[nabs-l] Public humiliation because of blindness.

Sat Oct 20 14:32:00 UTC 2012

I totally agree! You could also contact your NFB chapter or state
president, and maybe they would be able to help you. I think the best
course of action here is to be proactive and to educate them before
the embarrassment happens.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 20, 2012, at 1:52 AM, Mauricio Almeida
<mauriciopmalmeida at gmail.com> wrote:

> greetings,
>
> While i have never had a situation exactly like this one, I thought I would point out my views on some  of the issues discussed herein.
> I strongly agree that you should take some kind of action regarding this matter, because it is because we let go of things in the past that we need to deal with these situations nowadays.
> however, coming to us and sharing your experience, is already an action. You have allowed yourself to calm down, and you have accepted the situation understanding that it is not your fault for having a disability, but his fault for not knowing how to seal with the situation and being totally inappropriate about it.
> This is a big step within itself.
> About further action, I would fill a complaint with the place's management, as suggested in the first reply of this e-mail, and stand by.
> if the issue persist, then consider additional steps.
> The important thing is to remember how to distinguish ignorance from prejudice. many people do not know what the blind can do, which is why sometimes they ask way to many questions over a simples matter. in those cases, the best approach is to educate them.
> when however the person is purposefully making you embarrassed, (or whenever it seems to be this way) don't hesitate to take an aggressive stance.
>
> sincerely,
>
> Mauricio Almeida
> Vice president: Michigan association of blind students
> On Oct 19, 2012, at 9:32 PM, Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> Good evening, carnival chick,
>>
>> Let it go! Just consider what the attendant's attentions probably were and his experience with blindness. He probably has neither. At 05:08 PM 10/19/2012, you wrote:
>>> I'm wondering if anyone else besides me has had an incident like the one I'm about to discuss. This does not have to necessarily be at a carnival; this can be anywhere. I am trying to figure out what to do to take action against the person involved in this situation and am looking for advice.
>>>
>>> I went to our state fair today to hang out at the carnival. I always have fun and today was no exception. I am a very big fan of walking through funhouses, especially the ones that are like obstacle courses with moving floors, turntables, and the like. My favorite one is a massive 4-story one called the King's Circus. First, let me say that it is absolutely crucial that a blind person get help when he/she walks through this. There are openings that you have to watch out for while navigating certain tricks and also some tricky maneuvering if you use a long cane. For instance, the first thing you encounter is a large turntable that you step on to to ride around to the entrance. You have to watch for an opening and the gap is too narrow to put your cane through once you step on and grab the pole. You have to step off while said platform is spinning and could have a really nasty accident if someone is not there to make sure you didn't miss it; I nearly have planted my face in the wall when trying to do it independently. I have been through this funhouse five times, not counting today, and have had no issues with getting help from attendants. The guys who ran it in the past were totally awesome and did not treat blindness as an issue. Today they didn't either. However, there was one attendant in particular who decided that it was necessary to publicly embarrass me. He asked my companion if he had ever heard of the school for the blind; I only found this out later because I went up to go down the 4-story slide from the top of the building. My companion chose not to as he is a big guy and the slide is a tight fit. No problem. HOwever, he then proceeded to yell to the entire funhouse that a blind person was there and getting ready to come down. I understand that I needed to wait until the person I was with got down the stairs, but was totally embarrassed by his actions. He did not let me get a word in either. This was the culmination of a series of incidents. First he made everyone cut in front of me at a particular floor trick that he thought I could not do. I proved him wrong on that one. However, he would not allow me to explore on my own like the other guys used to do. I was usually followed at a respectful distance and left to my own devices once I got past the entry turntable and moving stairs, only getting help when I needed to check that the path was clear and also to help me bypass things I did not want to do, like the hamster wheel. I do not mind waiting to go down the slide as someone has always told me when it is clear. He also made everyone go ahead of me because of blindness. Again, I could not get a word in to him to ask him to back off. I am trying to figure out what to do to take action against this person. I never got his name, but I do have a recording of the walk as evidence of what happened. Mind you, the funhouse was crowded today so I understand that I could not explore too much. But this guy clearly had low expectations and did not expect me to do anything independently.
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