[stylist] A New Member

[LoriStay at aol.com]

My thoughts are interspersed with your questions!
In a message dated 12/27/08 10:10:02 PM, johnlee at clarktouch.com writes:


> 
> But it seems to me in the blind fields, not many of them are controlled
> through and through by blind people themselves.  Let me ask you: Why not
> 

The reason is that agencies for the blind were set up probably at the end of 
the 19th century by sighted people who thought they knew what was best for the 
blind.   Many of these are still around, with regressive attitudes that hold 
blind people back.   The NFB has started to change this with its three 
centers, which, though not run by NFB itself, is run by Federationists according to 
our philosophy.   You can always tell people trained at these centers because 
they have enormous self confidence, and they are usually employed.

I don't know if this is true, but I recall my deafblind friend Rod Macdonald
joking that his local blind chapter should be called the Association of
Vending Machine Operators.  I gather that most of its members, if they have
a job, work in the vending machine industry.  Is this the number one
employer of blind people?  If not, what is?

Blind people work in all fields, maybe excluding bus driving and airline 
piloting.   So far.
In some areas of the country, blind people are steered into certain fields, 
such as social work, rehab counseling, vending, etc.   THose who want to teach, 
or write, or do any of the things not considered blind friendly by sighted 
councilors have an uphill battle.   But they get where they want to go if they 
persist.

In our chapter we have a social worker, a lawyer, a woman studying for her 
Ph.D. in medical library science, a janitor, a woman who buses tables, a 
probation officer (yes, really!), and a woman who does medical billing.   We also 
have unemployed people, but they are in the minority.   At this point, I can 
think of only one in our chapter.

Lori



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