OT: ACB & NFB

Wed Apr 26 02:30:46 UTC 2017

Sometimes being inflexible is a good thing, sometimes a bad one.  It's 
often but not always easy to know when to do which.  Some NFB rehab 
centers have been more sensible than others in this department.

I'm normally a guide dog user, but when I use a cane, the NFB straight 
cane is for me the best by far most of the time.  I also use a folding 
cane from time to time, however, and probably should get one of those 
with the ball tip.

Then again, maybe I shouldn't have said any of this.  This has arisen, 
sadly, because I followed up a comment complaining about their being two 
advocacy organizations of the blind by naming twhat I presume to be the 
two he had in mind.  My point had to do with our predictable diversity 
of needs and viewpoints and useful versus dubious forms of unity.  I 
guess I should have figured things would veer off into whether one or 
both organizations suck, but it didn't occur to me.  I probably should 
have stuck to guzzling coffee and studying assembly.  (another grimace)

Al On 04/25/2017 08:18 PM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
> yeah, they kept trying to make me use "their" brand of cane. One small problem, the tips would wear out too fast. Another problem, the fastening screw would fall out.
>
> Somehow, I think their idea of a cane is simply a brand one. Sure, its lightweight, but its also a bit too flexible. It also doesn't work well in areas where sidewalks are broken. It most decidedly doesn't work in snow. Basically, I had my O&M instructor try to navigate a snow packed sidewalk with the NFB cane. Then I had him try it with my folding cane with the large ball tip. He kept insisting that I use the NFB model, but had to admit that it just wasn't practical to use in all circumstances. So, I take it as a valid assumption that the leadership is inflexible at the best of times. I know for a fact that a lot of their instructors are very inflexible unless presented with facts they can't ignore.
>
> -eric
>
> On Apr 25, 2017, at 4:05 PM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>
>> NFB members at a training center alienated me through their rigid
>> insistence on straight canes and failure to account for the
>> multiply-disabled or congenitally blind in training methods. I also
>> couldn't stomach their idea that I should run all my words and actions
>> through the "how does this make all blind people look" filter, or that
>> becoming normal should be my ultimate goal. Several of us in here
>> would have to lose a bunch of IQ points to be considered normal. And,
>> I hate the Borg.
>>
>> That was over a decade ago. I'm on some of their mailing lists and I
>> have some of their folding) canes since those are useful things. I
>> won't join, but I've met some interesting individual members.
>>
>> On 4/25/17, Linux for blind general discussion <blinux-list at redhat.com> wrote:
>>> The ACB's lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Treasury to make
>>> them make money accessible was already flawed to say the least.
>>> According to the United States Constitution, the power to design money
>>> has been delegated to Congress, and the Department of the Treasury is
>>> only responsible for carrying out the orders of Congress. Therefore, the
>>> best way to make money accessible would have been for any and all
>>> so-called advocacy organizations to lobby Congress and get a bill passed
>>> and signed by the President of the United States that would redesign our
>>> money in an accessible way. Do I think the ACB's lawsuit was a publicity
>>> stunt? Absolutely, as if they wanted us to have accessible money for
>>> sure, they would have gone through the proper channels and we would have
>>> had it by now. Instead, where are we? No closer to truly accessible
>>> currency than we were when this whole sleighride begen nearly 10 years
>>> ago. Thank you, ACB and NFB for being such advocates for the needs of
>>> blind and visually impaired citizens of the United States. Without your
>>> petty bickering and your "We're not them" attitudes, the world would
>>> certainly be a better and more friendly place for all of us.
>>>
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>>> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>>>
>>
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>
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