"Amy Guskin"  wrote in message 
news:0001HW.CCD823C6074D0F57B051B9BF@news.eternal-september.org...
>>> On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 09:03:21 -0500, Nicole Massey wrote
> (in article ):
>
>> The NFB is a problem sometimes for blind folks. They contend that 
>> blindness
>> isn't a handicap, society's approach to it is what gives blind folks
>> trouble. They're anti-guide dog, instead preferring blind folks to use a
>> long "glide" cane that doesn't contact the ground, and they're also 
>> against
>> talking elevators and chirp signals on traffic lights.  <<
>
> Well, that is extremely interesting and curious. Nicole, I am curious what
> your position is on all of that?

I find the position that blindness isn't a handicap to be one that might be 
useful in getting political support, but not of much use actually helping 
those who are blind. A glide cane can't, for instance, detect potholes in 
any way I can fathom, whereas my guide dog just takes me around them. (And 
he has an uncanny ability to find elevators, too) I don't like having to 
insist that I'm at the front of the elevator car so I can reach out and feel 
the number of the floor I'm on, and though I don't mind asking which floor 
we're on at the moment, it's easier when something talks to me. And I'm 
neutral on the traffic signals -- unless everyone is driving a Priius or 
other silent car, I can hear the rush of traffic and know when to cross and 
when not to. And once again, the guide beast also helps in that regard.
So, no, I'm not a member of the NFB, nor do I plan to be. My values are more 
in keeping with the American Council of the Blind, though I'm a bit 
frustrated that these two organization were so busy fighting with each other 
during the talks for the ADA that the mobility folks managed to get broad 
applications of what are commonly known as "wheelchair ramps of death" by 
blind folks. (Curbs are superior for blind people over ramps because they 
signal the end of a sidewalk and the beginning of a more dangerous street --  
ramps with bumps, sometimes jokingly called "Acne Ramps" or "measles ramps" 
are better than nude ramps but not as good as curbs)
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