i thought you were a Federationist.  Has the Federation finally seen the
light, so to speak?

Andy

At 08:48 PM 6/28/04 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi Tom,
>
>Just one important point.  The sighted don't need any special treatment.
>They're sighted.  They don't need reasonable accomodations because they're
>the norm and everything is already accessible to them.  They don't need
>accessibility because, again, it is already inaccessible for them.  I'm
>blind; not sighted.  In order to be certainly able to participate, I need
>the same material in an accessible format.  Period.  Readers are fine, but I
>think we're in a different age than in the not-too-distant past.  It is
>harder to find readers now.  It is hard enough to find people who are really
>sufficiently educated to read, let alone find people who really want to do
>it even for a reasonable amount of money.
>
>I'm definitely going to be contraversial when I say this, but, you know
>what?  I'm blind.  I'm not, in fact, equal to my sighted peers in all
>respects.  I'm somewhat equal, but not completely so.  In the areas where
>the inequalities are due to lack of accessibility or to some other
>artificially imposed barrier to our participation, then it isn't too much to
>ask for enough reasonable special treatment to get around the barrier.
>Times are changing; I think we need to insist on our accessibility now
>before it becomes too late.  More and more sighted people are writing us off
>every single day, this stuff could ultimately come down to our very
>survival!
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2004 7:53 PM
>Subject: Re: New Handi-Ham Paperwork
>
>
>> I agree that we should be able to access the same materials as sighted
>folks but
>> that is a completely different kettle of fish from the Handi-Ham
>paperwork.  Our
>> state libraries require documentation to become users and I don't see
>people
>> crying about that.  The issues we're dealing with in getting access to
>materials
>> have to do with copyright laws and as they are now the only ones who can
>legally
>> get around copyright restrictions are those organizations producing them
>in
>> special formats.  The state library system does have a few very outdated
>books
>> and I believe that RFB has a few but then again you have to provide
>information
>> to them.  The same is true of Vacaville or any of the other special groups
>out
>> there.  Since you can now get online and get the questions and a great
>deal of
>> study material I don't really understand what the problem is especially
>since,
>> as has been incorrectly claimed, Handi-Hams is not "the only game in town"
>and
>> there is accessible material out there.  If nothing else, get a friend to
>read
>> it.  Some of us actually did undergraduate and graduate degrees with no
>> computers or access other than readers.  As to the federal government
>providing
>> the blind with access because the test is federally controlled or
>whatever, they
>> don't provide it to sighted folks so why should we get special treatment?
>> Question pools are available out there an that's what are provided to
>sighted
>> folks.  The rest is icing on the cake.  The Extra is more difficult than
>the
>> other exams but as tests go its not bad.  I've had far more difficult in
>college
>> freshman level math courses.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>> Tom Brennan  KD5VIJ, CCC-A/SLP
>> web page http://titan.sfasu.edu/~g_brennantg/sonicpage.html
>
>