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

[Carrie Ann Lucas]

Oh my.  Do we really want to go to the medical establishment for guidance on
disabilities.  I'm not sure it would be so empowering for people who are
blind either.  The medical model view of disability is not very empowering.


When people talk about being wheelchair bound, I usually ask them to not
reference their sexual proclivities.  What they do in the privacy of their
home is their own business. 

As for my wheelchair, in terms of your context, my wheelchair equates with
freedom, not restriction.  Without my wheelchair I am stuck in bed, with my
wheelchair I have all the freedom in the world.  

The reality is that all of us with disabilities, be we blind, deaf,
wheelchair users, or any combination of them, or all of them as the case may
be, is that we adapt to our disabilities and they aren't very disabling at
all, provided we have the proper tools and skills to navigate a world that
is not very accessible to anyone with a disability.  

This discussion has been interesting and absolutely no different from the
ones I see among people who are deaf or people who are wheelchair users.
People who are deaf often hear other people say that deafness must be the
worst disability, quadriplegics hear the same thing, etc. etc.  Most people,
disabled or not, have a limited world view when it comes to disability.  We
"get" those disabilities we live with, but often don't "get" the others.  In
a way I am lucky because I am deafblind and use a wheelchair, so I get some
things on a level that others do not, but on the other hand, I'm not really
a blind person, I'm not really a deaf person, and I'm not just a wheelchair
user. The combination makes my experience very different from others, and I
know I don't completely get the issues faced b any other community.  While I
live with my 3 children with cognitive disabilities,  I also don't get
cognitive disabilities either.  My world view is shaped by their
experiences, and I probably get the issues better than many others, but I
still don't "get" it all.  

Carrie Ann Lucas
Attorney/Equal Justice Works Fellow
Center for Rights of Parents with Disabilities
Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition
655 Broadway, Suite 775
Denver, CO 80203
303.839.1775 (voice
303.839.0015 (TTY and CapTel)
303.839.1782 (facsimile)
800.817.1435 (voice)
877.267.1621(TTY and CapTel)
www.ccdconline.org 

-----Original Message-----
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*