Lt.Gov of NY/perhaps Gov- how interesting!
started by Maria S 7 mnths agoReplies
Its great, breaking barriers of race.
Just want to know though... whats legally blind? BLIND is blind na? whats legal or illegal about it? shheesh just when i think ok i can figure out all the new terms in english, my son throws a couple of new ones at me ...and now you throw me another one...the learning never ends...
Bmw,
In very simple terms "legally blind is- being Totally Blind or Partially Blind".
*Partial blindness may fall under a range of severity. So legally blind people can have some vision (they are not allowed to drive, operate certain machinery etc).
In the US- a person who is visually impaired is classified as legally blind when their visual acuity is (after best corrected) is less than 20/200.
Here is more info:
http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=15
M
Great story, Maria. Some of these physically impaired people are amazing and a great inspiration to rest of us.
One of my distant relatives (I think I talked about him earlier on Sulekha regarding the availability of computer Braille), a male in early 30s, is totally blind and lives in a village. His parents (father - a military man, and mother – homemaker and now deceased) had only two children, a boy (blind from birth) and a girl (physically okay). The military guy left no stone unturned in getting his children educated.
The girl, older of the two, was quite smart and went onto get a master’s degree in English. She got married and after a few years died in an accident leaving behind a child.
The boy, blind from birth, was educated through correspondence courses and Braille educational tools. He turned out to be a smart one too, getting a master’s degree in English. He is fluent in Hindi and English -which he speaks in good (English school type) accent because he initially learnt it using the audio tapes etc. as part of his training. He is well-versed in many areas including day to day topics and news (Indian and international).
Last year I happened to see him (we call him Bittu affectionately – real name is Sanjay) and was amazed how nice and smart he is. He wanted to discuss philosophy with me since he is not usually able to do that in his village. I asked him to write (using Braille) on the problems and topics related to handicapped people in
The handicapped people like him in
In any case, the whole thing about his education (MA in English), in spite of being blind from birth and living in a village in
- Seva
With the advances in technology being blind or deaf is not an excuse in todays world. We had a legally blind person in school who did far better than the rest of us as being blind does not afect ones brain. Unfortunately perhaps living in a village there are not many places that well organised for him to find work in as there should be no reason why someone like your cousin could not find work
*It depends on the kind of medical condition/disease. There are plenty of eye conditions which are part of systemic illnesses which can affect the brain. For example there are certain types of blindness which may be associated with seizures, other brain injuries.
*There is no equalent to the ADA (American with Disablities Act) in India...as far as I know- which requires employers to equally hire/pay for people with disabilites..and in general...there is still a lot of stigmas attached to
dealing with someone with disablities.
M
Maria & Gowser,
Bittu is in a remote village, like majority of other handicapped people in
- Seva
Perhaps your family has to find him ways to improve his lifestyle and help him source things that other similarly blind people in the west take for granted so that he can improve his income over time. as you have said his eyesight is not going to get any better and he has to live with it. The facilities are not going to change by themselves and it is upto him to show that which he is probably well capapble of doing.
Gowser,
That is the main reason for me to look into and suggest a good Braille / computer / internet combo so that people like Bittu, even while sitting in remote villages, can take charge of their situation and are able to freely interact with others (blind and non-blind) around the world.
- Seva
Seva,
Your post is very inspiring too...thanks for sharing this story of an amazing person and his amazing family!
Yes, the love and support which families offer to family members with disabilities..is so great and moving! In a time when so called families "who seem to have it all"... fall apart dur to minor conflicts/problems......it is interesting to see- marriages and families who face enormous life-long challenges are so loving and good to each other...and survive together quite well!
*You are so right about the lack of resources for people with disablities...Hope we can improve these conditions, and all of us can do our part in small ways...I recently saw the Forbes list of richest people in the world and there are 4 Indians in the top ten...(right behind Bill Gates who has slipped to #3)...I wish some of these Indians would be generous in their contributions and make these resources more available..
M
Maria,
True - the family support in such situations is extremely important. I have a great respect for Bittu's father (Dev, now in 70s). It's amazing he put such a great emphasis on his kids' education (girl's and boy's) even though he had only a high school education when he joined the army as a clerk long ago - he later passed BA privately (through correspondence).
Btw, I have been able to draw the attention / interest of an electrical engg. grad student in
- Seva
Thanx for enlightening us with this wonderful news item.
I am missing ur scholarly blogs. Why did u stop blogging and take to news forum only>
Ramarao.
Dear Mr. Garimella,
Oh..as always thank you for your kind words!
I have little time these days...but, I still do manage to spend some time in Sulekha...do post something for fun in the Blogs..but, have not written anything really meaningful in a long time! I am planning to try some serious writing in Sulekha and other places, I have been putting off ..perhaps soon!
Hope you are doing well.
regards,
Maria
he i suppose has resisted the ultimate of temptations and still spoke in his own voice
great decison by senator hillary, i wish them well
hope with obama they discuss issues that need to be talked about
without a care of prime time brownie scores
i am sure the world is changing and needs to find new leaders
ss