[nabs-l] Feeling Inadequate After National Convention?

Sun Jul 13 02:28:58 UTC 2014

Hello Arielle,

Unfortunately, I do not believe there is much that can be done about the remarks of this particular leader except perhaps see them in the time in which they were given. They were actually words from either a speech or an article by Dr. Jernigan that appears in an old issue of the Braille Monitor. This was pretty much the only thing I could find regarding blindness and this particular disability even though they both seem relatively common on their own. I sent you a longer more descriptive email off list with the hopes that perhaps you might be able to give me some suggestions without going into the details on the email list.

Warm regards,
Elizabeth

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle Silverman via nabs-l
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2014 10:13 PM
To: Anjelina Cruz; National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Feeling Inadequate After National Convention?

Hi Elizabeth,

I don't know what your secondary disability is (nor is it my place to
ask) but just want to say I think your former NFB leader's comment was way out of line. In fact, I'd put it in the same category as any racist, sexist or homophobic remark--none of which should be tolerated in our organization. Clearly if a disability is interfering with your mental function or learning--even if it is invisible, or easily treatable--it is very much real.
I  hope you spoke with this person's NFB superior about this--e.g. if it was your state vice-president who said this talk to the president.
If it was your state president, perhaps try to talk to someone at national.
IMO, an NFB leader's job is to welcome and support all members--even if they make choices we disagree with, or even if we can't personally relate to their experiences.
As for the tagline, I  think it can apply to anyone with any disability. "Live the life you want" is an ideal we can all strive for by doing the best we can. We might not always be able to do what we want to do in life exactly--and everyone has to revise their ambitions to an extent to match the realities of life circumstances. But if we encounter barriers we can be hopeful that we might be able  to find solutions. We might not get to do all the things we want exactly when we want to do them but we can use this philosophy to get closer to those dreams than we were before.

Best,
Arielle

On 7/12/14, Anjelina Cruz via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
> Elizabeth, the reason why I said you are bold is because you were 
> willing to be vulnerable on such a pubblic list. It's not easy to share frustrations.
> I may not be able to 100 percent relate to how you are feeling, but I 
> can empathize with you. I have a friend who is deaf-blind. She is 
> unable to cross streets without assistance from sighted passerbys or a 
> sign. Even though she cannot complete all tasks exactly the way 
> someone who is blind would, she's found ways to either work around her 
> additional disability or realize her limitations. I'm not at all saying this is the same for you.
> I hope in the NFB there is a place for everyone no matter their disability.
>
>
> Anjelina
> --------------------------------------------
> On Sun, 7/13/14, Beth Taurasi via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>  Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Feeling Inadequate After National Convention?
>  To: "Elizabeth Mohnke" <lizmohnke at hotmail.com>, "National Association 
> of Blind Students mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>  Date: Sunday, July 13, 2014, 12:25 AM
>
>  I feel the same way as you,
>  Liz.  I have some other disabling
>  factors due to parental misconnduct or psychological abuse  and I  
> was devalued at home, at school, and in some work settings  in  
> Florida and Colorado.  It's easy for the NFB people to  feel like  
> blindness is the only people's disabling factor they can  serve,  but 
> they fail to recognize that mental illnesses, chronic  health  issues 
> due to abuse, and so on also play a huge role in how  the  people act, 
> interact, and so on.  I'm worried as heck  about my  own future 
> because the NFB says a lot about blind parents,  but  whuat about 
> multidisabled intelligent beings who want to  bring  children in to 
> this world?  80% of psychiatrically ill  mothers  have their babies 
> removed from her. s Anyone heard of Buck  V.
>  Bell?  Carrie Buck had her kid removed from her all  because she  was 
> epileptic and even though she was not blind, a  disability was  
> present anyway.  Then, she was sterilized.  I will  not tolerate  such 
> actions to be taken against me or any person with or  without  
> multiple disabilities.
>  I side with you on this,
>  Beth
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>  From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>  To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>
>  <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>  Date sent: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 17:29:51 -0400
>  Subject: [nabs-l] Feeling Inadequate After National  Convention?
>
>  Hello All,
>
>  I hope everyone who attended the national convention this  year  had 
> a great  time in Orlando. I understand attending a national  
> convention can  be a  rather inspiring event in the life of someone 
> who is blind.
>
>  However, as I
>  was listening to the online stream of the national  convention  this 
> year, I  found myself feeling the complete opposite.
>
>  Instead of feeling inspired and hopeful for the future, I  found  
> myself  feeling rather defeated and inadequate. As I was listening  to 
> the  speaches  from various leaders within the NFB, I found myself 
> thinking  how  lucky they  must be that the only disability they have 
> to deal with in  their  lives was  there blindness. I was thinking 
> about how easy it must be  fore  someone who  is only blind, and how 
> more difficult it is for someone who  has  another  disability in 
> addition to being blind.
>
>  Now perhaps this may be a bit too personal to post to the  email  
> list, but I  was just curious if anyone else has ever felt this way, 
> and  if  so, what did  you do to deal with these kinds of feelings? I 
> would greatly
>
>  appreciate
>  hearing from anyone who has ever dealt with this kind of  issue  
> before.
>
>  Thanks,
>  Elizabeth
>
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