[nabs-l] An Article about another Student at Myy College

Arielle Silverman nabs.president at gmail.com
Sun May 8 04:20:36 UTC 2011


Hi Jedi and all,
Funny-just a few nights ago I was also thinking about how sighted
people also need training to function optimally in the world-maybe we
were thinking about it at the same time? Anyway, sighted children are
taught how to read, how to type on the computer and how to cross the
street and sighted teens have to be taught how to drive. Sighted
people also don't just magically know how to cook, clean or do
laundry-all of that is taught from one person to another. So the
sighted need training just as much as we do. For that matter, they
also need opportunity-funds to pay for a college education, job
openings they qualify for, etc. Without training and opportunity,
anyone is disadvantaged-anyone in our society who is illiterate or who
doesn't know how to cook for himself or who can't afford an education
is at a relative disadvantage.
The big "but" in all this is that even though the blind and sighted
are equally in need of training and opportunity, sighted people are
much more likely to have proper training and adequate opportunity than
are the blind. This is because the training blind people need is
different, highly specialized, and there are few people or entities
qualified to provide it. For example, print literacy classes are
simply much more prevalent than Braille-literacy ones. Most sighted
teens can learn to drive from their parents, but most parents don't
know how to teach basic cane technique, etc. And, because of the
prevalence of low expectations and prejudice toward the blind, we are
much more likely than the sighted to suffer from lack of
opportunity-dealing with inaccessible technology, employment
discrimination, and so on. So while all people's lives are dictated to
a great extent by the availability of training and opportunity, the
blind are disproportionately likely to suffer from a lack of one or
both, which in turn constitutes a disadvantage. I submit, however,
that most of this lack of training and opportunity comes from the fact
that we are such a small minority, and not from inherent conditions of
blindness. After all, if we were the majority, we could easily find
qualified Braille and cane teachers and technology would be accessible
to us as a rule.

Arielle

On 5/7/11, Kirt Manwaring <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com> wrote:
> Jedi,
> (there are a lot of people I  could reply to but I want to talk to
> Jedi right now),
>   Fair enough-there are certainly other disabilities, both personal or
> circumstancial, that are as limiting as blindness is without
> training-what does that have to do with blindness making us unable to
> perform on an equal level as the rest of the world without training
> and opportunity?  I mean, sure there are plenty of other limiting
> factors in life, what does that have to do with blindness being or not
> being a limiting factor?
>   Josh-helpless is bad.  I think we all agree on that here.  But I
> still say we're not equal with the sighted world, in terms of
> capability, without propper training.  And, I'd submit, even with
> propper training, blindness is stil a disability and, as such, will
> always cause problems here and there although they would be more
> inconveniences than drastic debilitating issues.
>   Just my thoughts,
> Kirt
>
> On 5/7/11, Josh Gregory <joshkart12 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hey, can you explain that? I find it interesting.  Your thought,
>> I mean.  Feel free to write offlist if you want.
>>
>>  ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com
>> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Sat, 7 May 2011 20:19:57 -0700
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] An Article about another Student at Myy
>> College
>>
>> Or perhaps whatever god you believe in knows you can't write your
>> insights
>> down so, taking a page from the Devil, inspires all sorts of
>> universally
>> true and enlightening insights a la Firmat's Theorem that will
>> vanish into
>> thin air in the morning.  (grin)
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
>> Of Josh Gregory
>> Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2011 8:09 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] An Article about another Student at Myy
>> College
>>
>> Um...  maybe Cause your mind is more relaxed? You don't have to
>> think about
>> much so you can think more clearly? IDK.  Just my late-night
>> thoughts...
>> Josh
>>
>>  ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Nicole B.  Torcolini at Home" <ntorcolini at wavecable.com
>> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Sat, 7 May 2011 20:06:13 -0700
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] An Article about another Student at Myy
>> College
>>
>> Lol, yes.  Why is it that everything comes to you when you are in
>> bed?
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jedi" <loneblindjedi at samobile.net
>> To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2011 7:34 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] An Article about another Student at Myy
>> College
>>
>>
>>  Yeah, I'd say so.  But I was thinking a while ago and realized
>> that there
>>  are loads of cases where training is required in order to
>> function, not
>>  just blindness.  I can't remember what specific examples I
>> thought of at
>>  the time, but I'm sure they'll hit me at some God-forsaken hour
>> of the
>>  night.
>>
>>  Respectfully,
>>  JEdi
>>
>>  Original message:
>>  Jedi,
>>    Maybe it'll makemore sense if I say it this way.  I wasn't
>> refering
>>  to a person's intrinsic value.  I should've said we can't
>> compete on
>>  an equal level by default.  I'm going to invert a statement
>> you've
>>  heard a billion times.  Without propper training and
>> opportunity,
>>  blindness is a great deal more than a mere nuisence, and is, in
>> fact,
>>  a very significant limitation.  Would you agree?
>>    Best regards,
>>  Kirt
>>
>>  On 5/7/11, Ignasi Cambra <ignasicambra at gmail.com> wrote:
>>  I think I know him too.  We got our guide dogs at the same time
>> back in
>>  2004.
>>  I remember Matt really loved baseball at the time, and he was
>> always
>>  playing
>>  outside with his dad.  I couldn't really speak English at the
>> time and we
>>  were very young, so I don't think we got to talk much.
>> Actually, when
>>  they
>>  were matching dogs with owners he got assigned my current guide
>> dog, but
>>  Matt walked too slow for the dog, or maybe it was the dog
>> walking too
>>  fast
>>  :).  But the fact is that I ended up with that dog, which is
>> still
>>  working
>>  wonderfully! I was always walking a little faster than the dog
>> they
>>  assigned
>>  me at first, so it worked out very well.  I guess that's the
>> advantage of
>>  instructors having a huge pool of trained dogs to choose from
>> for each
>>  person.
>>
>>  IC
>>  On May 6, 2011, at 1:20 PM, Jedi wrote:
>>
>>  I believe Matt Cooper participated in Youth Slam 2007.  I met
>> him and
>>  was
>>  quite impressed with him just because he was a down-to-earth
>> kind of
>>  guy
>>  who didn't toot his own horn to much.  He was an all-around good
>> kid.
>>
>>  I really liked the title the school gives to its DSS office.  It
>> makes
>>  so
>>  much sense and isn't euphemistic at all.  "Office for Accessible
>>  Education." I think I might suggest that to my school.
>>
>>  Respectfully,
>>  Jedi
>>
>>  Original message:
>>  What do you guys think of this?
>>  http://www.stanforddaily.com/2011/05/04/seeing-it-through/
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-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org




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