I was in a sight conservation resource room for part of each day. I was
transferred to the school with that class in the middle of kindergarten and the
sight con teacher immediately taught me to read. There were large print books
but I remember my first reading lessons having been on the blackboard. When I
was in first grade, she wrote out every book and work book that the regular
class was using, in large print by hand for me and pasted in all the pictures
which she cut out of the original books. That must have been an incredibly
tedious job. I loved being in that resource room and hated being in the regular
classroom which was boring and repetitive, and where we weren't allowed to
talk. I manipulated so that I could stay in the resource room as much as
possible. There was a tall closet with lots and lots of large print books of
all kinds, and I read every one of them, over and over again. I was able to
read regular size print with a magnifying glass and I began reading some when I
was at home. In the apartment building where I lived, there was a room where
there was a garbage shoot. People used to leave used books on the floor of that
room, and I found books for young people there, and some books for not so young
people, that I read as a teenager. I didn't know anything about talking books
until I met Fred, but people read out loud to me a lot when I was a child, and
when I was in college, the state had a program which provided money for
readers. I read a lot with that magnifying glass, but other students read to me
for money from the state program, and my mother read to me. In graduate school,
I was still using the magnifying glass and paid readers. It was about three
years later, that I could no longer do that and learned braille. I guess that I
was lucky, in that there were resources in New York public schools back in the
1940's that were tailored to meet the specific needs of children with partial
vision. But at the same time, I attended the music school and the children's
recreation program at the Lighthouse for the Blind where I became acquainted
with children who were totally blind and I saw how they functioned. I knew that
I wasn't totally blind, but I was also aware that I couldn't function as a
fully sighted person, and resources to help me function at the level where I
was at the time, were available to me.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Penny Reeder
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2020 8:34 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: blindness, was,Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son
Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha Police
As a child with low vision, i struggled to learn to read. It is hard to sound
out the words when you can see only a few letters at a time. Once i learned, i
loved to read. But, i was never a fast reader. Had i been taught braille, i am
sure i would have been much faster reading braille than i ever was reading
print. Once print diminished in size when third grade was over, reading became
ever more fatiguing, my neck and shoulders always ached and i had terrible
posture from holding a book so close to my face and, quite literally, sticking
my nose inside so many books. I could never read what i wrote a half hour
after writing it. Even though i had low vision, i would have been so much
better off if i had
been taught to read and write braille when i was six, rather than when i taught
myself at 50.Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 28, 2020, at 7:27 PM, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Carl, those are impressive numbers. As a dyslexic child I maybe topped out
at about 10 words per minute and maybe a little less when I learned braille
as an adult. Sure wish I had audio books as a child.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2020 5:23 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: blindness, was,Jacob Blake's Father
Says His Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by
Kenosha Police
I agree with Penny. However we did have difficulties teaching Braille to
adults with limited vision, but who could still make out print. As long as
they could struggle reading print faster than they could read Braille, they
reverted as soon as they were out of the Center. My goal was to reach at
least 30 words per minute, since that put them a bit ahead of their print
reading speed. Several of my faster students continued to use Braille and
became proficient in its use. As my own speed increased, so did my
expectation for my students. My last year teaching Braille, I was telling
students that if they could achieve 50 words per minute, they'd be a Braille
user for life.
But many of my friends who learned Braille from the ground up could read well
over 200 words per minute.
My fastest reader was a young woman who could read Braille at over
1,000 words per minute. But that's a story for later.
As for me, I self taught myself at the ripe old age of 30. I have been a
Braille user, but not the fastest kid on the block. Still, very few folks
learning Braille at my age or older went on to out read me. I peeked at
about 100 words a minute. As a sighted reader I could read at about 300
words per minute.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/28/20, Penny Reeder <penny.reeder@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I don’t agree about learning braille. When a child learns to read and
write braille early, they develop good tactile sensitivity and skills
for writing with a slate and stylus that are nearly impossible to
pick up later in life even if their primary literacy tools are print
and pencil centered. Good reading and writing vision frequently
deteriorates over time, and when that happens, they are ahead of the
game if they have gained experience with many modalities. Penny
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 28, 2020, at 1:57 PM, Miriam Vieni
<miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I've seen a lot of blind people over the years, people with varying
amounts of residual vision and I've observed that some of them used
the vision they had, efficiently, while others functioned as if the
vision they had, didn't exist. I functioned as I did because my
first eye specialist had a philosophy which he practiced and which
he imparted to my parents, which was that I should take advantage of
the vision that I had and learn how to use it optimally. Over the
years, different blind people whom I've met, have had varying
responses to my way of functioning. One woman, whom I encountered
when I was in South Dakota, complimented me on how effectively I
used my small amount of vision. One of the older blind women who was
on several trips that I was on and who, with her husband, became a
good friend, repeatedly told me that I should stop putting forth
effort to see things which were difficult to see. I've never been in
a rehab program because they didn't begin the programs for young high
school graduates in new York until several years after I'd graduated.
Perhaps my tactile skills would be better if I'd received some
training, but I doubt it because when I was in high school and
college, I had a great deal of useable vision. Techniques like
training with sleep shades would have been artificial. It's like
when they insisted that kids who attended the New York Institute for
the Blind learn braille. It was an insane requirement because those
kids could read large print and didn't need braille. It was like
learning something so you can pass a test, but it wasn't integrated
into their functioning. The fact is that when sight is there, but
not enough sight to be used in any meaningful way, one knows it. I
certainly knew when the sight that I have left, stopped being of
help in any meaningful way. But when there's enough to matter, I
think it's criminal to deny people its use and not to teach them
how to take advantage of what they have. In South Dakota, on a field
trip, we stood at a window which looked out at a mountain that the
Indians considered to be sacred. I could see it, not details, but I
could see it, with the sun shining on its top. The young woman
standing next to me had a bit of vision which she almost never tried
to use. I remember suggesting to her that if she turned toward the
window and looked out, she might be able to see the mountain that
was being discussed. She turned hesitantly, looked in the correct
direction, and then said with amazed pleasure, "You're right. I can really
see it".
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2020 1:22 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son Is
Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha Police
When I began teaching Braille in the Orientation and Training
Center, in 1979, the blind organization in Washington State was
affiliated with the NFB. There was a very small ACB affiliate just
beginning to grow. So we patterned our training program after the
one in Des Moines, Iowa at the Iowa Commission for the Blind. We
used sleep shades in the belief that once a person's vision was at a
point where they could no longer function as a sighted person, then
they needed to learn to be in total reliance on their other senses.
Once they had achieved this goal, and proved to themselves that they
could function fully independent, we removed the sleep shades and
spent some time in using their remaining sight more effectively.
This practice of the sleep shades as a teaching tool met with strong
resistance, but to this day I still see it as critical in the
rehabilitation process.
Many students told their families that we were "teaching us to be blind".
Actually, we were attempting to provide the training and the tools
students would need in order to function in a sighted world.
Nonetheless, the world is seen differently depending upon, among
other things, how much usable vision a person has. Pretending to be "Blind"
as in totally blind, was used as a status symbol. DSB director Ken
Hopkins and I had become good friends, and I marveled at how easily
he maneuvered through crowded rooms. I asked his wife Mary, "How
much can Ken see?" Mary quickly replied, "Ken's a blind guy". And
to me that meant that he was totally blind. Later Ken told me that
in the NFB Kenneth Jernigan insisted that we were all, "blind guys",
men, women, totals and partials alike.
I disagreed with him then, and I disagree still. Cathy and I spent
the past 25 years teaching folks to use whatever senses they had.
We taught methods of incorporating the remaining sight with the
remaining hearing, with the remaining senses of smell and touch. We
worked on methods of "remembering" where we put things, because
folks memories were showing wear and tear. And then we told them
that if, or when there were changes in their ability to do their own
care,they should call us and we'd make the needed changes.
This was a vast difference in teaching techniques we used for the
older blind.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/27/20, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I went from fully sighted to where I am now, a little bit of vision
but not enough to be useful, and on the way I spent a little bit of
time in each level of legal blindness. If I had just had time to
get used to some of those levels I might have functioned a lot
better in them, but being just barely legally blind is still
difficult to deal with. I remember telling someone when my eyesight
was declining that you do run into walls. That was because I
actually did run into a wall. After that I learned to slow down a
bit and pay better attention. So, does one have the right to call
oneself blind if one is just barely legally blind? If not then
there just about has to be some kind of acknowledgement of the
condition. At least one should call oneself visually impaired. And
as I was typing I remembered a certain incident from the time my
eyesight was declining. My eyesight worked better in some levels of light
than in others.
Bright sunlight was a problem for me, but so was certain stages of
dusk. I was walking on the outskirts of a certain plaza just as
evening was coming on. I thought I could see where I was going
perfectly well. The plaza appeared to be empty. Suddenly I ran -
splat - into a lamppost. My arms flew out and I literally bounced
off it. I was so surprised that I just stood there a moment looking at the
lamp post.
Then I realized that the plaza was not as empty as I thought.
Across the plaza I heard someone breaking up in laughter.
___
Carl Sagan
“Every aspect of Nature reveals a deep mystery and touches our
sense of wonder and awe. Those afraid of the universe as it really
is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a
Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts
of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But
those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the
Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and
prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
On 8/27/2020 1:34 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I do remember NFB's insistence that one is blind, even if one is
legally blind but can see enough to move comfortably without a
cane and can read print with some magnification. Didn't people
have to be blindfolded during rehabilitation in NFB facilities? I
had a friend who became totally blind, but originally had partial vision.
His parents were blind. I don't think that he was a member of
either NFB or ACB. He was a ham radio operator with a talent for
computers. He and his sighted friend, also a ham radio operator,
bought my first computer for me in 1993, a dos computer, and his
friend set it up and taught me how to use it. It had the
forerunner to Window Eyes, whatever that program for dos was
called and Zoomtext as the print enlargement program. Although I'd
lost a lot of vision by then, I could use Zoomtext at 16X. My
blind friend wanted me not to use it at all. He wanted me to
depend solely on the screen reader because, he was sure, I'd
eventually lose my useable eyesight and I'd have to relearn
everything. To me, that was an insane position to take. I had some
eyesight and I wanted to use it while I had it. He was wrong. It
wasn't until 2018 or 2019 that I stopped using magnification as
backup help to Jaws on my computer. And using my sight didn't prevent me
from using the computer when my sight was no longer available.
But you were talking about people taking advantage of these
inclusion quotas. That's what Elizabeth Warren did, claiming her
Indian heritage for admittance to something or other. I can't remember
what.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2020 11:42 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son
Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha
Police
Miriam,
Seems like Black is the dominant color in the crayon box. I
interviewed a fellow many years ago, who told me he was considered
to be Black. Turned out he could justify about an eighth African
American. I can trace about the same percentage, only my minority
is Native American Indian. That doesn't count. Yet we both were
brought up in the same culture, in the same city and attended the
same university.
My last Secretary(administrative assistant)was on the register as
a Hispanic. When Cathy met her, she was surprised to find herself
looking at a fair haired, light complexioned woman. She turned
out to be a terrific assistant, but she had no connection with the
Spanish community, other than that her grandmother was half Mexican.
Labels, labels, labels. Gotta have our quotas.
When I signed up for several mid management courses, I noticed
that among the forty or so participants, there were only two women
in one group and three in the second group. One Black man in one
group and none in the other. I was the only disabled person in
both groups, although one participant edged up to me and
whispered, "I've got a hidden disability".
Turned out he had a fairly severe hearing loss.
The state was busy training up its future managers from a nearly
all white, all male collection. And back in the late 1980's no
one raised so much as an eyebrow.
Even among the blind in the NFB it was important to wear the
proper label.
Since Jacobus tenBroek was totally blind, and so was Kenneth
Jernigan, even the high partials faked vision loss. We were all,
"Blind Guys", men and women, partials and totals alike.
Belonging seems to trump honesty...hmm...Trump trumps honesty, too.
But I've strayed, so I'll go have some more coffee.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/26/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl,
Maybe Jacobus tenBroek was black, sort of like Obama is, only less so.
Who was it who was the head of the NAACP who looked and sounded white?
I guess that new book called, Caste, is right. Being black is
more a question of caste than race. In this country, you can look
and sound white, and you're still black.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 8:15 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son
Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha
Police
Miriam,
I never met Jacobus tenBroek, but it was his speeches in "The Man
and the Movement" that drew me into the NFB. Cathy tells me that
in his pictures he looks White, although many folks who are
considered to be Black look quite Caucasian. Still, listening to
his speeches, I dream up an image of FDR.
But speaking of Black Blind Leaders, back in the 70's John McCaw
was president of the Maryland NFB, and was on the NFB Board of Directors.
John had a voice that was not only loud but very deep. John was
working for the state of Maryland in a social service agency, in
an administrative position.
John was a very likable man, but his blind nephew was a stuck up,
self centered snob. I forget his name, but he married a friend
of mine, and moved to Washington State. Both he and his wife
Jackie, had their PhD's, but I don't think he ever did work.
Jackie, also totally blind, worked for the State Social and Health
Services.
Her family disowned her for marrying a Black man. I lost track
of him after Jackie was killed by a hit and run driver. When
John died, Kenneth Jernigan wrote an eulogy which he read to the
convention and published it in the Braille Monitor. In it he
attempted to show John's real humble spirit by telling how John
would take Jernigan's shoes out and polish them. I'd need to
find it in order to get the feel of it again, but I remembered feeling
insulted for John.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/26/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
That's tragic, especially because, neither are NFB or ACB
interested in this particular issue. Aside from Tenbrook, who
started NFB, and I never knew that he was black until I read it
somewhere recently, I don't think that there have been any black
people in leadership positions in the national organizations. I
don't think there are any African American people on the
blindness email lists that I'm on.
Miriam .
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 3:39 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son
Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha
Police
Absolutely true. White, even as a blind man, has its privileges.
A number of Black people attended the Training Center over the
years I worked there.
Most of the ones who did go on to work, ended up at the Seattle
Light House for the Blind.
I can't think of a single Black client who came close to holding
down a job that paid as much as mine paid. One man ended up
operating a snack bar in the Public Assistance building. He had
been a nurse when he could see. His wife was director of the
Head Start Program in King County, but her connections didn't
help her husband. A very bright and talented fellow played the
electric organ in a high end bar in Seattle's Greenwood area.
He did make a bit of a name for himself, but not until he left
the Northwest and settled in Los Angeles.
Another young man ended up operating a machine at the Light
House, when he would probably have been self employed is a
contractor if he were White, or if he could see. One young
woman was standing on the street corner with a group of friends,
when she was shot in the head by a senseless drive by scumbag.
She never worked again. We did a great amount of training
students in how to deal with the disadvantages of applying for
work while blind, but we were not equipped to deal with the
problems that arose for the students who were both blind and Black.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/25/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, and being a white protestant man allowed you to know
people who were in positions that allowed them to be of help.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2020 8:23 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Jacob Blake's Father Says His
Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist After Being Shot From Behind by
Kenosha Police
Jacob Blake is the same age I was when I became totally blind.
I hope he has the same support network that enabled me to
return to college.
And I hope he has a network of friends in administrative
positions who can assist him in securing a decent living.
Having a friend who became director of our Services for the
Blind agency sure gave me a leg up. Oh yes, one other thing.
The color of my skin gave me a decided advantage. And even so,
it took me
10 years before I was earning the same income as I'd earned
when I was sighted.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/25/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Published on
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
byCommon Dreams
Jacob Blake's Father Says His Son Is Paralyzed Below Waist
After Being Shot From Behind by Kenosha Police Marches and
demonstrations have been held nationwide demanding justice for
the 29-year-old father of six, who is Black.
byJessica Corbett, staff writer A boy sits on his father's
shoulders while holding a sign on August 24,
2020
in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images) A
boy sits on his father's shoulders while holding a sign on
August 24,
2020
in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man whom police shot in the
back multiple times in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday, is now
paralyzed from the waist down and doctors do not yet know if
the injury is permanent, his father told the Chicago Sun-Times on
Tuesday.
"Those police officers that shot my son like a dog in the
street are responsible for everything that has happened in the
city of Kenosha."
-Jacob Blake's father
The younger Blake, a father of six, was reportedly trying to
break up a fight before officers followed him to his vehicle
and fired several shots at point-blank range as Blake opened
the driver-side door.
Blake's partner, Laquisha Booker, told a local television
station that the couple's three children were in the back seat
"screaming"
when police shot him.
A video of the police shooting began circulating on social
media Sunday, sparking protests in the Wisconsin city and
other communities across the country. The incident came nearly
three months after footage of Minneapolis police killing
George Floyd led to nationwide demonstrations.
The Sun-Times reported that Blake's father is driving from
Charlotte, North Carolina to be with his hospitalized son, who
now has "eight holes" in his body. The 29-year-old grew up in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina before moving to Evanston,
Illinois during middle school. He has been living in Kenosha
for about three years.
"I want to put my hand on my son's cheek and kiss him on his
forehead, and then I'll be OK," said the elder Jacob Blake.
"I'll kiss him with my mask.
The first thing I want to do is touch my son."
Blake's father also addressed the protests and unrest in
Kenosha, where vehicles and dozens of buildings were set on
fire overnight, according to Newsweek.
"Those police officers that shot my son like a dog in the
street are responsible for everything that has happened in the
city of Kenosha,"
his father said. "My son is not responsible for it. My son
didn't have a weapon.
He didn't have a gun."
As ABC News reported:
The man who said he made the cellphone video, 22-year-old
Raysean White, said he saw Blake scuffling with three officers
and heard them yell, "Drop the knife! Drop the knife!" before
the gunfire erupted.
He said he didn't see a knife in Blake's hands.
The governor said he had seen no information to suggest Blake
had a knife or other weapon, but that the case is still being
investigated by the state Justice Department.
The officers were placed on administrative leave, which is
standard practice in a shooting by police. Authorities
released no details about the officers and did not immediately
respond to requests for their service records.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers activated 125 members of
the National Guard for the Monday night demonstrations in
Kenosha, where county officials imposed an 8:00 pm curfew.
Newsweek reported that "hundreds of people remained outside
the Kenosha County Courthouse in the city after the curfew
took effect, prompting police to fire the first of several
rounds of tear gas at around 8:30 pm in a bid to disperse them."
Evers also said after the shooting that although all the
details aren't yet known, "what we know for certain is that he
is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or
injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in
law enforcement in our state or our country."
Blake's family is being represented by civil rights and
personal injury attorney Ben Crump, the lawyer confirmed in a
statement Monday.
Crump is also representing the families of Floyd and Breonna
Taylor, who was killed by Louisville police in March.
"We all watched the horrific video of Jacob Blake being shot
in the back several times by Kenosha police. Even worse, his
three sons witnessed their father collapse after being riddled
with bullets,"
Crump said. "Their irresponsible, reckless, and inhumane
actions nearly cost the life of a man who was simply trying to
do the right thing by intervening in a domestic incident. It's
a miracle he's still alive."
"We will seek justice for Jacob Blake and for his family as we
demand answers from the Kenosha Police Department," the
attorney vowed. "How many more of these tragic 'while Black'
tragedies will it take until the racial profiling and
undervaluing of Black lives by the police finally stops?"
Crump, co-counsels Patrick Salvi and B'Ivory LaMarr, and
Blake's family will hold a news conference Tuesday at 3:00 pm
local time at the Kenosha County Courthouse. According to the
attorneys, "The family will address Jacob's current condition
and their plans moving forward following the latest occurrence
of excessive police force against the young Black man."