[blindlaw] CLE agenda language that is negative toward the blind

Tue Sep 26 09:46:47 CDT 2006

AAARGH.  the "compliant," in this last message was CP as in cerebral palsy; 
she was quadriplegic when not in her chair.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark BurningHawk" <stone_troll at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 7:28 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] CLE agenda language that is negative toward the 
blind


> No contest, Everett.  I freely admit that the statement I have made is
> loaded with personal opinion and weighted decidedly in favor of my
> experience.  Someone who is wheelchair-bound, or deaf, for example, might
> give you a totally other perspective and tell you I'm full of sewage.
> However, the one bit of slightly more objective evidence I have to back up
> my opinion with is the statements and actions of others who are, in my
> opinion, profoundly more disabled than I am; people in wheelchairs have 
> said
> things to me like, "Well I hope you get better soon, I'd hate to be..."
> awkward silence or, a favorite of mine, "well at least I can still ..."
> trailing off into more awkward silence.  A woman with COMPLIANT that I 
> dated
> briefly caused me to dump he because she "took charge," of every situation
> and, when I called her on it, said, "well because obviously I can see what
> I'm doing, so ..."  The general consensus of people I have met,disabled or
> not, is that "I'd rather lose any other sense or be disabled in any other
> way than being blind."  Again, if you want a paper citing statistics or 
> some
> evidence of popular pseudo-mythological stance, take a Gallop poll. *grin*
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Everett Zufelt" <everett at zufelt.ca>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:03 AM
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] CLE agenda language that is negative toward the
> blind
>
>
>> Mark,
>>
>> This may be a bit off topic, but can you please give some type of 
>> evidence
>> (outside of personal experience) that might convince me that blindness
>> actually gets the most stigma of all disabilities?  I feel that your
>> statements here are a very good reflection of how you feel and what you
>> have
>> experienced in your life and the lives of others, but that they may be
>> subject to the heuristic of availability.
>>
>> Everett
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Mark BurningHawk" <stone_troll at sbcglobal.net>
>> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 9:01 AM
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] CLE agenda language that is negative toward the
>> blind
>>
>>
>>> This ties in with the sad fact that blindness gets the most stigma of 
>>> all
>>> the "disabilities," with the possible exception of cognitive
>>> disabilities;
>>> retardation, extreme learning disability/CP, that sort of thing.  I play
>>> a
>>> game with people that I end up in a teaching role with; Think of five
>>> expressions that use the word "blind."  Now, think of all the contexts 
>>> in
>>> which the word "blind," is used but does not mean "lacking in sight."
>>> "Flying blind," for example, not only means literally flying without
>>> being
>>> able to see where you're going, but it carries associations of 
>>> ignorance,
>>> willful disregard for reality, a sort of immature brattish bull-headed
>>> stupidity which becomes associated with the exp-ression, and more
>>> importantly the word "blind.  Blind also means hopeless, despairing,
>>> dead-end, dumb/stupid, etc.  Let's face it; the general consensus is
>>> "better
>>> dead than blind."  Well.  I have to go start training with my third 
>>> guide
>>> dog now, after retiring my second of nine years last night to go live
>>> with
>>> friends across the country; it's just part of the price I and other 
>>> blind
>>> people pay just to live "normal," lives like the sighted Jonses we keep
>>> up
>>> with.  *shrug* who's blind?
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Ashley, Kathy J" <Kathy.Ashley at fssa.in.gov>
>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 4:46 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] CLE agenda language that is negative toward the
>>> blind
>>>
>>>
>>>> I'm not an attorney, I do not play one on TV, nor did I stay all night
>>>> at a Holiday Inn Express, but I feel that this language is very
>>>> offensive and only under heavy sedation could I even put a positive 
>>>> spin
>>>> on the wording.  Why not say:  I would rather be in a wheel chair than
>>>> see you walk away from me?  Or I would rather go deaf than to see you
>>>> walk away from me.  It is still demeaning and ugly.
>>>>
>>>> Kathy Ashley, MS, CRC
>>>> Program Director for Blind & VI Services
>>>> Vocational Rehabilitation Services
>>>> 1-800-545-7763
>>>> 317-232-1352
>>>> Fax: 317-232-6478
>>>>
>>>> PLEASE NOTE: Information contained in this email and/or attachment may
>>>> contain protected health, legally privileged, or otherwise confidential
>>>> information intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above.
>>>> If you, the reader of this message, are not the intended recipient, you
>>>> are hereby notified that you may not further disseminate, distribute,
>>>> disclose, copy or forward this message or any of the content herein. If
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On Behalf Of Noel Nightingale
>>>> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 4:11 PM
>>>> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>>>> Subject: [blindlaw] CLE agenda language that is negative toward the
>>>> blind
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Blind law listers:
>>>>
>>>> I just ran across a family law CLE agenda for my local county bar
>>>> association that contains t following agenda topic:
>>>>
>>>> 2:15     I'd Rather Go Blind Than See You Walk Away From Me:  Stories
>>>> from the Relocation Trenches
>>>>
>>>> Panel discussion of recent problems in interpretation and enforcement 
>>>> of
>>>> the Relocation Act
>>>>
>>>> Before I knee jerk react against this language, I'd like to hear what
>>>> you all think about the agenda item title stating that the presenters
>>>> would rather go blind than have a custodial parent relocate.  Perhaps 
>>>> it
>>>> can be construed as a positive statement about being blind.  What do 
>>>> you
>>>> think?
>>>>
>>>> Noel
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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