[stylist] off-topic, final circadian post

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Since we all seem to get a rebuttal in this, I'll make my final post
before resting it too.

First, everyone in this discussion has valid comments and concerns.
Chris has science to support his argument, and Peter and Steve have
personal history. While numerous reasons and contributing factors can
lead to sleep problems, it does stand to reason that if a lack of
melatonin can lead to off sleep cycles, and lab results prove a person
has a lack of melatonin, treating said person with melatonin supplements
and diagnosing this as the root of sleep disturbances makes sense
whether they're blind or not.

However, if this assumption is jumped to just because a patient is
blind, that doctor should not be practicing, and more test should be ran
in order to make a true diagnosis.

Now, having said all this, we always want to jump to our own assumptions
when anything about blindness is done by people who aren't blind. Yes,
the past should make us wary, but at the same time, we can't make
assumptions without investigating further ourselves.

And who are the dumbass blind people participating in these studies? I'm
sick and tired of hearing how horrible sighted people are because of
their "ideas" and perceptions, but if we didn't keep perpetuating
stereotypes and going along with ridiculous ideas, sighted people
wouldn't have a reason, or a good one, to continue thinking this way.
You may initially participate in a research because you're ignorant of
the point, or how the results will be spun, but no one is forced to
continue a study or back it once realizing what it's about. So why do
blind people keep acting stupid giving the world a reason to keep
believing all the wrong things? I guarantee if blind people hadn't been
so stupid through the years, perpetuating their own stereotypes, we'd be
a lot better off today.

Since losing my vision eight years ago, I hear over and over about past
studies like the sex one mentioned, and training the blind how to eat or
bathe, and products like that ridiculous yoga mat and social interaction
vest, and we mock, laugh at, make fun of, grow angry with and demean
sighted people for thinking this way, but what about the blind people
who willingly participate in these studies and use these products?
There's never mention of them. God forbid we play fair and shoulder the
blame our own actions play in this picture. During my first week of
training, sections from that book about what to teach blind people and
how to teach it; like bathing, shapes, walking, etc. It was read with no
explaination, and at first, I thought this was how IDB felt about the
blind. I was pissed- seething, and walked out planning to leave that
day. Then I realized they did this with new trainees, getting us to
think about our own view on blindness, and to discuss how the world
often views it. Nonetheless, when I thought this was how the agency
viewed blindness, I was ready to leave. Sadly, many blind people don't
disagree with the sentiments in that book, which is not only a part of
the reason it was written, but why it is still around being used today.

Society may have pushed us to the bottom of the barrel, but we keep
ourselves down there. For once I'd like to hear how blind people have,
and still do, allowed stereotypes to exist, believing in them just as
much as those with sight.

And now I'm done.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
 
"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 24
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:52:23 -0500
From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] off-topic, final circadian  post
Message-ID: <003301cc7f78$2ee67500$9e010b43 at yourfsyly0jtwn>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"


Good morning everyone,

    Here's a final thought as well so we can get back to writing
matters. 
The thing that troubles me about this whole thing is that whether the 
subjects be blind or sighted nothing has been said as to whether 
participants undergo a baseline sleep study to rule out known sleep 
disorders before they're enrolled in the melatonin study. If this is
being 
done that makes me feel better. Otherwise this is nothing more than the
kind 
of pseudo research we've read about done on the blind in the past
everything 
from teaching us how to eat properly to whether or not the inability to
see 
light or not effects our sexual activity. This is a very sensitive issue

with me and I'm sure others whose unusual behavior and sleep-wake
patterns 
were blamed on blindness when a sleep study would have revealed the real

culpret. Now I'm done as well.

Peter Donahue