[nfbwatlk] FW: NFB stand on Blind Child Area signs?

[Mike Freeman]

Bike-riders are just as bad as auto-drivers!

Mike

On Aug 28, 2012, at 22:07, "Mary Ellen" <gabias at telus.net> wrote:

> There used to be deaf child signs in Ohio.  One of the funniest was a sign
> that said "Slow! Children."  My parents commented that their children were
> anything but slow.  The local agency for the blind in Toledo used to have a
> sign that said "Blind Crossing," somewhat like "Cattle Crossing."  As my
> friend Pete Grunwald put it when a similar sign was posted near the
> Lighthouse in Chicago "The blind cross here, but nowhere else."  One could
> argue that having such signs actually makes us less safe, since drivers
> won't expect us in places without special signs.  In Kelowna, they should
> have a sign warning drivers that pedestrians actually exist.  Many people
> here get behind the wheel and act as if automobiles are all that's on the
> roads.  Heaven help those who walk or bike!
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> Sent: August 28, 2012 4:52 PM
> To: 'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] FW: NFB stand on Blind Child Area signs?
> 
> Ben:
> 
> You are correct. I am unaware of any official NFB policy regarding these
> "BLIND CHILD" signs. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that were a
> resolution to come before the national convention opposing such signs, it
> would be passed unanimously.
> 
> As you say, there have been many local protests of these signs including, I
> believe, one involving Kris Kolcock here in Washington. Invariably, the NFB
> members confronted with such signs are angry at the stereotyping and the
> implication that somehow blind people (from childhood on up to adulthood)
> are unsafer than are sighted persons. It's the old saw that the sighted bear
> responsibility beyond the norm for the safety/welfare of the blind. Isn't it
> funny that we don't see DEAF CHILD signs, even in neighborhoods with
> railroad tracks?
> 
> Mike Freeman
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR)
> Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 1:38 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> Cc: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] FW: NFB stand on Blind Child Area signs?
> 
> Hi Listers,
> 
> I can't remember whether we have had any policy statements on the issue
> raised by Steve Ice's query of me in the E-mail string below, but thought
> I'd post it for any comments.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> /s/
> 
> Bennett
> 
> From: Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR)
> Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 1:17 PM
> To: Ice, Steve (ACF)
> Subject: RE: NFB stand on Blind Child Area signs?
> 
> Hi Steve,
> 
> I don't know that we've adopted a formal resolution on a state or national
> level, but the issue has come up many times on lists, etc. There is
> unanimous opposition, and concern about these types of signs.  There have
> been many instances when individuals, and I think even chapters have fought
> and had them taken down. They really are disturbing. May I post this to our
> NFB list?
> 
> Thanks.'
> 
> /s/
> 
> Bennett Prows
> 
> From: Ice, Steve (ACF)
> Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 1:01 PM
> To: Prows, Bennett (HHS/OCR)
> Subject: NFB stand on Blind Child Area signs?
> 
> 
> Ben,
> 
> In my neighborhood there are two very large, very prominent, yellow and
> black cautionary road signs that say "Blind Child Area".
> The signs have been there for 10 to 20 years. I am sure the child is off to
> college if not on social security by now.
> 
> I feel these signs are demeaning and have the untended consequence of
> spreading the belief that caution is warranted around blind people who
> cannot otherwise develop orientation and mobility skills to be safe and self
> sufficient.
> 
> Researching the web, I discovered quite a few sign vendors pushing these, a
> few state application forms in the Southeastern US and at least 2 'you tube'
> videos made by adolescents who show blind people walking head first into the
> 'blind child area' signs.
> 
> 
> What's next? "My husband has Alzheimer's" signs? "Warning: crack house on
> this block" signs?
> 
> I do not view these as an accommodation such as improved crosswalk stripping
> or warning bumps on curb cuts because they are not in any way instrumental
> or accommodating to the blind person's independence.
> 
> In any case, I would like to know, before writing the county or state, if
> NFB has a policy on these types of signs. I feel that a policy statement
> from those who are blind would go a lot further than my personal opinion.
> 
> Steve
> 
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