[nfb-talk] sonar for blind

David Evans drevans at bellsouth.net
Fri Jul 22 13:15:24 UTC 2011


Dear All,

This is just my opinion on this.
What ever works and helps a person to get around in their environment is 
okay with me, as long as it is dignified.
The problem is with the parents thinking that this behavior is more 
acceptable than appearing Blind and using a long White cane.
The schools use this argument with parents when they try to talk parent's 
out of having to teach their children Braille or mobility skills.  " you 
don't want them to look Blind do you?"
Parents, and people in general, try to avoid,"looking Blind."
This is the very reason that we have such a problem getting seniors to carry 
a long White cane.  They do not want to appear Blind to their peers and 
other people.  They are frankly just ashamed of the thought of being 
considered Blind.
They would rather fall down the stairs or trip over the parking lot bumpers 
than carry a cane and look Blind, even though most of their friends already 
know they are Blind.
They will resist any thing that even remotely makes them appear Blind.
They all know that society attaches a stigma to being Blind and they want to 
avoid this at all cost.
This attitude is what keeps them from learning the skills of Blindness, such 
as cane travel because they will have to walk around with this big old sign 
in their hand that screams, "I am Blind."

This is why it is important that we, the NFB, get involved in the schools 
and help parents with I.E.P.s and the indoctrination of seniors if we are to 
really change society's attitudes and conceptions about Blindness.
This is why NFB training centers give trainees a rigid long White cane and 
have them wear sleep shades during their training.  The rigid cane can not 
be folded up and hidden away easily and the sleep shades prevent the person 
from cheating and using their remaining vision instead of the skills of 
Blindness they are there to learn.
Many seniors fight to keep from using the  term"Blind" in reference to 
themselves and insist on using a term such as "visually Impaired" instead. 
Anything but the word "Blind."  The "tags" matter to them and it is a clear 
indicator to me of their level of acceptance of their vision condition and 
their mental state of mind.

People arrive at this level of acceptance at their own time.  The only way 
we can help to hasten this is by setting a good example for them to accept 
and follow, by mentoring them in acceptance of good positive attitudes and 
methods and by demonstrating to them that they will be better off with good 
skills and acceptance of their Blindness than stumbling around and hiding 
their condition from no one but themselves.

There is no shame in being Blind, just in trying to hide it or from it.

David Evans, NFBF and GD Jack.
President, Palm Beach County Chapter
Peer Counselor
Consumer Advocate MV Transit
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 12:06 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] sonar for blind


> Chuck, that’s the real travesty right there—the notion that at age 12 you 
> finally need to start learning how to walk on your own!  This is a pet 
> peeve of mine (I have so many!) so I’ll stop before I get started.  *grin*
>
> Joseph - KF7QZC
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 05:19:19PM -0700, ckrugman at sbcglobal.net wrote:
>>Actually, I remember doing similar things as a small child to go around 
>>the house or the neighborhood berfore beginning mobility training at about 
>>age 12. I have a small amount of vision where I can see objects and 
>>shadows but no detail or color.
>>Chuck
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Bullis" 
>><bullis.michael at gmail.com>
>>To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 10:12 AM
>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] sonar for blind
>>
>>
>>>As I have indicated in other articles, I think we disparage this kind of
>>>thing far too quickly.  It works very well for detecting objects at quite 
>>>a
>>>distance.  No, I don't want to click my way into a job interview, but, at
>>>the same time, the skill is useful in its propper place.
>>>Mike Bullis
>>>Baltimore MD
>>>
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>Behalf Of T. Joseph Carter
>>>Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 12:49 PM
>>>To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] sonar for blind
>>>
>>>Why do parents encourage this kind of thing, really?  *sigh*
>>>
>>>Joseph
>>>
>>>On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 11:33:46AM -0400, Ed Meskys wrote:
>>>>The Growing Success of Seeing With Sound
>>>>from Spiegel
>>>>
>>>>Two-and-a-half-year-old Juli merrily twirls around, holding a small 
>>>>white
>>>cane in her outstretched arm. Every so often, she makes a discreet 
>>>clicking
>>>sound with her tongue. Doing so allows her to see with her ears, her 
>>>parents
>>>say. She just needs more practice.
>>>>
>>>>Four-and-a-half-year-old Frida already knows how it works. If someone 
>>>>holds
>>>out a pot lid at arm's length, she can locate it with a fair degree of
>>>precision. Using subtle tongue clicks, she scans the space in front of 
>>>her
>>>face. "There it is!" she says. With a few more clicks, she can even
>>>determine the contours of the lid. The edge lies where the echo cuts off 
>>>and
>>>she no longer hears a response.
>>>>
>>>>The two girls are learning a method of echolocation known as "flash 
>>>>sonar,"
>>>which resembles the type of active sonar used by bats. Both were born 
>>>blind
>>>in Berlin, and both have parents who want to spare them from the typical
>>>life of a blind person.
>>>>
>>>>http://ow.ly/5rV9d
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
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>
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