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

Wed Sep 27 10:36:41 CDT 2006

My use that term stems from my work with doctors, who use the term when 
discussing, in a purely scientific/medical/clinical context, their patients. 
It also reflects my personal opinion that being forced to use a wheelchair 
would be a "binding," for me, used to physical freedom and great strength in 
all extremities.  *shrug*

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elizabeth Akinola" <elizabetha at ecnv.org>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 6:01 AM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] CLE agenda language that is negative toward the 
blind

> 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
>>> >>>
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>> above.
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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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>>> >
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>>> >
>>>
>>>
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>
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