[nfb-talk] Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

[ckrugman at sbcglobal.net]

the prejudice on the part of the sighted or the false assumption that blind 
people aren't competent to do many things is a valid factor. Unfortunately 
this can be reinforced by some of our own in assuming that because one blind 
person can't do something all blind people can't do it. I had an experience 
about 30 years ago when applying for a state civil service job in Michigan 
and the particular job was not a typical job for a blind person. While I 
performed the duties in similar settings outside of state employment and it 
was documented the person assigned to conduct a job analysis with the 
Commission for the Blind did a hypothetical job analysis leaving out the 
documented experience that I had already accumulated. To make a long story 
short this resulted in litigation lasting several years long enough for me 
to pursue and complete my Master's degree and no longer be interested in the 
original position.
Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brian Miller" <brian-r-miller at uiowa.edu>
To: <jsorozco at gmail.com>; "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2011 2:01 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior


> Hi Joe,
>
> Yes, undoubtedly my 99 parts junk comment is as much hyperboly  as this
> article engages in... It's a good thing you didn't have a chinese mother, 
> or
> there would have been no summer camp or weekend retreats for you!  JK--
>
> Your question about why so few of us are successful is clearly the most
> vexing question of all for those of us who seek to push the needle in a
> positive direction with respect to employment for the blind.
>
> I agree with 99 parts of your thoughts on why there is so little success,
> but it's interesting that you left out one theory, which is that prejudice
> on the part of the sighted may play a role.  I know we hate to think of
> this, and it seems we run away from this notion toward any and all other
> theories, but are we kidding ourselves by doing so?  I make no assertions
> here on my own part as to the primary causes, nor even whether or not
> discrimination plays a significant role, but I find it curious that we 
> never
> even entertain the notion for fear of offending our sighted friends, or 
> out
> of fear of sounding defeatest.
>
> Food for thought, anyway.
> Brian M
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Joe Orozco
> Sent: Monday, January 17, 2011 4:42 PM
> To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior
>
> Ryan,
>
> I think the suicide rate is a good point.  However, I wonder how much of
> that has to do with excessive discipline invested toward little end.  In
> other words, what good is it to be intelligent if the society in these
> countries limits the extent to which talents can be exercised?  Things are
> pretty miserable when working conditions are as terrible as they were, or
> are, at those Apple manufacturing sites.
>
> But, as you may have picked up, my discussion point is not about the fact
> that the article was about Chinese parents.  It's about parenting in
> general, since western traditions probably have about as many quirks as
> eastern ones.
>
> Brian,
>
> Ah, come on.  You say 99% of it was junk.  There are certainly things 
> there
> that I would never tell my future children.  Calling them "fatty" and
> "garbage" would certainly be among them, but I think these were the few
> extremes in the article with which I took issue.
>
> For me, the article struck an interesting note with respect to results. 
> You
> wrote:
>
> *"I do agree, however, that we've lost the appreciation for the benefits 
> of
> practice, even when it isn't fun, because learning to do something well
> results in fun in the guise of doing something well.  Who was it that 
> said,
> "The more I practice, the luckier I get?"  Whoever it was, they were 
> right.
> The notion of innate talent is a fraud; people who are superb at what they
> do are superb because they dedicate countless hours of practice and 
> focused
> attention to that task they most wish to perfect."*
>
>
> Bravo.  Very well-written.
>
> I wonder how we can cross-apply this to the cultivation of independence
> among blind individuals from an early age.  We know that blind people are
> basically able to do just about anything we set our minds to.  Yet, the
> unemployment rate, perhaps the most concrete indicator of how we're doing 
> as
> a society to improve quality of life for this target population, has not
> appeared to budge.  Part of it is certainly perception.  Jobs will not be
> liberally handed out to blind individuals until stereotypes are reversed,
> but those of us who are gainfully employed would, I think, agree that we 
> are
> not special cases.  We took risks.  We met rejections, and we still
> persisted.
>
> What I find troubling is that for every one successful blind person,
> statistics say there are three who are not.  There are a myriad of reasons
> we could cite for why this is the case, but I genuinely believe that a lot
> of it begins at home.  On one level, we have the first generation of 
> sighted
> parents who do not feel compelled to believe in their blind children, and 
> so
> how can the blind children themselves believe they can ever amount to
> anything?  Then there is the second generation of blind parents who for
> whatever reason are not successful and pass the same dismal expectations 
> on
> to their children.
>
> I know there is much to be changed in the educational system.  I also know
> there is much to be gained in technology.  However, there is a certain 
> point
> where I believe parental guidance is absolutely crucial to inspiring the
> best in our children to take full advantage of a reformed educational 
> system
> and a fully accessible technology landscape, neither of which is worth
> anything if the consumer does not use them to make herself shine.  I
> genuinely believe that a critical factor in success is confidence.
>
> At least for me, I would have benefited the most from my parents driving 
> me
> a little harder, for the confidence to originate from their corner.  My
> parents instead chose to step aside and allow my teachers to direct the
> course of my education.  I was fortunate that in high school I had the 
> rare
> privilege of an excellent VI teacher who took very little crap from me and
> my blindness.  When I claimed I needed to go to the state school for the
> blind for math classes, she said she would teach me math herself if that's
> what it took, and she did.  I passed the classes because of her.  Not 
> every
> student out there is so fortunate.
>
> Now, I am by no means claiming my parents had it all wrong.  My mom made 
> me
> do chores and disciplined me the same as my siblings.  I was never
> discouraged from pursuing whatever activities I wanted, but I think their
> confidence in me was somewhat artificial.  For example, even though they
> began sending me away to summer camps and weekend retreats as early as 
> eight
> years old, they are still astonished by my ability to navigate the subway
> system here in DC as an adult.
>
> How much of it comes down to giving the blind child an extra nudge?  How
> much of it is cultural?  In the Hispanic culture, blind people, at least
> from my experience, are seen as charity cases or as supremely brilliant.
> Damned if I didn't go and disappoint on both counts. LOL  I don't have all
> the answers, but I hope people will chime in.  Hopefully we can come up 
> with
> some answers and play a role in educating parents on what is absolutely
> needed of them to expand the hope for future generations.
>
> Regards,
>
> Joe
>
> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>
>
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