[Ohio-talk] FW: Blind Person vs. Person Who is Blind
Debra Baker
bakerdebra53 at gmail.com
Fri Feb 3 19:17:23 UTC 2017
Having received my undergraduate degree in blindness education prior to
1977, and then having joined the NFB in the late 90's, I first thought that
members of the NFB would be most in favor of person first language. So I
was somewhat surprised to learn otherwise as I heard more of our philosophy.
I felt I was already comfortable within myself as a blind person, but the
professionals in this field definitely spoke most often in person first
language, with the perhaps reasonable assumption of the dignity of person
first language as they, the professionals, interpreted an approach.
This is definitely a bottom line issue of self-esteem and
self-respect--comfortability in one's own skin, heart and head. As I speak
of us who are blind now, in overall general terms, I usually refer to us as
"blind folks" hoping to communicate the casualty and comfortability with
which we perceive ourselves. I liked Marianne's reference that in the end,
words don't matter, and Kaiti's reference to "nothing about us without us."
As a teacher of blind students of all ages, though, I have definitely met
and/or worked with people who seem to cling to person first language as they
struggle with and/or adjust to their blindness. Of course these are the
people who need the positive, uplifting, grounding support of the NFB to
help them to see that in the end, words don't matter when they are
comfortable with their identity. Dr. Jernigan's "blind person vs person
first" Monitor article would be an excellent topic for discussion during
our chapter meetings.
Debbie Baker
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
Shelton via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2017 1:35 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Cc: Kaiti Shelton
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] FW: Blind Person vs. Person Who is Blind
I also like what Marianne had to say, but part of it for me is challenging
old perceptions of disability that are outdated and uninformed. At least for
me, I think that people who are resistant to using identity first language,
particularly in fields that have taught them that person first is the gold
standard, are fearful and don't necessarily know what they don't know. That
in itself isn't their fault, because old ideas diehard, but I wonder what
fear might motivate them to continue doing so in the face of disabled people
themselves actually speaking up and saying that they don't mind or like
their disability as a part of their identity. Most helping professions have
a continuing education requirements, so one might think that more people
would be receptive to using identity first language for people that want it
that way, but there are some people who simply refuse to do it at all. And
if professions serving disable people are that far removed from current
issues in disability studies, it creates a hierarchy, where the person
dishing out the service by virtue of them not having a disability like their
client knows better than the client knows himself. There is a saying in the
autism community that says nothing about us without us, and I think that's
an important reminder for people in helping professions to defer to the
source and admit that sometimes they don't always know what's best for their
clients as well as they think they do.
Kaiti Shelton
> On Feb 3, 2017, at 9:44 AM, Robert Spangler via Ohio-Talk
<ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Thanks to those of you who responded to this! Kaiti, I never thought of
it
> that way -- that's a good point. If I'm a tall/short person, skinny
person,
> etc, then what's wrong with me being a blind person? Now that I think
about
> that, I'm even more offended by the person who is blind crap. On the
other
> hand, Maryann said that the words that one uses are not important and that
> it's more about how she is treated. At the end of the day, the words
don't
> really make a difference (except for maybe emotionally), so that's
> definitely a great point! Have a good day!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Smith,
JW
> via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Wednesday, February 1, 2017 1:09 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Smith, JW <smithj at ohio.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] FW: Blind Person vs. Person Who is Blind
>
>
> Dear Kaiti and Robby:
>
> Thank you for your excellent and provocative messages on this topic.
>
> You both have eloquently and effectively captured the essence and
substance
> of it all in my opinion!
>
> Well done!
>
> Keep thinking and writing please?
>
> Jw
>
> Dr. jw Smith
> School of Communication Studies
> Scripps College of Communication
> Schoonover Center, Rm. 427
> Athens, OH 45701
> smithj at ohio.edu
> T: 740-593-4838
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti
> Shelton via Ohio-Talk
> Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2017 1:43 AM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Kaiti Shelton <kaiti.shelton at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] FW: Blind Person vs. Person Who is Blind
>
> Hi all,
>
> This is something that drives me crazy on nearly a daily basis. Like
> everyone else in one of the helping professions, I have to use person
first
> language in any professional document I write. Personally, I don't agree
> with it for some of the reasons Robby described. Person first language did
> not come about from disable people themselves, but from professionals
> serving them who thought it would be more offensive to focus on
> disabilities, because their perception was that disabilities were bad.
With
> the disability Pride movement that has really taken off the past several
> years, concepts like ableism and identity first language have increasingly
> been talked about by people with all kinds of disabilities in everything
> from professional articles and books to writings on the mighty. I
personally
> align with people in the identity first camp, simply because I reject the
> sentiment that a couple decades ago people helping disabled people made
this
> decision without actually consulting disable people as a whole, and I
think
> it has made things more taboo. Plus, it just feels clunky in my mouth and
in
> my ears. Every other adjective to describe a person goes before the word,
> and it doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing. I am a short person, and a
> passionate person, and a young person... so person who is blind seems out
of
> place. I don't know if it has so much to do with disability pride as it
does
> just being honest and really and acknowledging disabilities as another
> different, but not detrimental, trait people have in life. Of course, that
> will be different for every person, but if you subscribe to the notion
that
> disability is just another aspect of humanity, identity first language
makes
> sense. For me, and for other people in similar fields, this creates a bit
of
> a problem because you have to be careful in how you speak about yourself A
> bit, because depending on where you work colleagues who are less familiar
> with these things could consider you to be unethical or not treating
people
> with do dignity and respect. The best solution I have come up with for
this
> is to describe myself however I want, since that shouldn't really offend
> other people and if it does it's their problem, and then to ask other
people
> how they would like to be referred to. It's really annoying, but in terms
of
> following ethics and outdated standards that assume everyone wants to be
> labeled by person first terms, it's a way to cover The bases. It's kind of
> amazing to me that the Deaf and Autism communities in addition to the NFB
> have spoken up and said it's OK or preferable to say Deaf person/Autistic
> person/blind person and have been completely ignored in a lot of ways, but
> it's just the reality that helping professions have some way to go and
their
> understanding of disability studies to break down their perceived
> hierarchies.
>
> Kaiti Shelton
>
>> On Jan 31, 2017, at 9:42 PM, Robert Spangler via Ohio-Talk
> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> 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/kaiti.shelton%4
>> 0gmail.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/smithj%40ohio.edu
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/spangler.robert%40gma
> il.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/kaiti.shelton%40gmail
.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/bakerdebra53%40gmail.
com
More information about the Ohio-Talk
mailing list