[nabs-l] [Nfbnet-members-list] Threw Our Eyes interview, Ride into History, Race for Independence, Wed. June 22, 8:00 pm EDT

Wed Jun 29 11:11:01 UTC 2011

Too bad it can’t fit on a resume.  *grin*

Joseph

On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 04:47:28PM -0400, bookwormahb at earthlink.net wrote:
>Joseph,
>I'd say putting 60 hours  into a legal battle and being a full time 
>student shows time management and the ability to withstand pressure.
>I'd say that battle was a full time job even if you weren't paid for it!
>
>-----Original Message----- From: T. Joseph Carter
>Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 12:52 AM
>To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] [Nfbnet-members-list] Threw Our Eyes interview, 
>Ride into History, Race for Independence, Wed. June 22, 8:00 pm EDT
>
>Carly,
>
>When going through school as an undergraduate, I stupidly believed
>that I could not work.  I continued to believe that my first year of
>graduate school.
>
>In my second year, I could have worked if I were otherwise just a
>normal (blind) student in a normal graduate program.  The fact was
>that I was not.  In my second year of graduate school, from September
>through June, I was involved in a time-consuming and costly legal
>battle with the university.  I spent between 60 and 80 hours a week
>engaged in that battle, and I was a full-time student besides.  In
>fact, in the first quarter of the school year, I had student teaching
>during part of the day (after negotiating inter-city public transit
>of course), classes in the evening afterward, and I got to have my
>approximately 60 hour a week legal battle in my off-hours or in
>between.
>
>Needless to say, I didn’t sleep as much that year as I was previously
>accustomed to doing.  Had it been the full 80 hours a week I put into
>the process during winter term during the fall term, I could not have
>kept up.  The university did not know how close I was to being unable
>to keep up with their crap—but I managed to hold them off of the
>really heavy stuff until January.  I exchanged more than 1,000 emails
>with university faculty between September and January 16th.  Another
>1,000 by August.
>
>If I could do that, in a hostile environment, with professors
>actively looking to fail me on every single assignment or find some
>way to manufacture some trumped up disciplinary action or something,
>then I most certainly could have dropped chicken strips into a deep
>fryer for a living.  Indeed, the fact that I could make time for that
>legal battle when I had to is what caused me to realize that I could
>have made time for a job down at KFC or something.
>
>If you don’t want to work, then don’t.  But the option exists, and
>lots of people manage somehow to make it work receiving nothing but
>federal student aid without a separate government check every month.
>
>Joseph
>
>
>On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 06:26:18PM -0700, Carly Mihalakis wrote:
>>
>>
>>Hi, Kurt,
>>
>>'Thought I had missed where Joseph edified the list, as to which 
>>jobs he himself has had, while going to school. At 03:04 PM 
>>6/27/2011, bookwormahb at earthlink.net wrote:
>>>Joeseph, Ah, sighted people have so called handouts too like food 
>>>stamps and if you are poor enough, Medicaid. This philosophy 
>>>doesn't match reality. The reality is it takes longer to study 
>>>college material, particularly visual subjects since we got to 
>>>have descriptions or a reader make tactile diagrams. The reality 
>>>is that many colleges such as the community college do not have 
>>>updated screen reading software making it an unlevel playing 
>>>field. The reality is that if you are not writing that short 
>>>essay yourself, it takes longer, I mean longer, to dictate it to 
>>>a scribe. Oh then that scribe has to read it back to you with 
>>>punctuation to ensure you have it as you want it, where as a 
>>>sighted person can read it silently. Maybe you took all your 
>>>tests electronically, and used jaws fast, but not all of us have 
>>>that resource. Bottom line it takes longer to study and as Kirt 
>>>said working while in school is Not practical for many reasons. 
>>>You never said what part time jobs we could do anyway. You 
>>>yourself haven't had many interviews even with a college diploma. 
>>>Remember most college students are servers or are selling 
>>>something like tickets. When I took interpersonal communication 
>>>we did introductions and like a fourth of the class was waiting 
>>>tables part time at restaurants; a few were pizza delivery 
>>>drivers. Now a blind person can't perform the duties of those 
>>>jobs.  I said before you can work part time if you find the right 
>>>employer; you could work as a tutor, babysitter, dog walker, or 
>>>maybe even as a receptionist.  But its hard to find an open 
>>>minded employer without that college education and I contend that 
>>>its harder to find little odd jobs to work through school. So 
>>>seems to me you really are not practicing what your preaching. 
>>>Show me some blind students who work part time and how they do 
>>>it.  Come on, is an employer really going to say, buy jaws when 
>>>the employee is only working 20 hours a week and won't be there 
>>>for the long term?  Do you really think that employer will invest 
>>>$1000 for that part time receptionist or customer service 
>>>representative?  That money goes toward a screen reader. I do 
>>>hope you find work soon though so you won't have to deal with the 
>>>government. Ashley -----Original Message----- From: T. Joseph 
>>>Carter Sent: Monday, June 27, 2011 4:26 AM To: National 
>>>Association of Blind Students mailing list Subject: Re: [nabs-l] 
>>>[Nfbnet-members-list] Threw Our Eyes interview, Ride into 
>>>History, Race for Independence, Wed. June 22, 8:00 pm EDT 
>>>Actually, the system supposedly provides an income to people who 
>>>are incapable of working.  Thatâ€™s what permanently disabled 
>>>means.  You get government money because you meet the definition 
>>>of being unable to engage in substantially gainful activity 
>>>(i.e., a job). The only way we achieve equality is when a person 
>>>is not thought to be unemployable just because they are blind.  
>>>Now, I know how far we are from that day.  There are a good 
>>>number of us who canâ€™t seem to find employment largely because 
>>>of that one simple fact. All Iâ€™m saying is that we shouldnâ€™t 
>>>delude ourselves and start thinking the system is anything other 
>>>than what it is: A handout to the disabled, because in the eyes 
>>>of the government weâ€™re pitiful and helpless, unable to work 
>>>for a living.  If stripping away the mask makes people angry, it 
>>>SHOULD make them angry. The social security system to us 
>>>represents the scraps we are given to placate us.  To keep us 
>>>content that we still have a living, even though we do not have 
>>>access to the skills and opportunities that would allow us to 
>>>succeed, excel, and compete for the same goals that our 
>>>non-disabled peers do. Absolutely we should use it when we can as 
>>>a stepping stone to something greater, but so many of us fall 
>>>into the trap of believing that it is what we deserve. No, 
>>>thereâ€™s no dignity in that kind of life, and if we deserve 
>>>anything at all it is dignity.  So therefore I conclude that we 
>>>deserve far better. And for myself at least, I intend to find 
>>>better. Joseph On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 07:22:22PM -0600, Kirt 
>>>Manwaring wrote: >Joseph, >  I think you make very good points.  
>>>As I understand it, the system >is designed to give financial 
>>>support to those who, because of >disability, have a difficult 
>>>time working.  The only reason I'm on SSI >is because doing my 
>>>school work, on average, takes a substantially
>>>>longer time than it would if I were sighted because the
>>>alternative >techniques I use often are slower than using sight. 
>>>(readers, test >scribes, needing to feel all the details on 
>>>braille graphs vs. being >able to look at it all at once and 
>>>glance at what I need later, etc.) >School is preparing me to 
>>>work a regular job-since my alternative >techniques require lots 
>>>of time work isn't really practical for me >while I go through 
>>>school.  I suspect that's why you applied for SSI >in the first 
>>>place.  The system is not designed to take people who are 
>>>>perfectly capable of working and make them in to couch 
>>>potatoes-I >think that's an unfortunate side effect of the whole 
>>>deal.  Rest >assured, once I get a full-time job, I'll cut the 
>>>chord with SSI. >Permanently. >  I can only speak for me, and how 
>>>I see the system.  I don't think it >was ever intended to be a 
>>>handout or something to keep able people >from working. It's 
>>>unfortunate many people abuse the system and, I'll >admit, it 
>>>makes me angry!  But do you have a better idea to make sure 
>>>>we're able to get the education we need to work?  And anyway 
>>>(I'm not >talking about you, I don't know your situation), if 
>>>someone's able to >work a full-time job, what business do they 
>>>have getting SSI?  Best, >Kirt > >On 6/26/11, T. Joseph Carter 
>>><carter.tjoseph at gmail.com> wrote: >> Wait, are you saying the 
>>>system is designed for us to sit on our >> collective duffs and 
>>>mooch off of others while we piddle around and >> do nothing?  
>>>Does that seem like an appropriate system to you? >> >> You know 
>>>how most people get through school?  They work.  Why should >> we 
>>>be different?  Yes, I know we ARE, but why should we accept that? 
>>>>> We cannot work through school because the very act of going 
>>>through >> school takes us longer.  Why? Because we havenâ€™t got 
>>>the skills to >> keep up.  Why?  Because the same system that is 
>>>giving us our little >> handout (for which Iâ€™m told we should 
>>>be grateful) has actively >> interfered in our efforts to be and 
>>>do better than that. >> >> As for suing, how, whom, and why?  My 
>>>benefits were never actually >> stopped, only threatened.  Just 
>>>enough to keep me jumping for my >> government slavemasters.  I 
>>>was entitled to, had, and won each of my >> appeals, so the 
>>>system worked as designed. >> >> Iâ€™m just no longer willing to 
>>>be a slave. >> >> Joseph >> >> >> On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 
>>>01:18:23PM -0600, Kirt Manwaring wrote: >>>Joseph, >>>  You make 
>>>great points, and I really do feel for you.  That's
>>>>>>aweful...like, maybe get a social security lawyer kind of
>>>aweful. >>>  All I'm saying is, the way the system is intended to 
>>>work (and the >>>way it works for a lot of us), SSI is necessary 
>>>income.  I'm using it >>>so I don't starve through school; the 
>>>minute I get out and find a >>>full-time job, I'm saying goodbye 
>>>to my SSI for good.  That's how it >>>should be-use it to get 
>>>yourself able to work then cut the cord. I >>>know lots of people 
>>>abuse it, I know it's poorly managed, and I know >>>you're 
>>>getting screwed by the system.  But the way I see it, it's 
>>>>>>designed to be a boost up to equality, not a handout.  Of 
>>>course, >>>everyone doesn't use it that way. >>>  In any case, 
>>>best of luck.  I hope things work out for you.  For >>>what it's 
>>>worth, I'm sorry you're going through all this crap. >>>  Best 
>>>wishes, >>>Kirt >>> >>>On 6/25/11, T. Joseph Carter 
>>><carter.tjoseph at gmail.com> wrote: >>>> Kirt, >>>>
>>>>>>>Social Security and SSI are still a handout, and they come
>>>with >>>> strings attached that make getting off of them pretty 
>>>difficult. >>>> Especially if you live in subsidized housing, 
>>>collect food stamps, >>>> receive utility subsidies, etc.  If you 
>>>do and you go and find >>>> yourself a job that doesnâ€™t pay 
>>>enough, you will have a sudden net >>>> reduction in your income 
>>>that already doesnâ€™t pay the bills. >>>> >>>> Iâ€™ve decided 
>>>Iâ€™m getting off this roller coaster even if it makes me >>>> 
>>>homeless in the process, because Iâ€™m sick and tired of living 
>>>in fear >>>> that they might take away my benefits!  Iâ€™ve 
>>>gotten three letters to >>>> that effect in the past two years, 
>>>in the midst of cancer treatment >>>> for two of them, all with 
>>>the customary 30 day appeal Iâ€™d better take >>>> advantage of 
>>>if I want to be able to survive another month! >>>> >>>> Iâ€™m 
>>>tired of getting paid to NOT work.  Iâ€™m tired of living in 
>>>places >>>> where the government intrudes upon my home three 
>>>times a year to make >>>> sure my landlord isnâ€™t complete pond 
>>>scum (but allowing them to be >>>> one level removed from pond 
>>>scum!)  Iâ€™m tired of being told that if I >>>> start working, 
>>>my rent will suddenly be 120% of what anybody in their >>>> right 
>>>might would ever pay for this dump. And Iâ€™m tired of being >>>> 
>>>told that theyâ€™re sorry, but I just donâ€™t qualify for the 
>>>work >>>> incentives, or the better medical coverage, or the 
>>>exemptions that >>>> might possibly allow me to save a few 
>>>hundred dollars with which to >>>> actually get out of here! >>>> 
>>>>>>> Your not-a-handout Social Security and SSI have made slaves 
>>>of far >>>> too many of us.  Perfectly able to work, but afraid 
>>>to try for fear >>>> that weâ€™ll lose what little weâ€™ve got.  
>>>We are trapped in a prison of >>>> learned helplessness, and the 
>>>only way out is to see these things—all >>>> of them—for what 
>>>theyhey are: Government handouts designed to keep us >>>> docile, 
>>>afraid, and living in poverty.
>>>>>>>>>>> Iâ€™m done playing that game. >>>> >>>> Joseph >>>> >>>>
>>>>>>>On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 09:13:21AM -0600, Kirt Manwaring
>>>wrote: >>>>>Carley, >>>>>  First off, I've done a bit of really 
>>>light research and I was way >>>>>liberal about what I thought 
>>>the cost of this would be.  It's probably >>>>>going to be in the 
>>>neighborhood of $100 million, so I was way off. >>>>>That'll 
>>>teach me not to make outlandish statements with no proof. >>>>>  
>>>But still, the point I made in my last message stands.  Of course 
>>>I
>>>>>>>>don't want the government to write out a check for all of us-I
>>>was >>>>>trying to point out that trying to make all the cash out 
>>>there more >>>>>"blind-friendly" is not necessary.  Just like we 
>>>don't need government >>>>>handouts (I'm not counting SSI as a 
>>>government handout because that's >>>>>money lots of us genuinely 
>>>need), we don't need the government >>>>>spending $100 million 
>>>redesigning currency we can already use with >>>>>pretty much no 
>>>problem.  Honestly, if you think you can't afford an >>>>>iBill, 
>>>there's probably something you're buying with your $680 a month
>>>>>>>>that you really don't need. >>>>>  Just a thought, >>>>>Kirt
>>>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>
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