I referred to myself as partially sighted while I still had vision in my left
eye. That was my "good" eye, the one with which I could read print with a
magnifying glass, the one which had 20/200 vision at its best, the one that, as
time progressed became blurry during longer and longer periods and found it
more and more difficult to see print with a magnifying glass. The right eye had
a tiny bit of vision, never coordinated with the left eye, never useable,
until the day that the left eye ruptured. Three year old Debbie was on my lap,
bouncing, and her head hit my left eye. I went to the hospital. The eye was
repaired. The sight was gone. The sight that was left, was that tiny bit of
sight in my right eye. I used that tiny bit of sight efficiently until last
year. But on the day that my left eye ruptured, I began referring to myself as
blind. That's when I began using a white cane when I walked outside. Art, who
had been fully sighted until his sixties when Glaucoma caused him to become
legally blind, began, at some point, attending a recreation program for senior
citizens at the Braille Institute of America where he lived in Los Angeles. He
went through some sort of pretend rehab course first. He told me about a blind
instructor whom he liked, who tried to help him use the word, "blind", in
relation to himself. He did carry a white cane and he accepted the word, sort
of.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, February 9, 2021 11:01 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: another memory regarding the language police
Back in the 60's and 70's many of the agencies serving the blind worried that
the use of the word Blind turned potential clients off.
In Seattle, Community Services for the Blind, a private agency, changed their
name as often as they changed their underware. They tried several handles over
the years. Vision Services, and Sight Connection were popular.
Once, during a national conference, a Worker for the Blind explained that he
side stepped the "offensive word, Blind" by referring to "Sightless Citizens".
I spoke from the floor, saying, "I am a blind man, and I am offended that you,
a professional in the field of work with the Blind, cannot bring yourself to
call us what we are". But seriously, for many years, Blind was a very hard
word for me to apply to myself. I noticed that other blind people also
struggled with the label. "Blindies" and "Blinks" were often used by blind
people, when talking about themselves. Anything to avoid having to use the B
word.
That professional worker believed by not using the word Blind, he was showing
his sensitivity. but what he was doing was reinforcing the negative feelings
about the word.
And that white travel cane, that symbol of blindness, a tool that I began life
as a blind man, hating with a passion. That white travel cane that is always
with me these days, along with a white support cane, that cane made it possible
for me to travel independently across most of our United States, Canada, and
Mexico. When sighted people say, "You got your stick?" I tell them, "It's my
white travel cane.
It's taken me from coast to coast. Please show it a little respect."
I can only speak for myself, but that transition from sighted to blind was a
very difficult one for me. Without ever being aware of it, I had developed a
negative attitude about blindness. And that smug professional worker had no
idea how much a part of the negative attitude he was by calling Blind by other
names.
Carl Jarvis
2/8/21, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
For a brief period of time, there was a term that sighted people were
using to avoid using the word, "blind". I don't remember the precise
phrase, but I do remember this weird incident. I was attending a
platform address at the Long Island Ethical Humanist Society. I don't
remember anything about the talk that was given, but I do remember
that the guest speaker used that blindness avoidance term during his
talk. So at the end of his talk when we all had a chance to speak with
him individually, I told him that as a blind person, I wanted him to
know that I, and the many blind people whom I knew, did not resent the
use of the word, "blind", that is an honest, straightforward
description of our disability, and we are not ashamed of it.
I wanted to reassure him that it is perfectly OK to use the word, "blind".
Amazingly, he did not accept what I said, but instead, he gave me some
rationale for refusing to use the word. I was furious. Here was a
person saying that he didn't wish to disrespect a group of people and
he then disrespects a member of that group by refusing to receive
feedback on his decision.
Miriam