[nfb-talk] NY Times Article on Gov. Paterson and Braille

Joe Orozco jsorozco at gmail.com
Tue Dec 28 02:29:49 UTC 2010


Now, before everyone agrees the article is a poor portrayal of blindness and
jumps on the bandwagon to condemn the governor, I think we should recognize
the problem for what it is.  Paterson is only one person who has some vision
and feels caught between the world of the sighted and the world of the
blind.  I've known people like this who feel as though they are isolated
victims.  Despite my better efforts to educate them, my attempts typically
meet with little result, and so what do we as an organization do to reach
out to these people who have just enough vision to get in trouble?  Preach
Braille all you want, but there are adults who will not pick up Braille.
Telling them they will invariably fail if they do not read Braille is not
the solution.  Asking them to learn how to use technology so that they don't
have to strain their eyes will not yield immediate results.  I don't have
any good answers and am genuinely interested to learn of what people have
tried that works.  But, please, a thread completely devoted to how wrong the
governor and his parents are will be ineffective.

Best,

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing 





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