[rehab] Heartbreaking story

Tue Feb 16 16:10:03 UTC 2016

Actually, I asked some people around and they know of this guy
personally, so it is probably not a spam, but if you do not want it to
be here, you can delete it.

On 2/16/16, Andrews, David B (DEED) via rehab <rehab at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> This message and the one that proceeded it are not appropriate for this
> list.  The original message may be spam -- how does one know.  And the
> second message, while possibly true, gets a lot more personal in its
> speculation than a message on a publicly archived list should!
>
> David Andrews, List Owner
>
>
>
> David Andrews | Chief Technology Officer
> Department of Employment and Economic Development
> State Services for the Blind, 2200 University Ave. W., Suite 240, St. Paul
> MN 55114
> Direct: 651-539-2294 | Mobile: 612-730-7931
> Web | Twitter | Facebook
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rehab [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Angel via rehab
> Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2016 2:25 PM
> To: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List <rehab at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Angel <angel238 at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: Re: [rehab] Heartbraking story
>
> This person has been feeling sorry for himself for as long as he has been
> alive, it seems to me.  I am writing  this from the perspective  of a
> congenitally totally blind mother and grandmother.  It sounds like something
> my sighted son would have said when he was about 14 years old.  It is sad
> some people never grow out of such feelings.  Anyone can take a circumstance
> such as blindness and turn it in to the worst tragedy, and use it as a
> reason for making excuses .  Perhaps this is why this person can't develop
> relationships between him and the opposing sex.  No one likes a whiner.
> Firstly, we hear all the time about "dysfunctional families.  I ask you to
> show me a "functional family.  Regardless a Childs circumstances, his
> parents might not get along.  Being both a parent and grandparent, I can say
> most parents do the best they can do to bring up their children well.
> Unless, they are totally warped.  This reminds me something my sighted
> daughter said to me when she was about 10 years old.  I punished her for
> something I thought she had done.  When I later discovered she hadn't done
> the thing for which she had been punished, I apologized for the punishment.
>
> She replied. "That's all right mother.  You were just doing your job."
> Which was quite profound for the sighted child of a totally blind single
> parent to say.  I mention this because my children could well have
> criticized me for things as not being able to drive, and not having as much
> money as they felt I should have to purchase for them what it was they felt
> they should have.  I said that to say this.  Which parent whether he be
> blind or sighted, can't look back at his grown children and say he might
> have done things more perfectly, and which child can look back, and say he
> couldn't have been a better child to his parents.  So it makes no sense to
> cast blame on parents for what a person makes of his life after he is grown.
>
> Which one of us can't find some fault with how we were brought up.  As no
> one is perfect.  These issues ought to be resolved with maturity.  Regarding
> a segregated education:  There are prose and cons to be said for both
> mainstreamed and segregated educations .  I, for example, use to beg my
> parents to send me to Perkins school.  Because I encountered a young woman
> with a far better academic education than had I.  I felt I wasn't given such
> at the school in which I was educated.  I asked my father why it was I was
> not sent to a segregated school.  He gave me a reason.  Which dissatisfied
> me at the time.  My parents died both before my 21st birthday.  I then
> understood the reasoning behind his choice.  As we grow and mature, it is up
> to us each to grow beyond whatever mistakes we feel were those of our
> parents when they brought us up.  For many, the experience with us is the
> first experience they ever had dealing with blindness.  Yet an adult blind
> person still expects them to have dealt with him, as if they were
> professionals experienced in all ways with people with blindness.   and make
>
> for ourselves lives of which we and our children can be proud.  We blind
> people have different experiences than do sighted people around us.  Most
> are more difficult than are theirs.  But there have been always those of us
> who have turned our circumstances in to advantages.  I see it all the time
> on blindness buy sell and trade lists.  I make a point of purchasing as much
> product as I can from blind vendors.  To assist them to make livings for
> themselves.  There are those of us who are employed in all walks of life.
> We run homes, and have children and grandchildren.  If we had felt sorry for
> ourselves, and used our bringing up and our blindness as a reason why such
> things might not be possible for us, we would never have done such things.
> Another true example I will tell you of now.  I went to school with a blind
> young man.  Who, now, isn't so young, (smile) who was the youngestof 15
> children.  He was totally blind and black.  He was neglected, and as far as
> I was aware starved.  Because his family was so large.  Rather than sitting
> around feeling sorry for himself, he became one of the finest blind
> travelers I knew of then.  In those days, over 40 years ago now, black
> children, regardless how bright they were weren't sent to college by white
> vocational rehabilitation councilors.  In those days, in my city, all
> rehabilitation councilors were white.  This totally blind youth was
> extremely bright, and was determined to go to college.  He knew the bureau
> of services for the blind wouldn't pay for his education.  So he managed to
> fall into an open man hole, and, as my late husband use to say:  "He got out
> of that man hole, and said:  "I'm going to college".  He sued the city for
> enough money to pay for his college education himself.  He became a well
> respected attorney in my city.  Who was well loved and was respected by all
> who knew him.  He made both sighted and blind friends.  Now, he could well
> have cried on lists about what we all knew of his poverty stricken childhood
> circumstances.  But, he took what it was he had inside himself, and made a
> success of his life.  He is now a grandfather, and is a role model for all
> who know him.  He is not alone.  There are many others about whom I could
> write.  If I knew their circumstances.  My advice to this young man is:
> Stop regarding blindness as a "handicap" and start using the talents and
> gifts God gave to you.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "adrijana prokopenko via rehab" <rehab at nfbnet.org>
> To: "rehab" <rehab at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "adrijana prokopenko" <adrijana.prokopenko at gmail.com>
> Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2016 1:31 PM
> Subject: [rehab] Heartbraking story
>
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Just got this heartbraking story by email. This person allowed me to
>> copy it and send it to this list, so hopefully someone can find out
>> what lies behind all this, seems like this person has it way too hard
>> for some reason and he lives in the US. Feel free to read through,
>> email him and send this message to others if you think they can
>> somehow be of help.
>>
>> Falling threw the Cracks Please make a difference By Joseph Machise.
>> I am writing out of mixed emotions from a handicapped person's world.
>> This is my story. My name is Joseph Machise and I am blind. I was born
>> to Joseph and Alice Machise on March 2, 1947. From the beginning it
>> was difficult for my parents to accept my blindness. After I was born,
>> things between my parents became physically abusive. My mother tried
>> to leave my father, but she was convinced by family members to stay.
>> My fate was sealed. Apparently they blamed each other for my
>> blindness.
>> I lived in constant terror of my parents. This had caused me severe
>> psychological problems that persist to this day. I was kept isolated
>> and forced to study.
>> I was punished for the smallest infractions. They would say "We love
>> you, and that is why we punished you. I longed for a normal life with
>> loving parents, but it was not to be. Neighbors and other family
>> members refused to intervene, so I just had to take it.
>> Life for me was largely without meaning. I had trouble even getting
>> around.
>> I became frustrated at "things" because they were always in my way and
>> causing trouble. When I showed my anger, my parents belittled and
>> abused me verbally, as well as physically, causing me to rebel. As I
>> became older, I developed problems in school. Eventually, I was sent
>> to Perkins School for the Blind. This was before "mainstreaming" and
>> we were kept separated from the rest of the world. I was unable to
>> enjoy relationships with the opposite sex. For a time, I was locked up
>> in a mental institution for defending myself against my mother's
>> attacks.
>> Today, my family has little contact with me. We haven't been able to
>> reconcile our differences, although I have tried. For the most part,
>> they have abandoned me. I presently live in a one-room apartment,
>> alone. I enjoy listening to radio, classical music and short-wave.
>> Electronics and Aviation also hold a fascination for me. I hope, one
>> day, to have an electronic bill reader to make money identification
>> easier. I frequently eat at the public soup kitchen to stretch the
>> meager government allowance that I depend on. Agencies for the blind
>> have done nothing but put me on endless waiting lists. Improving my
>> living conditions just does not happen.
>> Appeals
>> to radio talk shows have failed.
>> Thank you for reading and hearing my situation in life. If you can
>> help in any way, financially or otherwise, please feel free to call or
>> contact me at the number and address listed below. You are also
>> welcome to e-mail me. My e-mail is josephmachise at comcast.net.
>>
>> _____________
>
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