[nabs-l] Personal characteristics and traits of successful blind people
Steve Jacobson
steve.jacobson at visi.com
Sun Mar 30 00:46:45 UTC 2014
Joe,
Good grief, which lack of opportunities do we have control over? If we had control over them, they would no longer constitute a lack of opportunities. It
feels like you are playing games with words here. Blindness is going to be more than a nuisance at times as are many, many other things in life. Is it fair
that we are not all born sighted? Of course not, but you could say that about a lot of characteristics. It is my understanding that the "reduced to a
nuisance" thing was intended to address the notion that many sighted peopl have that we wake up every morning dreading living another day as a blind
person. I can honestly say I do not wake up that way. A month ago, it was fifteen below zero here in Minnesota and a cab dropped me off at the wrong
place. I pulled out my iPhone to use BlindSquare to see where I was. My fingers got so cold so quickly that I couldn't access it. Right then, blindness
was more than a nuisance, and I don't mind admitting that. We have some big obstacles now and some will get bigger if we don't figure out how to deal
with them more successfully. Accessibility is a very big one. Let's not forget, though, that thirty years ago, and I remember because I was in the work
place then, we had access to no forms, no mail, no banking information and on and on. We had to hire readers for all of it. In some ways, I think taking
classes back then was actually easier, though, than it is today, although I would have given a lot to be able to use the web to do research as can be
done now. Things change, they gett better in some ways but worse in others. There are many things about life that can be difficult, and blindness is one,
but not the only one and I maintain often not the biggest one. What our philosophy does for me is to help me keep it in some sort of perspective. Being
born sighted would have been nice, but so would being born rich, or being born with an irresistable artistic tallent or maybe even athletic skills. Regardless
of one's level of patriotism, I thing most would agree that being born blind here and in many other countries is probably preferable to being born sighted in a
war zone or area of unrest.
There are far too many of us who have not been able to move ahead to the degree that they likely would have had they been born sighted. We have to
keep trying to make opportunities better than they are. In some ways, I think we have been fighting pretty hard just to stay even, but where would we be
if we hadn't fought. I am frankly somewhat concerned about where we are right now with respect to accessibility, but I'm going to try to do what I can to
make the chances better that it will move in the right direction. We also have to be willing to use other tools when we need to. It means asking for help
sometimes but it also means finding a way to return the help we are given in another way. As I think you know, I don't work at the heights of the blindness
movement, but I know I have been lucky in many ways and I am mindful of that. I just don't see where preaching hopelessness is going to help us.
When I was looking for a job, just knowing that others had found jobs helped me keep moving. However, I was also able to learn from them so I received
tangible assistance in that way, too.
I think that too much time is spent on trying to define "nuisance" and "non-issue" instead of trying to get to the true intent of using those words, to paint a
picture that is less bleak and to offer hope and support.
Best regards,
Steve Jacobson
On Sat, 29 Mar 2014 19:39:50 -0400, Joe wrote:
>Arielle,
>Inaccessible technology, lack of transit, and discrimination are not merely
>lack of opportunities. They are depictions of reality over which we do not
>always have control. Perhaps it could be said that blindness, could, be a
>non-issue if the stars aligned and these inconveniences did not slow down
>our forward momentum, but few are the blind people who can move through life
>without experiencing frustration with the delays and detours at random
>points along the way. In fact, I would submit that those few for whom
>blindness is truly a non-issue are the ones working at the heights of the
>blindness movement where it is easy to drum up platitudes of opportunity and
>analogies of blindness to a nuisance. Whatever will motivate you to go out
>and raise money for the cause, right? For the rest of us living outside of
>that leadership bubble, life's tough. Can it be done? Most assuredly, and I
>will take a motivational whip to anyone's arse who claims otherwise, but
>there's success according to the over-simplistic way Baltimore preaches and
>then there's success according to the real-world way the rest of us earn it.
>--
>Twitter: @ScribblingJoe
>Visit my blog:
>http://joeorozco.com/blog
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle
>Silverman
>Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 2:33 PM
>To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Personal characteristics and traits of successfulblind
>people
>Joe, I think all the examples you cite are instances of lack of opportunity.
>Inaccessible technology, lack of transit, discrimination; these are all
>denials of opportunity. Everyone admits that blindness makes a lack of
>opportunity more of a barrier. But when there is opportunity--when things
>are accessible, there are ways to get around besides driving a car,
>etc.--blindness becomes a non-issue.
>Arielle
>On 3/29/14, Kirt <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Funny you mentioned that... because it's actually one of my favorite
>> speeches and, in my opinion, one of the best explanations of The way I
>> interpret and apply Federation philosophy. If you recall, his main
>> point in that speech was that real independence means getting things
>> done in the most efficient way possible, Without placing ridiculously
>> high burdens on other people. He went out of his way to repeatedly
>> emphasize that real independence, As he saw it, does indeed mean you
>> accept assistance if you want it, if it will really be helpful, and as
>> long as it is on your terms and not somebody else's. That speech is
>> easily one of my favorites-I think it's fair to say there are some people
>in the federation who don't quite live by it.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Mar 29, 2014, at 10:10 AM, "justin williams"
>>> <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Revisit the Dr. Jernican speech on interdependence.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kirt
>>> Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 12:03 PM
>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Personal characteristics and traits of
>>> successfulblind people
>>>
>>> Absolutely nothing and, if you think that's what the federation
>>> teaches, you've been listening to the wrong people.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On Mar 29, 2014, at 6:46 AM, Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at comcast.net>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Good morning, everyone,
>>>>
>>>> So, going back to how Robin holds up interdependence as a means of
>>>> getting
>>> assistance for such things as not quite accessable forms, what's
>>> wrong with that?
>>>> for today, Car
>>>>
>>>> At 02:23 PM 3/28/2014, Ashley Bramlett wrote:
>>>>> Hi Joe,
>>>>> very well said. I, too, cannot believe blindness is a nuisance anymore.
>>> Not with the barriers I face because the world is not conducive to
>>> nonvisual access, especially appliances and technology. Do I think
>>> about blindness a lot? No, its part of me; actually I have low
>>> vision.
>>>>> I go about my business like making breakfast, listening to the news
>>>>> and
>>> weather via radio and watching tv shows that are rather auditory a
>>> lot and feel happy. I don't think about that I'm doing things
>>> differently because of my vision or feel down over it. But, it does
>>> play a role in my ability to accomplish visual tasks. For instance
>>> filling out job applications; its like half are inaccessible; I came
>>> across at least three which say errors, fix the boxes by red stars,
>>> and I do not know what the errors are. or others I fill out are not
>>> accepted telling me that I missed fields, and I have no idea which
>>> fields I missed. I need some eyes to assist me.
>>>>> Then there is the transit issue; with mobility being a challenge, I
>>> struggle with that, and hate the inconvenience of paratransit.
>>>>> Then you have electronics which we cannot see. So, no its not a
>>>>> nuisance, and we have not made enough progress to render blindness
>>> insignificant in doing what we want to do.
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, I agree with you on success. Its about living your
>>>>> passions. Its
>>> also, I believe, about making goals, and doing them to change the world.
>>> Go
>>> out and achieve big things for you.
>>>>>
>>>>> Also, yeah, success is you. Having a federal job as you do in that
>>>>> field,
>>> is a rather successful thing you accomplished.
>>>>> You are smart.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ashley
>>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Joe
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:12 PM
>>>>> To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
>>>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Personal characteristics and traits of
>>>>> successfulblind people
>>>>>
>>>>> Phil,
>>>>>
>>>>> A successful blind person looks, acts, and communicates like me.
>>>>> Isn't that obvious?
>>>>>
>>>>> But, kidding aside, I want to give you a different perspective from
>>>>> the people whining about how it is unfair to make blindness a
>>>>> factor in
>>> success.
>>>>> Apparently some of us believe that success is success and blindness
>>>>> is irrelevant, but to deny that blindness is a factor is to deny
>>>>> the reality that more than 70% of our blind peers are unemployed.
>>>>> To a degree, overcoming blindness is success onto itself, and if
>>>>> you can't succeed there, a person's likelihood of succeeding
>>>>> anywhere else is slim. Is the person willing to advocate for
>>>>> themselves? Are they willing to work twice as hard to achieve tasks
>>>>> their sighted peers can complete sometimes in half the time? Are
>>>>> they honest enough with themselves to tell if they possess
>>>>> sufficient daily living, technology, and communication skills to
>>>>> succeed at life, let alone the workplace? It may be true that our
>>>>> sighted peers may need to ponder some of these points, but not with
>>>>> the same necessity or to the same depth as the blind person who has
>>>>> to be extra competitive to
>>> beat sighted applicants.
>>>>>
>>>>> At some point over the past several years I stopped subscribing to
>>>>> the NFB notion that blindness can be reduced to the level of a
>>>>> nuisance. Were that true, I believe we would have seen better
>>>>> progress where blind people are concerned. Blindness presents
>>>>> certain unique challenges a person must regularly overcome to
>>>>> excel. Yes, building up confidence makes the process easier, but I
>>>>> don't know that we have reached a point in our evolution of
>>>>> independence that blindness is irrelevant, and certainly not so
>>>>> minimal as to be labeled a
>>> minor inconvenience.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now, as to success across the board, blind or sighted, I think
>>>>> pursuing your own passions is a key ingredient. I wrote a blog post
>>>>> on the subject, which you can read at the link below:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://joeorozco.com/blog_are_you_living_someone_elses_dream
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Twitter: @ScribblingJoe
>>>>>
>>>>> Visit my blog:
>>>>> http://joeorozco.com/blog
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Phil
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 6:29 AM
>>>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Personal characteristics and traits of successful
>>>>> blind people
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm working on a research paper, and would like to hear what you think.
>>>>> Obviously there are external factors such as accessibility
>>>>> barriers, social and attitudinal barriers and so on that affect a
>>>>> blind person's likelihood of success in life. But if we focus on
>>>>> personal characteristics for a moment, what do you think are some
>>>>> personal characteristics that can help a blind person succeed, or
>>>>> ask in a different way, what characteristics and behavior traits do
>>>>> successful blind people around you exhibit? And what makes you cite
>these traits?
>>>>> For example, some have rightly pointed out that a sense of
>>>>> curiosity and exploration is key, both curiosity to explore one's
>>>>> physical surrounding, intellectual curiosity to explore different
>>>>> subjects and career possibilities, and so on. Others have also
>>>>> pointed out having the courage to be different is important as a blind
>person.
>>>>> What else do you think are important characteristics or behavior
>traits?
>>>>> Hope to hear lots of diverse views on this.
>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>
>>>>> Best,
>>>>> Phil
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>>> for
>>>>> nabs-l:
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jsoro620%40gmail.
>>>>> com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>>> for
>>> nabs-l:
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/bookwormahb%40e
>>>>> ar
>>>>> thlink.net
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>>> for
>>> nabs-l:
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/carlymih%40comc
>>>>> as
>>>>> t.net
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>> for
>>> nabs-l:
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/kirt.crazydude%4
>>>> 0g
>>>> mail.com
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> nabs-l:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/justin.williams2%
>>> 40gmail
>>> .com
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> nabs-l:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/kirt.crazydude%40
>>> gmail.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.
>> com
>>
>_______________________________________________
>nabs-l mailing list
>nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>nabs-l:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jsoro620%40gmail.com
>_______________________________________________
>nabs-l mailing list
>nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nabs-l:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/steve.jacobson%40visi.com
More information about the NABS-L
mailing list