[nagdu] mobility-the deciding factor?

[Susan Jones]

Julie et al,
My take on that is that usually, a person who has the skills to get around
well has the wherewithal to figure out how to do other things.
I think independent travel is the hardest one to crack.
Besides, if one was not getting their mail red, or their bills paid, that's
not really obvious.  
Travel is a very visible thing, even for those of us who can't see.  We can
usually tell whether a person is figuring out how to get confidently from
place to place, or not.
Does that make any sense?
Susan & Rhoda
 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Julie J
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 4:27 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: [nagdu] mobility-the deciding factor?

Some of the recent discussion got me to thinking about how we, as blind
people, perceive independence or who is more capable than who.   It seems
that we always use travel to judge who has better skills than who.  I know
we have discussed this before, but I still have no clue why we don't use
Braille or cooking or something else to base our judgments on.  I'm guilty
of it too.  I've caught myself thinking if not actually saying that so and
so isn't as well adjusted as they could be because they are always needing
help to get places.

I happen to be a very good traveler with cane or dog.  But you know what?  I
read Braille at about 40 wpm.  By any measure that's slow, like incredibly,
snails pace slow.  But no one has ever said to me, "You know, you should
really attend a center where you could get better Braille skills so you
could be more independent."  

Then there is the kitchen...I really like to cook.  Generally I'm okay in
the kitchen.  I cook most meals from scratch.  But, getting the meat,
especially the chicken, thoroughly cooked is a constant stress for me.  I'm
frequently freaked out about whether or not there is any pink in the meat.
I know the skills.  I know how to check nonvisually, but I totally and
completely lack chicken confidence.

Am I crazy?  or don't you think that blind people always judge other blind
people on the basis of travel skills and virtually nothing else?  

thoughts?
Julie
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