[blindkid] Fwd: NY Times: Paterson's Exit PresentsWorryWith Each Step

Albert J Rizzi albert at myblindspot.org
Wed Dec 22 21:57:58 UTC 2010


JFK was faced with the same dilemma. Seems like the public, given how
Paterson has lived his life, is still not ready, what a sad commentary.

Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
Founder
My Blind Spot, Inc.
90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
New York, New York  10004
www.myblindspot.org
PH: 917-553-0347
Fax: 212-858-5759
"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
doing it."


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-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Deborah Kent Stein
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 4:34 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Fwd: NY Times: Paterson's Exit PresentsWorryWith
Each Step


 FDR concealed his disability throughout his long administration.  The 
thinking was that the American public would never have accepted a president 
who used a wheelchair or wore braces on his legs to help him stand.  If 
Governor Patterson had gone public as a blind man, using Braille, a cane, 
and other adaptations, would he have risen so high in politics?  I would 
like to think the American electorate is ready to accept a visibly disabled 
person in a key leadership position, but it hasn't been proven yet.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 2:28 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Fwd: NY Times: Paterson's Exit Presents WorryWith 
Each Step


> yet, despite all his years as a blind adult, he did not grow past the 
> errors
> of his parents, his doctors or whomever else insisted he adapt and blend 
> in
> so as to "appear" normal rather then be as normal as he could be within 
> the
> parameters of who he was or now is. he is more disabled now for not
> exercising  his options in life to be more independent. Had he just tried 
> to
> use braille, or pick up a cane, perhaps the whole SNL  skit would never 
> have
> had a reason to be. his presence in my humble opinion set back decades 
> what
> people think about the abilities of a person who happens to be blind. it 
> is
> people like him that make it difficult for people like me to be seen as
> viable and able in every instance I choose. Because  of that mind set  and
> that antiquated perception on blindness I am  having to prove and re prove
> myself to way to many people. Onward and upward. Peace and happy holidays 
> to
> you all..
>
> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
> Founder
> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> New York, New York  10004
> www.myblindspot.org
> PH: 917-553-0347
> Fax: 212-858-5759
> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
> doing it."
>
>
> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Carol Castellano
> Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 11:49 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Fwd: NY Times: Paterson's Exit Presents Worry With
> Each Step
>
> I think you are absolutely right; he is a product of his times, as we
> all are.  This is the part that really got me:
>
> When Mr. Paterson was a boy, his parents were determined that he not
> be treated as disabled. Defying his doctors' advice, he never learned
> Braille, used a Seeing Eye dog or walked with a cane. Instead, he 
> adapted...
>
>  So it sounds as if he HAD a chance to learn skills.  It was his
> misplaced sense that the use of alternative techniques would make him
> disabled that really disabled him in the end.  Ironic--the very
> things that could have freed him are the things he rejected.  I sure
> wish people would pay attention to this kind of life lesson.
>
> Carol
>
>
> At 08:15 AM 12/22/2010, you wrote:
>>Carol,
>>
>>This is exactly why I was not a fan of a blind governor. He is the product
>>of a society that sets the bar low for others who see things from a
>>different angle and or roll thru life a different way. in his day when
> going
>>to school the differently abled were asked, trained and taught to blend in
>>as best they could. Is today any different? I listen to how our blind 
>>youth
>>are not being taught braille in school, despite their individual level of
>>visual acuity, are not being allowed to use their canes, or as is often
>>argued, not allowed to get guide dogs until some perceived perception of
>>immaturity or inability. The life choices which Paterson made are very 
>>much
>>the same options left to the blind today. as a new entrant into the
>>community I want to know what will it take for players on both sides of 
>>the
>>fence to open their eyes to what is possible for all people of all
>>abilities? Helen Keller once said the only thing worse then being blind, 
>>is
>>being able to see and not have any vision. Where is the vision for a 
>>future
>>full of hope, possibility , independence and accessibility? We have come 
>>so
>>far yet traveled only a short distance. Peace.
>>
>>Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
>>Founder
>>My Blind Spot, Inc.
>>90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
>>New York, New York  10004
>>www.myblindspot.org
>>PH: 917-553-0347
>>Fax: 212-858-5759
>>"The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
>>doing it."
>>
>>
>>Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>>
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>Behalf Of Carol Castellano
>>Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 7:30 PM
>>To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
>>Subject: [blindkid] Fwd: NY Times: Paterson's Exit Presents Worry With
>>EachStep
>>
>>This is a sad story.
>>Carol
>>
>> >Subject: NY Times: Paterson's Exit Presents Worry With Each Step
>> >Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:10:50 -0500
>> >
>> >From: "Pamela Gaston" <Pamela.Gaston at dhs.state.nj.us>
>> >To: <Bernice.Davis at dhs.state.nj.us>,    <Pam.Ronan at dhs.state.nj.us>
>> >
>> >
>> >NY Times: Paterson's Exit Presents Worry With Each Step By MICHAEL
>> >  BARBARO He worries about how he will make a living. He wonders whether
>> >  people will value him once he is out of office.
>> >But when he thinks about the future, David A. Paterson, the legally
>> >  blind governor of New York, is most unsettled by something more
>> >  elementary: how to cross the street.
>> >For years, a small army of state employees has done for Mr. Paterson
>> >  what his predecessors did for themselves: they read him the newspaper,
>> >  guided him up stairs and around corners, fixed his collar when it was
>> >  sticking up, and even grabbed a quart of milk for him at the
>> >  supermarket.
>> >"If I go into a grocery store, the state police come in with me," he
> said.
>> >"It's kind of like, hey, Governor, just tell us what you need and
>> >  we'll get it for you. And, I know I have to adjust."
>> >Many politicians who leave office struggle to adapt to civilian life,
>> >  with its everyday letdowns and indignities - the sudden absence of
>> >  solicitous aides and gun-toting bodyguards, jam-packed schedules and
>> >  an ever-ringing telephone. But for Mr. Paterson, who can see nothing
>> >  out of his left eye and only color and large objects out of his right,
>> >  the transition will be extraordinary: after three decades in
>> > government, he must now relearn  the basic routines and rituals of
>> > living on his own.
>> >In a wide-ranging interview, he spoke candidly, and at times
>> >  emotionally, about how he was grappling with - and, in some cases,
>> >  dreading - that change, saying he planned to enroll at a school for
>> >  the blind that he last attended when he was 3 years old.
>> >"I know it can be done," Mr. Paterson said, "but it's just the
>> >  anticipation of it that gives me anxiety."
>> >He also admitted to some concern about money and losing the lucrative
>> >  perks that come with his post. He is looking for work in the business
>> >  and academic worlds but has no job lined up, a fact that seemed to
>> >  slightly nag at him.
>> >He has sought the advice of former President Bill Clinton and former
> Govs.
>> >George E. Pataki and Mario M. Cuomo about how to cope with the loss of
>> >  title and stature. Most of what they tell him boils down to this: "It
>> >  gets easier."
>> >He acknowledged previously unknown strains on his family that
>> >  accompanied his elevation to governor, especially on his teenage son,
>> >  who has hated almost every minute of his father's tenure. At one
>> >  point, Mr. Paterson said, he even told the boy he was sorry for
>> >  becoming the state's chief executive.
>> >He divulged the ways he had been teasing the incoming governor, Andrew 
>> >M.
>> >Cuomo, since his victory in November. And he offered a mediocre
>> >  assessment of his own skills as a manager, giving himself a B-minus
>> >  over the last four years. He said he had been reluctant to pack up the
>> >  governor's mansion and his own office, once gently scolding a staff
>> >  member for rushing him out.
>> >(His last day is Dec. 31.)
>> >But looming over the interview was Mr. Paterson's obvious unease about
>> >  what awaits him. He conceded that he had put off confronting his new
>> >  reality:
>> >he has yet to schedule with his 22-year-old daughter a long-promised
>> >  practice run on Harlem's sidewalks, subways and streets.
>> >When Mr. Paterson was a boy, his parents were determined that he not
>> >  be treated as disabled. Defying his doctors' advice, he never learned
>> >  Braille, used a Seeing Eye dog or walked with a cane. Instead, he
>> >  adapted: he memorized the city's subway system by listening to the
>> >  conductors' announcements, learned to follow the lead of strangers
>> > at crosswalks,
>> >  and developed a system for catching cabs that would keep him from
>> >  mistakenly boarding a passenger car.
>> >The system was not perfect.  He recalled an incident a few years ago
>> >when, as a state senator, he  hailed what he thought was a taxi in
>> >Manhattan. At the end of the
>> >  ride, the driver refused to take his fare. When Mr. Paterson pressed
>> >  him, the man explained: 'I am not driving a taxi. I just saw you
>> > on the street and thought you  might need a ride.' "
>> >His survival skills atrophied when he became lieutenant governor in
>> >  2007 - and governor a year later after Eliot Spitzer resigned amid
>>scandal.
>> >Suddenly, he was chief executive of the state, with a huge security
>> >  detail and a domestic staff at the governor's mansion.
>> >"The reality is that I had a pretty good sense of my own independence.
>> >  But over the last four years," he said, "I haven't been on the subway.
>> >  I haven't crossed a street by myself. Haven't gone into a restaurant
>> >  by myself."
>> >Mr. Paterson, 56, said he planned to attend classes at Helen Keller
>> >  Services for the Blind and, if finances permitted it, hire a full-time
>> >  aide to help guide him for the first year, in part to deal with
>> >  strangers he expects will still approach him.
>> >"It would probably be good for me to travel with somebody, because,
>> >  who knows, I may have more pardon requests," he said mischievously.
>> >Though he did not rule out running for office again someday,
>> >Mr.  Paterson, who has earned $179,000 a year as governor, said he was
>> >  eager to earn a bigger salary in the private sector. That would allow
>> >  him to put his son through college and to replicate, at least in some
>> >  ways, the comfortable life he has grown accustomed to.
>> >"You have a false income when you're governor, because you live in the
>> >  executive mansion," he said, ticking off the perks: free meals, free
>> >  transportation, free staff. "And, so, if you computed that out to a
>> >  salary, it's probably twice the governor's salary."
>> >He confirmed that he had met with administrators at New York
>> >  University and Touro College to discuss taking teaching positions. He
>> >  has spoken with executives at a local talk radio station, WOR, about
>> >  becoming a substitute host. So far, though, he has not hammered out
>> >  any contracts. In the meantime, he has filled out paperwork to begin
>> >  collecting a state pension.  (With 27 years, he can collect about
>> > $80,000 annually.)
>> >"I am worried about money, because I am not a billionaire, in case you
>> >  hadn't heard," he said.
>> >His advisers - old friends, current aides and former chief executives
>> >  - have encouraged him to think big. Mr. Clinton, for instance, asked
>> >  him to consider running a foundation in Harlem that would employ
>> >  youngsters and cut energy costs by painting the roofs of buildings
>> >  white to reflect sunlight.
>> >"You want me to make all the roofs in Harlem white?" Mr. Paterson
>> >  recalled asking Mr. Clinton inside the former president's office
>> > on 125th Street.
>> >Mr. Clinton nodded. "Don't you think Harlem has become white enough?" 
>> >Mr.
>> >Paterson asked him.
>> >Over the last few weeks, he has conducted a distinctly Paterson-esque
>> >  farewell tour across the state, much of it over local AM radio,
>> >  dispensing frank and funny observations about himself and his
>> >  colleagues. He has compared the news media in New York to the
>> >  corruption-riddled Tammany Hall, and declared that the quality of
>> >  lawmakers in Albany has plunged over the last two decades. "I am sorry
>> >  to say this," he added, impishly.
>> >He even made light of his own multiple run-ins with state prosecutors
>> >  and ethics investigators, telling the audience at a Bronx school the
>> >  other night that when he saw all the people in their seats, he figured
>> >  he had walked into a grand jury room.
>> >He had only good things to say about his predecessor and his successor.
>> >Asked how he planned to welcome Mr. Cuomo, he has said he had already
>> >  swept one big obstacle out of the governor-elect's path: he made sure
>> >  the faulty outlet above the sink in the master bedroom of the
>> >  governor's mansion got fixed.
>> >"I said, 'This is important stuff, Andrew,' " he recalled. "'You don't
>> >  know what it's like when you need to plug something in, like an
>> >  electric razor, and you can't.' "
>> >He even weighed in on Mr. Spitzer's show on CNN, which has suffered in
>> >  the ratings and has led to a debate about whether his co-host,
>> >  Kathleen Parker, has been unduly sidelined by the ex-governor. If
>> >  anything, Mr. Paterson opined, the show needs to revolve more around
>> >  Mr. Spitzer to showcase his brilliance.
>> >He said he was looking forward to having a more normal family life,
>> >  recounting the difficulties his wife and his son faced once he became
>> >  governor.
>> >"I don't think anything about me being governor ever looked like it
>> >  made him happy," he said about the boy, Alex, now 16. Asked how it
>> >  made him feel as a father, he responded: "Very guilty."
>> >He and his wife, Michelle, grew so frustrated by tabloid photographers'
>> >trying to shoot pictures of them as they vacationed poolside at a
>> >  friend's house in the Hamptons that they grabbed the family camera and
>> >  took pictures of the paparazzi, who they said were trespassing.
>> >"While we found that funny, and it's a great story to tell," he said,
>> >  "the reality is it was very hard to sit back and say, 'So how have
>> > you been?'
>> >Because you are both under this constant pressure."
>> >Reflecting on his tenure, he paused for several seconds.
>> >
>> >"Some things went well, some things went not so well," he said. "It
>> >  was a privilege. It was an honor. I would serve. I would do it again."
>> >Still, he could not resist a joke, cheekily recalling the suddenness
>> >  with which he landed in the governor's office.
>> >"I would like two weeks' notice next time," he said.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >----------
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>>
>>Carol Castellano
>>National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>>973-377-0976
>>carol_castellano at verizon.net
>>www.nopbc.org
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>
> Carol Castellano
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> 973-377-0976
> carol_castellano at verizon.net
> www.nopbc.org
>
>
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