[stylist] More on article showing what parents and kidsarefacing

Sun Feb 17 20:47:16 UTC 2013

Donna,
I am sure you are right on all this. Yes, I do think of those things, too, 
with the ones who come from homes where they are marginalized and abused - 
and I know that many of them will never respond to any kind of training at 
all.  It is really sad.  or to their family.

The high school students I met were brilliant and already had been accepted 
into good colleges - they were excited and I know they were as well prepared 
as they can be for this new adventure. It was obvious they had really good 
parents who wanted the best for them and helped them to be the best they can 
be.

Lynda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] More on article showing what parents and 
kidsarefacing

> Lynda,
> I've had the same experiences, mainly at the Guide Dog Foundation. Last 
> time
> I was there, we had 4 teens who were all brilliant, well-adjusted kids, 
> and
> it was a joy to be around them. I've also met those with the poor table
> manners and those stuck in a rut.
>
> I would just ask you to consider how defeated a person can get when they
> grow up with no support and are being brainwashed about how limited they 
> are
> and how worthless. I had an old friend decades ago who went to the 
> Overbrook
> School for the Blind outside of Philadelphia back in the '30s. She told me
> it was common for parents to drop off babies once they learned that they
> would be blind for the rest of their lives. I don't know if this happens
> nowadays; I'm guessing it does at least in the cases of multi-handicapped
> children.
>
> One woman I heard of in the past five years had a blind daughter who was
> over 15 before learning how to tie her own shoes. Her mother sincerely
> thought she was doing the right thing by helping her with everything. She
> learned better -- imagine what a road that was. Some parents are so 
> ashamed
> of their blind kids that they can't even allow them to have a momentary 
> spot
> in the sun for an achievement. For instance, when I talked to a couple of
> the parents of our writing contest winners about getting a little article 
> in
> their local paper, they actually verbalized that they and their child were
> ashamed about their blindness and didn't want to draw attention to it.
>
> The point is that it is very difficult for a human being to survive
> spiritually when the formative years of their lives have been 
> characterized
> by this kind of oppression. I'm not saying it isn't surmountable, just 
> that
> it takes more than most of us have. Also, I personallly believe that the
> scars never go away. The importance of being a part of a family,
> neighborhood, school community as a young child cannot be overstated. It's
> like having a beautiful hand-made quilt that gets horribly ripped. A 
> gifted
> and patient seamstress can mend it, and some of the original beauty can
> shine through, but the marks of the damage will always be there.
>
> Some people have no other way of expressing their frustration and anger 
> than
> to act like the gal who thought she was on vacation. Some are so defeated
> that, even though they know they are being socially inappropriate, they
> figure, "what's the point?" This isn't to say we are unjustified in being
> put off by them, just some observations.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda 
> Lambert
> Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 9:02 AM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] More on article showing what parents and kids
> arefacing
>
> I am not "out and about" in the blind mileau at all, so I only know things
> from my own contacts, which have been minimal. I observed a few things 
> when
> I was in that rehab place for 15 weeks though, which really made me get 
> some
> insight about this.
>
> First, there are people who are blind that seem to circle about from one
> place to another, doing "rehab" at various places in the country. It was
> fairly clear to me that these folks were really in no way ever going to be
> seriously working.  I mean, if you have been blind since birth, or have 
> been
> blind for a lot of years, why would you still be in technology classes and
> doing personal adjustment to blindness programs for years and years?
>
> Some had such bad table manners and lack of social skills they would be
> unemployable anywhere. You would not even want to sit at the same table at
> lunch with some of them.
>
> Then, I met  one woman in her mid-40s who told me " I am here for a
> vacation." She was going through the motions as though she really wanted 
> to
> get a job, but behind the faces of  the rehab people, she openly joked 
> about
> her vacation there and how she was enjoying it and had no intention of 
> going
> to school or working - she was a housewife and that is all she wanted to 
> be,
> yet to get her "vacation" she had to pretend to want something more. I 
> told
> her one day, "I really do know what a vacation is, and this is not it."
>
> On the positive side, though, I was there when the high school seniors 
> came
> in for their program and they were all college bound. I stayed on to help
> with them a little, and did some classes with them to help them understand
> what going to college would be like. Those students were so sharp and
> winsome, and it was very clear to me that they would be doing anything 
> they
> would ever want to do - they had the drive to do it.  Someone was doing
> something absolutely right with those young students and I know their life
> will be great.
>
>
>
>
> Lynda
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bridgit Pollpeter" <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
> To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2013 11:05 PM
> Subject: [stylist] More on article showing what parents and kids are 
> facing
>
>
>> Donna,
>>
>> The missing factor is that of that reported 70% unemployed, it includes
>> children too young for employment and retired seniors not to memention
>> people who are blind plus some other disability making it less simple to
>> work. So when you actually just look at blind people who are of working
>> age and able to work, it is less than 70%. So yes, to a degree, we are
>> exaggerating, but as you mention, it's still too high a number, and I
>> also might add, how many are working regular jobs, for lack of a better
>> term, and how many are working sheltered workshop jobs or something
>> similar. Many states boast high employment rates among blind graduates
>> of training centers, but often, many are employed by sheltered workshops
>> or something akin to a sheltered workshop. Work is work, but we also
>> have to consider how many blind people are being encouraged and expected
>> to achieve their full potential, and how many are just deemed well off
>> because they are working regardless that employers like this expect very
>> little giving blind employees menial jobs and paying even less. Sorry,
>> someone had to say it.
>>
>> Bridgit
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2013 22:07:56 -0500
>> From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
>> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] more on : Article showing what parents & kids
>> arefacing
>> Message-ID: <4ECC685BBD634B04962D293E130064BB at OwnerHP>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>
>> Robert,
>> I'm confused. Shouldn't we be using the Dept. of Labor's formula for
>> figuring unemployment? If that's what they use for everyone, and they're
>> getting a much lower unemployment rate than we've been led to believe
>> ... Well, it doesn't sound right. I mean, 38% is still terrible and way
>> worse than the general unemployment numbers, but we've been telling
>> people it's 70%. If we're using a non-standard method of calculating it,
>> aren't we opening ourselves up to the criticism that we're exaggerating
>> the problem? What am I missing here? Donna
>>
>>
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