[stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 85, Issue 11

Wed May 11 23:06:25 UTC 2011

Hi Kerry,
Good points. I wonder where such a story would lead? In my family, there are
three blind people with different choices for mobility. I use a guide dog;
my brother and sister-in-law use canes. We all occasionally go sighted guide
for one reason or another. Between guide dogs, I use a cane.

We are accepting of one another's choices. My brother often jokes that when
they start training beagles, he'll get a guide dog. Once when I questioned
him about his choice many years ago, he took a long sigh and said, "Donna,
do you see this cane? When I come home from work, I hang it on the back of
the door, and it doesn't bother me for the rest of the night." His comments
opened my eyes to the fact that people, even those who genuinely love dogs,
have a variety of reasons for the choices they make.

I used to think he was less independent than I, because I could tell my dog
to take me to the bank or store or post office or whatever, and he can't do
that with his cane. For a time, he would actually say unprovoked that I was
more independent than he was, but it wasn't true. He had chosen a career
path that took him to the same address every day; I had chosen one that
required me to travel and rarely return to the same location. My increased
mobility had nothing to do with my ability or his lack of it. If he had
chosen a different path, he would have accomplished his goals as a cane
user.

My brother and sister-in-law know that I love the whole "having a dog"
thing; they also know that I have and can use a cane -- even if I have named
it Bielsebub. Nowadays, with me living in the middle of nowhere and totally
dependent on sighted people to drive me to town, there's no doubt in my mind
that their choice of staying in the city has allowed them to be more
independent.

In my opinion, the reason behind the lack of support which is shown to
people who have made different choices is rooted in the residual discomfort
they have with their own blindness. I don't exclude myself from this. With
people being born blind and losing vision gradually or suddenly at every
stage of life, the adjustment and ability to thrive is on a continuum. We
have all experienced discrimination and in many cases countless
humiliations. Our abilities to fully overcome these is affected by many
things. We're lucky to occasionally find someone who is on the same section
of the road as we are. 

I think that, when you are receiving flack for going sighted guide, it has
more to do with the judger's lack of independence than your own -- and I
mean mental independence here. Bridgit's story about getting flack for
holding hands with her husband is a rather poignant case in point. 

The public perception is largely negative about the ability of blind people
to be, act, travel or whatever independently. Fighting against this causes
some of us to categorize other blind people who choose to use a different
form of mobility as a manifestation of the social stereotype. While it would
be great for our cause if we could all stand up as one -- equally
independent, equally well-adjusted, equally successful by the world's and
our own standards and so on -- that's not realistic. It's not Bridgit's
responsibility to make sure every time anyone sees her and her husband in
public it is obvious that each can travel independently. Similarly, it's not
your responsibility to refrain from going sighted guide just so no
prejudiced sighted person looks at you and thinks that blind people "can't
travel independently." It's also not my job to leave my dog home because
someone at a restaurant might not be comfortable with a dog.

Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Kerry Thompson
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 2:13 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 85, Issue 11

Hi friends,

In my limited experience, cane users are often smug and self-righteous, 
as the letter writer seems to be, contemptuous of dog users.

To say, for example, that no independent travel occurs in the scenario 
described makes no sense at all. Even if the cab draws right up to the 
door of the house, it can't draw right up to the door of the restaurant. 
The traveler has to make his way across the sidewalk and find the door 
of the restaurant. The sidewalk may well be crowded and the cab driver 
might or might not be willing to assist. Then, as Bridgid points out, 
inside the restaurant the traveler might need to go to  the restroom or 
(showing my age here) use the pay phone. While the traveler's dinner 
companion or a member of the wait staff might be willing or able to 
guide the traveler, surely being able to make such excursions 
independently would be preferable.
Then, at the end of the evening, as Marion points out, the traveler may 
not go straight home.

I don't understand the letter writer's attitude. No matter how you look 
at it, the traveler's guide dog is just as necessary to him in the given 
scenario as a cane user's cane would be to him in the same situation. 
But the letter writer's tone if not perhaps his actual words certainly 
seem to imply that a guide dog user is not independent. This is the 
attitude I've often seen coming from cane users. And yet, as everyone 
here agrees, guide dog use and cane use, and even reliance on a sighted 
guide, are all equally valid methods of travel. Which one any given 
person chooses depends on the traveler's disposition and needs and, as 
Marion and Bridgid each note, on the immediate circumstances.

But, you know, it's a funny thing. Dog users seem in general to be open 
to cane use, while cane users seem all too often to be contemptuous of 
dog use. It reminds me of a situation in fandom. People who love 
Engelbert Humperdink often also like Tom Jones. But Tom Jones fans are 
often hostile to Engelbert. The two situations make just about as much, 
which is to say as little, sense.

I wonder... Has anyone ever written a story exploring the conflict, for 
lack of a more precise word, between cane advocates and dog advocates?

And BTW as a matter of interest, why do both camps look down on those of 
us who use sighted guides? I have never felt that leaning on a friend's 
or family member's arm diminishes me as a human being.

Kerry

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site:
http://www.nfb-writers-division.org <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>

stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/penatwork%40epix.ne
t

=======
Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found.
(Email Guard: 7.0.0.21, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.17490)
http://www.pctools.com/
=======