[Ohio-talk] Comparing Blindness to Severe Disabilities

Fri Jan 3 19:48:42 UTC 2014

Thank you very much, you are awesome.

Jw

Dr. JW Smith
Associate Professor
Interim Director of Honors Tutorial Studies
School of Communication Studies
Lasher Hall, Rm. 112
Athens, OH 45701
smithj at ohio.edu
T: 740-593-4838
F: 740-593-4810

*Ask me about the newly revised Ohio Fellows Program or visit http://www.ohio.edu/univcollege/ohiofellows.cfm

"Regarding the past, change what you can, and can what you can't."
"Our minds are like parachutes. They work best when they are open."

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2014 2:35 PM
To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Comparing Blindness to Severe Disabilities

Here you go, JW.  I was able to open the document fine but I'm posting the paper here in case others would find it easier to read it this way.  A really good consideration from the communications side of the discussion.

Intradisciplinary connections: Exploring the construct of "membership"
across communication scholarship

(Dis)ability Membership

A Paper Delivered by J.W. Smith at the 99th Annual Conference of the National Communication Association (NCA) in Washington, D.C.
November 2013

Code switching as defined by Martin and Nakayama (2013) is a technical term in communication that refers to the phenomenon of changing language, dialects, or even accents. One reason they argue that groups engage in code switching is to "avoid accommodating others" (p. 257). I would like to discuss how persons with disabilities (the "in" group) and especially those with more obvious physical disabilities (i.e. blind and visual impairment, deaf and hard of hearing, and mobility impairments) utilize this phenomenon to separate and accentuate their uniqueness from the able bodied community and those with less obvious disabilities. How is this "in" group communication enacted to ensure credible membership in this exclusive community, and what are the implications of this enactment for successful and effective dialogue between communities? I further contend that there is a non-verbal aspect to this phenomenon as well and that particular communication contexts encourage the enactment of code switching.

"The Club" and the Problem

"In her work on code switching, communication scholar Karla Scott (2000) discusses how the use of different ways of communicating creates different cultural contexts and different relationships between the conversants. Based on a series of interviews with black women, she notes "the women's shared recognition that in markedly different cultural worlds their language use is connected to identity" (Martin & Nakayama, 2013) This focus of Dr. Scott is the more common way that code switching is generally discussed and experienced i.e. racial and ethnic issues often focusing on the black community. My contention in this brief discussion is that it occurs in a variety of cultural settings and especially the community of those with disabilities. My experience has been that it functions more as an exclusionary tactic as opposed to an accommodating goal of conversance.
        So what is "the club"? It is comprised of those of us who are in what I call the "big three" as stated earlier blindness and obvious visual impairment, deafness and obvious hard of hearing, and mobility impairment and obvious developmental disabilities. I emphasize obvious because the inability to hide the disability is a key ingredient in both the status and contextual acceptance in this special "club/in group". It is a unique culture with specific guidelines for membership e.g. are you disabled enough to really claim membership and what are the implications of these often unspoken requirements?
        Allow me a brief personal story. While at a conference some years ago my friend and I returned to our hotel room and on our way encountered a mutual acquaintance. As we begin to talk it became clear that our acquaintance had a great deal of sight and it was also clear to me that my friend either had forgotten this or never knew it. He immediately lapsed into group code speak with comments like "you really have to be blind to understand" and "it's a visual thing, you know" and "isn't braille great?"
After our mutual acquaintance had left, he shared with me how he could not believe that she had so much sight and how it was probably very difficult for her to really understand our world. I strongly disagreed with him and told him so but I chose not to pursue the conversation any further at that point.
        This example is one of several that I have experienced in a variety of contexts and it highlights the problem of this "in group" communication that often occurs as a way of excluding others. Unfortunately, it is often intentional and quite rude but I understand why it happens. Many of us with disabilities have used it to try to maintain a safe space away from pity and paternalism and well-meaning people and as a way of bonding and sharing unique experiences. But the problem goes deeper because it often makes the "outsider" feel quite defensive and excluded and in many ways it demonstrates the very same thing that those of us in the community fight against i.e. feeling shut out, having others try to speak for us and often being felt like people would rather communicate with the disability instead of the person with the disability. Finally, the problem is also not just limited to communication between people with disabilities and TABS (temporarily abled bodied) but it also rears its ugly head when there is a diverse meeting of even members of the "big three" and one of those groups dominate the context both in terms of numbers and or philosophy. Simply put, I have observed tension and contention when people from the deaf community dominate a particular environment or people from the mobility impaired community dominate it. In short, everyone believes that their part of "the club" and more importantly, their communication issues relative to their population, should dominate particular contexts.

Some Possible Solutions

        In his article "Pushing Forward: Disability, Basketball, and Me" the author Ronald Berger comes face to face with the "insider/outsider" dilemma as a result of raising his daughter that has cerebral palsy:
Having moved many years ago from Los Angeles to the Midwest, a land of few Jews, I have grown accustomed to living as an "outsider," an ideal place

for a sociologist who observes. I was not quite prepared, however, to be treated as an outsider by other people with disabilities. I do not know why I was so naïve.
When I first began reading the disability studies literature, dominated these days by writers who have disabilities, I was confronted with the question, "What are you doing here?" (Branfield, 1998, 1999). It was as if I was being told: You who are able bodied, who are not disabled, need not apply.
This is our terrain. Please leave us alone. We do not need or want your help.
Research by the nondisabled is exploitative-"nothing about us without us"
(Charlton, 1998). (Berger, 2004)

Unfortunately, this is not a unique occurrence for people like Berger and I will not spend the time here to go into all the details of the article but suffice it to say that it has become a bigger challenge for a number of reasons in recent years. There is now more attention on people with disabilities and much of that is positive but it also brings the necessity to include the diverse worlds of people with disabilities i.e. it is not a simple cut and dry existence like some books or films would like to have us believe. As I stated earlier, I hope that you will get the article for yourself but I thought it was instructive to include here some of the solutions proposed by Berger:
I was quite frankly angered that my motivation was being questioned. I felt on the defensive and quickly sought to legitimate my presence. I told them about Sarah-she is the reason I am here. Do you not think it is important to understand why some people with disabilities are managing to do well? Do you not want people with disabilities to do well? Of course they did, and with this my presence was accepted. We began to reach a meeting of the minds, a rapprochement, a feeling of camaraderie that we were all in it together. A little personal disclosure goes a long way.

As I read further in the disability studies literature, I was pleased to come across welcoming voices (Darling, 2000; Duckett, 1998). To turn away the nondisabled, some said, is to reproduce the same patterns of exclusion those

who are disabled have been fighting against. In an article on disabled people's opinions about disability research, I learned that some did not want to leave the field in the hands of a small cadre of academics with disabilities who may have a professional agenda of their own that does not represent the interests of the diverse constituency of the disabled (Kitchen, 2000). This field of inquiry should be open to all. They ask only that researchers approach the topic from a "disabled-friendly" point of view-that they are able to empathize with people with disabilities (verstehen), not misrepresent the experiences of the disabled, and use their research to advance the principle of equality

for the disabled (Kitchen, 2000, p. 36; also see Darling, 2000). (Berger,
2004)

In my mind, this really sums up the issues but I want to conclude with two final observations and potential solutions. First, to those who may feel excluded at times- try not to get too defensive and try to understand the "insider/outsider" dilemma and double consciousness that is often experienced by those in traditionally underrepresented and marginalized groups. Often, the exclusionary tactic is not intentional or personal and in fact it is necessary; albeit I will admit rude and fraught with risks. As a TAB or non-member of the dominating group in a particular context, a simple stepping back and objective inquiry might be helpful at times.
        Second however, those of us with disabilities have to be aware of our accountability in aspects of these communication exchanges as well. This was brought home to me in a very arresting way at the end of a class presentation that I did for a colleague at my university. After spending about 45 minutes talking about what "outsiders" should do to make communication between those of us with disabilities and those of us without more effective, a female in the back of the room with a clear international accent said "you've spent all this time telling us what we should do but what is your role and accountability in these situations?" I must tell you I was caught off guard by the excellent comment and question and it has caused me since to be mindful of the transactional nature of communication. It is a give and take and therefore those of us as members of the "big three" need to do all in our power to lessen the tension and not to do things to throw additional road blocks in the paths of those that could be potential allies.
Additionally, as I did with my friend, we have a responsibility not to let other members in our group enact ineffective and destructive code switching tactics.

References

Berger, R. J. (2004). Disability, basketball, and me. Qualitative Inquiry , 10(5), Retrieved from http://qix.sagepub.com/content/10/5/794.abstract
Martin, J., Nakayama, T. (2013). Intercultural Communication in Contexts.
New York: McGraw   Hill

Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton---2016
Music Therapy Major, Psychology Minor, Clarinet Ohio Association of Blind Students, President Advocates for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP), Vice President NFB Community Service Group, Service Project Committee Chair Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma, Usher Coordinator

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Smith, JW
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2014 2:23 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Comparing Blindness to Severe Disabilities

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all and I'm a bit late here but I wanted to respond to the very articulate and provocative at times post from Kaiti.

This is an interesting topic and one we should continue to explore and discuss both in more public settings and perhaps small group contexts as well.

I'm going to attach a copy of a small paper that I presented at the annual NCA National Communication Association Convention I guess last year now just to broaden the discussion a bit!

I just thought that your comments are so right on Kaiti and I want to tell you how much I appreciate your thoughtful idea's and you write so well indeed!

If you have trouble opening this perhaps someone could cut and paste it in the email message area itself for me please?

Enjoy and try and stay warm especially early next week!

Jw

Dr. JW Smith
Associate Professor
Interim Director of Honors Tutorial Studies School of Communication Studies Lasher Hall, Rm. 112 Athens, OH 45701 smithj at ohio.edu
T: 740-593-4838
F: 740-593-4810

*Ask me about the newly revised Ohio Fellows Program or visit http://www.ohio.edu/univcollege/ohiofellows.cfm

"Regarding the past, change what you can, and can what you can't."
"Our minds are like parachutes. They work best when they are open."

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
Sent: Thursday, December 26, 2013 12:53 AM
To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Comparing Blindness to Severe Disabilities

Hi all,

This is a very interesting discussion, and one I have debated myself for several years.  I have memories of thinking my blindness is nothing in comparison to what some people with disabilities face.  I still remember a Special Olympics swim meet where my mom ran into the mother of one of her high school boyfriends, and finding out that I had competed against her other son in a race.  I was ten with a lack of eyesight being my only disability, he was in his late twenties with severe Down Syndrome.  A trainer had to walk along the side of the pool to remind him to keep going.
I didn't think it was fair to have the gold medal that I had received when I was swimming against people like that, those without all their limbs, etc.

On the other hand, I know that people with these other disabilities think that blindness is scary and far worse a thing to deal with than their disability.  I have spent the past year learning bits and pieces of deaf culture and basic sign language.  I know enough to hold conversations with a deaf person because I performed in a sign singing choir at school, but I always wondered what would happen if I randomly came into contact with a deaf person.  How would I work around the communication barriers?  How could I let them know I couldn't see what they were signing?  Would we have to revert to the painstaking hand spelling stuff?  Then a few months ago a member of music therapy club brought in her dad, who is deaf, to speak at a club meeting on deaf culture.  He taught a lot of signs to the group that I did not learn the year before, and he was moving so fast.  Everyone else was picking it up so quickly, and although people around me positioned my hands when they could I still missed a lot.  I decided that I needed to learn how to work around the communication barrier, so afterwards I asked the guy how it would be best for me to approach a situation like this.  He taught me how to say, "Sorry, I can't see you," and then to say, "But I can sign a little."  This is because even if the person had to hand spell into my palm I can still use sign language to convey the message I wanted to get across more quickly.  Then he saw my BrailleSense and asked a lot of questions about it.  It was really interesting to have this conversation with someone who seemed so opposite from myself.  As a blind person I would be terrified of losing my hearing, but as a deaf person he relies on his vision so much that I'm sure blindness is a scary concept to him.  I was very thankful that he could speak well and read lips, but I wondered how reading lips was even possible since that is a foreign concept to me too.

I think it is natural to assume that we are always better off than someone else, and this is true for anyone with any disability.  I've been in situations at music enrichment sites for school where people with various disabilities have said all sorts of things about my blindness, ranging from things like, "We feel sorry for you," to questions, and to "That Braille thing you're using looks really cool."

I agree with Colleen on the notion that I don't think disabilities can really be compared to each other.  Now that I've reflected on it for my philosophy project, I think that each disability poses a unique set of challenges, but none have to be totally terrible.  Deaf people find joy in things they can see, while we find it in things we can hear and touch.
People who cannot walk adapt to getting around and getting things done just as we do, but in different ways that are appropriate for their challenges.
Those with mental disabilities are sometimes the happiest people you will ever meet.  But each of these group is effected by different things, so it is not right to categorize them into something like the chain of being which is basically a hierarchy and say, "Deaf people don't have it as bad as blind people, but blind people have it better than those who are in wheelchairs."
If we were to do that, we would have a lot of different chains, none of which is really ethical to have in the first place.

Sorry for the rant, but I find this discussion really interesting.  I hope everyone had a merry Christmas.

  Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton---2016
Music Therapy Major, Psychology Minor, Clarinet Ohio Association of Blind Students, President Advocates for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP), Vice President NFB Community Service Group, Service Project Committee Chair Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma, Usher Coordinator

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Marianne Denning
Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2013 6:07 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Comparing Blindness to Severe Disabilities

This is a very interesting discussion.  First, I have been blind since birth so I really have nothing else to compare my life to.  I remember my first job out of college.  I worked at an apartment complex for people with physical disabilities.  Many of them could not feed themselves, dress themselves or communicate easily.  I felt sorry for them.  I learned later that they felt sorry for me.  It really opened my eyes to a lot of things.
If anyone is going to be successful in life you must handle what life gives you.  I have met people who had, what looked like, an easy life and they were constantly complaining and feeling sorry for themselves.  I have met people and wondered how they went from day to day and they had a fantastic attitude.  I think any time someone loses an ability they once had it is a challenging situation so even though the loss may be different the challenge is similar.  I don't understand this at all, but most people fear blindness above anything else except cancer.  I don't get it but I don't think we can ignore it either.

Okay, I am off my soap box.  It is a great topic for discussion and thinking.  I would especially like to get responses from people who lost their vision as adults.  I believe the NFB philosophy is great for putting blindness in perspective.

On 12/25/13, Dawn <dlanting at bex.net> wrote:
> Colleene  I really considered myself with a disability  but I guess I
> am disabled because of my blindness  I just feel so blessed  that I am
> me
and
> I can think and have a heart   there are many people worse off then I  I
> don't ask God why me  I say  why not me  Merry Christmas  and Happy
> Birthday Jesus  Happy New Year  everyone
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> COLLEEN ROTH
> Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2013 3:17 PM
> To: ohio-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Ohio-talk] Comparing Blindness to Severe Disabilities
>
>  Hello Everyone,
> When you read this please do not think that I am diminishing the
> adjustment to blindness that many people on this list have
> experienced. I hope that what I am going to say will put things into
perspective.
> On the news Monday night Channel 13 had some coverage of some students
> from the University of Toledo Engineering Department's Project inhelp
> someone with a Disability.
> Asparently they invented something to help a nun who has lost all of
> her limbs.
> The person from the Ability Center who commented about this Invention
> said it just proves that people with Disabilities can succeed in
> overcoming such major challenges. The person who mace this comment is
> blind. While I know that there are many adjustments for those who
> become blind I do not think you can compare these adjustments to those
> experienced by someone who has lost the use of her arms and legs.
> This just reinforces the stereotype the public have about blindness.
> It says to the general public that blind people are as disabled as
> someone who has lost the use of all four limbs.
> It would have been helpful if the Ability Center had used someone with
> significant disabilities as the spokesman for this story.
> I am making these comments after Dawn shared information with me about
> this story.
> I did not see the story myself but I just want to encourge people to
> think about our attitudes when we make comparisons.
> We all have differing views on which disability would be the hardest
> to adjust to and deal with in our lives. I am sure a deaf person would
> say that it would be harder to be blind. I am sure that a blind person
> would say it would be harder to be deaf.
> I think that some people who use a wheelchair would think it would be
> easier to be blind or deaf. The comparison between being blind and
> having no use of your limbs is like comparing apples to oranges.
> Colleen Roth
>
>
>
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>

--
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053

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