Sorry RiverWind, I can't address you by name because if I ever knew it I have forgotten.
Well you know loads of sighted people hire others to do a variety of things including very simple things. Most often I find people interested largely because they don't or think they can't perform many of the things I do. It isn't just the blind. Janet and I mow our lawns but we have deliberately designed much of the landscaping specifically with that in mind. Janet won't use my power mower but does like her reel style push hand mower. I have a neighbour immediately north of me who doesn't do anything! what does get done he hires out. It isn't always a matter of blindness or over protectiveness, often it is one of ambition and motivation much of which can be destroyed by over protective sheltering family and friends. It is interesting working with brain injury, a bit of a passion of mine. Even my peers who don't have quite as much specialized training in the field that I have are often amazed at what some of my patients are capable of doing. It isn't simple necessarily but very often they don't perform as well as they might because we don't expect it of them. Often what they give me is just because I expect them to and they rise to the occasion. If I can get a stroke victim to step up a ladder for example it isn't because I much care if he or she ever climbs a ladder but the strength and coordination required makes simple ambulation easy by comparison and the skill set carries over. Put a stick or cane in their hand and you have relegated them, psychologically if not physically and in other ways to being a cripple. Too often this is necessary of course but beginning with that as the ultimate goal immediately limits imagination and expectation. Raising kids is much the same thing. I doubt my kids ever understood that anything less than post-secondary education was even an option. Much of what they wanted they were expected to go out and get and they did. OK Enough already. ----- Original Message ----- From: RiverWind To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 11:12 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] surprising question Greetings, You know, I have been a do-it-yourselfer for years now, and I find myself right smack in the middle of this spectrum. On the one hand, I can do a lot of my own plumbing, basic carpentry, rudimentary electronics, auto mechanics, taking care of livestock, computer maintenance, cooking and basic home repair, which is a highly generalized term indeed. However, I am not in the same league as some of you cats, from whom I am learning a lot by merely reading your posts. On the other hand, I some times need to hire sighted assistance. For instance, I had to pay to have a new roof put on our home back in October. It is a white metal roof, which should reflect some of this Florida heat come next summer. I've heard lots of good things about white metal roofs lately, so I believe it was worth the $3,750. I don't know how to use a weed-eater and otherwise mow the lawn, so I am buying a riding mower and intend to hire someone to do that. That is unless some of you mow your own loans and don't mind telling a fellow how you go about doing it. The idea of not knowing how to work on a kitchen spigot is inconceivable and downright disturbing to me. Talk about learned helplessness. Then too, there are the misguided perceptions of much of the sighted world, that assume by default that this sort of thing is par-for-course. Bright Blessings, RiverWind Feel free to visit my website and my blog and learn more about me and what I stand for. My Website http://www.shellworld.net/~riverwind My Blog http://windraven13.livejournal.com/ On Mon, 16 Nov 2009, Dan Rossi wrote: > Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:02:25 -0500 (EST) > To: [email protected] > From: Dan Rossi <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] surprising question > > Cliff, > > I need more screw drivers as I can never seem to find the one particular > driver I need at any given time. > > Your story gives me the heeby geebies. The only thing I find more > horrifying than the ignorance in the sighted community about what a blind > person can do, is the ignorance in the blind community about what a blind > person can do. If other blind people can't imagine a blind person doing > this or that, then how can we possibly get the sighted community to > believe it. > > Incredibly sad story. > > -- > Blue skies. > Dan Rossi > Carnegie Mellon University. > E-Mail: [email protected] > Tel: (412) 268-9081 > > > ------------------------------------ > > Send any questions regarding list management to: > [email protected] > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 > Or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ > > Visit the archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following address for more information: > http://www.jaws-users.com/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: > [email protected]! 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