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  The state library system does have a few very outdated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