[Ohio-talk] Sight Center versus Blind in the name

Wed Nov 12 14:58:02 UTC 2014

Kaiti, these are very interesting thoughts.  I am so against using
politically correct terminology.  I am not ashamed of being blind any
more than I am ashamed of being a woman, 57 years old, or any of the
other characteristics that make me the individual I am.  I, however,
understand how people who lose vision as adults have more of a
struggle accepting their new identity.  They are thinking about what
was and struggling to accept themselves.  That is where the NFB is so
critical.  We don't accept those negative labels placed on us.  I
believe that is part of why we are considered radical.  Society
encourages people to use their remaining vision and that, sometimes,
is a detriment to employment and independence.

I have an exchange student who has extremely limited vision.  She is
from Bosnia and taught herself how to use a screen reader but still
used a mouse and enlarged the computer screen to do many tasks
visually.  The other day she wanted my husband's help to do something
and she told him she wanted to learn to do it using her screen reader
only rather than the screen reader and her vision.  She has been in
the U.S. for a little over 2 months and has learned the power of that
screen reader.  She will return home to Bosnia with new ideas of how
to succeed as a blind woman.

On 11/12/14, Kaiti Shelton via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Colleen,
>
> You bring up a very interesting point.  I had a really interesting
> discussion with someone over the summer.  He's totally blind now, but
> had some vision for most of his life, so we were discussing
> terminology for people who have some vision.  He had a hard time
> understanding why, even though with the vision in my good eye I can
> identify shapes, colors, movement, people, and other things at close
> distances minus the details about them, I identify myself as blind.
> He asked me what I would say if I didn't say blind, and I said
> visually impaired.  He was surprised by this, since for him "partially
> sighted" seems to carry a more positive connotation.  I am not in
> favor of the term partial because it creates confusion for people who
> are trying to understand from a sighted person's perspective, and it
> is sort of a denial of the blindness because it leans toward sighted.
> "Partially sighted" implies more sight than blindness, whereas
> "visually impaired" to me, at least, is more straightforward.  I feel
> that if I tell people that I'm partially sighted it wouldn't be as
> easy for them to understand what I may need.  If I say visually
> impaired at a hotel, movie theatre, etc, people are more likely to be
> helpful in the way I need them to be.  He asked if I'd rather look at
> something as being partially there, or to have the same thing an
> impaired whole.  Call me a pessimist, but I'll keep visually impaired
> over describing myself as a "low partial."  Plus, you never see things
> like, "The Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Partially
> Sighted."  It just sounds dumb.
>
> I agree that organizations, and people in general, need to be picky
> about the terms they use.  I think it is important for people with
> some usable vision to gain familiarity and comfort with identifying
> themselves as blind as well.  It can be really tough to not quite fit
> in with the sighted, but to also feel like you don't fit in with the
> blind.  More people are visually impaired than totally blind as well,
> so this is something that a lot of people have to deal with.
>
> I remember when I was a young teenager, around 13 or 14, I was riding
> the bus for an O&M lesson.  I was reading a book on my BrailleNote,
> and had my cane tucked under my seet with my foot on it to keep it
> from rolling.  This guy got on the bus and immediately tells the
> driver that he is partially sighted and only has vision out of his
> right eye.  I chuckled a bit, because it seemed really awkward.  When
> I got on the bus the driver saw my cane and immediately knew what to
> do.  He asked me if I would like him to tell me where my stop was,
> whereas this other guy had to ask.  When he sat down he walked passed
> me, and did not sit in the front section like I was taught to do.
> I've remembered this, and wondered whether that decision was whether
> to put himself with everyone else who was not disabled on the bus, or
> to deny the blindness.
>
> Sorry for the tangent, but what Colleen is saying is right.  I really
> do think it is important that organizations use specific words, so
> that people who are less comfortable with saying that they are blind
> become more comfortable with it.
>
> On 11/12/14, COLLEEN ROTH via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hello Everyone,
>> Well I am all for using one's remaining vision if it works for someone
>> and
>> alternative techniques are not necessary.
>> When the Toledo Society for the Blind changed xs' name it began to do
>> less
>> and less for those who are totally blind or have very limited vision.
>> Blind should be in the title of organizations who serve the blind.
>> Even if Pisually Impaired was in the title the word blind should still be
>> there.
>> Colleen Roth
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Kaiti Shelton
> University of Dayton 2016.
> Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
> President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
> Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053