[stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 3

Wed Jan 5 21:40:29 UTC 2011

Donna and Carry,  Yes, the numbers of dead and wounded in Viet Nam was 
staggering, but we have to be focused that even though they are from an all 
volunteer armed forces, they are still our family and friends.  When I 
worked for the Independent Living Center I proposed a program for the newly 
handicapped that would encompass the vets returning home permanantly 
disabled.  I was met with negaticves all the way up the line.  The truth is 
people don't want to understand the handicapped.  It's a lot easier for them 
to stereotype and think of themselves as mightier than you and I because 
they aren't blind, deaf or travelling in a wheelchair.  Here's a funny 
anecdote, but you'll see the irony:
I was at a wedding recently.  I was speaking to my friend next to me about 
recipes since both of us are on low carb.  I told her about a recipe that I 
do with eggplant, zucchini, olive oil and grated cheese.  A woman across the 
table asked me for the recipe again, she wanted to try it.  A few minutes 
later I needed to use the lady's room so got up and unfolded my cane.  My 
friend told me later, "She was astounded!  You didn't sound handicapped!"
How does blind sound?  How does deaf stand out in a crowd?  How does 
whealchair travel sound?  Friends, after all these years, all this progress 
and our ever increased abilities, the world is not ready to accept us as 
equal citizens.  Judith
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: <cosmoscat at earthlink.net>
Cc: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>; "Kerry Thompson" 
<kethompson1964 at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 4:10 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 3


> Kerry,
> True, a higher percentage of wounded vets are now living with severe 
> disabilities, but I think back to Vietnam. The sheer numbers of wounded, 
> killed and disabled were so vastly higher than we have seen in Iraq and 
> Afghanistan that even though a higher percentage are surviving today, 
> there were still many more individuals surviving after Vietnam. Guess I'm 
> just saying I don't hold out much hope for this to make a difference, 
> especially since we now have an all volunteer armed forces and it's easier 
> for people to turn away from the problems because they don't have the 
> universal concern that it could be their loved ones.
> Donna
>
> Read Donna's articles on
> Suite 101:
> www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
> Ezine Articles:
> http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=D._W._Hill
> American Chronicle:
> www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>
> Connect with Donna on
> Twitter:
> www.twitter.com/dewhill
> LinkedIn:
> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
> FaceBook:
> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>
> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
> Apple I-Tunes
> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>
> Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project
> Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit
> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
> www.padnfb.org
>
>
> On 1/5/2011 3:19 PM, Kerry Thompson wrote:
>> Donna,
>>
>> Free associating a bit here:  There have always been wounded i.e. 
>> disabled veterans. But, with so many more wounded, with such horrific 
>> injuries, surviving from Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with the fact that 
>> so many of them are so young,maybe the wall between able bodied and 
>> disabled will finally start to crumble. These kids are going to need 
>> serious care and serious societal change for many years to come. Of 
>> course, it's already been ten years. How much longer, how many more 
>> ordinary kids turned into desperately disabled citizens is it going to 
>> take before the able bodied get the  message that, to paraphrase Pogo, 
>> they have met the disabled and they are us?
>>
>> Solidarity and Peace,
>> Kerry
>>
>> On 1/4/2011 8:56 PM, Donna Hill wrote:
>>> Hi Kerry,
>>> Thanks for the Damaris link. I know in high school, her teachers still 
>>> called her Damari. If I can find her, I'll use whatever spelling she 
>>> uses. If not, it'll stay Damari. Thanks for the liberating comments 
>>> about using whatever one I like.
>>>
>>> As far as Braille and literacy ... I think one of the understated issues 
>>> with Braille literacy is that society is undergoing a blurring of 
>>> standards for literacy in general, which is a shame. I really don't 
>>> think people get that audio learning isn't the same as Braille or print. 
>>> When I do radio interviews, I do often ask a sighted host how they would 
>>> feel if their child came home with the happy news that he/she no longer 
>>> needed to study reading, because the teacher thinks they're such a good 
>>> listener. Of course, it isn't OK for sighted children to just listen, 
>>> when you put it to them that way.
>>>
>>> As to your comments about the fact that literacy for all should be the 
>>> goal and we aren't second class ... I think that this is what Shawn was 
>>> talking about when he mentioned that we need to make blindness and how 
>>> we cope with it relevant to the general public. To most people, blind 
>>> people are not equal. I say this not merely out of experience and 
>>> observation but because it is what pollsters learn when they canvass 
>>> non-disabled Americans on their beliefs about people with disabilities. 
>>> The report I often cite from the early '90s says the general public 
>>> views people with disabilities as "fundamentally different from the rest 
>>> of the population." I don't think there's any other way to frame that 
>>> other than by saying that we are in the minds of our fellow Americans 
>>> second class. It always reminds me of the movie "Children of a Lesser 
>>> God" which dealt withdeafness.
>>>
>>> In order to get John & Jane Q. Public to understand the injustice of 
>>> only 10% of blind children being literate or over 70% of blind adults 
>>> being unemployed,  we have to first convince them that we are part of 
>>> them, and that there's no reason they have to carry us on their backs. 
>>> All too often the success stories of blind people are presented and 
>>> viewed as isolated instances of inspiring individuals who surmounted 
>>> insurmountable obstacles to get somewhere that can't really be expected 
>>> of blind people in general. The fact that others could achieve if they 
>>> had the tools, training and the attitude of these few isn't discussed. I 
>>> think the public likes to have the occasional blind hero to give them a 
>>> warm and fuzzy feeling. There wouldn't be as much of that, if we were 
>>> expected to achieve like everyone else.
>>>
>>> I think your points about working for equality like other minorities is 
>>> right on. It's a civil rights issue based on fear and prejudice. I don't 
>>> think the public gets that either. They think we are here to be taken 
>>> care of and to remind them of how good they have it because they can 
>>> see.
>>> Donna
>>>
>>>
>>> Read Donna's articles on
>>> Suite 101:
>>> www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
>>> Ezine Articles:
>>> http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=D._W._Hill
>>> American Chronicle:
>>> www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>>>
>>> Connect with Donna on
>>> Twitter:
>>> www.twitter.com/dewhill
>>> LinkedIn:
>>> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
>>> FaceBook:
>>> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>>>
>>> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
>>> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>>> Apple I-Tunes
>>> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>>>
>>> Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project
>>> Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit
>>> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
>>> www.padnfb.org
>>>
>>>
>>> On 1/4/2011 5:18 PM, Kerry Thompson wrote:
>>>> Hi friends,
>>>>
>>>> Donna, maybe the problem, the barrier, is the emphasis on "braille." 
>>>> The emphasis needs to be on "reading," however the individual 
>>>> approaches reading. It sticks in my mind that only ten per cent of 
>>>> blind children are taught to read braille, i.e. the method of reading 
>>>> appropriate to them. Only ten percent! How would society at large react 
>>>> if, say, only ten per cent of black children were taught to read, or 
>>>> ten per cent of Jewish children, or ten per cent of children from 
>>>> Idaho? It's a question of human rights. All American children should be 
>>>> taught to read. Someof them need an alternative method to print. So 
>>>> what? The method isn't (or shouldn't be) the issue. The issue should be 
>>>> literacy.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, I realize the above sounds naive and utopian. But, I truly believe 
>>>> it should be the goal. I mean, the phrase "separate but equal" comes to 
>>>> mind whenever I hear people talk about braille literacy. Literacy is 
>>>> the goal, full literacy of the entire U.S. population. For most that 
>>>> will mean print literacy, for some, braille literacy. But, the two 
>>>> really can't be separated. To read is to read, whether with the eyes or 
>>>> with the fingers. The false dichotomy of literacy and braille literacy 
>>>> needs to be removed, both in our own minds and in themind of John Q. 
>>>> Public.
>>>>
>>>> That reminds me. Did Congress ever do anything about the shameful lack 
>>>> of accessible textbooks for blind schoolchildren? Again, it seems to me 
>>>> the emphasis needs to be, not on the difference, books in braille, but 
>>>> on the colossal injustice ofany American schoolchild being denied 
>>>> access to schoolbooks. Again, how would it be if it were some other 
>>>> group being denied access to schooling or to the necessary books? It 
>>>> wouldn't wash. We have to present our needs the way Civil Rights and 
>>>> Women's Rights campaigners presented needs, not as special concessions 
>>>> or favors we're asking for, but as matters of right, of justice.
>>>>
>>>> There was a time when printed books were very rare and valuable. Now, 
>>>> you can pick up a mass market paperback for five or six bucks. Braille 
>>>> books are just the same. Now they are dear, but as demand grows with 
>>>> the increasing literacy of the blind population, prices will come down. 
>>>> That's simple demand and supply. As demand grows, supply also grows and 
>>>> prices fall. Again, we all, blind and sighted alike, have to stop 
>>>> regarding braille as a specialty item. It's no different from print.
>>>>
>>>> I donno. I just get so frustrated and angry at the conditions we have 
>>>> to accept, conditions no other minority group would put up with. We're 
>>>> not subhuman. We're citizens just like anybody else, and we should have 
>>>> the same rights and expectations...
>>>>
>>>> End of rant.
>>>>
>>>> Jim, so glad Lynda is on the mend, if slowly. Continuing prayers and 
>>>> heart thingies.
>>>>
>>>> Judith, For some reason, I always thought "thingy" was chiefly British. 
>>>> I've always liked it. Yes, it's a very useful word. It's strange about 
>>>> the pronunciation. Window-eyes pronounces the singular with the hard g 
>>>> sound but the plural with the soft g. Just one of those oddnesses we 
>>>> have to get used to, I guess.
>>>>
>>>> Judith, yeah, but it's a generic British just like the generic 
>>>> American. I imagine British JAWS users get just as frustrated with 
>>>> pronunciation as we do. And, how about the Canadians?
>>>>
>>>> Donna, I know there's a girl's name Damaris. The way I've heard it 
>>>> pronounced is with the stress on the second syllable. Here's the page 
>>>> from Behind the Name:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.behindthename.com/name/damaris
>>>>
>>>> Behind the Name does not have a listing for Damari. It sounds like a 
>>>> diminutive to me, probably for Damaris or possibly a nursery name 
>>>> derived from Rosemarie or Rosemary.
>>>>
>>>> The thing is, with a rare or even made up name, you can spell it any 
>>>> old way you like.
>>>>
>>>> Jim, it's funny you should think the same thing about damari and 
>>>> Damaris. Great minds...
>>>>
>>>> I'm not sure "hood" is out of date even now to mean hoodlum etc.
>>>>
>>>> Marion, what race was "hoodlum" supposed to be targeting? Sheesh! Now, 
>>>> I can see "hooligan" being construed as anti-Irish, maybe, but 
>>>> "hoodlum?"
>>>>
>>>> Solidarity and Peace,
>>>>
>>>> Kerry
>>>> _______________________________________________
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