[nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home Makeover - blindcouple in OH

Mon Dec 6 20:02:48 UTC 2010

You know, it is sad the show had to be so bad, but in the blindness 
community, as with any other group of people, there are many of those who 
have had a hard time coping and haven't had the awareness or else the 
stamina or willingness or family support or whatever it takes to get the 
training needed.
I think it is like the african american community, which has some real stars 
who have overcome the stereotypes and perceptions to be very successful, and 
also those who just go down a bad path, following too many negative role 
models -- and also every level inbetween.
Blindness isn't a racial label, but it is a group that anybody may join if 
circumstances are right, and those who are newly blind don't always approach 
accessibility proactively as the loss is frankly traumatic.  ( I know this 
from experience, only I lost my sight gradually over decades.) You have to 
fight the independence battle at every turn, not always because people are 
mean, but because many are "nice" and willing to pamper you rather than help 
you change.  Sometimes you also have to fight the complacency bug in 
yourself.
Anyway, my point is that we are attacking both the show and the people in 
the show for their state of dependence, when there are probably a lot of 
people just like them, whether you want to admit it.
Now I'm not against attacking something as high profile as this show, or do 
consciencness raising to promote blind independence and training.  I just 
think we have to keep a cool head and not make personal attacks, as we all 
are on the same side, but only disagreeing on the details.
Off box.
--le

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cindy Handel" <cindy425 at verizon.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home Makeover - 
blindcouple in OH

Oh My!  This is just terrible.  It's not the first one Extreme Home Makeover
has done about blind people.  I hope something can be done so it's the last.
It's so destructive.

Cindy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rovig, Lorraine" <LRovig at nfb.org>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home Makeover -
blindcouple in OH

Here We Go Again: Home Makeover Extreme Edition - blind couple in OH

Well, I watched it. It was pretty bad and it could have been worse. It
could have been a lot better too.

Their original bathroom -- a sink fell off the wall once when Jasmine
washed her hands so they had no bathroom sink; the old toilet would
swivel left and right about 20 degrees either way if your toe pushed it.
Other parts of the old home and front porch were dangerous.  The part of
the old house facing the street appeared to be two-rooms wide, small
rooms, and I do not remember if it was two-story.  They were given a
two-story, large, modern home with all new appliances in the kitchen,
laundry room, every other room, and etcetera.

This is an African-American family, the Andersons of Maple Heights, Ohio
(near Cleveland). I do not know if either one has a job; both appear to
be in their early 40s.  The mother, Jasmine, states she is visually
impaired. She uses a folding cane with a fat white tip that I think is a
marshmallow tip.  Husband, Andre, pronounced the French way, is totally
blind and uses a guide dog named Valentine. The show gave the dog a
heart-shaped bed.

Jasmine gave a tiny monologue stating she lost enough sight to be
visually impaired and was depressed for awhile but then she became
"courageous" like she is now. They never charge for their [untrained]
counseling and encouragement of other people with disabilities. They
give lots of speeches to educate the community how to make life easier
for blind people and people with other disabilities.

The couple told us they are in danger every time they cross a street and
the camera mike was held close to trucks and cars as vehicles zoomed by
on a city street. Jasmine said she was hit in the shoulder by a moving
car one time. Ty Pennington, the shows' big-hearted hero,
furniture-designer and designer of his own line of linens and other
goods for the home, excellent carpenter and TV show leader, went on
about how dangerous it is for blind people every day when they are
outside the home. He got installed for the Andersons a fancy talking
device at the single crossing nearest to their home at their bus stop.
Jasmine told us "we're not the only blind people living here, you know"
and, she said, this will help people with other disabilities that live
in their neighborhood too.

The show gave her a CCTV rigged to a lady's dressing table so she can
see to put on her make-up and not have to ask her son if she did it
okay. She got choked up that she can see her nails now and can paint
them as she could not see to do before, and for the first time she
exclaims, as we watch her look at it, she can see the beautiful ring her
husband gave her.

In the old house, Jasmine shoved up the sleeves on her dress to show Ty
and us the many burns on her arms that she got from using her
conventional electric 4-burner stove and oven.  The show gave her
"induction heating" which does not give out any heat except to a metal
pot placed on the burner, and she got a wall oven so her oven is at a
better height for her to use. The house got a talking temperature gauge.
On the plus side, so the two wouldn't get lost, nothing odd was built
into the kitchen or the walls and floors.  Also on the plus side, except
for the induction oven, normal if fancy Sears's appliances were placed
in the home for the kitchen and the baths.

Both Andre and Jasmine got computers that I think had JAWS installed on
them. They got a home theatre room with one "Sound Dome" over both their
heads that directs the sound directly only to them, and lets them hear
the SAP channel along with the show. They have two very helpful,
respectful sons (one may be age 12 and the other is a young teenager).
Ty stated the older son got a vacation from verbalizing what is on
screen plus he got the SAP thing with words running below the screen
when folks talked (which he needed but I missed the part that said why
he did). The younger son is sure he wants to grow up to be an eye doctor
so he can cure blindness, beginning with his mother's visual impairment.

Both Jasmine and Andre got brand new, fat-bodied, folding canes that
have built-in sensors to inform them of obstacles by their head and at
their feet, and, said Ty, "these aren't even on the market yet." Andre
expressed their gratitude.

They got a huge main room that runs from a living room grouping through
an empty space of floor to a dining room grouping to a kitchen with no
barriers or changes in floor, so they do not have to worry anymore about
running into posts or walls, as they did run into in their cramped
original home.  I noticed they are both bulky overweight people and the
original house doorways were older and appeared smallish, plus a post
was inconveniently placed, especially for any overweight people trying
to get past it to the bedrooms and bathroom.

The mortgage company paid off and tore up their mortgage; the local
branch of the state college gave them 2 college scholarships for the
boys; Sears gave the four of them enough clothes and shoes to fill some
of their new closets; the local basketball team called The Cavaliers,
gave the teen-aged son a closet-full of their clothes plus 3-shelves of
their basketballs with its metal rack. The building company gave them
$50,000 to a fund to handle their home maintenance.

Braille got a "shout out" as the modern lingo has it. Ty added palm-size
wooden "dots" to their bed's headboard to spell out in grade one, "Love
is Blind."  Large print got a "shout out" too, with their top bed quilt
decorated with "Love is Blind" sewn on as stuffed, raised-up
hand-writing.

(For me, I keep wondering how they and other Ty Pennington-show
homeowners can afford their new taxes on their giant gifts of money,
goods, and a huge new home.)

The Andersons were so very grateful for all they received from Ty and
Sears Company and ABC. Tears all around.

You can view the entire episode on the Anderson Family via computer,
here:
http://abc.go.com/shows/extreme-makeover-home-edition
Anderson Family
  | Full Episode
A visually impaired couple devoted to helping the community receives a
home makeover, complete with technologies that help people with
disabilities;
EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION - "Anderson Family" - Andre and Jasmine
Anderson have never allowed their visual impairment to slow them down,
but rather have faced it head on, and established the Disability
Awareness Center in Maple Heights, Ohio, to help others who are
struggling with sight loss. The couple and their sons learned they would
be recipients of a home makeover while aboard the public bus that they
ride every day. The "EM: HE" team surprised them on the bus and revealed
plans to give them a new "smart" home, equipped with technologies that
support people with disabilities. This episode of "Extreme Makeover:
Home Edition" airs SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC
Television Network. (ABC/MIKE CROUCH) ANDERSON FAMILY HOME - AFTER -
BEDROOM

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