[stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness field

Tue Feb 19 02:47:21 UTC 2013

Lynda,
 Yes, there are many marginalized kids and adults in this world, and with
the recession more than before. It is enfuriating when you think of the
"privileged" and how much they take for granted and how they have
insullation against their own short-comings and bad decisions. Good for your
daughter trying to help them.

By the time I got to junior high, they were asking kids to choose either
college prep or commercial as a course of study to pursue starting in the
eighth grade. I chose college prep, but I had an encounter with a fellow 7th
grader that really riled me up. She was the daughter of a Lafayette College
professor. She came to school on the morning we were to make our decisions
final and sought me out. She explained, in what I thought was a rather
haughty manner, that her father was a professor and that she discussed my
situation with him at dinner the night before. She knew I wanted to take
college prep. She said that the entire family had agreed that it would be a
mistake for me to consider going to college; there simply was no way I could
do the work. I wish I had punched her, but alas, I didn't.
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda Lambert
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 2:27 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness field

Donna,
Wow, you perked up my memory, too. yes, it was that same dexterity test that
I took, with pegs and holes. But, being the obsessive compulsive and over
achiever that I am, well, I aced it! Therefore, I was "pegged" to be put
into the proper hole for my future good.  lol  It was the law that they had
to give those tests to students, and they had to have a meeting with every
student at least one time  during the 4 years of high school. My meeting
took place after the test was given, just before I graduated - so it would
be "legal."

The other criteria that I see on looking back on all this stuff is that only
the kids from professional backgrounds at home (their parents), were marked
for going on to college. The rest, were pegged for manual labor in a
factory, despite intelligence testing.  Children who came from the blue
collar families were seldom, and I do mean very seldom, ever encouraged to
even think of anything else.  Marginalization really begins in the earliest
years of life - and it still does - and that has far more to do with
economic issues than it does a disability issue.

My daughter is the librarian of a very FANCY and elite new school..  Of the
600 students who are there, all but 40 of those students come from fairly
wealthy families and are "entitled" - she asked me recently, "Do you think
those 40 children do not stand out like a sore thumb? "  When they have a
book fair, many of those children have a "budget" of about $50. to spend on
books that day.  The other 40 children come up to her with some small change
in their hand and ask if there is anything they can buy with it!  Not only
are they children who are completely out of place in the economic picture,
they are really denied basic rights to even own a book because they have no
money to buy one. (She is creating some clever ways to get books into their
hands anyway, but it will be at her own expense.)

I do believe that no matter how marginalized people with blindness feel,
there are zillions of others who are also marginalized  as well by our
education system, and uncaring entitled class.

In the small rural town where I live, over 42 percent of the children in our
school district are children from below the poverty line.  Their parents,
for the most part, are the "working poor." They work 2 jobs each, and
therefore the children are left to fend for themselves because Mom and Dad
are working day and night just to survive. I don't think we can be very
optimistic about the future of that 42 percent here, do you?  Just makes me
sick.
Lynda

----- Original Message -----
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 1:11 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness field

> Lynda,
> You bring up one of those similarities I'm always talking about between 
> the
> blindness movement and other civil rights movements. Years ago, the normal
> perception of women did not include much in the way of  career-readiness.
> Sure, women had to work in factories in WWII to support the war effort, 
> but
> as for careers, you could teach or be a nurse; that was about it. The
> underlying message was that when it came to what was best for women, men
> knew best . Fortunately, we have come a long way, baby!
>
> The whole erasers on pencils thing has dredged up another memory. When I 
> was
> in junior high, they made me take a test of my manual dexterity, which I
> didn't think at the time was something that other kids got. . It involved
> putting pegs into holes on a board -- literally the square peg in the 
> round
> hole kind of thing. I was overpowered by the impression that, if I did 
> well
> on this test, they would push me into manual labor of some sort. I didn't
> know what I could do, but I knew I wasn't having fantasies about putting
> pegs in holes, so I "threw" the test -- figuratively speaking.
>
> I had a hard time with setting goals, because on some level I believed 
> that
> I couldn't do anything. I had secret dreams of what I'd like to do, but
> there was a real disconnect between that and having a plan. The thing that
> kept me going was the knowledge that, whatever anyone else said or how 
> true
> it was, I didn't want those things to be true. That's really all I had.
> Goals came later. My somewhat cynical version of the Plan A thing is that 
> if
> you strive for Plan A, you might not make it, but you might make plan B. 
> If
> you don't strive for plan A, you're not even going to make plan B.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda 
> Lambert
> Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 12:47 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness field
>
> Donna,
> You might have been putting erasers in pencils - OMG!
> Can you envision yourself in such a place? Never!
> You are living proof of seeking out a goal that is a passion and going for
> it.
>
> When I graduated from high school, in the dark ages of course, I as told 
> by
> the counselor that I had really good hand and eye coordination, so I 
> should
> work our very well in a factory assembly line. Never mind that my IQ was
> already beyond that of a college graduate - no, I should apply for a 
> laborer
> job. OMG. I would have been fired very quickly from such a job as I would
> have been there daydreaming and imagining and I would have either had a 
> bad
> accident, or caused the entire place to be in shut down mode from 
> something
> stupid I would have done.
>
> I could not do any kind of repetitive activity for even a day - probably 
> not
> even for an hour, really.  I really had a good laugh at the thought of you
> doing the erasers, but then, that isn't really funny when you follow it to
> it's end, is it?
>
>
> When my students would sit down with me and we would discuss their 
> schedule
> and their plans for a major, I told them to never settle for anything 
> other
> than what they have a passion for - because if they do, in mid-life they
> will be longing for the thing they wanted in the first place - and so many
> people at mid-life are so unhappy with the life they created for 
> themselves.
>
> Even if they are financially successful, the failure to pursue their dream
> is still with them. I have seen this many times.
>
>
> Lynda
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 12:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness field
>
>
>> Good advice.
>> Donna
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda
>> Lambert
>> Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 12:24 PM
>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness field
>>
>> I recommend the book, "Cockeyed" - which is available through library of
>> congress for the reading machines we have - a teenager who was going
>> blind,
>> and became a professor of English - it is super funny - and yet so
>> enlightening as to the high goals a person can achieve by never settling
>> for
>> Plan B.
>> My advice, is, those who plan for Plan B, end up being there instead of 
>> at
>> Plan A where they really wanted to be.
>> I do not believe in settling for anything less than the absolute desire 
>> of
>> your heart - Plan A is the only acceptable plan in my own life. I am an
>> advid believer in being completely outside the comfort level for as long
>> as
>> it takes to achieve your goals. And, once you are "there" you continue to
>> work your butt off without any excuses.
>> Excellence is the only path worth following.
>>
>> Lynda
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "justin williams" <justin.williams2 at gmail.com>
>> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 10:52 AM
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness field
>>
>>
>>> New Braska is all kinds of awesome.  Some states are better than others.
>>> Any field is open, but you may have to move to find it.  Aiwa is another
>>> good state.  Leaving out the venders and customer service reps, no
>>> disrespect to any of the people in those fields, human service or
>>> computer
>>> programming fields followed by professors  and lawyers seem to be where
>>> totals or braille users work.  This is by no means cut and dry, and I am
>>> not
>>> including lo vision applicants, because the better your sight, the more
>>> likely you will be to have a job which is outside of that block of 
>>> fiends
>>> that I just mentioned.  I've met braille users in just about every type
>>> of
>>> career field, but keep in mind that a person who is blind does develop
>>> and
>>> emphasize a slightly different skill set which naturally fits them 
>>> better
>>> to
>>> certain fields.  Going outside of those fields generally speaking, will
>>> force the person to have to constantly perform at a higher level of 
>>> skill
>>> just to have a chance of success.  Of course, that is possible.  But
>>> remember, I am making a basic statement.  Feel free to enlighten me
>>> further.  Remember, I am saying this with the caveat  that anything is
>>> possible, and I have met Blind teachers, mechanics, business owners who
>>> are
>>> not venders, cabinent makers, among others.  Not all of the teachers 
>>> were
>>> teachers of the bisually impaired.  Some taught in standard classroom
>>> formats.  I have heard of blind electricians, met travel agents, there
>>> you
>>> go, travel agent is another field for the blind, and even read the
>>> article
>>> on the blind doctor. I think he is somewhere in canada.
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Robert
>>> Leslie
>>> Newman
>>> Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 9:14 AM
>>> To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
>>> Subject: [stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness field
>>>
>>> Guys
>>> Back when I started working for the commission for the Blind here in
>>> Nebraska, back in the seventies, our federation had the mindset (this is
>>> a
>>> generalization) that if you as a blind person had one of those jobs, 
>>> then
>>> you were suspect, as in you had gone over to the other side, that of the
>>> enemy! (This was the state of relations between the progressive blind 
>>> and
>>> the rehab services.) Boy, back then, in a NFB chapter around here, you
>>> mostly weren't encouraged to try and become an officer, because it was
>>> feared that you would be a spy for the rehab side, and would be pushing
>>> their (the bad guys) agenda. But --- this all changed. Here in Nebraska
>>> and
>>> in New Mexico and maybe in some other states, the NFB got the bad agency
>>> head folks fired and had a hand in who and what changes had to occur ---
>>> and
>>> so the NFB philosophy got the upper hand. And then, it became respectful
>>> for
>>> NFB members to be part of the rehab scene. (Here in the Omaha chapter we
>>> still have one older member, like in the 80's who doesn't like seeing a
>>> rehab professional being in a leadership position.)
>>>
>>> Think of it, one of the larger and more active NFB Division's is the
>>> Rehabilitation Professionals.
>>>
>>> #2 Taking a serious look at job opportunities for the blind in blind
>>> related
>>> professions --- count up the number of rehab agencies and/or other
>>> services
>>> around the country and add up how many blind folks are working within
>>> them
>>> and I bet that number is not as great as you think!!! Consider, that in
>>> general, the not so good agencies who have low expectations are the ones
>>> that will more than likely hire only a few token blind workers. And the
>>> better rehab services, which are the minority in this nationwide group
>>> that
>>> we are looking at --- sure, they may have more blind guys on staff.
>>> (Nebraska at present has 1 blind related rehab service only. They have a
>>> total staff at the commission that numbers around 55 and 17 are blind.
>>> All
>>> other employed blind people work in a variety of other jobs; Nebraska is
>>> one
>>> of the better states for employment of the blind and there are a bunch 
>>> of
>>> folks that are doing all kinds of jobs.) So watch that thought of yours,
>>> that there are a big number of blind folks working in blind related
>>> jobs ---
>>> for either reason of- A. That is where they are accepted. Or B. That it
>>> is
>>> the job that the blind think of first as to what they can do.
>>>
>>> (Just my rambling for this morning.)
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
>>> Sent: Monday, February 18, 2013 7:08 AM
>>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] Working in blindness field
>>>
>>> Bridget,
>>>
>>> Could it be that more of the state board members and generally more
>>> really
>>> active members of the NFB are working in the blindness field because
>>> blindness is their passion?It makes sense to me that if promoting
>>> opportunities for blind people was your life's mission that you'd work 
>>> in
>>> that field and be more active within an organization that supported you.
>>> I
>>> do think all blind people have an interest in achieving true equality 
>>> for
>>> blind people. However I think for some it is their major life's work,
>>> while
>>> for others of us it is something we do when we can around our other main
>>> pursuits. So it makes sense to me that there would be a large number of
>>> people within the NFB that do or want to work in the blindness field.
>>>
>>> I've been blind for around 20 years now.  While I do know quite a few
>>> blind
>>> people who work in the blindness field, I'd say I know a larger number
>>> who
>>> don't.  Perhaps that's because I have never been very involved in
>>> leadership
>>> within the NFB.  It does seem that those in leadership positions do work
>>> in
>>> the blindness field much more frequently.  Again that makes sense to me
>>> due
>>> to their strong interest and commitment to the cause.
>>>
>>> Julie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2/17/2013 11:13 PM, Bridgit Pollpeter wrote:
>>>> Ashley,
>>>>
>>>> Without actual stats, we can't really debate this, but that being
>>>> said, I beg to differ, at least to a degree.
>>>>
>>>> I don't think anyone here is trying to make generalizations seeing as
>>>> we all are blind, but we are all speaking from our experiences and
>>>> personal observations.
>>>>
>>>> In the ten years I've been blind, which isn't long compared to some,
>>>> I've met more blind people working in a blindness-related field or
>>>> hoping to be employed in a blindness related field. For every lawyer,
>>>> teacher and computer programmer I've met, I've met ten who worked in a
>>>> job relating to blindness.
>>>>
>>>> There's nothing wrong with this, and most of us would agree that blind
>>>> people need to be working in these fields, but I also think it can
>>>> become a safety net for some; not all, but many.
>>>>
>>>> I've been to NFB conventions, and yes, there are people employed in
>>>> various fields, and many scholarship winners plan to, or are, pursuing
>>>> a myriad of career paths, but again, for every one of these people
>>>> I've met, I've met a dozen working in the blindness field. Or many of
>>>> these people end up in a blindness field despite their choice of 
>>>> degree.
>>>>
>>>> And having heard several scholarship winners speak at conventions, a
>>>> good number of them hope to work in some way in a blindness field or
>>>> teaching the blind. Again, nothing wrong with this, and we do need
>>>> blind people doing this, but, for me, it shows how many blind people
>>>> go into a blindness related field.
>>>>
>>>> And in our affiliate, most of the leadership either works in the
>>>> blindness field or hopes too. Of our eleven state board members, only
>>>> two are employed outside of a blindness field, and one is working
>>>> towards a degree so they can work in a blindness job.
>>>>
>>>> More and more blind people are seeking opportunities outside of a
>>>> blindness related career, but many are still drawn to the field for
>>>> whatever reason. Again, we need strong, competent blind people in this
>>>> field, but we also need to consider what we truly want as a person and
>>>> not a blind person.
>>>>
>>>> And a side note, I don't think Lynda meant anything negative by her
>>>> comments nor was she implying all blind people work in a blindness
>>>> related field. She was merely detailing her experience and speaking to
>>>> that experience alone.
>>>>
>>>> Bridgit
>>>>
>>>> Message: 11
>>>> Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2013 22:28:29 -0500
>>>> From: "Ashley Bramlett"<bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
>>>> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List"<stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] Sending this again: Article
>>>> showingwhatparentsofblindkids are facing
>>>> Message-ID:<D073072BEB3F4E1F938EB6B7A6FF190A at OwnerPC>
>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
>>>> reply-type=response
>>>>
>>>> Lynda,
>>>> I beg to differ. Have you been to a nfb convention?
>>>> There are people employed in all walks of life and most scholarship
>>>> winners have a career aspiration in a non blindness field; they
>>>> include future teachers, therapists, researchers,  counselors, and
>>>> doctors.
>>>> Most blind people I know work either in the IT field as computer
>>>> programmers or in the government, far from the blindness fields! Read
>>>> the braille monitor and you will see the wide variety of fields too!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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