[nabs-l] [nfbWaTlk] class essay

Mon Jun 20 02:48:50 UTC 2011

Hey, Chris,

         My common law husband, Robin and I do 
that all the time. We believe laughing in the 
face of our blindness, makes it easier for old' Sighty to come to terms with.

Sometimes natural scenarios such as the one that 
features the driver's Ed' instructor, organically 
take shape and, most often we use the framework 
of such scenarios to have a little fun with old' Sighty.

We have found it helpful to disarm any doubt of 
our attitudes, well ahead of time so old' Sighty 
knows exactly where we stand and we will not be 
alienated by some stupid, simple linguistic misstep, on their part.
Thank you, Chris!
for today,
Car/2011, Chris Nusbaum wrote:
>:) That's a little ironic for a totally blind 
>kid to say to another totally blind kid! But 
>Kirt, you're right.  I make blind jokes all the 
>time, which kind of puts sighted people at ease 
>and tells them that they can talk to me about 
>blindness without offending me.  For example, 
>(and this is a true story) I was in a restaurant 
>once and somebody came up to me who apparently 
>recognized me.  She said her name was Jen, and 
>she worked in the toddler room of the daycare I 
>use to go to.  Her name wasn't ringing a bell, 
>and I said that.  She then said, "I'm the blond 
>who use to work in the toddler room.  Remember?" 
>I looked at her and started laughing, saying, 
>"Thanks! That helps  a lot!" She knew that I was 
>being funny, I wasn't offended.  But, when I 
>told my TVI, she thought it was hellarious and 
>said it would make a great blond joke.  Another example is
>the time when I found out that my PE teacher 
>also owns a drivers ed school near where I 
>live.  His son's in my class, and I decided to 
>have a little fun with him.  I said to him in a 
>break during class, "Hey, can you ask your dad 
>what the charge would be to give me driver's ed 
>lessons when I get to that age in a few years?" 
>He replied, "Sure! I'll check." I paused for a 
>second, and said, "You didn't get it, did you?" 
>He had to think about it for a second before he 
>said, "Oh!" But hey, depending on how long it 
>takes for the Blind Driver Challenge car to get 
>out on the road, I might be taking driver's ed 
>lessons from his school after all! :) But 
>anyway...  just some funny stories from my life.
>
>Chris
>
>"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
>To learn more about Camp Abilities and find a 
>local camp near you, just click on this link to 
>their national Web site: www.campabilities.org.
>
>The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps visually impaired 
>youth in Maryland have the ability to 
>confidently say "I can!" How? Click on this link 
>to learn more and to contribute: www.icanfoundation.info.
>
>Sent from my BrailleNote
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Jorge Paez <computertechjorgepaez at gmail.com
>To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 06:39:36 -0400
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] [nfbWaTlk] class essay
>
>Kirt:
>Well written and completely agree.
>I remember one time I was at this camp for the 
>blind, and every time I happen to run into this 
>kid, also totally blind, just like me, he'd say "Dude, open your eyes!"
>Was he making fun of me?
>No, just a saying.
>
>
>
>On Jun 19, 2011, at 3:18 AM, Kirt Manwaring wrote:
>
>Holy crap this is awesome!
>(how's that for a formal letter opening?)
>  I actually disagree with this.  A lot.  Maybe these expressions came
>about, at least in part, because of the stereotypes of us being
>stupid/inattentive/inferior.  But, the fact is, most of the time when
>people use them they aren't talking about physical blindness at all!
>Are we being racist when we talk about black friday every year, or the
>"black death", or some issues being black and white, or blacklisting
>someone?  I know I'm not.  When we say someone has an unorthadox way
>of doing something, are we saying they aren't part of the Eastern
>Orthadox branch of Christianity?  If I tell you all I just got a fat
>paycheck from my job, am I making fun of people who are overweight?
>The same principle applies here, I think.
>  If someone has "blind faith", it just means they can't see what's
>really going on because they're mentally blinded by the person/idea
>they are following.  When we say "in the country of the blind, the
>one-eyed man is king!" (not that I've heard that in casual
>conversation), we're saying that when everyone is too stubborn/set in
>their ways to look at reality, even someone with a little bit of
>insight is superior.  it's a metaphor.  The way it's used in every day
>parlains isn't making fun of physically blind people at all, it's
>making fun of people with blind minds!  What's that motto at the end
>of each of Chris's messages?   "A loss of sight, never a loss of
>vision."  Same concept-these sayings and idioms make fun of people
>with no vision...heck, I use them sometimes because the imagery fits.
>And, when I say "dude!  What are you?  blind or something?", after a
>friend runs over a curb or misses an exit from the freeway, I'm not
>implying blind people aren't attentive.  I'm just implying we can't
>see.  Don't we have real problems to worry about?  Like actual
>descrimination maybe?
>  Best,
>Kirt
>
>On 6/18/11, Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
>At 03:24 PM 6/18
>
>Hi, Humberto,
>
>Do you envision a culture that only speaks in
>generalities and does not celebrate people by use
>of descriptive language? Ought there be some
>ministry of language, some policing body that
>goes around, making sure individuals don't take
>offense to a mere figure of speech? 'Seems it may
>be impossible to speak in an interesting and
>engaging manner if descriptive, specific language
>is not employed, to help do so.
>Carly of Berkeley/2011, you wrote:
>Our daughter Joanne is a linguistic
>anthropology student and was assigned > to > do
>a one page essay on the ways society reenforces
>discrimination.  She > could have chosen a
>number of groups and picked one from any number
>of > ways > that discrimination and bigotry is
>permitted to continue.  Here's what she > said
>about language and the blind.  > > Don't Turn a
>Blind Eye on the Discrimination Against the
>Blind > > By Joanne Gabias > > North American
>societies are trying more and more to be
>accepting of disabilities.  They do so by adding
>Braille to elevator > buttons, > adding closed
>captioning on television, and making sure there
>are > wheelchair > accessible parking spaces.
>These actions may alleviate discrimination to
>an > extent, but in everyday society,
>discrimination is far from extinct.  As we
>know, language creates, transmits and
>perpetuates culture.  In our society,
>expressions that refer to someone as being
>naive, inattentive or stupid > all > use the
>word blind.  Discrimination against the blind
>can only diminish > once > our language removes
>these connotations (of being naive, inattentive
>or > stupid) from the word blind.  > > > > "What
>are you, blind?" This statement is normal in
>everyday > speech in our society.  No matter the
>context, this phrase is degrading, > and
>indicates the person is subpar.  Until this
>expression is out of our > linguistic
>vocabulary, it is impossible for a blind person
>to be treated > with respect and not be cast in
>these stereotypes of being naive, > inattentive
>or stupid.  > > > > "In the kingdom of the
>blind, the one-eyed man is king" - > Desiderius
>Erasmus.  This famous quote, once again or
>almost more so, shows > the blind as inferior
>human beings.  This quote implies that the blind
>can > never achieve greatness.  They will always
>be lower than everyone else.  In > fact, having
>no sight rather than a small amount of sight is
>more > advantageous, since having a small
>amount of sight can be unreliable in > many
>situations.  > > > > The English proverb "the
>eyes are the window to the soul" > implies that
>people whose eyes don't work, don't have souls,
>and souls are > required to be human in our
>culture.  In other words, the blind are not
>human.  Our society puts so much importance on
>sight that it is difficult > for a blind person
>to show the world they are just as able as a
>sighted > person.  > > > > The list of
>linguistic discrimination towards blind
>people > is abundant.  Until the connection
>between blindness and naive, inattentive > and
>stupid is removed from our language,
>discrimination towards the blind > will
>continue to be transmitted and perpetuated
>throughout our culture.  > As > Mark Twain once
>said "The difference between the right word and
>the > almost-right word is the difference
>between lightning and a lightning
>bug."
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