[nfb-talk] Wanting to See
Jen
spiderweb1 at sbcglobal.net
Sat Jan 7 21:35:52 UTC 2017
I want to tag on to the "defective person" discussion.
To add to that, who says what is normal and what isn't, and why?
There was a time I wished I could see before I acknowledged it to myself.
When I was in college, I had to take a course called "Software Applications"
to graduate. The professor did not modify her assignments to customize them
for my blindness. For instance, I had to make PowerPoint charts and insert
ClipArt into Word documents and, often, spent eight hours completing one
project. For many of these projects, I had to have so much help from my
sighted tutor I couldn't own my own work. To make matters worse, the book
was written for sighted computer users, with directions to click on this or
that when the mouse turned into a certain shape. When I voiced my confusion
about PowerPoint presentations, my Software Applications teacher told me
making PowerPoint presentations was like making a movie, and it was fun. She
also said "all you have to do is..." repeatedly, using visual terminology.
So all this made me feel swimmy and ashamed of not understanding the
material. One time, when she was late grading sighted students' material, my
professor said it was because she was waiting for my assignments, as I
needed extended time. Eventually, I filed a civil rights complaint. Now, I
understand the shameful part was the course design and my professor's
attitude to the blind.
-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of kaye
zimpher via nfb-talk
Sent: Friday, January 6, 2017 7:21 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: kaye zimpher <kaye.j.zimpher at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Wanting to See
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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>>
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