[nfb-talk] The Word Blind

Michael D. Barber m.barber at mchsi.com
Sun Feb 22 22:14:16 UTC 2009


Hi Mike:  I like what you say.  I also like what Mr. Omvig had to say in the 
January Monitor about using the word "blind" to those who are losing their 
sight.  Their understanding about blindness is not at all at our level 
because they are still coming to grips with losing their vision. 
Unfortunately, I've heard some of our members (as well as me, long ago) come 
down on people who are newly blind, telling them, "you're blind," when in 
fact, they're not yet ready to admit that.

Michael Barber
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Bullis" <mabullis at hotmail.com>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 6:08 AM
Subject: [nfb-talk] The Word Blind


>I read a NY Times article this morning with the following sentence---"that
> would be like the blind men trying to describe the elephant when each one
> focuses on a single part."
> It reminded me that from society's viewpoint, the word blind means totally
> blind.  We draw distinctions legally and in our own community, but, the 
> word
> blind means the inability to see anything.  Period.
> It reminded me that when people lose vision, they don't just avoid the 
> word
> blind because it's not the way they want to see themselves.  They avoid 
> the
> word because it's not what they've always defined blind as.  When people 
> say
> "blind sided", "blind to the truth", Etc.  they are thinking of not seeing
> at all.  So, I remind myself that when we remind people that blind doesn't
> mean totally blind, we are going against the grain of language usage 
> formed
> for tens of thousands of years.
> So, I reminded myself to lighten up on society and on those losing vision
> when they aren't aware of our subtle nuances of language.  They're doing
> what comes natural.  Perhaps we ought to strive for an understanding and
> exceptance of blindness rather than the propper language always, and in
> every case.
> Mike
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org 





More information about the nFB-Talk mailing list