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From: Jamal.Mazrui@p0.f460.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Jamal Mazrui)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Expulsion from NFB now a fact
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Date: 10 Jan 91 17:57:41 GMT
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[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

Hi Ann!  The NFB's insensitivity to sending corresponding in an
accessible format is in part due to the fact that the blind
staff who work at the national headquarters use sighted
secretaries who read for them extensively.  Unfortunately, most
blind people do not have this luxury at the work place.  We are
usually struggling to get a part time reader or waiting for
material to be recorded, brailled, or put on disk.  There is
great talk by national NFB leaders about the use of nonvisual
"alternative techniques"--a concept that Icommend the NFB for
innovating.  Yet the primary if not exclusive technique these
same persons use for reading is secretarial assistance and the
primary if not exclusive technique they use for traveling is
also secretarial assistance.  I believe that generally speaking
we as blind people should adapt ourselves to the physical
environment rather than tray to have it adapted for us.  Ihave
within the last year, however, changed that view from a "hard
line" to a strong guideline that does have valid exceptions. 
Some traffic intersections, for example, are dangerous enough to
a blind person that Ithink it reasonable to have some sort of
audible buzzer to aid crossing, one that is not unpleasant to
the ear and designed carefully and reliably.  My thinking
started to change on this when our beloved BlinkTalk friend,
Sara, dies at a traffic intersection last year.  I recently
happened to talk with Sara's roommate at the time and learned,
sadly, that the Federation has kept its distance from this case
despite Lynn's call for a full investigation.
 
--Jamal--

 

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