[NFB-DB] Identifying as deafblind

[David Andrews]

Whoever told you that is full of it!  Not all 
"blind" people are totally blind, not all deaf 
people are "totally deaf" and not all deaf-blind 
people are totally deaf and/or blind.

If you are using alternative tasks for sight, and 
hearing, you are deaf-blind, it seems to me.  I 
don't know if there are medical thresholds, but I 
don't think so. If it is some kind of rehab program, you should appeal.

Dave

At 03:37 PM 8/15/2021, heather Albright via NFB-DB wrote:

>Hi, I was told by other blind persons that I 
>cant identify as deaf blind because, I can still 
>here. But, I cant travel outside alone as I cant 
>hear  the cars coming or hear  others when I 
>go out to places. Â I do not always hear my 
>screenreader when it reads to me and someone 
>always says to turn it down, it is to loud. So I 
>use my braille display that I received to read. 
>I am always asking people what over and over, 
>and they get real annoyed with me. But, the same 
>person says I cant identify as deaf blind. So my 
>question is at what point can someone identify 
>as deaf blind. I wanted a guidedog but, they 
>will not put me in the class for deaf-blind and 
>I am afraid I will not get all the information 
>during the training if I do not get one on one training? Any advice?
>
>
>
>Heather
>
>
>
>Sent from <https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986>Mail for Windows
>
>
>
>From: <mailto:nfb-db at nfbnet.org>Ineko Gary via NFB-DB
>Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2021 3:26 PM
>To: <mailto:nfb-db at nfbnet.org>NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
>Cc: <mailto:rubiigary at gmail.com>Ineko Gary
>Subject: Re: [NFB-DB] Identifying as deafblind
>
>
>
>Hi Rod
>
>
>
>I want to say thank you so very much for sharing 
>your story. It touches a lot of people when I 
>hear how some one pic came to identify himself 
>or herself as a deaf blind person.
>
>
>
>I am both deaf blind. I went blind at six months 
>old. And as I was growing up a lot of people 
>would ask my stepmom is she legally blind or 
>totally blind. My mom would just say she’s 
>blind. But I did not start to lose my hearing 
>until I was the age 11 years old to the age of 
>14 years old. And I guess learn American Sign 
>Language first. And tactile sign language that 
>handover hand. Then later I learned braille. I 
>only know a tiny bit  of contracted braille. 
>But I know way more of un contracted braille. 
>And I read braille with my left hand. And I do 
>sign language with my left hand. So yes I am a 
>left-handed person. And I’ve been a guide dog 
>users for 25 years and I’ve been a long white cane user for 30 years.
>
>
>
>Lots of love always
>
>INEKO
>
>
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>
>
> > On Aug 15, 2021, at 4:14 PM, Rod and Ele 
> Macdonald via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> >
>
> > Tony,
>
> >
>
> > I have been "legally blind" since I was 
> three, but did not really identify as a "blind" 
> person until much later. I went through that 
> tinnitus phase and know exactly how you feel.
>
> >
>
> > After spending 12 years at Perkins I sort of 
> knew I was "blind" but more often said I "don't 
> see very well". I changed to "legally blind" 
> about the time I joined NFB in 1973, when I was 31.
>
> >
>
> > Similarly, I referred to my hearing situation 
> as "I don't hear very well." Since no physical 
> defect could be found to explain my hearing 
> issue, I was sent to a psychiatrist for six 
> years to find out why I couldn't or wouldn't hear.
>
> >
>
> > In 1975 an audiologist told me for the first 
> time that I was "deaf". I found that to be a 
> big RELIEF - to know that there was a valid 
> reason for my inability to hear - I hadn't been able to hear speech for years.
>
> >
>
> > And that was when I found my identity as both 
> a blind person and a deaf person - now a 
> Deaf-Blind person. The emphasis became on the 
> word PERSON. No matter if I Â am blind, or 
> bald, or deaf, or have a broken finger - yes, 
> have had or do have all these things, but I am 
> still a 100% human being, and no one can ever take that away from me.
>
> >
>
> > I also self-identify as "Deaf-Blind" because 
> I self-identify as being from the Blind 
> community AND a part of the Deaf community (but 
> not the Deaf culture - I do not use American 
> Sign Language). I hyphenate the two words 
> because my two very-dissimilar disabilities are 
> combined, not merged. I might use the analogy 
> that I have a right hand and a left hand, but 
> that does not mean I am ambidextrous - I am 
> right-handed, but I read braille with my left 
> hand. Both hands are equally important to me, but I do have two separate hands.
>
> >
>
> > So to answer your question: For me, the point 
> at which I self-identified as a Deaf-Blind 
> person came when I accepted myself, and 
> presented myself to others, as a Deaf-Blind 
> person, without denial, arrogance or pretense. 
> For me that came in 1979, when I joined the AADB.
>
> >
>
> > Rod
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
>
> > From: kg 6sxy \(kg6sxy\) via NFB-DBÂ  <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
>
> > To:Â  nfb-db at nfbnet.org
>
> > CC: kg6sxy at gmail.com
>
> > Date: Sunday, August 15, 2021 11:55 am
>
> > Subject: [NFB-DB] Identifying as deafblind
>
> >
>
> >>
>
> >>
>
> >> For those of you that were not born 
> deafblind, how long did it take you to self 
> identify as deafblind?  My tinnitus has been 
> really driving me around the bend lately where 
> I'm completely deaf more often than not but it 
> still feels like I shouldn't be self 
> identifying as deafblind because I still have 
> functional hearing from time to time. It's 
> probably not important either way, just a 
> matter of not feeling like an imposter, I 
> guess.  Just having a bad week all around.  I appreciate your feedback.
>
> >>
>
> >> Take care,Â
>
> >> Tony
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