[nabs-l] Feeling Inadequate After National Convention?

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi Elizabeth and all,

I  think your reaction is perfectly natural and it is definitely one
that others have expressed inside and outside the NFB. However, I
would point out that  our leaders could also experience struggles in
ways that we are not aware of. For example, I know that several of our
national leaders learned Braille later in life, either because of
anti-Braille attitudes in their education or because they became blind
as adults. In a way, learning Braille later could be considered a kind
of disability because it is harder to become fluent in Braille when
one starts learning later in life. These leaders may come across as
impeccable in their speeches, but what we don't know is how much they
might have practiced beforehand or what tricks they use to compensate
for a slower reading speed. There are also many among us, probably
some in leadership, who have hidden disabilities--learning, mental
health or otherwise--they have not disclosed with us. In fact, I have
several lifelong balance and coordination problems, and suspect I
could have a  mild form of a  second disability myself. Given the
prevalence of mental health conditions (many hidden) in the
population, and the kinds of additional disabilities that often come
with blindness, I would probably guess that a majority of our members
have additional disabilities even if we cannot see them, and everyone
has their own real and perceived struggles even if we cannot see them.
My point is that while comparisons are natural, I would encourage all
of us to try to be the best we can be rather than comparing ourselves
to the front that somebody else puts forward.

Best,
Arielle

On 7/12/14, Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> I hope everyone who attended the national convention this year had a great
> time in Orlando. I understand attending a national convention can be a
> rather inspiring event in the life of someone who is blind. However, as I
> was listening to the online stream of the national convention this year, I
> found myself feeling the complete opposite.
>
> Instead of feeling inspired and hopeful for the future, I found myself
> feeling rather defeated and inadequate. As I was listening to the speaches
> from various leaders within the NFB, I found myself thinking how lucky they
> must be that the only disability they have to deal with in their lives was
> there blindness. I was thinking about how easy it must be fore someone who
> is only blind, and how more difficult it is for someone who has another
> disability in addition to being blind.
>
> Now perhaps this may be a bit too personal to post to the email list, but I
> was just curious if anyone else has ever felt this way, and if so, what did
> you do to deal with these kinds of feelings? I would greatly appreciate
> hearing from anyone who has ever dealt with this kind of issue before.
>
> Thanks,
> Elizabeth
>
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