[nfbwatlk] Has the blind lost their way or their will?

Mon Nov 26 22:04:44 CST 2007

Hi, Noel,

No, "has" is not correct and I sent Carl a message off list about it because
every time I saw the post with "has" it really bugged me.  I know the issues
we are discussing are important, but I am a real stickler for good grammar.
In my family, bad grammar is like having dirty teeth.  Even though English
is slaughtered regularly by those in the news media who should know better,
it seems to me that an important measure of competence is:  correct
spelling, correct grammar, and organized thought.  How can we be expected to
be taken seriously otherwise?

Alco Canfield
-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Nightingale, Noel
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 2:59 PM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Has the blind lost their way or their will?

All I want to know, having now read the subject line from various
replies to the original message, is whether "Has" is the right verb to
have used.  I don't think so.  Seems to me if should be Have the Blind
Lost Their Way...

Have the 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Jedi
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 3:46 PM
To: 'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Has the blind lost their way or their will?

Karl,

I first want to submit that I'm working from the framework of my
understanding of Bob's concerns, and he's certainly welcome to correct
me if I've somehow missed the point.

I appreciate your comments, but I'm having trouble seeing the connection
between traffic signals and personal mobility tools such as canes and
guide dogs. Yes, you're right, the use of these tools signify the fact
that we are blind. And you're equally correct that the greater obstacle
has more to do with attitudes than tools in the first place, and this
concept has been so noted by Dr. Jernigan himself. However, I do believe
that, in the context of bob's initial concern, there is a huge
difference between guide dogs/canes and traffic signals. In my opinion,
the difference lies in the fact that, for the most part, traffic signals
were implanted into society by sighted people who felt they had an idea
of how we can safely cross streets. And yes, some blind people agree,
and their concerns are valid. Personally, I believe that audible signals
were a direct result of misinformation about the capabilities of blind
people. However, it should be noted that blind people have the
wherewithal to cross streets without these signals, and our mobility
tools help to make that process happen, and the fact remains that the
signals can serve as road blocks to travel skill development. Lets' be
honest here. Those of us who possess better travel skills are seen to be
more confident and competent than those of us who do not. This is
neither right nor wrong, but a simple fact. That being said, many of us
do not have access to excellent travel training, overall training, and
good philosophy to boot. These factors, I believe, add to the issue of
low attitudes and expectations held by the sighted, and I also believe
that audible traffic signals worsen the problem by not offering
opportunities for blind people to share their alternative techniques
with the sighted (which often leads to a better understanding of
blindness), and they don't force blind people to learn the skills to
cross streets; this should be a concern as traffic signals aren't
installed everywhere. All that being said, how do you expect for us to
get employed when there's a question of our overall ability to take care
of ourselves? 

Finally, I want to make one last point before I go. The NFB's issues
with items such as traffic signals and currency have nothing to do with
a need to prove anything to anybody. The fact is that we've been getting
around these obstacles long before anyone decided that traffic signals
were a good idea, and we've been dealing with money since its existence.
Granted, we've never had all that much of it. But isn't, at the core,
the real problem? Now, if there really was an imposition upon our
ability to travel about safely without traffic signals, and if there was
no other way than accessible currency for us to properly manage our
cash, then you're absolutely right that the NFB would be fighting tooth
and nail for these and other related adaptations.

Respectfully Submitted

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2007 9:35 AM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Has the blind lost their way or their will?

Good morning Bob and All,
I believe that it is Society's deep seated prejudices regarding
blindness that sit at the center of any effort on our part to level the
playing field for ourselves as blind people.
Does a white cane, or dog guide, or Braille, or an audio computer, or a
NFB Reader, or an audible traffic signal, or identifiable paper money
make a blind person more, or less acceptable as an equal partner in our
community?
We blind folk debate over these things as if they really matter.  The
white cane, we say, or the Dog Guide, make us more acceptable because we
can travel independently.  But identifiable paper money or audible
traffic signals?  That, we say is an imposition on the public at large
and will set us apart and make us appear less capable.
The fact of the matter is that any of our tools set us apart.  No matter
how

we dress it up, we are held as being different in the publics eyes.
Remember, even the right of the blind to travel freely as any sighted
citizen has the right to do, was denied us until we fought for, and
passed the White Cane Laws across our nation.
Imagine!  We had to insist on our own Bill of Rights!
Whenever Cathy and I travel together the people we meet assume that I
need Cathy in order to be out and about.  I know this because many folks
say this

to our faces.
But this does not mean that I'm about to make Cathy stay home, or walk
behind me, or pretend she doesn't know me in order to prove that I can
walk alone.
Should I intentionally leave my white cane home because little children
think I have to have it in order to be out in public?  Will they hire a
blind person one day, if they think of us as needing all this special
help in order to move about?
Should I insist that we not put up audible traffic signals because
someday an employer will remember that some blind people rely on them to
cross a street, and refuse to employe one?
Does the public look at the standard traffic signal as a reasonable
accommodation to keep themselves safe?
If it accommodates the majority it is all right.  If it accommodates
blind folks it is an imposition.
But is it the accommodation that sets us apart?  I believe that it is
the blindness that is seen by our sighted brothers and sisters as making
us inferior.
There was a time when some blind people would not use the white cane
because

they believed that it set them apart.  Has our universal use of the cane
or dog guide made us more, or less acceptable in the minds of the
public?  I personally don't think it matters.  We are still, "The
Blind".  Lumped together as one being.
The fight must be on changing public attitudes.  And changing public
attitudes will only occur when we legislatively shove it down the
publics throats.
We will have to legislate fairness and equal treatment regardless as to
whether we also put in audible traffic signals or use white canes.  We
will have to demand, through the law that we be given the same treatment
and rights as all Americans, whether we use a NFB Reader to see our
money, or have different sizes and colors of paper currency.
It is the attitude of that mother, the one Bob heard tell her little
daughter that the blind person needs the audible signal in order to
cross the street, it is that attitude that is our problem.  Not the
signal.  Not the dog guide.  Not any of the many reasonable
accommodations.  It is that mother's deep seated belief that blind
people are incompetent.  And she passes it along to her daughter in many
more ways than we can imagine.

Carl Jarvis

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