[stylist] A New Member

[David Andrews]

John:

First, I need to say that how blind persons feel is not just one 
way.  Our feelings, desires, reactions etc. range across the full 
spectrum, so there isn't just one point of view.

I must also say that many of us here, on this list, but not all, are 
going to reflect versions of what NFB philosophy states -- as this 
list, and its Mother division are a part of the NFB.

In the NFB we believe that it is "respectable" to be blind.  we say 
that given proper training, and opportunity, blindness can be reduced 
to a nuisance.  Our goal is to have blind people fully included into society.

Not all blind people feel as we do, but we are the largest organized 
group within the blind community, and have the most articulated 
positions on a variety of subjects.

So, to your question, do we want to be sighted.  Possibly, but I am 
not sure that is the proper question.  Most of us believe that you 
need to accept your blindness and get on with your life.  While in 
your heart of hearts, you may want to be sighted you know it isn't 
going to happen, and you must do the best you can as a blind person.

I suspect that the deaf say that they want to remain deaf and defend 
everything about it as a way to establish pride and personal 
identity.  Being an oppressed minority this is a valid way of moving 
forward.  I further suspect that if  you could get past all of these 
trappings and you asked most deaf people if they wanted to hear, they 
would say yes.  All things being equal, I would love to see again, 
but know it isn't going to happen, so I get on with my life.

Dave

At 06:50 PM 12/28/2008, you wrote:
>Dave:
>
>You're right.  Braille is merely a code for English, whereas ASL is a
>language unto itself, with its own grammar and structure.
>
>As for numbers in populations: There are twenty eight million people with
>hearing loss.  However, the deaf community is much smaller than that, with
>perhaps two to three million.
>
>I imagine that blind people who are "involved" in the blind community is a
>smaller number than the total of people with vision loss.
>
>Anyway, the deaf identify themselves with other cultural and linguistic
>minorities.  They don't identify with the disabled communities.  While
>disability studies occasionally discuss the deaf community, there's a whole
>academic category called Deaf Studies and its findings and narratives
>resemble African American Studies, Women's Studies, Hispanic Studies, etc.
>much more than Disability Studies.
>
>When I first started to meet hearing blind people, I was shocked to learn
>that many of them thought there were something "wrong" and "not normal"
>about being blind.  Some would even try for a cure if there was one.  This
>was totally different from deaf cultural beliefs which hold that there's
>nothing wrong about being deaf.
>
>So I am wondering, if full inclusion in the mainstream is indeed the goal,
>what it would mean for how you perceieve your own blindness.  The deaf's
>goals are similar to other ethnic minorities--sure, they want to get in
>movies, they want to get all the equal rights, they want respect and
>recognition, but NO WAY do they want to be white!  They want to remain
>black, Latino, etc.  The Deaf is the same.
>
>So my question is: Are you saying that blind people want the respect,
>rights, etc. but they also want to be sighted?
>
>John