[stylist] A New Member

Mon Dec 29 20:43:53 UTC 2008

Helene!

Good to find you here.

Yes, I remember reading an except from your novel.  I liked it and would
love to publish an excerpt, but so far the new CFS thing for video relay
service is eating up all of my working time.  So I am not sure when I'll be
launching the e-zine I want to publish an excerpt from your book in.

But how is the writing going, anyway?

John

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of helene ryles
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 1:09 PM
To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member

Hello John,
You already know me from other lists. I've mentioned my book before. I
find your words very incouraging. Many of my characters are blind and
deafblind.

I'm interested in your comments on Helen Keller. I wouldn't say she
was a 'bad woman'. Just so much of her story is left out. For example
before Ann Solivan came along Helen Keller already knew several home
made signs which she used with a servants daughter. This fact doesn't
get mentioned much. It seems Ann Solaven gets credit for everything.

The problem with a lot of these other deafblind people who were around
is that it is hard to get to know about them. I'd be interested to
hear more about other deafblind people. Particularly those who were
deafblind at an early age such as Helen Keller and how they managed.

Helene

On 29/12/2008, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> wrote:
> 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
>
>
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