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

Wed Sep 27 08:01:38 CDT 2006

Like Stephanie said, they do not like that term.  They prefer "wheelchair 
user", a term  which supports  Stephanie's analogy to our use of the white 
cane.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ray Wayne" <RWayne1 at nyc.rr.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] CLE agenda language that is negative toward the 
blind


>I cannot resist being pedantic, but I have often wondered how wheelchair
> users feel about the term "wheelchair-bound."  I admit I have never asked
> such an individual this question.
> Ray
>
> ----- 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
>> >>> you have received this email in error, please notify the sender
>> >>> immediately and delete the original.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> -----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
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> blindlaw mailing list
>> >>> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>> >>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> blindlaw mailing list
>> >>> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>> >>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> blindlaw mailing list
>> >> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>> >> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > blindlaw mailing list
>> > blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw
>> >
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blindlaw mailing list
>> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindlaw mailing list
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw
>
>