"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)   
   --- SBBSecho 2.20-Win32   
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