[nfbmi-talk] but....

Tue Jan 29 10:53:45 UTC 2013

Oh Matt;  I have a few friends in Massena and Ogdensburg as well.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Matt Sievert
Sent: January 28, 2013 20:45
To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] but....

Jim, I lived in Saranac Lake from Fall of 1980 to summer of 1985.

Loved Saranac Lake. My Vi/OM worked out of the BOCES in Massena. I would go
to Glens falls for more evaluation and get all my cool toys. We had one of
the first Macintosh computers. Because it could do resizable fonts. She
carried that computer from school to school, and we got use it after hours
during our time with her. Lots of late nights in schools for me back then.

I owe the state of New York more than I can ever pay them back. They did a
heck of a job.

On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 6:44 PM, Jim in Detroit
<james.prather at comcast.net>wrote:

> Matt, where in NYS did you live?  I loved visiting Lake Placid/Saranac
> Lake. I also knew some folks in Tupper Lake; I was born and raised in
> Buffalo. NYS had a tough HS wrestling program and the school for the blind
> in Batavia was one of the best.
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Matt Sievert
> Sent: January 27, 2013 09:57
>
> To: terrydeagle at yahoo.com ; NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] but....
>
> Good morning folks,
>
> I hope you are all well.
>
> I spent my middle school/junior high years in the Adirondacks in New York.
> There I participated in regular physical education classes, and was
> expected to do as much as possible, or work with the instructor on finding
> alternative exercises, that would demonstrate similar aspects of what the
> class was learning. The instructor knew when I was putting forth effort 
> and
> my grade and compliments would reflect that effort. New York in the 80s'
> was determined to help handicap people succeed in whatever they wanted to
> do.
>
> Physical education was stressful and I always wanted to be part of the
> group, and the instructor, and most of my classmates made their best
> efforts to take care of that. We went to mandatory swim class together, 
> and
> even mandatory orienteering classes. Since getting lost in the Adirondacks
> is a life or death situation, and getting lost was not uncommon during a
> day hike. So every middle school kid learned how to use a compass and a
> rudimentary map, even if you had sight problems.
>
> Things got bad when my family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. In my freshman
> year of high school. They placed me in the "special kids gym class". Which
> was a horrible idea. I got placed in a class with a multitude of
> handicapped people and injured student/athletes. We sat around, lifted 
> some
> weights, played a lot of H.O.R.S.E. and generally didn't sweat at all. We
> changed in the same locker room as the regular gym classes. We wore the
> same school P.E. uniform. We saw the other classes during their warm ups
> and running. But we usually went to a basketball court, or the racquet 
> ball
> courts and hung out with the instructor. Who had some activities planned,
> but nothing too taxing. This was five days a week for my freshman year of
> high school. Then P.E. was over for me. I had to take a summer school P.E.
> class three years later, but by then my high school time was over and I 
> was
> really out of shape.
>
> What should have happened, which I partially blame myself for, is that I
> should have continued on with my desire to learn wrestling which several
> folks in New York thought I would do well in. Instead I followed the pack,
> gained a lot of weight and all the issues that go with that during the
> teenage years. High school is pivotal in growth, and an opportunity to
> really decide how determined and energetic you will be in the rest of your
> life.
>
> However, things changed during college. I took P.E. classes, even scuba,
> and started working out five days a week, nothing to serious, but enough 
> to
> go from 300lbs down to 230. College. P.E. was pretty much do what you can,
> and we will figure out the rest. Which was fine with me.
>
> Tailoring programs or excluding people from "regular" people physical
> activity can be a determinant.
>
> I know this email was long. But this is a point I feel strongly about, in
> regards to how physically/visually impaired people can be affected by
> people trying to accommodate everyone.
>
> Thank you for your time, and have a good day.
> Matthew Sievert
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 4:16 AM, Terry Eagle <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>  Seems to highlight continued discrimination of the blind by closed-minded
>> bureaucrats who believe they, as sighted and non-blind blind persons, 
>> must
>> protect the poor helpless blind from ourselves.  (as they view the 
>> blind).
>> .
>> That is their accepted legal rational basis reason for such
>> discrimination.
>> I am waiting for the day when the media makes a big deal out of a blind
>> homeowner protecting him/herself and his/her family by accurately 
>> shooting
>> a
>> crazed intruder.  I can hear it now:  Blind Homeowner Takes Down Intruder
>> with One Shot from Gun.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfbmi-talk 
>> [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces@**nfbnet.org<nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org>]
>> On Behalf Of joe
>> harcz Comcast
>> Sent: Friday, January 25, 2013 12:34 PM
>> To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] but....
>>
>> Oh but adult students couldn't have a markmanship program at the 
>> so-called
>> training center for the blind! Michigan's infamy lives on!
>> Students with disabilities must have equal sports options, U.S. tells
>> schools By Philip Elliott Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Breaking new
>> ground, the
>>
>> U.S. Education Department is telling schools they must include students
>> with
>> disabilities in sports programs or provide equal alternative options. The
>>
>> directive, reminiscent of the Title IX expansion of athletic 
>> opportunities
>> for women, could bring sweeping changes to school budgets and locker 
>> rooms
>> for
>>
>> years to come. Schools would be required to make "reasonable
>> modifications"
>> for students with disabilities or create parallel athletic programs that
>> have
>>
>> comparable standing to mainstream programs. Sports can provide invaluable
>> lessons in discipline, selflessness, passion and courage, and this
>> guidance
>> will
>>
>> help schools ensure that students with disabilities have an equal
>> opportunity to benefit from the life lessons they can learn on the 
>> playing
>> field or on
>>
>> the court," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement 
>> announcing
>> the new guidance Thursday. Federal laws, including the 1973 
>> Rehabilitation
>> Act
>>
>> and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, require states to
>> provide a free public education to all students and bans schools that
>> receive federal
>>
>> funds from discriminating against students with disabilities. Going
>> further,
>> the new directive from the Education Department's civil rights division
>> explicitly
>>
>> tells schools and colleges that access to interscholastic, intramural and
>> intercollegiate athletics is a right. This is a landmark moment for
>> students
>>
>> with disabilities. This will do for students with disabilities what Title
>> IX
>> did for women," said Terri Lakowski, who led a coalition pushing for the
>> changes
>>
>> for a decade. This is a huge victory. Education Department officials
>> emphasized they did not intend to change sports' traditions dramatically
>> or
>> guarantee
>>
>> students with disabilities a spot on competitive teams. Instead, they
>> insisted schools cannot exclude students based on their disabilities if
>> they
>> can
>>
>> keep up with their classmates. It's not about changing the nature of the
>> game or the athletic activity," said Seth Galanter, the acting assistant
>> secretary
>>
>> for civil rights at the Education Department. It's not clear whether the
>> new
>> guidelines will spark a sudden uptick in sports participation. There was 
>> a
>>
>> big increase in female participation in sports after Title IX guidance
>> instructed schools to treat female athletics on par with male teams. 
>> There
>> is no
>>
>> deadline for schools to comply with the new disabilities directive. But
>> activists cheered the changes. This is historic," said Bev Vaughn, the
>> executive
>>
>> director of the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs, a
>> nonprofit
>> group that works with schools to set up sports programs for students with
>>
>> disabilities. It's going to open up a whole new door of opportunity to 
>> our
>> nation's schoolchildren with disabilities.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>> >
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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>
>
> Jim in Detroit
> James A. Prather
> Central Michigan University: 1980
> Michigan School for the Blind: 1974
> "Fire Up Chips"
> "Ungh, ungowa, Raiders still Got the Power!"
>
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Jim in Detroit
James A. Prather
Central Michigan University: 1980
Michigan School for the Blind: 1974
"Fire Up Chips"
"Ungh, ungowa, Raiders still Got the Power!" 