[Ohio-talk] FW: Blind Person vs. Person Who is Blind

[Dawn]

I  liked  to be  refered to a  as  Dawn  not  the blind lady  or the blond
or anything   else  just  as  Dawn Lanting  I don't  consider me disabled or
handicape  just  another person in  this world   after all we  are all
different   no one is the same   and I am  very able  to do a lot of things
just like others    we all  have  things  we are experts  at  and things  we
all are not  too good at
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Robert
Spangler via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2017 9:42 PM
To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
Cc: Robert Spangler
Subject: [Ohio-talk] FW: Blind Person vs. Person Who is Blind

Hello everyone:

This topic has undoubtedly come up before, but either I wasn't around for it
or I don't remember.  So I am curious to know people's thoughts on being
referred to as a blind person vs. a person who is blind.  It's something
with which I struggle.  Those of you who know me well are aware that I have
no use for political correctness, which is usually why I refer to myself as
a blind person.  On the other hand, however, I can see the point of why one
might prefer to be called a person who is blind.

To my understanding, saying "a person who is blind" means a person who
happens to be blind--referring to the blindness as another characteristic,
such as being skinny, fat, tall, short, blonde, you get the picture.  I like
this form of speech for this reason, because I believe that all of us work
hard to get people to stop paying attention to our blindness over everything
else.  All of us are tired of our blindness coming up as the main point of
conversation with so many sighted folks.  Sure, there are those people who
pay it no mind, but I would say most of the people we come across on the
streets make one comment about it at least.  So explaining this form of
speech to them helps to explain that blindness is just another
characteristic.  When we must prove ourselves all the time and face lower
expectations, we only want it to be seen as another characteristic.

Now there's "blind person," which in many ways describes me, I think.  Maybe
I'm being hypocritical, I'm not quite sure, but I do think that blindness
changes how we do many things.  It doesn't make things impossible, but my
life would be significantly different were I not blind.  My hobbies would
probably be different, my skills, my upbringing, etc.  I don't necessarily
see this as a bad thing, so long as I am happy with myself, which I am.  So
in a way, I see blindness as being a defining characteristic of myself, much
like how someone who is black may see that characteristic as defining them.
I have never let blindness stop me from doing anything and, whenever someone
tries to tell me that I can't do something because I am blind, I do it
anyway and usually succeed.  So maybe I have a little bit of "blind pride."
Inside, I see myself as a blind person because I have fully grasped
blindness and do not see it as something that holds me back.  I had a friend
tell me yesterday, "you identify as blind, whereas I just consider it
another characteristic of myself."  Yes, it is a characteristic but I can't
help but also thinking that it does make our lives different, as much as
many people may deny it.  I think the only reason people would deny it,
though, is the negativity that surrounds blindness.

I think the main problem we have identifying with blindness is that so many
people see it as negative and tragic.  While I'm comfortable with being
blind and lead a normal life, I still explain to sighted people who I am
trying to educate that blindness is just another characteristic and reserve
the identifying as blind (blind person) thoughts with those to whom I am
very close.

Thoughts?  I know I rambled a bit but this is something I've been thinking
about lately.

Robby

--
Robert Spangler
Secretary, Miami Valley Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of
Ohio Spangler.robert at gmail.com




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