Hi, This should also go to the bs list to which I CC'd my response...
I don't think I said "born blind" but, rather, blind at an early age versus into adulthood. Your comments on the resources that a community can muster, though, are entirely true. Even in the small towns, though, those blind during school age are at least plugged into something of a system while those in adulthood have no clue where to look. One of the big issues is that there is virtually no connection between the medical community and the rehab agencies. An ophthalmologist will declare that you are indeed, according to the Federal standards, anywhere from the lowest measure of legal blindness (called moderate vision impairment in the literature) all the way to having no eyes in your head (called total vision impairment) and any of the stages in between (severe and profound vision impairment) but will have no idea where you should go for training in mobility, independent living and vocational tools. cdh On Nov 30, 2009, at 2:32 PM, Tyler Littlefield wrote: > Hello chris, > I haven't followed this thread, but I will put in my two cents where I've had > experience. > The main thing is the comment about the advantages of blind people from > birth; while it may be easier to deal with, I've seen many people go blind at > early ages (before teens) and in their teens and do fairly well. this is > mainly dependent on where they're at. For example, many kids (born blind or > not), still do not receive braille or large print materials to allow them to > efficiently work within the public classes. Mainly in the smaller towns, but > most families can't just get up and move to a bigger town to give their child > an easier time of it. I've seen in many cases where blind or low vision > students aren't even really able to affectively use their mobility skills > they should have gained through school, and thus end up relying on sighted > people. I don't want to start a pity party; just wanted to point out that the > advantage isn't really with being born blind or not, as much as it is where > you live, and of course the money factor plays a huge roll. > > > On Nov 30, 2009, at 11:37 AM, Chris Hofstader wrote: > >> I often share the frustration but I don't think the blame is entirely with >> the agencies. People blind from childhood are far more likely to be >> independent than are those of us who, like me, went blind later in life from >> RP or some other degenerative disorder or accident. The kids are "in the >> system" and have all sorts of training from age 3 and up (at least in our >> part of Florida, computer training starts at 3). >> >> We later in life people, though, have no idea where to turn to even ask >> questions. When my vision got really bad, I had a blazing 100 mhz PowerMac >> and wrote my own sort of screen reader for it. It wasn't good but it did >> the job. >> >> Then, a friend of the family who is also blind from RP and was the best man >> at my parent's wedding told me about Window-Eyes so I bought a Gateway >> laptop and WE and was off to the races. I saw on the HJ web site that they >> needed someone like me, I applied for the job, Ted sent me a copy of JAWS, >> they gave me a job, I dropped out of my graduate program at Harvard and >> moved to this god forsaken sandbar and the rest is history. >> >> I started my evolution onto the Macintosh about a year and a half ago and >> now rarely use Windows. I also use GNU/Linux distros but will be mostly in >> a nice, stable Ubuntu distro for a while. >> >> cdh >> >> On Nov 30, 2009, at 12:41 PM, Mark BurningHawk Baxter wrote: >> >>> gI think you've hit it right on the head--the blind are removed from >>> the capitalist marketplace "for their own good." If we abolish the >>> agencies, a lot of blind people would be left like fish flopping on >>> the floor of a boat--having never been taught the principles nor given >>> the power to compete, having been sheltered under the umbrellas of the >>> agencies and special dispensations and charities, they have no clue >>> what's out there, that it could work for them for less, that they >>> could empower themselves instead of waiting for someone to give it to >>> them. This is only part of my rant on why we need to completely >>> reform the way blind people get access to technology. Having said >>> that, I'm on the verge of accepting a training position with one such >>> agency and will teach any and all of the products offered by the >>> umbrella companies, so I guess I'm a hypocrite--but I'm also hungry >>> and unemployed. That said, I recently built, from a junked PC desktop >>> and various scrounged parts, and using SATOGO and an old version of >>> XP, a functional computer for a blind friend; with it, he will then be >>> able to claw himself up by his own shoelaces to a point where he can >>> get a Mac or a better PC or a netbook or something--ut will he be able >>> to afford Jaws? SaToGo is great, but you can't do everything with it-- >>> yet. NVDA is open source, and if he teaches himself to script it, >>> it's a;also an option--but it seems to me that if the agencies didn't >>> exist, the blind would shape up and stop whining in no time. I'm one >>> of those who kept saying, as the economy was bottoming out and >>> programs were being cut left and right, that the various charities and >>> agencies for the blind were going to be the first on the chopping >>> block--if a worst collapse happens, as I feel it inevitably will, I >>> think this *WILL* be the case--and what will the dependent blind do >>> then I, too, got a lot of my equipment from agencies--because they're >>> convenient and easy, once you know how to play the game; but that >>> doesn't make it sound future planning, or even honorable. >>> >>> Okay, rant over for now... >>> >>> >>> Mark BurningHawk Baxter >>> >>> Skype and Twitter: BurningHawk1969 >>> MSN: burninghawk1...@hotmail.com >>> My home page: >>> http://MarkBurningHawk.net/ >>> >>> -- >>> >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >>> >> >> -- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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