[nagdu] New information about more and more people becoming blind

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Cheryl,

Yeah, with diabetes on the rise, blindness will be on the rise.  Same with
vets.  You hit the nail on the head!

Being still a fairly newbie blind, getting further and further along with
getting it figured out while my vision gets on with packing up and leaving,
I find I get quite a bit of brain spasm when I listen to news reports about
diabetes being on the rise, in younger and younger people,; along with the
debate over healthcare and whether to tax high-sugar drinks and the like
which are such contributing factors to that rise, along with the
much-publicized national debate over healthcare how it should work and...
etc.  All while observing what I can of social attitudes towards blindness
or disability in general and the interplay between our larger social and
cultural assumptions and how they effect public policty and law...

Then I have no brain left to spasm and am a much happier person for it.
/grin/

Well, if I start going on, it will be pretty hard to bring guide dogs into
it.  /grin/  I haven't really reached any conclusions that I can use to do
anything about or that I can even pass on to those who could.  Escept to
aggre with you in saying people need to sit up and take note and start
thinking collectively...  Or we could have a societal crisis!

As a diabetic, I am sure you know far better than I that the other 2 of the
"Big Three" (neuropathy and nephropathy) are huge, too, and can be a higher
impact on the person with them than blindness, which can at least be adapted
to so that one may live a normal life.  But that's another discussion.
/smile/

As guide dog users, what we can do collectively is to continue to do what
we're doing to raise awareness and to help to define the issues and to guide
legislative efforts and court cases.  Individually, we can also bring
awareness simply by living our lives as we do, with our dogs as mobility
aids to supplement our white canes (or however you want to view that
contrast).  The thing I have found about using a guide dog over a cane is
that she is, in fact, a great conversation piece.  /grin/  People notice me
when I'm out with my cane.  Well, they notice the cane.  /grin/  But I do
find they are more likely to approach me in a way that will enable me to
subtly inform and education when Mitzi is the apparent focus of the
conversation.  She does not mind the arrangment, so long as everyone
remembers that she is, in fact, the bright center of everything.  /grin/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of cheryl echevarria
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 11:20 AM
To: nagdu
Subject: [nagdu] New information about more and more people becoming blind

Now it is interesting because this was on ABC New Last night.  The a new
study of people with Diabetes whether type 1 or type 2.  The story
emphasizes on diabetics but it should also go for people to get there
eyesight check once a year.

Because more and more people aren't properly getting check for diabetes when
they go to the doctor, or if they have diabetes that they won't go blind as
long as there sugars are controlled are absolutely wrong.

I know because I lost my vision to diabetes.  It showed that the blood
vessel around the retina get blocked and will get to the point where the is
no blood flow and your vision will get worse and worse and there is no way
of stopping the damage was it starts it may slow down for awhile.  But
Diabetes is the no 1 cause of blindness in this country.

I say this on this list because a it seems to me that people who have had
vision and now don't seem to be treated differently.  I find this true and
in fact a friend of mine out here who is blind and not from the NFB and is a
guide dog user, its true she told me she said that she was jealous of me
that I was able to see and describe to her things she couldn't see. I still
see things, but more black and white and blurred but still shapes and
objects.  But at the same time I told her that I was jealous of her because
she learned from day one from parents that made sure she had all the right
tools and no how so she could be independent and I am still learning my ABCs
so to say.

There will be more and more newly blind people, especially those return home
from fighting wars for our country, and I think we need for them to know the
laws and the mobility that is out there and work on those issues instead of
trying to see who knows the laws better then the other when everyone
interprets it in the own way.

This statement might be all over the place but you get my drift.

Cheryl Echevarria 
Independent Travel Consultant
http://Echevarriatravel.com<http://echevarriatravel.com/>
1-866-580-5574

http://blog.echevarriatravel.com<http://blog.echevarriatravel.com/>
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com<mailto:Reservations at echevarriatravel.com>
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10
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