[nabs-l] What is independence?

[Antonio Guimaraes]

Hi Scott,

I wonder how many people, including some in leadership, have actually read this piece.

I've run into more than one occasion when a person with leadership role in the NFB ostracized another of lesser ranking for using philosophically inferior methods for achieving independence.

I've heard of a few instances of friends being lectured, even if for just a ten second long reprimand about blindness techniques. These people never forgot these interactions. Heck, they may have spent several minutes discussing the episode with me, which tells me they've done it also with others. The reprimand  had an impact in the so-called low skilled blind person.

I sure had a few thoughts about someone calling me out on using sighted guide techniques on the premise that quote "we don't do that here." Unquote.

I can not imagine the person with the perceived power in these cases did not read this article.

this type of interaction often drives people to think of the NFB as militant and the like.

I don't know how some of the perceptions can change. I don't know if they will ever change, but at least  the organization has taken some steps to learn about its image.

Does anyone know what direction we are taking from any lessons learned after conducting the "what do you think of the NFB" image survey a few months ago?

I'm sure it wasn't cheap to hire the PR consultants who ran that for us. What are we getting in return?

Antonio
On Feb 27, 2014, at 6:02 PM, Scott C. LaBarre <slabarre at labarrelaw.com> wrote:

> On this topic, everyone should read Dr. Jernigan's speech, the Nature of
> Independence.  You can read or listen to the actual audio.  It is under
> publication and then speeches and reports on the nfb.org website.  In my
> view, it is one of the most compelling speeches in our history.
> 
> Best,
> Scott
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Silveira
> Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2014 3:21 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] What is independence?
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I agree with what has been said thus far; the word "independence" has
> several connotative meanings.  For me, I believe that an independent person
> has the ability to function without being fully reliant on others to manage
> their lives.  Independence does not, however, necessarily mean that one must
> never rely on others for assistance.  Whether one is blind, hearing
> impaired, in a wheel chair, developmentally challenged or without any
> diagnosed disability, one still needs to ask for assistance from time to
> time.  If a person can think for themselves, take care of themselves, make
> trivial and important decisions by and for themselves and manage life in
> general (whether that be home life, school, a career or all of the above)
> and do it mostly on their own, they are independent.  They should also,
> however, know when to ask for help.  No one should have to go through life
> alone.  Every person needs help in some way.  The greatest sign of
> independence is the ability to manage life on one's own, while also knowing
> where the limit is and when to ask for help.
> 
> 
> Ryan L. Silveira 
> 
> 
> On Feb 27, 2014, at 4:49 PM, Desiree Oudinot <turtlepower17 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> This is a very good topic for discussion.
>> 
>> For me, true independence is living your life without feeling burdened by
> the things that you can't do. It is knowing that you have the skills
> necessary to achieve whatever your goals and aspirations in life are.
>> More importantly, it means knowing your limits. It means being able to
> explore the depths of your soul freely and without guilt. This is necessary
> because people who scream the loudest about their independence are often the
> ones who spend the most time consciously emulating someone else's values and
> beliefs. If one can think for themselves, and be inspired by, rather than
> shamed into, knowing how they feel about themselves, their place in the
> world, their morals, etc., that, to me, is the key ingredient to being truly
> independent.
>> 
>> On 2/26/2014 5:08 PM, Darian Smith wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>> 
>>>  It seems to me that a word  that  we use a lot  in the Federation is
> independence.
>>>  Obviously, we go about it differently which would suggest  differing
> definitions for each individual. As you read this message, I wonder what the
> word independence means to you?
>>>  Best,
>>>  Darian
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>> 
>> -- 
>> Desiree
>> 
>> 
>> ---
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>> http://www.avast.com
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>> 
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