[stylist] A New Member
Angela fowler
fowlers at syix.com
Sun Dec 28 02:32:55 UTC 2008
There are a few blind rehab councilors in CA, down south. Don't know how
many, but they're there.
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of David Andrews
Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 5:51 PM
To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member
We have blind rehab counselors in Minnesota. We provide them with drivers,
as needed, a reasonable accommodation. They are only in the field part of
the time, so providing the drivers isn't a big deal.
There have been blind counselors for a long time, and if New York has none,
something is really wrong.
Dave
At 06:40 PM 12/27/2008, you wrote:
>Every counsellor I've had with the commission for the blind has been
>sighted. They are required to drive to their clients. Obviously blind
>people cannot fill these roles. However, in teaching blind people to
>use adaptive equipment blind individuals do this in facilities for the
>blind. I work with other handicaps, mostly mental disabilities, but
>have never worked with a blind person in rehabilitation. Yes, we have
>a blind governor in New York State but he doesn't use adaptive
>equipment,, walk with a white cane or read braille. I just keep
>forging ahead with my own thing. Judith
>----- Original Message ----- From: "John Lee Clark"
><johnlee at clarktouch.com>
>To: "'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 6:58 PM
>Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member
>
>
>>Judith:
>>
>>Deafness is an invisible to most. Deaf people can spot a deaf person
>>a mile away with the way their eyes move, but most hearing people
>>don't know anything until they'[re spoken to but don't respond, or if
>>they see them signing.
>>
>>Blindness is more visible, certainly.
>>
>>But more accepted? Maybe as objects of sexual desire, but other than
>>that, there's this difference in language. Blind people speak the
>>same language with the mainstream. For this reason, I think blind
>>people have greater potential for employment. However, blind
>>unemployment is far higher than deaf unemployment.
>>
>>I think blind people are in higher positions, but deaf people have
>>more jobs, just not as many in very high positions. There are several
>>"industries" suited especially for deaf people. One is the ASL
>>teaching industry. As the second most popular foreign language and
>>the fastest growing, there are more than twenty thousand ASL teachers in
the country.
>>This industry includes performers for ASL videos, writers of ASL
>>textbooks, tutors, etc. Then there is the relay services industry.
>>Text relay, CapTel, and most popular, video relay. This is a
>>multi-billion dollar industry and employs many deaf people in
>>administration, training, and marketing. A third source of employment
>>is working for the states, for departments of human services and
>>commissions and social work and also teaching in the state schools for
>>the deaf. You understand, most services provided to the deaf are
>>provided by deaf people, too. Not many hearing people are capable or
>>qualified to teach deaf children, give counseling, train, whatever.
>>
>>But outside of these areas and other smaller businesses geared toward
>>the deaf, they don't have much headway. We don't have a deaf judge or
>>a deaf governor, but you've got blind people in those positions.
>>
>>I may be wrong but low blind employment may have to do with the fact
>>blind people are not required for meeting the needs of or providing
>>services to the blind. Maybe you've got a good source of employment
>>in vocational rehabilitation, but to me, it seems there are way too
>>many sighted teachers, trainers, counselors, and technicians that work
>>with blind people. And is the fact that blindness is a great deal
>>with SSDI a factor for the high unemployment? Deaf people can only
>>earn up to eight hundred dollars per month if they want to keep their
>>SSDI, whereas blind people can earn up to twice that. So it is more
>>in the interest for the deaf to seek full time jobs and less in the
interest for the blind to do the same.
>>
>>What do you think?
>>
>>John
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>On Behalf Of Judith Bron
>>Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 5:16 PM
>>To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
>>Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member
>>
>>Could it be that deafness is more acceptable than blindness is that
>>deaf people don't look different? In many cases the blind person's
>>eyes look different from the sighted person's eyes. Judith
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
>>To: "NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 6:45 PM
>>Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member
>>
>>
>>>John,
>>>I understand your perspective and I am writing a novel with a blind
>>>character, but having grown up trying to be sighted and being taught
>>>to be
>>
>>>sighted, I have information from that world as well and have written
>>>some fiction with non blind characters, simply to avoid having the
>>>story be about blindness, when the real point is more complicated as
>>>well as universal.
>>>
>>>I also can't help wondering, especially reading this particular post,
>>>about the difference between the blind and deaf communities. If the
>>>blind
>>
>>>community were as large, independent and self-integrated as the deaf
>>>community and if blindness were as socially acceptable as deafness --
>>>i.e., Marly Maitlin is a superstar and the only blind woman anyone
>>>knows is Helen Keller who died over fifty years ago, well, perhaps
>>>there would be a market for blindness-related literature.
>>>Donna
>>>
>>>--
>>>For my bio & to hear clips from The Last Straw:
>>>http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>>>
>>>Apple I-Tunes
>>>
>>>phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=25924
>>>4374
>>>
>>>Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
>>>www.padnfb.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>John Lee Clark wrote:
>>>>Shelley:
>>>>
>>>>Aside from my six-year run as publisher of my own publishing
>>>>operation, I have been involved in the publishing world for twelve
>>>>years. I've worked with many, many writers, about half of them
>>>>hearing sighted and the other deaf sighted with a few deafblind.
>>>>While the quality of the writing always plays a role in whether or
>>>>not something gets published, the deaf writers'
>>>>writing from the deaf perspective is always, always an advantage.
>>>>
>>>>No, I don't mean one needs to make a conscious effort to write "about"
>>>>being
>>>>deaf, in the didactic sense. Just write about life--love, crime,
>>>>family, whatever--but through deaf eyes, drawing from the deaf
>>>>writer's own observations and sensations. Ha Jin, the well-known
>>>>writer, made the point in his latest book that there are too many
>>>>writers who write about stuff they learned in a secondhand fashion,
>>>>and readers can pick it up, even though they may not be conscious.
>>>>The writer's describing his or her own genuine observations and
>>>>experiences for the purpose of describing things
>>
>>>>is
>>>>very important and lends the work with an aura of, a vibe exuding
>>>>authenticity.
>>>>
>>>>So that's one benefit of writing exactly what you know. Another
>>>>boon to any writer is any type of outsiderhood. If you look back on
>>>>the annals of literature, those who are "different" from the
>>>>establishment population but don't write from that different
>>>>perspective don't get published often, or
>>
>>>>if
>>>>they do, their work wears off quickly and they are forgotten. Take
>>>>the example of Thomas Caldwell, who was deaf, but wrote as if he
>>>>wasn't. Who knows him now? Or take Richard Wright, a wonderful and
>>>>groundbreaking African American writer. All of his books are still
>>>>in print, except one, and that was the only book he wrote about only
>>>>white people.
>>>>
>>>>You understand, there are tens of thousands sighted people writing
>>>>and trying to get published. So I cannot imagine any use in adding
>>>>more of the same types of material to that pot. There are only a
>>>>limited number of genres and plots, and they all have been done over
>>>>and over again. But if you're blind, and you're privileged to have
>>>>different sensations and a different touch in your observations,
>>>>that's quite a blessing and will help your work stand out amidst the
>>>>awful racket of the same old, same old that editors endure reading
>>>>through week after week.
>>>>
>>>>Now, my deaf writer friends, they all have found their most
>>>>important and rewarding publishing credits through their deaf
>>>>material. Many of them, before they started workring with me, wrote
>>>>only mainstream stuff, thinking they would have a better chance.
>>>>Not so. Take Raymond Luczak: He has written over forty plays, but
>>>>only twelve with deaf characters. Thirteen
>>
>>>>of
>>>>his plays have been produced. All twelve deaf plays and one not
>>>>make up the thirteen, leaving the rest of his "hearing" plays still
>>>>collecting dust.
>>>>He
>>>>has written four novels, only one with deaf characters. No
>>>>surprise: The three mainstream works remain unpublished and the deaf
>>>>one won a prestigious fellowship and also a national first-novel
>>>>contest and will be coming out soon. Raymond's "hearing" stuff is
>>>>good and worthy of publication, but the problem is that there are so
>>>>many equally good stuff these days, because there are so many
>>>>well-trained writers from all those MFA programs.
>>>>Those
>>>>who get published are the ones with unique voices, original twists,
>>>>or those who bring to the reader authentic tastes of different
>>>>worlds.
>>>>
>>>>I once got a story from a good deaf writer. It was about the
>>>>Titanic. A couple gets separated at the end, the woman rowed away
>>>>while the man sinks with the ship. It was wonderfully researched
>>>>and detailed. The writing was smooth and luminous. In all the
>>>>fundamental areas, it was a superb story.
>>>>But it was never picked up, and the deaf writer could not understand
>>>>why not, since it was one of her very best efforts. The reason, of
>>>>course, is that the Titanic as the backdrop for a love story has
>>>>been done to death.
>>>>It was already worn threadbare even before that movie with Leo and Kate.
>>>>But what if the couple was deaf? They wake up because of the great
>>>>commotion outside their room sending vibrations to them. They ask
>>>>each other what's going on. Outside their room, they see people
running.
>>>>They
>>>>try to get someone to write to them on a notepad, but they're all
>>>>panicked.
>>>>So they have to investigate, and gradually, from all the visual
>>>>information, they begin to understand. A sailor tries to put the
>>>>deaf woman in line for getting on a lifeboat, but she doesn't want
>>>>to be separated from her husband. All sorts of misunderstandings,
>>>>issues, correctives, etc.
>>>>occur.
>>>>And at the end, a twist on the classic separation thing: The deaf
>>>>woman decides to sink with her husband, so strong is their bond with
>>>>each other
>>
>>>>as
>>>>they come from a small community and the deaf woman cannot imagine
>>>>venturing out on her own amidst all those hearing strangers.
>>>>Now, isn't that a much better story? A blind couple on the Titanic
>>>>would likewise be much better than the mainstream version and would
>>>>definitely stand out!
>>>>
>>>>Incidentally, some of the hearing writers I've worked with but who
>>>>have connectins to the Deaf world, they also have found greater
>>>>success in publishing their work relating to the Deaf world as
>>>>opposed to their more mainstream fare. Take Morgan Grayce Willow,
>>>>an ASL interpreter. Her biggest book credit is her work on
>>>>interpreting. Her most prestigious magazine credit is for her essay
>>>>"Double Language," about her experiences
>>
>>>>as
>>>>an interpreter. She has published other stuff, but with much more
>>>>difficulty and less compensation. Or take Pia Taavila, a wonderful
>>>>poet and professor of English, who is the daughter of deaf parents,
>>>>or a CODA as we call people like her--Children of Deaf Adults. She
>>>>has written both mainstream stuff and stuff having to do with her
>>>>upbringing in a Deaf home and her continued link with the Deaf
>>>>community. You guessed it again:
>>>>Her
>>>>Deaf-related poems are more readily published and get higher praise.
>>>>
>>>>It is not that they can't get published without the deaf material.
>>>>They can and have. But it is against greater, much greater odds
>>>>that they do.
>>>>Here
>>>>and there, they are able to be heard, able to be distinguished from
>>>>the rest clamoring for the same editor's attention. And it's not
>>>>that writing from a different perspective will automatically get you
>>>>published. The writing still has to be good. But it is a huge
>>>>advantage in arresting the editor's attention, curiosity, and
>>>>interest.
>>>>
>>>>I don't know how the deaf writers could possibly try to write
>>>>mainstream stuff, or how you could avoid writing as a blind writer,
>>>>but I never could, never wanted to. It feels fake and contrived to
>>>>me. It would take too much effort to pretend, to write about
>>>>auditory things I never heard, to write visual descriptions of what
>>>>I have never seen. I am of the opinion that "'catering" to the
>>>>mainstream audience is self-defeating, because there are many
>>>>writers that produce mainstream stuff and it's not like they're
>>>>"catering" but they're genuine because they ARE mainstream. I have
>>>>always written straight from who and what I am. And I am not
>>>>complaining about my inability to write mainstream stuff because
>>>>I've been published in POETRY magazine twice, while there are
>>>>thousands of poets who can only dream about ever getting there; I've
>>>>been published in McSWEENEY'S, America's most hip literary journal;
>>>>I've won all those awards; my work has been broadcast on radio,
>>>>including on the "Poem of the Day" program on Martha Stewart; I'm
>>>>being interviewed by someone from The New Yorker right now; I've
>>>>been a featured poet at an international cultural arts festival, flown
there
>>>>first-class and with all expenses paid . . . so I guess I must be
doing
>>>>something right.
>>>>
>>>>No, that was not to brag at all. That was purely to make my point,
>>>>to make my case for writing from a different angle, and to encourage
>>>>you and others to try doing that. Hey, it can't hurt to try, can
>>>>it?
>>>>
>>>>John
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>No virus found in this outgoing message.
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>>>>
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