I was looking at different career options the other day when I came across this interesting career-- braille transcriber. Being naturally interested in books, I love the idea of transcribing books for blind people. This is also something you can do out of your home on the side as contract work, so it could bring in a little extra cash. Cool! The site went on to explain the pros and cons of this career. Then I noticed this:
"The other factor that weighs against this career is the fact that only about 10% of the blind people in the United States use braille on a consistent basis. The other 90% use other formats - large print and audio. And many youths are not learning to use braille effectively, . . ."
Gosh! That sounds familiar doesn't it? Technology is changing Blind culture, just as its changing Deaf culture. I have known for quite awhile that Blind people don't discriminate between being Blind or blind. If you're late-blinded you're STILL Blind. All blind people are simply Blind whether they can read large-print or use braille.
This got me thinking about how powerful the blind organizations are in Washington, DC compared to the Deaf/deaf/HH. The Blind are accommodated everywhere.
For example, I've always found it a bit odd that movie theaters provided braille on their restroom signs and such, while they aren't required to provide captioning. I have never seen a blind person with a white cane in a movie theater, so I've wondered about this from time to time. If a person is THAT blind, do they actually go to movies? I guess they do! They can still hear the dialogue.
But Blind presence at movie theaters is surely rare compared to the number of deaf/Deaf/HH people who benefit from captioned movies. The blind who attend movies who read braille must be really, really small if only 10% of the Blind use braille. So I have to wonder WHY are the Blind accommodated with braille everywhere--especially at movie theaters, while accommodations for the Deaf go ignored? Answer-- Because braille accommodations are required! Despite the fact that very few Blind people use braille.
I'm sure one reason the Blind have so much more clout in Washington, DC when requesting accommodations is because they aren't so fractured in their definitions of who is"blind" or whether blindness is actually a disability. They don't differentiate between blind and Blind or the merely sight-impaired. The Blind see that there's power in unity, while many Deaf act as if deafness is an "elitist" club--only for those who have the "right" attitude-- which varies according to the person and their interpretation the Deafhood Bible.
I'm sorry if this offends. I'm trying to understand why the labels are so important to some Deaf people when our rights are being trampled all over. There are so many more HUGE issues we all face as a community. We MUST resolve these schisms in the deaf community in order to move forward.
And just so y'all know, I've lifted my moderations settings. Anyone can post.
Kim
http://www.brailleplus.net/careerbrailletranscription.htm
14 comments:
Smiles!
You may be interested to read my blog entry about the differences between Braille and American Sign Language.
The link is: http://blog.deafread.com/abcohende/2008/03/16/just-like-asl-braille-is-oppressed/
Amy Cohen Efron
Great article Amy! I want to make it clear I support ASL. What I don't support is division amongst the Deaf/deaf/HH.
The clout has to do with the clear fact that at least 99.999% of the hearing blind has intelligible speech not to mention not having attitudes of "entitlement" which is often seen in the Deaf community notably involving certain radicals. I performed exhausting Google searches and there's hardly any mention of speech problems on part of hearing blind people.
Hearing is music to those (e.g. lawmakers) who's smart enough to recognize and thrive on the fact the blind is so unified unlike that of the D/d/HH communities. Lawmakers don't want to be made the laughingstocks of Capitol Hill if their bills are hurt by infighting as is commonplace with deaf.
Obviously, lawmakers' time are precious and I'd like to think they're so choosy about whatever capturing their fancy towards turning bills into practical law.
Think I'm biased against Deaf/d/HH? I'm not. I'm ASL-DEAF and now Blind from Ushers Syndrome.
Through personal and professional experiences I've seen both both sides (blind and non-blind notably that of the Deaf) of the fence of my vantage point.
Civility, please.
Anon--You've brought up an interesting point I hadn't thought of. When lawmakers back an issue they don't want to end up with egg on their faces while the people they're trying to support squabble over petty differences. Success on all fronts should be considered success for all, even though all may not benefit.
Also-- your point about speech makes a good argument for the CI, as those with a CI often speak much more clearly than the profoundly Deaf without. I realize some Deaf are not capable of speech, but to declare that speech is of no value to the Deaf causes too much tension within our community. Clearly many Deaf DO value speech.
I'll also point out that most well-known successful Deaf representatives speak well. Two who immediately come to mind are Robert Davila and Marlee Maitlin. Regardless of what AGB has done in the past, it's time to move into the 21st C with a new agenda and higher expectations for all Deaf people.
Like I said in Deaf Edge's latest blog, the time is NOW.
All of us, deaf with a little d or a capital D, need the accessibility to communication, be it a movie or in a courtroom, as I have been in for the last few days.
"Speak" up for what YOU need to communicate and how best to understand communication from others, for if you persist in "voicing" via ASL, speech articulation, cued, etc. people will respect you for STANDING UP for yourself. I do mean it, the listening landscape is changing in the legal environment via the ADA act and subsequent reform, so the rest such as movie theaters and other public places will have to follow.
So, follow up with your complaints or praise, whichever the situation. Believe me, after years of reporting for jury service and coming close to a jury box (the bridemaid syndrome), I finally reached jury box because I spoke up and of all things, a dam broke, the judge said the court will accomodate you. *smile*
Yeah, dammit, folks-- like I had to go and earn that, constantly trying to prove myself worthy of the challenge, but we d/Deaf are doing that every day. Is that anything new?
Ann_C
First of all your post enlightened me. Becoming profoundly deaf late in life (just last year) movie theater is one of the passions I miss the most. The braille/ lack of cc issue made me chuckle.
Secondly Anne's points stirred up a bit of passion in me. I want more in life for me and others like me and will start to fight for it. I just had surgery for a CI (last week) but the past 9 months living in a silent world has opened my eyes.
Thanks for this
Deaf people have been blind to progress, independence, and sanity for many decades.
If this self-inflicted pecking order would disappear, could you just imagine the power we would have?
Combined forces of the Deaf/deaf/HOH and the ASL signers, the oralist, the HA, the CI users, the late deafened, the war veterans and the aging hearing loss advocates would be indeed a powerful one, one that is unlikely to be ignored.
An excellent post, Kim, with very important issues raised. So, leave it to me to post a trivial comment (grin).
My partner's father was "late-blinded" due to glaucoma. I know he found braille as difficult to learn as many late-deafened people find ASL to be. But he DID go to movies, because he could hear them.
His wife would very, very quietly whisper to him about what was happening when there was no dialogue.
Hi all,
Sorry I've been neglecting the blog. I've been busy with work and school stuff.
Anon-- Thanks for weighing in. I hadn't really thought of the point about lawmakers trying to support us with new initiatives not wanting to end up with egg on their faces while the Deaf/deaf and HH bicker over petty differences. We need to support all initiatives aimed at deaf people whether we personally will benefit or not. I see this pettiness on both sides, as I remember recently a complaint lodged by the HLAA that VR phones in airports won't help the HH who can't sign. HLAA and NAD should work together or maybe combine under ONE powerful umbrella org.
Ann and David-- I've been summoned for jury duty, as well as many other HH people I know. So far I don't know anyone who has gotten CART from the King County court system. It's hard to say why they weren't selected to be jurors, but typically when you're summoned you're among over three-hundred people for that day. Eventually they do whittle it down, however my hunch is they whittle us based on the cost of providing CART. When I've been summoned, I've always told them upfront I needed accommodations from the beginning. No response! That was that. I supposed I could fight for accommodations, but it's tricky since you don't know for sure if you'll be picked anyway.
As to movies, there is a theater not far from me that offers open captions occasionally. It certainly ISN'T equal access, because equal access means offering ALL movies at ALL times. But it's a start, and I appreciate it since it isn't required by the ADA that they caption anything. I am aware people back east have won lawsuits over captioning. More about that later. . . For the first time in years, I have been able to the go to the occasional movie and it's WONDERFUL.
Kim
Abbie--I completely agree and I hate the "pecking order" you mention. I HATE being referred to as deaf, not Deaf.
OCDAC-- Thanks for stopping by. What I think is it's just a small minority of super vocal Deaf 'insane' Deaf people who think they speak for everyone. I don't believe the majority of Deaf agree with them, but they're so quiet, everyone thinks they all agree. The majority of Deaf aren't used to speaking out. I believe cochlear implants will change that, since we have among us many, many young implanted Deaf people who know how to work the system.
MJC-- I really love this story. It wasn't a "petty" comment at all. I figured SOME blind must go to movies. If you think about it there are degrees of blindness. Movies on a BIG screen may be just the thing for many considered "legally" blind. Blind people also read Large Print books.
Like deafness, there are different degrees of blindness, but Blind people do not differentiate between or who knows/needs braille? Or who is blinder than whom. I wish the deaf could come together.
The Deaf/deaf/HH ALL need accommodations.
Kim,
I understand how difficult it must be for you to request CART service if you're called to the jury box. Consider that CART is expensive... I know that many high schools and colleges offer this service for those deaf/CI students who request it.
However, the court system doesn't encounter as many d/Deaf individuals in the jury service program, and their budgets do not yet allow coverage for this type of service. Actually, it'd be interesting if some entity actually did a survey of how many d/Deaf individuals go thru the jury service program in a state, say like New York or California, for example.
Nevertheless, the more that d/Deaf individuals start SPEAKING UP for accommodation in the jury service program (as one instance), then CART service will start becoming available eventually. After all, one can embarrass the court staff or judge by reminding them about the ADA Act and the coming reforms regarding that law. Some of these people are legal eagles, after all.
It does take a village, not a pecking order (thanks, Abbie!), to make accommodations available for all to participate in society. Whether accommodation is an ASL interpreter, an oral transliterator, a CART service, a cued translator, whatever, we should all start doing what we can to PARTICIPATE as citizens in this country. We have a right to be here and be part of society. And I don't wanna hear this "oh, it's a hearing world and they won't include us". It's BS. Their problem is "dis-ease", folks.
Get out there and STAND UP for yourself, because if YOU succeed in participating in the court trial system, it means you've blazed the trail for someone else who has a disability and an accommodation problem, hearing loss or not. Deaf/disability lawyers are gonna luv ya.
Ann_C
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