[nfb-talk] Wanting to See

kaye zimpher kaye.j.zimpher at gmail.com
Sat Jan 7 00:20:48 UTC 2017 

I would never think of myself as "defective." Being blind doesn't make me 
defective. Being a woman doesn't make me defective. Being overweight doesn't 
make me defective. Those things make me the person I am. Acceptance is when 
we can look at ourselves, and/or our situation and say "I am who I am, and 
I'm alright with it." I know that as a blind person I have been places and 
done things that some sighted would never desire. I, unlike many that I come 
across in my daily work have a job that makes me productive, a home that I 
keep up, meals that I cook, and a life in the community that I truly enjoy. 
Having said that, how could I or someone like me even consider that we are 
defective. Do we do things differently? Sure we do. As I told someone 
recently about an issue of race, "Our differences should be celebrated, not 
looked down upon or hated.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Heim via nfb-talk" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "John Heim" <john at johnheim.com>
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2017 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Wanting to See


> But saying someone has a defect doesn't imply that they're not fully 
> human. In fact, I've made that point on this list many times over the 
> years.  I am not the slightest bit hesitant to admit that I hav a defect. 
> It means nothing to me as a person.
>
> And this is an important point. It comes up when we're demanding 
> accomodations. I think that part of the reason the NFB once fought audible 
> walk signals is that some members felt in their hearts that admitting that 
> they were defective made them less of a person. They didn't reaally 
> embrace this concept that being blind has absolutely nothing to do with 
> your value as a human being.
>
> That's just a feeling I got from arguing with people at the time. I have 
> no way of knowing what was really going on in their heads.  I just always 
> felt that they didn't agree that true acceptance of blindness is when you 
> can say, "Sure, I'm defective. So what?"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 01/06/2017 09:06 AM, Buddy Brannan via nfb-talk wrote:
>> The lovely thing about being a human being is that we're adaptable and 
>> flexible. When you say that"
>>> But human beings aren't built to do without sight.
>>
>> By extension, you're saying that any human being who is "built" some 
>> other way, without sight, or hearing, or movement let's say, is therefore 
>> defective, a notion that I soundly reject.
>>
>> What makes me human is much more.
>>
>> --
>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>> Phone: 814-860-3194
>> Mobile: 814-431-0962
>> Email: buddy at brannan.name
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Jan 6, 2017, at 9:18 AM, John Heim via nfb-talk <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> 
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> There may be people who were blind from birth who honestly mean it when 
>>> they say they don't want to see. But human beings aren't built to do 
>>> without sight. It takes an enormous amount of compensating to do without 
>>> it. There are times when you come out ahead though. I honestly think 
>>> rock climbing is a better experience if you are blind, not just 
>>> blindfolded, than it is if you can see.
>>>
>>> When I'm rock climbing, I'm using my blind sense of space to it's 
>>> fullest. You know what I mean by blind sense of space? Even sighted 
>>> people have a 3 dimensional map of the world in their heads. That's why 
>>> they can reach out and shut off the alarm clock in the morning without 
>>> turning on the light. But most blind people develop this 3D map to an 
>>> extent that sighted people do not. Rock climbing is like doing a 
>>> verticle obstacle course. You're building this map of the obstacle 
>>> course in your mind and pushing yourself to the physical limit at the 
>>> same time. And you're probably smelling the rock, hearing the call of a 
>>> hawk on the wind, and feeling every little cleft in the rock. It is an 
>>> awesome experience.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 01/06/2017 02:52 AM, Buddy Brannan via nfb-talk wrote:
>>>>> On Jan 5, 2017, at 9:09 PM, Munawar Bijani via nfb-talk 
>>>>> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>> I'm sure everyone who says they never do are simply too afraid to 
>>>>> admit it.
>>>>
>>>> And I'm sure that you're wrong, because sweeping generalizations like 
>>>> this generally are.
>>>>
>>>> Sure it's normal to want things we can't have sometimes, whether it's 
>>>> sight or something else. Personally, I don't really think, for my life 
>>>> anyway, sight is any more desirable than other things, and perhaps less 
>>>> desirable than some. That you may want it doesn't mean you're damaged, 
>>>> but that I, generally speaking, could take it or leave it, doesn't mean 
>>>> I'm hiding some deep seated fear of admitting I'm somehow imperfect (a 
>>>> thing that I admit at least daily).
>>>>
>>>> Oh sure, I'd love some of the conveniences that sight would bring me, 
>>>> but that doesn't mean that I necessarily want sight, nor does it mean 
>>>> that I'm somehow in denial because I don't. When I was a kid, I would 
>>>> tell people, oh sure, I wish I could see, but I don't think I really 
>>>> understood what that meant. I understood that other people thought it 
>>>> was a desirable thing, and I probably got some sense that some people 
>>>> believed that I was somehow less fortunate, or damaged, or broken, or 
>>>> something. Who knows? I was a kid. As I got older though and became 
>>>> more comfortable in my skin, and gained more of an understanding of the 
>>>> world and my place in it, not that I have reached anything approaching 
>>>> perfect understanding of either, I also grew to understand that sight 
>>>> wasn't a huge deal. My life was, and is, fulfilling already, problems 
>>>> and difficulties notwithstanding. Everybody's got those. And I'm really 
>>>> not convinced that a sudden onset of sightedness would measurably 
>>>> improve my life; it might even be more trouble than blessing. That 
>>>> someone else feels differently doesn't mean s/he is a "bad blind 
>>>> person" or "maladjusted". That I feel the way I do doesn't mean I'm in 
>>>> denial.
>>>> --
>>>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>>>> Phone: 814-860-3194
>>>> Mobile: 814-431-0962
>>>> Email: buddy at brannan.name
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On Jan 5, 2017, at 9:09 PM, Munawar Bijani via nfb-talk 
>>>>> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> You're human. It's normal to yearn for things. I'd give almost 
>>>>> anything to see. And it's ok to feel sorry for yourself. I'm sure 
>>>>> everyone who says they never do are simply too afraid to admit it. 
>>>>> Being blind sucks ass, and just because we've adapted doesn't mean it 
>>>>> sucks any less or that we have to like being blind.
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jan 5, 2017, at 8:30 PM, Jen via nfb-talk <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> 
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As I posted on my "driverless cars" thread, I'm totally blind from 
>>>>>> birth.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have always been interested in visual things. They include
>>>>>>
>>>>>> * pictures, especially pictures of pictures
>>>>>> * colors
>>>>>> * the sky
>>>>>> * videos
>>>>>> * light and the various ways it can be manipulated, like with shadows 
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> optical illusions
>>>>>> * rainbows
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ... and so many others.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now here's my question. I wish I could see sometimes. Is this normal 
>>>>>> for a
>>>>>> blind person? I'm not consumed by these feelings. I don't feel sorry 
>>>>>> for
>>>>>> myself for being blind, and I have incorporated alternative 
>>>>>> techniques into
>>>>>> my life. So personally, I consider myself as a well-adjusted blind 
>>>>>> person.
>>>>>> At the same time though, I wouldn't want my sight back because, since 
>>>>>> I've
>>>>>> never had it, everything would be too much clutter for me. Also, I 
>>>>>> have my
>>>>>> own pictures of visual things in my mind's eye, and I wouldn't want 
>>>>>> to ruin
>>>>>> them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My family and friends, who are sighted, tell me it is normal to have 
>>>>>> these
>>>>>> feelings. But it would be great to get some feedback from my fellow
>>>>>> Federationists.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
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