Wednesday, March 14, 2012

denial...and not the river


Ken,
Well put.  Probably the single greatest loss for older people losing their vision is the ability to drive.  Therefore, some of them just continue driving.  "I'll know when to quit", is a common defense.  "I only drive to the mail box and to the hair dresser once a month". 
Cathy and I tell them the same thing you mentioned about where children play.  "Would you want someone to run over your grand child just because they couldn't hang up the car keys?"  I keep several horror stories of actual happenings to share with folks.  But the people who are going to risk driving are not influenced by horror stories any more than the cigarette addict is moved by pictures of black lungs. 
We act at the emotional level far more often than by our intellect. 
 
Carl Jarvis
----- Original Message -----
From: Ken Metz
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 9:19 PM
Subject: RE: [acb-l] being discouraged from multi-disability groups

Hi Carl.

 

They also want to continue driving. When my mother got Macular six years ago, she continued to drive for a few months. My late stepdad would ride with her and tell her when the lights changed, and she would follow the white lines on the road. I used to tell her that it wasn't safe, and the old line was, "well, I just drive to the grocery and stuff". I told her that children don't play on the freeways.

 

KEN

 

From: acb-l-bounces@acb.org [mailto:acb-l-bounces@acb.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 8:47 PM
To: Claude Everett; 'Baracco, Andrew W'; acb-l@acb.org
Subject: Re: [acb-l] being discouraged from multi-disability groups

 

Claude,

Actually I think that the NFB says that blindness, with proper training and attitudes can be reduced to the level of a physical nuisance. 

So I would imagine that without proper training or attitudes Blindness would remain at the level of a disability.  This is a problem with older folks who have seen their entire lives and suddenly have serious vision loss.  When the rehab teacher knocks on their door, they are not interested in proper training or proper attitudes.  They want something that will allow them to see like they used to see.  At least to allow them to read, set their stove, see the telephone keys and the TV remote, view TV without having to sit on top of the screen, and on and on. 

The bottom line is, you can't provide  proper training or attitudes if you can't get their attention. 

 

Carl Jarvis

 

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 6:25 PM

Subject: Re: [acb-l] being discouraged from multi-disability groups

 

We need to educate each other, to the necessity for accommodation for each and every disability.  However, it is difficult when   the NFB promotes and believes that blindness is not a disability just a nuisance.

 

Regards,
Claude Everett
"I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence."
Eugene Victor Debs 

 

 

From: acb-l-bounces@acb.org [mailto:acb-l-bounces@acb.org] On Behalf Of Baracco, Andrew W
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 9:22 AM
To: acb-l@acb.org
Subject: Re: [acb-l] being discouraged from multi-disability groups

Carl,

 

I haven't seen much, if any evidence of change in this area.  Nobody disputes the need for a ramp at an entrance to a building, a wider bathroom stall, etc, but when a blind person requests materials in accessible formats, etc. he is seen as somehow deficient in skills, or as whining.

 

Andy

 

 

From: acb-l-bounces@acb.org [mailto:acb-l-bounces@acb.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 6:19 PM
To: Barbara Mattson; Acb List
Subject: Re: [acb-l] being discouraged from multi-disability groups

 

Hi Barb,

When I responded to the original email regarding the attitude of the disability group toward the blind, I should have made it clear that this was my own experience many years ago.  How these groups are getting along with blind folks today is something I am not knowledgeable about.  I do hope there is a better understanding about the difference in the issues facing each disability. 

Back when I was on the Governor's Committee for Disability Issues in Employment, I was treated with indifference and often ignored.  And Barb, I'm not easy to ignore.  But the focus was on the concerns of folks in wheel chairs.  The chair was in a chair, as was the past chair.  There was never more than two blind people on the committee at anytime.  I think there were about 24 positions. 

But that was about 15 years ago and we have seen improvements in our ability to communicate between disabilities. 

 

Carl Jarvis

 

----- Original Message -----

To: Acb List

Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 4:37 PM

Subject: [acb-l] being discouraged from multi-disability groups

 

sorry to hear about one list person's bad experience with a multi-disability
group. it sounds like the person, not the nature of the group, was the
problem. just as i don't want people drawing conclusions about all blind
people based on my actions, i try not to base my impressions of a
group/individual based on one person's actions.

barb mattson

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