[nfbwatlk] fw: Safe not sighted

Lauren Merryfield lauren1 at catliness.com
Tue Mar 30 03:55:22 UTC 2010


Hi,
I sent mine in.  Thanks for reminding me.
Thanks
Lauren
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joanne Laurent" <joanne at blindcoach.com>
To: "'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List'" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 6:44 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] fw: Safe not sighted


>I hope you guys are also sending your great stories to the link that was
> provided in the original email. Here it is again:
> " Please respond to the consultation on proposed changes to the laws
> governing powered mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs (DFT 2010-10),
> by 28 May 2010, available online at
> http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/2010-10/  and oppose the
> inclusion
> of an eyesight test in the fitness to drive test. Tell them that we need
> to be safe not sighted."
>
> Joanne Laurent
> Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist
> If you can't learn it, I'm not teaching it right!
> www.blindcoach.com
>
> Highest Expectations Travel and Adaptive Skills Instruction for the Blind
> P.O. Box 586 Ariel, WA 98603
> (360) 231-4597
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Mary Ellen
> Sent: March 29, 2010 3:24 PM
> To: 'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] fw: Safe not sighted
>
> My father became legally blind when he was 62. Just before his eightieth
> birthday he underwent unsuccessful knee replacement surgery. As a result, 
> he
> was unable to walk more than a few hundred feet. The Veteran's
> Administration bought him a motorized scooter; they required him to prove
> that he was able to operate it successfully, but his blindness wasn't an
> issue with them. In fact, it was the program for blind veterans that
> recommended him for the scooter. He used it for several years to travel 
> from
> his apartment to the nearby warehouse where his woodworking equipment was
> housed.
> When his health deteriorated so that he chose to move into an assisted
> living facility, he had to pass a scooter test in order to drive his 
> scooter
> to the dining room and other activities within the facility. He had no
> trouble passing the test. By that time, one of his eyes had been removed 
> and
> he saw very little and that little fluctuated from day to day depending on
> how he was feeling and on lighting conditions.
> When Dad died last year, the assisted living home commented in his on line
> obituary page about his ability to drive a scooter as a blind person. That
> comment demonstrates two things to me. First, most people don't expect a
> blind person to be able to maneuver independently at all, and particularly
> as the operator of any sort of motorized vehicle. Second, driving a 
> scooter
> going five or ten miles an hour (tops) is very different from operating a
> motor vehicle at fifty miles per hour on a public road.
> I wish the blind wheelchair and scooter users of the United Kingdom well 
> in
> their efforts to maintain their freedom of movement. I've posted my 
> father's
> story in the hope that it will help.
> I also wonder how many blind wheelchair users are out there who could 
> travel
> more independently and don't do it because they don't believe it's 
> possible
> and the professionals who work with them and their families and friends
> don't believe it, either. I'm sure that, if my brothers, my sister, and I
> hadn't had a solid grounding in Federationism, we would have tried to
> prevent my father from getting out and about on his own using his scooter.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Kaye Kipp
> Sent: March 27, 2010 2:31 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] fw: Safe not sighted
>
>
> I read that story.  It was good.
>
> Kaye
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
> To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 2:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] fw: Safe not sighted
>
>
>> Maureen Pranghofer uses a wheelchair and went thru BLIND Inc. She
>> wrote a
>> few Monitor articles; also, she had a story in the kernel book 
>> "Toothpaste
>
>> and Railroad Tracks".
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Joanne Laurent" <joanne at blindcoach.com>
>> To: <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 1:37 PM
>> Subject: [nfbwatlk] fw: Safe not sighted
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Below is a forwarded email I read on the O&M listserv seeking support
>>> for blind wheelchair users in the UK:
>>>
>>> Freedom is a fundamental human right but the UK government is
>>> threatening
>>> to
>>> take it away from blind wheelchair users. Help protect our right to
>>> freedom.
>>>
>>> The Department for Transport is consulting on proposed changes to the
>>> UK's
>>> laws covering powered mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs. One of
>>> the
>>> proposals is to introduce a fitness to drive test including an eyesight
>>> test. Imposing a vision requirement would have appalling consequences 
>>> for
>>> those of us who are blind and need to use a wheelchair; it would strip 
>>> us
>
>>> of
>>> our right to freedom.
>>>
>>> With appropriate use of long canes, guide dogs and/or electronic
>>> obstacle detectors, blind people can and do safely use powered
>>> mobility vehicles. The assumption that good eyesight is necessary for
>>> the safe use of powered scooters and wheelchairs is prejudice,
>>> discriminatory and utterly unacceptable.
>>>
>>> I am blind and use a powered wheelchair, a long cane and an
>>> electronic obstacle detector. I am able to independently and safely
>>> get out and about in my local area. Being able to get around my
>>> house, go for a potter around
>>> the village, pop to the mailbox or go to get a pint of milk from the
>>> village
>>> shop are things that matter hugely to me. If the use of powered
>>> wheelchairs
>>> were restricted to those with good eyesight, blind wheelchair users, 
>>> such
>
>>> as
>>> myself, would be trapped in our homes and robbed of our right to 
>>> freedom.
>>> That simply cannot be allowed to happen.
>>>
>>> Users of powered mobility vehicles need to drive safely; we do not
>>> need
>>> to
>>> be sighted. That is the message we must get across to the Department of
>>> Transport, the National Health Service, scooter and wheelchair 
>>> suppliers,
>>> the general public and the media. To do this, we need evidence and
>>> personal
>>> testimonies.
>>>
>>> Wherever you live in the world, you can help. If you are a blind
>>> wheelchair
>>> user, or if you have worked with any blind wheelchair users, please 
>>> share
>>> your experiences. Why is it important that blind people can get around
>>> independently? Do you believe that blind people can safely and
>>> independently
>>> use powered wheelchairs and scooters? If so, how? What are the
>>> techniques,
>>> tools and skills that make this possible? How did you, or your students,
>>> learn to use the powered wheelchair or scooter safely? Do you know of 
>>> any
>>> published research or practice reports that show that blind people can
>>> use
>>> powered wheelchairs or scooters? The more evidence and testimony we can
>>> gather from across the world, the better our chance of preventing the
>>> Department for Transport from implementing this disgraceful plan.
>>>
>>> If you are able to share your experiences, I would appreciate it if
>>> you could also let me know whether you are happy for me to pass it on
>>> to other blind wheelchair users in the UK, quote excerpts from it on
>>> the Safe Not Sighted campaign blog
>>> (http://www.safenotsighted.wordpress.com) and/or quote
>>> excerpts from it in my response to the Department for Transport's
>>> consultation. If you are happy for me to use your feedback in any of
>>> these
>>> ways, please also let me know whether I may include your name or whether
>>> you
>>> would prefer your comments to be anonymous.
>>>
>>> If you live in the UK, don't allow the Department of Transport to
>>> imprison
>>> blind wheelchair users. Please respond to the consultation on proposed
>>> changes to the laws governing powered mobility scooters and powered
>>> wheelchairs (DFT 2010-10), by 28 May 2010, available online at
>>> http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/2010-10/ and oppose the
>>> inclusion
>>> of an eyesight test in the fitness to drive test. Tell them that we need
>>> to
>>> be safe not sighted.
>>>
>>> Thank you in advance for your anticipated support of the freedom of
>>> blind wheelchair users.
>>>
>>> Sasha Ayres
>>>
>>> Visit the Safe Not Sighted campaign blog at
>>> http://www.safenotsighted.wordpress.com
>>>
>>>
>>> Joanne Laurent
>>> Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist
>>> If you can't learn it, I'm not teaching it right!
>>> <http://www.blindcoach.com/> www.blindcoach.com
>>>
>>> Highest Expectations Travel and Adaptive Skills Instruction for the
>>> Blind P.O. Box 586 Ariel, WA 98603
>>> (360) 231-4597
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------
>>
>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nfbwatlk mailing list
>>> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> nfbwatlk:
>>>
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfbwatlk mailing list
>> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nfbwatlk:
>>
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/kkipp123%40msn.com
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nfbwatlk:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/gabias%40telus.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nfbwatlk:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/joanne%40blindcoac
> h.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nfbwatlk:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/lauren1%40catliness.com
> 





More information about the NFBWATlk mailing list