[Ohio-talk] Uncle Tom is alive and well in Cleveland, and the Sight Center is right there to dis blind people

Sun Dec 12 19:36:51 UTC 2010

Hi Chrystal,
      Thank you so much for your post.  I couldn't agree with you any more. 
Let's give this family a chance to enjoy their new home.   They also 
received funds to help them with their goal in life and that is assistting 
others with disabilities.

            thank you Jerry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Crystal McClain" <mcmcclain at charter.net>
To: "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 12, 2010 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Uncle Tom is alive and well in Cleveland,and the 
Sight Center is right there to dis blind people


>I also watched this episode along with several other episodes of this show. 
>EVERY house that they make over is extreme! Few people would live in a 
>house with the excesses in the home makeover houses. Several people who 
>have received homes have lost them due to upkeep and costs. This has 
>nothing to do with blindness. I think the shape of the house and the fact 
>that they were extremely poor added to them receiving the house. Other than 
>the TV,  I was pleased with the adaptations that they received. We all need 
>to remember that not all of us are financially secure. If that was a friend 
>of ours who was struggling we would be happy for them. Maybe the show will 
>make more people see that blind people can cook, can watch tv and help 
>others.  I didn't not see it as a negative. look for the positive and be 
>happy for this family. Their mortgage was paid, their kids got a 
>scholarship and they got a $50,000 maintentance fund. Maybe someone from 
>the Clevelnad NFB should invite them to "share" their independence with 
>others maybe they would learn more from the NFB. We should not just be 
>critical of them. Crystal McClain
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Carol Akers" <purplecakers at yahoo.com>
> To: "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 1:12 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Uncle Tom is alive and well in Cleveland,and the 
> Sight Center is right there to dis blind people
>
>
> Well said. Will everyone want or expect the same adaptations, technology 
> and
> opportunities?
>
> Or perhaps will many other blind persons feel entitled to such things 
> because of
> the "perception " of what blind people NEED to live safely in a home of 
> their
> own? I do agree that maybe a renovation of their old home would have made 
> more
> sense. It WAS in a state of disrepair, but how long had they lived there 
> and
> what if anything had they done to improve or repair things? Why didn't
> the Cleveland Sight Center step in to assist them with repairs or lessons 
> on
> "how to be an effective home owner?"
>
> Carol Akers
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Colleen Roth <n8tnv at att.net>
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Sat, December 11, 2010 12:50:49 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Uncle Tom is alive and well in Cleveland, and the 
> Sight
> Center is right there to dis blind people
>
> Hi,
> Why would the family need separate TV's plus the large screen one.
> I agree with you, Carol.
> I am sure all of us would like a house with certain additions.
> I can tell you that it costs Dudley and I $25,000 to add a bathroom with
> accessible shower downstairs for the girls.
> Of course we didn't get any funding because the bathroom would have 
> benefitted
> the whole family not just the grls.
> For those of you who don't know the girls were in wheelchairs and totally
> dependent on others for care.
> What in the world did this family need to have a new home for?
> They are just blind.
> I guess one of their children ha a Hearing Impairment but I doubt it 
> required an
> Extrme Makeover.
> There are many people who probaly needed anExtreme Makeover of their home 
> much
> more than the Andersons' did.
> Also when the money is gone to maintain the home or if they have a 
> mortgage to
> pay the difference how will they manage to pay for it?
> No matter where you live if you have family members with certain 
> disabilities,
> you have to modify your house to some extent.
> It sounds to me as if their house was just dilipadated.
> Why didnt they apply for a loan and get the work done or try to move to a 
> better
> house.
> Some people have lost their homes which were built for them through 
> Extreme
> Makeover because they couldn't maintain them orpay the mortgage and taxes.
> It also really does not show the blind in a good light when a house has to 
> be
> built for them because they are blind.
> The child's hearing impairt and the condition of the house will probably 
> not be
> remembered by most viewers.
> What happens when a blind person wants to rent an apartment?
> Will the landlord think that they need special devices in the apartment?
> Will the families of blind children think that their adult children need 
> special
> adaptations in their homes?
> How much damage will this program do to our Positive Attitudes and the 
> education
> we provide to the General Public?
> We need to think about the overall effects this program will have for a 
> long
> time to come.
> Colleen Roth
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Carol Akers <purplecakers at yahoo.com>
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Friday, Dec 10, 2010 13:43:13
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Uncle Tom is alive and well in Cleveland, and the 
> Sight
> Center is right there to dis blind people
>
>>
>>
>> Sorry this is a late comment but who among us would turn down a free 
>> house,
>> especially loaded with techno stuff? I don't think I would. BUT it WAS
>> embarrassing to see how much they promoted their "work with the poor 
>> blind
>> folks" who had difficulty dealing with being blind but yet what did they 
>> really
>>
>> do aside from talk? Technology in the home is great, but a media room 
>> which
>
>> has a large screen TV and each person also has an individual TV (not just 
>> close
>>
>> captioned or descriptive) but separate smaller TV's to view in the room 
>> did
>>not
>>
>> make a lot of sense. A huge beautiful home with more than they have ever
>>been
>>
>> used to is a great move up in the world---what happens next? When the 
>> fund
>>for
>>
>> upkeep of repairs is gone who will pay? Will they be able to afford the 
>> giant
>
>> electric bill that comes with the home and all the great stuff? Will they 
>> be
>> able to maintain the upkeep of such a large home OR will they present a 
>> poor
>> example to the public and the neigbborhood of how "blind people" are 
>> unable to
>
>> follow through with proper care of such an expensive project? I fear that
>>Ohio
>>
>> and America will look more closely and be more likely to pick them apart
>>because
>>
>> they are bl. Then all blind people will be lumped into the same pot just
>> because they are blind.
>> Carol
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Deborah Kendrick <dkkendrick at earthlink.net>
>> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thu, December 2, 2010 11:22:32 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Uncle Tom is alive and well in Cleveland, and 
>> the
>>Sight
>>
>> Center is right there to dis blind people
>>
>> There was a show a few years back -- 2005 or 2006, I'm thinking -- where
>> they built a home for a guy who had lost his sight in a mtorcycle 
>> accident.
>> It was pretty pathetic. Different textures on the walls of each room, as 
>> i
>> recall, and on the floors -- like we all feel the walls to see where we 
>> are,
>> right? And then there was some cool techie stuff that I don't recall. One
>> thing that i wish I had (because we've all been lazy in my family) is an
>> intercom system from room to room. We improvised our own, though, since
>> I've always had two phone lines in the house -- one for home, one for
>> office -- so we did used to call on the phone from one part to another. 
>> Now
>> that only my daughter and I live here, we frequently call or text one
>> another's cell phone rather than climb the stairs. But I digress.
>> Hey, we're missing possiblind the main point here. Maybe this couple just 
>> got
>
>> an opportunity to get an entire new, nice, awesome and free home, and
>> neglected to weigh the public image damage it might do to the rest of us.
>> Or maybe, as Jerry says, they have private (soon to be made public) 
>> concerns
>> that seriously call for a home makeover.
>> My TV has been on twice since moving to my new home three months ago. 
>> Looks
>> like a third time is in order!
>> Deborah
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Sheri Wells-Jensen" <swellsj at bgsu.edu>
>> To: "NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List" <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 10:43 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Uncle Tom is alive and well in Cleveland, and 
>> the
>> Sight Center is right there to dis blind people
>>
>>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> The odds that I'll tune into this are extraordinarily low since
>> our family TV time is limited to the occasional PBS special, but I admit 
>> to
>> a sick sort of curiousity.
>> Does anyone know what kinds of modifications are planned to their home?
>> Perhaps I have an impoverished imagination; I can't think what I'd do to 
>> my
>> house even if I had the resources to
>> remodel. I do like those handy buzzers they have at the National Center 
>> for
>> two-way light switches, but that's hardly an extreme make over.
>> I've got a bell on my cat and labels on my microwave.... What am I 
>> missing?
>>
>> Peace,
>>
>> Sheri W-J
>> --
>> Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen
>> Assistant Director
>> English as a Second Language Program
>>
>> Associate Professor
>> Department of English
>>
>> 423 East Hall
>> Bowling Green State University
>>
>> (419) 372-8935
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
>> On
>> Behalf Of Barbara Pierce
>> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 9:42 AM
>> To: 'Ationfb of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
>> Subject: [Ohio-talk] Uncle Tom is alive and well in Cleveland, and the 
>> Sight
>> Center is right there to dis blind people
>>
>> I don't know who these people are, and I really hope I never meet them. 
>> The
>> note above the story is written by NFB of Washington President Mike 
>> Freeman.
>>
>> Barbara
>>
>>
>>
>> >I find it highly ironic that the couple described below gives
>>
>> >presentations on the "capabilities" of people with disabilities when
>>
>> >they consented to have Extreme Home Makeover modify their house, given
>>
>> >that their only disability is blindness.
>>
>> >
>>
>> > Makes one ill and proves once again why we need NFB!
>>
>> >
>>
>> > Mike Freeman
>>
>> >
>>
>> > The next episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will feature
>>
>> > the family of Andre and Jasmine Anderson on Sunday, December 5th. The
>>
>> > family was selected as the recipient of a brand new home after sharing
>>
>> > their personal story with the show's producers. Andre and Jasmine
>>
>> > Anderson are both clients of Cleveland Sight Center and advocates for
>>
>> > people with disabilities. Andre is currently doing his graduate-level
>>
>> > internship in social work at Cleveland Sight Center, and Jasmine leads
>>
>> > a low vision support group and does presentations to school-age
>>
>> > children regarding persons with disabilities, communicating their many
>>
>> > capabilities and helping to dispel misperceptions.
>>
>> >
>>
>> > Host Ty Pennington, the design team, and Marous Brothers Construction
>>
>> > created an extraordinary home for Andre, Jasmine, sons Jaison and
>>
>> > Jahzion, and Andre's guide dog, Valentine. Cleveland Sight Center was
>>
>> > pleased to be a resource regarding adaptations and assistive technology
>> for the project.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Barbara Pierce
>>
>> Braille Monitor
>>
>> 237 Oak Street
>>
>> Oberlin, OH 44074
>>
>> Phone/fax: 440-775-2216
>>
>> <mailto:bpierce at nfb.org> bpierce at nfb.org
>>
>>
>>
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>>
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