[Blindtlk] Fw: [blind-family] More research new

[Bonnie M Ainsworth]

It makes more sense than you think, Steve.  That's the reason I'm not 
willing to take that kind of a risk either.  Another reality is that chances 
are pretty good that Medicaid won't cover this kind of a surgery because it 
might be considered more of an exploratory option than a necessity.  Without 
coverage from Medicaid or some other form of insurance, most won't be able 
to afford it in my opinion.

Bonnie Ainsworth
Lincoln, NE USA

The trouble with work is ... it's so daily !

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 4:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fw: [blind-family] More research new


It is funny, but I have tended to feel put down because I have expressed the 
opinion that vision is not worth just any amount of money.  There are those 
who feel
that wanting to experience vision is a sign that they have not adjusted to 
blindness, but I haven't had the impression that most people feel that way 
nor have I seen it
here.  It would be interesting to understand more where you get the feeling 
that most of us ridicule people who might be willing to pay something to 
regain vision.
The fact is that most of us will still be blind five years from now, so it 
is only natural that we will concentrate on dealing with blindness as it is, 
but I don't think this
necessarily means that most of us would ridicule someone for wanting to 
regain some or all of their vision.

What I fear is that expressing the opinion that there might be other factors 
to consider is seen by some as ridiculing.  To point out the possible 
negatives is seen as
destroying someone's dream.  To me, making the most out of what one has 
rather than holding out hope at the expense of facing ones blindness would 
be a
mistake, but I don't think that is at all what you are saying.  I have 
known, though, of people for whom blindness was a real tragedy because they 
did not get the
training they needed.  In such cases, the desire to get their vision back 
was partly based upon a false sense of what being blind had to be.  That 
doesn't mean that
getting training makes all wishes for better vision go away, but it might 
cause one to evaluate the worth of such an endeavor differently.

I have always had an interest in science and would be very curious to see 
what colors looked like.  I might even pay some for the experience if there 
was no risk just
to have that as part of my life experience.  Still, I am very fortunate to 
have a family, a reasonably good education, and a job that pays reasonably 
well.  For me,
miraculously getting my sight back would be a very interesting experience, 
but at this point, I can't say that my life would suddenly be a great deal 
better.  Therefore,
for me to think about paying, even two thousand dollars permonth and not 
have that money available for my family would seem selfish.  I also know 
from what I have
read that I would have to undergo a good bit of training.  There is a good 
deal of evidence to suggest that by now, the visual center of my brain has 
been allocated
to other tasks, or at the very least, has somewhat forgotten how to 
interpret images.  Therefore, with all this in mind, it does bother me some 
that huge amounts of
money are sometimes put into some of this research that will likely benefit 
a subset of all of those who are blind, while it is sometimes difficult for 
persons who are
blind to get the technology we need on our jobs.  Research isn't always 
directed at specific short term goals, I know that, so I'm not saying it 
should not be done.  I
just think that it is possible for some of the reactions that I might have 
to some of the research to appear to ridicule those who might be more 
hopeful than I to benefit
from that research.  In my case, I am just trying to get us to look at this 
realistically and to not put our lives on hold while waiting.  Does this 
make any sense?