[Ohio-talk] Political Correctness, Etc.

[Eric Duffy]

I believe that this issue of the newsletter has been circulated to a broader audience than we have reached In a long time. Although I have said it before, I appreciate the contributions that everyone made including Carol. I certainly want to reach out and attract new members at every level of our organization and especially the parents division. We want to make sure that we don't turn people off to our message, but we must also be careful how far we push the boundaries while trying to avoid that. We must also be sensitive about how we treat each other and talk to each other when we feel that those boundaries have been violated.  Those who know our history understand that we have a clear set of principles about the type of language we are willing to use as an organization and  we should always be sure that the means justify the ends. We also part of a family that will on occasion disagree, but let's do it in a way that we can all grow together. I hope the discussions we have had on this list over the last few weeks have provided opportunities for us to grow and learn together. 

Eric
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of purplecakers
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 10:40 PM
To: n8tnv at att.net; ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Political Correctness, Etc.

Colleen,
I am sorry if I offended you with my use of terms. I had a reason behind what was said & how it was said.
In writing my article, I was targeting a much broader audience than just our own NFB members, hence my terms. The global use of phrases that are acceptable to the general public is constantly evolving.  In order not to offend the masses, I tried to use terms that would be sensitive to new parents,  new readers & or those who are not yet comfortable in their disabled skins or with the blunt terms. I think it is important sometimes to start eating the elephant one bite at a time, rather than trying to devour it all at once. It is my hope that  people  come to accept their disabilities or those of their children on their own terms. Sometimes thus takes time. My next article adresses that, but I thot it would be overload to try to mesh the two into one. Many people,  & parents have difficulty with terms because the medical world has difficulty exposing them to those terms.  It can be a shock & very offensive if someone pushes the cold, hard reality & crushes every hope that they gave, before they are ready to face it.  It can also be a permanent turn off to a genuine resource sych as the NFB, if people are bluntly told to just get over it because your kid is blind or disabled.  It sends the wrong message. We are here to help,  to be a positive influence, to be sensitive to the needs if the people,   & if I can do that by using these terms, then that is what I will do. While I am nit disagreeing that blind & disabled are useful terms, they may not always be the most appropriate at the time.
We are all entitled to disagree.
Carol

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone

-------- Original message --------
From: COLLEEN ROTH <n8tnv at att.net> 
Date: 03/27/2013  9:37 PM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org 
Subject: [Ohio-talk] Political Correctness, Etc. 
 
Hello,
I would like to say that the Spring, 2013 Buckeye Bulletin was a pleasure to read. It is so nice to have Nfb of Ohio Members send things to Barbara for inclusion in the Newsletter.
She always needs our contributions and it's nice to see so many.
I do have to comment about a phrase in one Article.
Carol Akers refers to people as differently-abled. 
I understand that some people have trouble saying that they or their child has a disability.
It is resptable to be blind or have any other disability.
I am blind, therefore I am disabled.
My girls were Multi-handicapped, therefore they had disabilities.
I didn't love or value them less because of their disabilities.
I know that Carol doesn't view her son as any less valuable either, I just think we are so afraid of offending people.
Words like diherently-abled, hard-of-seeing, Visionally-challenged, a person who happens to be blind are clumsy and unnecessary.
Let's just say what we mean.
Colleen Roth
President
At Large Chapter
NFB of Ohio



_______________________________________________
Ohio-talk mailing list
Ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Ohio-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/purplecakers%40yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
Ohio-talk mailing list
Ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Ohio-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/eduffy%40pobox.com