[nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
Mike Freeman
k7uij at panix.com
Wed Aug 1 00:22:07 CDT 2007
No but I did let the Board of Trustees know of NFBW's displeasure. I
also talked to Dee Amundson, Director of Outreach, and she was as aghast
as are we. I'm not sure she is quite as down on simulations as we of NFB
often are but she found the article totally disgusting and damaging.
Apparently, the new director of the WSSB Foundation wanted a reporter to
cover the event; Dee was totally opposed but was overridden. In any
event, she, at least, understands that with the appearance of this
article,WSSB has (inadvertently or not) reaped the whirlwind insofar as
the reatction of the blindness community is concerned.
One positive note: Dee herself suggested that this be brought up at the
Board of Trustees meeting in September (I was going to do it anyway). I
suspect that Dean isn't happy!
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: Carl Jarvis
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
Has anyone called Dean?
Carl Jarvis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mackenstadt, Gary" <Gary.Mackenstadt at ed.gov>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:24 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
> This article does unbelievable damage. I would like to think that
there
> are people at WSB who are also offended. We need to find out who is
> responsible.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
> Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 7:03 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Michelle Creedy
> To: Elizabeth Lalonde ; list at cfb.ca
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 6:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> How stupid!!! That's not what its like to be blind! I don't
tollorate
> my
> blind students putting their hands in their food thank you very
much!
> Maybe
> I'm too strict but that's just gross!!! Ew!!! That makes me feel
quite
> ill!!! Not even our school in South Africa would have done
something
> like
> that! At least teach them some skills if you have to do
simulations!
> Now I
> see why the Federation is so against them!
>
> Michelle Who is Rather Grossed out!
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Elizabeth Lalonde" <elalonde at shaw.ca>
> To: <list at cfb.ca>
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 4:47 PM
> Subject: FW: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> See article below.
>
> This is why we in the Federation are against simulations. Because
they
> do
> not give people an accurate idea of what it is like to be blind.
> Blindness
> is a skill and it takes some practice to learn to be a competent
blind
> person. It isn't something you can learn in a half an hour. All
the
> simulations do is scare people and reinforce stereotypes of the
> helpless,
> fumbling blind person.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On
> Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 4:36 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
>
> A Feast Not for the Eyes
> Turns out it’s not so easy eating blind. From left, educators Heidi
> Stump, Diana Graham and Cheryl Edmonds eat their entrees blindfolded
as
> part of a five-day
> intensive workshop through the Washington State School for the
Blind.
> (ISOLDE RAFTERY/The Columbian)
> Sunday, July 29, 2007
> BY ISOLDE RAFTERY, Columbian staff writer
>
> Cheryl Edmonds is not, at first glance, the sort of person who would
> plunge her hands into her salad bowl. But Wednesday evening, at the
> Olive Garden in
> Vancouver, Edmonds was blindfolded and desperate to connect with her
> entree.
>
> Edmonds, of Vancouver, was among 37 people, most of them educators,
who
> agreed to a blind dinner. The exercise is part of a five-day
intensive
> workshop
> on blindness.
>
> By the end of the meal, Edmonds, who was seated with two other
> blindfolded women, had ditched etiquette.
>
> "I'd like to touch it all," she said, fingering a leaf. "I don't
even
> know how much I ate. Oh! There's a lot left."
>
> Sitting next to her, Diana Graham, a kindergarten teacher from the
North
> Mason School District, north of Olympia, used her fingers to wrap
> fettuccine noodles
> around her fork.
>
> And Heidi Stump, a paraeducator seated at their table, was taking
sips
> from various glasses of soda.
>
> The three women, poised and socially aware without their blindfolds,
> behaved like giddy children learning table manners.
>
> The idea behind the blind dinner was to provide a blind experience,
and
> also to help explain how specific directions ("Your iced tea is 5
inches
> in front
> of you with the straw bobbing out") are key to working with blind
> students. Educating the teachers
>
> Dee Amundsen, director of outreach at the School for the Blind, said
the
> five days are a time for teachers who work with blind students to
learn
> about blindness.
>
>
> In Washington, there are 80 teachers for 1,300 visually impaired
> students, Amundsen said.
>
> "Finding teachers for the visually impaired is like finding a needle
in
> a haystack," she said. "A lot of kids don't get services. All these
> people who are
> teaching visually impaired kids don't know anything about
blindness."
>
> At the restaurant, the educators learned they can't just "say when"
to a
> waiter grinding pepper over their entrees. Someone must read the
menu to
> them.
> And then there's going to the restroom - an awkward dance that
involves
> dodging patrons, slinking into a stall and finding the toilet seat.
>
> For Graham, the veteran kindergarten teacher from North Mason School
> District, the five-day stint is worth it. She will have a blind
student
> in her class
> come fall.
>
> "I want to figure out how best to teach a child," Graham said. "I
want
> to get her reading for Braille. I want to get some academics into
her."
>
> Then she paused.
>
> "Are you still there?" she asked, also attempting to land a small
pile
> of fettuccine into her mouth.
>
> Yes, everyone was still there.
>
> "I feel stupid," Graham said. "I don't normally miss my face when I
> eat."
>
> Cheryl Edmonds, a consultant, agreed.
>
> "I get a sense for the independence thing," she said. "If the lights
> went out tomorrow, I don't know what that would mean for me."
>
> Did you know?
>
> There are 1,300 visually impaired or blind students in Washington.
>
> Eighty teachers are trained to teach blind students in the state.
>
> About 70 students attend Washington State School for the Blind in
> Vancouver. The school serves about 600 students per month statewide.
>
> Isolde Raftery writes about education. She can be reached at
> 360-759-8047 or isolde.raftery at columbian.com.
>
> ©2007 Columbian.com. All Rights Reserved - Use of this site
constitutes
> acceptance of our
> User Agreement.
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.23/924 - Release Date:
> 7/28/2007
> 3:50 PM
>
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.23/924 - Release Date:
> 7/28/2007
> 3:50 PM
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
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7/29/2007
11:14 PM
_______________________________________________
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-------------- next part --------------
No but I did let the Board of Trustees know of NFBW's displeasure. I also talked to Dee Amundson, Director of Outreach, and she was as aghast as are we. I'm not sure she is quite as down on simulations as we of NFB often are but she found the article totally disgusting and damaging. Apparently, the new director of the WSSB Foundation wanted a reporter to cover the event; Dee was totally opposed but was overridden. In any event, she, at least, understands that with the appearance of this article,WSSB has (inadvertently or not) reaped the whirlwind insofar as the reatction of the blindness community is concerned.
One positive note: Dee herself suggested that this be brought up at the Board of Trustees meeting in September (I was going to do it anyway). I suspect that Dean isn't happy!
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From:
mailto:carjar at olypen.com Carl Jarvis
To:
mailto:nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Sent:
Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:47 AM
Subject:
Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
Has anyone called Dean?
Carl Jarvis
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mackenstadt, Gary" < mailto:Gary.Mackenstadt at ed.gov Gary.Mackenstadt at ed.gov
>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" < mailto:nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 7:24 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
> This article does unbelievable damage. I would like to think that there
> are people at WSB who are also offended. We need to find out who is
> responsible.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
> Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 7:03 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Michelle Creedy
> To: Elizabeth Lalonde ; mailto:list at cfb.ca list at cfb.ca
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 6:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> How stupid!!! That's not what its like to be blind! I don't tollorate
> my
> blind students putting their hands in their food thank you very much!
> Maybe
> I'm too strict but that's just gross!!! Ew!!! That makes me feel quite
> ill!!! Not even our school in South Africa would have done something
> like
> that! At least teach them some skills if you have to do simulations!
> Now I
> see why the Federation is so against them!
>
> Michelle Who is Rather Grossed out!
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Elizabeth Lalonde" < mailto:elalonde at shaw.ca elalonde at shaw.ca
>
> To: < mailto:list at cfb.ca list at cfb.ca
>
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 4:47 PM
> Subject: FW: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
>
>
> See article below.
>
> This is why we in the Federation are against simulations. Because they
> do
> not give people an accurate idea of what it is like to be blind.
> Blindness
> is a skill and it takes some practice to learn to be a competent blind
> person. It isn't something you can learn in a half an hour. All the
> simulations do is scare people and reinforce stereotypes of the
> helpless,
> fumbling blind person.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On
> Behalf Of Mike Freeman
> Sent: Sunday, July 29, 2007 4:36 PM
> To: NFB of Washington Talk
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] READ AND WEEP!
>
> A Feast Not for the Eyes
> Turns out it’s not so easy eating blind. From left, educators Heidi
> Stump, Diana Graham and Cheryl Edmonds eat their entrees blindfolded as
> part of a five-day
> intensive workshop through the Washington State School for the Blind.
> (ISOLDE RAFTERY/The Columbian)
> Sunday, July 29, 2007
> BY ISOLDE RAFTERY, Columbian staff writer
>
> Cheryl Edmonds is not, at first glance, the sort of person who would
> plunge her hands into her salad bowl. But Wednesday evening, at the
> Olive Garden in
> Vancouver, Edmonds was blindfolded and desperate to connect with her
> entree.
>
> Edmonds, of Vancouver, was among 37 people, most of them educators, who
> agreed to a blind dinner. The exercise is part of a five-day intensive
> workshop
> on blindness.
>
> By the end of the meal, Edmonds, who was seated with two other
> blindfolded women, had ditched etiquette.
>
> "I'd like to touch it all," she said, fingering a leaf. "I don't even
> know how much I ate. Oh! There's a lot left."
>
> Sitting next to her, Diana Graham, a kindergarten teacher from the North
> Mason School District, north of Olympia, used her fingers to wrap
> fettuccine noodles
> around her fork.
>
> And Heidi Stump, a paraeducator seated at their table, was taking sips
> from various glasses of soda.
>
> The three women, poised and socially aware without their blindfolds,
> behaved like giddy children learning table manners.
>
> The idea behind the blind dinner was to provide a blind experience, and
> also to help explain how specific directions ("Your iced tea is 5 inches
> in front
> of you with the straw bobbing out") are key to working with blind
> students. Educating the teachers
>
> Dee Amundsen, director of outreach at the School for the Blind, said the
> five days are a time for teachers who work with blind students to learn
> about blindness.
>
>
> In Washington, there are 80 teachers for 1,300 visually impaired
> students, Amundsen said.
>
> "Finding teachers for the visually impaired is like finding a needle in
> a haystack," she said. "A lot of kids don't get services. All these
> people who are
> teaching visually impaired kids don't know anything about blindness."
>
> At the restaurant, the educators learned they can't just "say when" to a
> waiter grinding pepper over their entrees. Someone must read the menu to
> them.
> And then there's going to the restroom - an awkward dance that involves
> dodging patrons, slinking into a stall and finding the toilet seat.
>
> For Graham, the veteran kindergarten teacher from North Mason School
> District, the five-day stint is worth it. She will have a blind student
> in her class
> come fall.
>
> "I want to figure out how best to teach a child," Graham said. "I want
> to get her reading for Braille. I want to get some academics into her."
>
> Then she paused.
>
> "Are you still there?" she asked, also attempting to land a small pile
> of fettuccine into her mouth.
>
> Yes, everyone was still there.
>
> "I feel stupid," Graham said. "I don't normally miss my face when I
> eat."
>
> Cheryl Edmonds, a consultant, agreed.
>
> "I get a sense for the independence thing," she said. "If the lights
> went out tomorrow, I don't know what that would mean for me."
>
> Did you know?
>
> There are 1,300 visually impaired or blind students in Washington.
>
> Eighty teachers are trained to teach blind students in the state.
>
> About 70 students attend Washington State School for the Blind in
> Vancouver. The school serves about 600 students per month statewide.
>
> Isolde Raftery writes about education. She can be reached at
> 360-759-8047 or mailto:isolde.raftery at columbian.com isolde.raftery at columbian.com
.
>
> ©2007 Columbian.com. All Rights Reserved - Use of this site constitutes
> acceptance of our
> User Agreement.
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.23/924 - Release Date:
> 7/28/2007
> 3:50 PM
>
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.23/924 - Release Date:
> 7/28/2007
> 3:50 PM
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> mailto:nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.25/926 - Release Date: 7/29/2007
11:14 PM
_______________________________________________
nfbwatlk mailing list
mailto:nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
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