[stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness field

Tue Feb 19 20:11:47 UTC 2013

Donna,

Yes, there are always opportunities to grow.  Some of us are able to 
take advantage of presented opportunities.  Then there are others of us 
who have to be unceremoniously dumped into an opportunity! *smile* I'm 
moving toward creating my own opportunities.  Still if I hadn't had to 
struggle when I was younger I don't know if I would have the same inner 
strength that I do now.

I have noticed in the past ten years or so since I've shifted away from 
reacting to what is happening to actively moving toward what I want that 
I am a much happier and more fulfilled person.  Mostly it's a mental 
shift.  I don't think it has really changed how successful or productive 
I am.  It has just given me a much more peaceful way of being in the world.

Julie

On 2/19/2013 1:55 PM, Donna Hill wrote:
> Julie,
> My guess is that you would find opportunities to grow. I think they're
> always there for everyone. It's up to us to take advantage of them.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 2:37 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness field
>
> Linda,
>
> It sounds worse than it was.  Yes, everything I recounted is entirely
> accurate and true.  I didn't make any of it up or exaggerate it.
> However it was a long while ago.  I rarely think about it now.  I have seen
> both college professors in the years since.  We laugh about it now,
> realizing how everyone had made a much bigger deal out of things than was
> necessary.  that's part of the process though.  You live and you learn.  He
> learned something about blindness and I learned a lot about myself.  I was
> very mad then, but now I feel mostly gratitude for the experience.  I look
> back on those times with fondness.  What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.
> I often wonder what sort of person I would be if I was never presented with
> opportunities to grow.
>
> Julie
> On 2/19/2013 11:44 AM, Lynda Lambert wrote:
>> My gosh, the horror stories here when it comes to being allowed into
>> college classes! Where I taught, our philosophy was that we were there
>> to "serve" our students - and that meant figuring out what they need
>> and getting them where they wanted to go with their academics and even
>> outside of classes. It was no unusual for me to be speaking with
>> troubled students at 3 am sometimes.
>>
>> I never checked on any student's physical abilities when they signed
>> up for my classes. I took them all over Europe, Puerto Rico, Arizona,
>> and on the campus in my courses - yes, there were problems and
>> sometimes big ones. But, we always worked through them and things
>> turned out very good.
>>
>> I had many handicapped students over the years, and it is the
>> profesors J O B to work with the student to find out how to best serve
>> them. Most all of them graduated and many went on to higher education
>> after their undergrad. work was completed. At our college, the student
>> was our highest priority. We were educating them to be "servant
>> leaders" themselves.
>>
>>
>> Lynda
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie J."<julielj at neb.rr.com>
>> To: "Writer's Division Mailing List"<stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 11:45 AM
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness
>> field
>>
>>
>>> Linda,
>>>
>>> You are awesome!  We need more college professors like you!
>>>
>>> I had a college instructor for Biology and Canoeing who did not want
>>> me in his classes no way no how.  Before I could take the Biology
>>> class I had to attend this meeting with the school administration,
>>> the instructor and my rehab counselor.  It was awful.  The school
>>> listed all the ways it was going to be a problem.  I and my rehab
>>> counselor tried to explain some techniques that I could use to make
>>> it work.  Finally I had to put my foot down.  I told them I was
>>> taking Biology so we could spend our time productively or not that
>>> was their choice, but taking the class was not up for debate.  There
>>> was a moment of silence while they absorbed that.   Of course I did
>>> take the class and got an A.
>>>
>>> then came the PE class I wanted to take which was a weekend canoeing
>>> trip, with the same instructor.  We didn't have to have the big
>>> meeting this time, but I did find myself in his classroom having a
>>> heated discussion about the fact that I was really taking this class.
>>> the instructor told me everything that could possibly go wrong and a
>>> detailed list of every canoeing accident that had ever occurred in
>>> the past 20 years, complete with the blood and guts Gorey details.  I
>>> think my rehab counselor did some behind the scenes letter writing
>>> and "discussions" with the school administration.  the next time I
>>> spoke with the instructor he had an entirely different attitude.
>>>
>>> The next year I took a backpacking class with a different instructor.
>>> I'm not sure if he was afraid of the consequences of telling me no or
>>> if he was genuinely okay with me, but we didn't have any meetings or
>>> any retelling of helicopter rescues of mamed hikers.
>>>
>>> I think though that those experiences of denial  in the early years
>>> of my blindness taught me a lot.  I learned to control my temper, to
>>> channel my anger into productivity, to never take no for an answer,
>>> to get support when I needed it and to believe in myself even when
>>> others didn't.
>>>
>>> Julie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2/19/2013 9:59 AM, Lynda Lambert wrote:
>>>> Bridget,
>>>> This is so unprofessional for a professor to tell a student that
>>>> they cannot take a class they are teaching. Instead, she needed to
>>>> sit down and find out how she could HELP YOU to realize your
>>>> potential in her class. I had a blind student take my Drawing and
>>>> Writing in Salzburg Class one summer - it was my job, in my view, to
>>>> find out what we needed to do to help her get through the course. In
>>>> fact, our whole class helped her do it. They took turns working with
>>>> her in the classroom and out on our daily excursions - and I had
>>>> never asked them to do this. We all worked together for her. We had
>>>> a number of problems that made us realize her difficulties, when she
>>>> was denied entrance into some major places we visited - we all
>>>> waited it out as I kept dealing with the powers there - and it took
>>>> over an hour and many people coming to talk with me, before we all
>>>> gained entrance into the Doge's Palace in Venice. They were
>>>> determined a guide dog was NOT going in, and we were determined that
>>>> our student and the guide dog WAS going in - and we finally did. But
>>>> they put a patrol on to follow me and the student - it was very
>>>> trying - we were looked at like we were going to destroy their palace.
>>>>
>>>> You are such a good role model, Bridget, that reflects what
>>>> determination and patience can do for you. You took it all in
>>>> stride, and you made it through - despite the professor who was not
>>>> very helpful. Honestly, she was frightened of you and she did not
>>>> know how to get out of it, but she tried anyway. I can imagine the
>>>> groaning she was doing to her colleagues, too.
>>>>
>>>> I had another student who had a debilitating disease - she had a
>>>> helper dog, was in an electric wheelchair, was on oxygen, and had to
>>>> have a nurse standing by at all times. I moved our entire class to
>>>> another building so we could have her in our class - and I had her
>>>> in more than one class. She is a brilliant young woman, and she
>>>> never missed a beat in getting anything done. She could have had a
>>>> dozen good excuses as to why she could not do my classes, but she
>>>> never neglected anything. Even with her difficulties breathing, she
>>>> delivered her own papers orally - I would never have expected her to
>>>> do this, but she did it. It was one of the highlights of my course,
>>>> to have her there. The other students loved her. Courageous peole do
>>>> not whine about their circumstances or make excuses - they meet the
>>>> challenges, I have found.  You are one of those people.
>>>> Lynda
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bridgit Pollpeter"
>>>> <bpollpeter at hotmail.com>
>>>> To:<stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 9:34 AM
>>>> Subject: [stylist] More on this subject of working in blindness
>>>> field
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Back at university, for an elective, I wanted to take a stage
>>>>> make-up class. The instructor had been my Intro to Theatre prof,
>>>>> and as a final project, we had to write a scene, then the class
>>>>> voted on which scenes to produce. Small groups were put together
>>>>> and assigned a scene. I really wanted to direct my scene, which was
>>>>> one of the scenes chosen. I had to convince her that I could direct
>>>>> even though I can't see.
>>>>> She was
>>>>> so sure my *visual impairment* would cause too many problems to
>>>>> effectively direct anything. I gave her detailed ideas I already
>>>>> had formulated. She let me direct but I was the only director
>>>>> assigned an assistant director. I spoke with my assistant
>>>>> explaining the situation, and all I might need from her was to make
>>>>> sure my actors were in deed following directions when it came to
>>>>> physical movement and otherwise I was good. I knew how I wanted the
>>>>> set, what music to use, how the characters should look, and
>>>>> considering the scene was one I wrote, I knew how I wanted it
>>>>> performed. My scene was one of the favorites by the class.
>>>>>
>>>>> So anyway, when I decided to sign up for her stage make-up class,
>>>>> she found out I had registered and emailed me stating we needed to
>>>>> talk. I knew she wouldn't want me in the class, and during our
>>>>> meeting, she proceeded to tell me how difficult the class would be
>>>>> and why I couldn't be able to handle. The sighted lady who had
>>>>> never been blind was telling me why I couldn't do it. I calmly
>>>>> explained how I could and that I already was pretty good with
>>>>> make-up. She told me that she would have to judge my work the same
>>>>> as others, and I said I wouldn't expect anything less. She said I
>>>>> would have no perspective, to which I added that having had sight
>>>>> before, it gave me a little advantage to understand things such as
>>>>> creating wrinkles or bruises. I even networked with blind actors
>>>>> just to get more ideas on how to do things nonvisually. The prof
>>>>> still wanted me to drop the course.
>>>>>
>>>>> I took it and was grudgingly given an A, smirk.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bridgit
>>>>> Message: 14
>>>>> Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:47:21 -0500
>>>>> From: "Donna Hill"<penatwork at epix.net>
>>>>> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'"<stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] more on this subject of Working in blindness
>>>>> field
>>>>> Message-ID:<53130C8156D84A26B96DD5692BF79D0C at OwnerHP>
>>>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>>>>
>>>>> 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
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
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