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

Thu Aug 30 04:30:40 UTC 2012

Boy.  Ain't that the truth!

Kaye
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 9:49 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] FW: NFB stand on Blind Child Area signs?

> 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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