail your knowing how 
I feel
>about all issues related to blindness? Obviously, it doesn't.

>This said, when it comes to the question of whether one should 
take a waiver
>for a class, there isn't even an official NFB stance. Nor should 
there be.
>Certainly you are likely to find a prevailing opinion among our 
membership,
>but that doesn't make it "what the NFB thinks."

>My personal opinion on the matter is that it is lazy, 
counterproductive, and
>absolutely the wrong thing to do. I'm sure somebody can show me a 
case where
>a waiver was the right decision, but there are counterexamples to
>everything.

>Ok, so you don't want to take the visual arts class that is 
required for a
>BA. It would present certain challenges, and surely is not 
essential for
>your history major. It would be way easier to just pick up 3 
other credits
>somewhere else. The argument goes:

>Being blind, this class would present me with additional 
challenges and
>extra work not required of other students.
>Therefore, I shouldn't have to take it.

>Short argument, I know. Seems there must be a missing premise 
there
>somewhere, no? Maybe something like:

>People shouldn't have to do things that aren't fair.

>That's about what you'd have to believe to make the "I'm blind, 
please don't
>make me." Argument hold water. Jeez, is it fair that math takes 
me so much
>longer than my classmates. I'm an English major, and who really 
needs math
>anyway? Wouldn't it be more fair if I could pick up some 
additional English
>credits to replace that pesky college algebra? More fair, maybe. 
Better, no
>chance in hell.

>Universities have these requirements for a reason. You may agree 
or disagree
>with the reason, but there is an objective, namely graduating 
reasonably
>well-rounded students, behind them. And please do not come with 
the line
>about how blind students simply won't take anything away from 
certain
>classes. I, a Political Science and Philosophy major by the way, 
took
>calculus, statistics, and economics courses which were heavily 
visual in
>many respects. Through work with classmates, instructors and 
readers I was
>able to master the concepts at play in each without ever having 
any of the
>information represented to me visually. So, can I draw or examine 
economic
>or mathematical graphs? Nope, but I can sure understand what 
economists are
>talking about when they refer to them, and I can absolutely ask 
the right
>questions of a lay person to glean the information I need from 
the graph. So
>often people get caught up in and intimidated by graphs, when all 
they are
>are tools to represent data and illustrate concepts. Mastery of 
the
>underlying concept is what is important.

>So what about a visual arts class. Fortunately, I never was 
required to take
>one. I say fortunately, because I have no inclination to take 
such a class,
>and don't think I would enjoy it, though one can never know. But 
what if I
>had been required to take a class on art history or something of 
the sort.
>What if I had to have a reader come in and describe paintings to 
me? Would
>that be a pain in the ass? Yes, probably. In an entire semester 
of learning
>about different styles of painting would I ever have the pleasure 
of
>enjoying the aesthetic beauty of any of these works? No, I would 
not, which,
>incidentally is just another one of those things in life that 
isn't fair.
>But, at the end of the class, would I know something about the 
progression
>of artistic expression that I didn't know at the start? Yes, 
hopefully I
>would. That is the point. I likely won't enjoy it, but neither 
will any of
>the other students in the class who were forced to take it to 
graduate. So I
>had to work a little harder to not enjoy something. Such is life. 
If we say
>we want to be treated like anybody else, we have to mean it. The 
"when it
>suits me" Caveat undermines the whole stance.

>Imagine you get a waiver and don't have to take that bothersome 
art class or
>science lab, but some time later you wish to go on a student trip 
abroad,
>and the school doesn't want to allow you to come along. "Why do 
you need to
>come with us to Egypt?" they ask, "It isn't required for your 
major, and
>besides, it would really present us with some logistical 
problems." Wouldn't
>it be easier, and maybe more fair, to just have you skip the 
optional trip?"

>I'll leave it to you to draw the parallel.

>If you think you can compete, compete. If you think it's just too 
hard, then
>either just cash it in now, or take a real close look at what you 
believe
>and ask yourself whether it is consistent with your ending up 
where you want
>to be in life.

>Sorry for the length, but this thread has been driving me up the 
wall. All
>the bellyaching: "This is hard because I'm blind." "That sucks 
because I'm
>blind." A lot of things suck about being blind. A lot of things 
also suck
>about being stupid, disorganized, or lazy; having cancer or 
having one leg;
>or growing old and dying. That. is. life!

>Fortunately, we in the NFB are working together to make things 
less
>difficult, and through our collective work we have built, and 
continue to
>build, a brighter future for all blind people. I will, however, 
assure you
>that none of our progress was ever attained by requesting a 
waiver.

>Sean


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