I agree with Peter.  Although I am a congenitally blind person, I feel
that braille and cane are less important to me comparing with speech
synthesisor and a good screen reader because today, braille and cane only
are not enough to enable a blind person to live independently.  When you
read the job posting on either newpaper or on internet, you will never
find one that includes braille and cane skills.  Even though these things
are still the basic needs for most blind people, our society should know
that our needs is far beyound this, that is how we can avoid receiving
food stamp or social security.  If they can know that, the internet
accessibility problem will be solved esily.
Ren


On Thu, 7 Oct 1999, Peter Seymour wrote:

> Dear All:
>
> This movie sounds like a typical soft look at blindness.
>
> I see a kind of desire to view blindness as a practical issue that can be
> overcome with the correct tools. Just as eyeglasses allw a person with poor
> vision to overcome that limitation, a cane and braille can do the same for
> a blind person.
>
> This attitude is so far from the truth of my life, as a person who lost his
> vision suddenly in the middle of college. I think the desire to view
> blindness this way affects the services offered to the blind, which for me,
> were far from what I needed.
>
> If I were to list the the various affects of blindness on my life in order
> of importance, the cane and braille wouldn't make the first 100 items.
>
> This is why the screenplay that I wrote doesn't deal with these minor
> aspects of vision loss. In treating them like a big deal, people tend to
> look for a cane or braille as an indication of a blind person's progress.
>
> In my life, I know that a lot of people who would have helped me out got a
> false sence of my well-being because I was mobile, could dress myself, was
> accumulating equipment and so on. For me, vision was primarily an aesthetic
> sensation. I didn't use my vision very much for reading, sorting laundry,
> or driving. If vision was a tool for anything, it was a tool for enjoying
> life, and no gadget is going to make up for that.
>
> But here we have a movie that won't go there. It was probably written by a
> sighted guy, careful to handle blindness with kit gloves. Don't want to
> offend those sensative blind people. The result is a deceptive
> understanding of the true experience of blindness. We don't need to pretend
> it is realistic, and fullfill the desires of the rest of the world to see
> us as people who just need a few gadgets and tools to be happy.
>
> Blindness is a trauma, a personal hallocaust for some people. Pretending
> that isn't the case doesn't make it go away. It makes the victim feel like
> an outcast among outcasts, for now his desires to cry out for helped are
> answered by people saying, What are you complaining about? You have a cane
> and know braille. I know that's what you need. I saw it on TV."
>
> Peter
>
>
>
>
>
>
> At 05:03 PM 10/6/99 -0700, Sam Troia wrote:
> >X-Sender: [log in to unmask] X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light
> >Version 3.0.5 (32)
> >Date: Wed, 06 Oct 1999 09:16:08 -0400 To: [log in to unmask] From: mary
> >piccerello <[log in to unmask]> Subject: movie about blindness Cc:
> >[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
> >[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] X-Sender:
> >[log in to unmask] X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.5 (32)
> >Date: Wed, 06 Oct 1999 08:11:41 -0400 To: (Recipient list suppressed)
> >From: Amy Ruell <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: movie about blindness Blindness on the movies!!!
> >
> >
> >special movie on both the subjects of Blindness (reading Braille and
> >learning to become independent using a cane) and Dyslexia.  I have attached
> >some information about the movie below.
> >In order to improve public awareness about Braille and other tools for the
> >Blind, and, of course, to promote our movie, we are soliciting your help by
> >asking that you post information about the movie on your Web site, and
> >spread information to your members.  Please feel free to post the below
> >information on your site (the entire text or parts of it), email it to your
> >members and include information about it in your upcoming newsletters.
> >For photos to post on your site, contact Tricia Fry at the CBS photo
> >department at 323/575-2017 and let her know which format you will need.
> >If you would also like to link to CBS.com, please contact Rob Medich at
> >212/975-8671.  And, of course, for more information on the movie itself or
> >to discuss how your organization or site might be able to work with CBS to
> >promote this important movie, please contact me, Andrea Ballas, senior
> >publicist, at 323/575-2858 or via email.
> >ANYA'S BELL Della Reese ("Touched By An Angel") plays the title role in
> >ANYA'S BELL, a touching new television movie about a unique friendship
> >between a blind woman and a dyslexic 12-year-old boy who each take it upon
> >themselves to teach and encourage the other to overcome their disabilities.
> >Kelly Rowan ("Three to Tango") and Mason Gamble ("Dennis the Menace") also
> >star in the new television movie to be broadcast as the "CBS Sunday Movie,"
> >Sunday, Oct.  31 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
> >
> >It's 1949 and Scott Rhymes (Gamble) is caught cheating on a spelling test
> >in his sixth grade class.  When his teacher calls in his single mother,
> >Jeanne (Rowan), for a conference, she informs her that Scott will be held
> >back a grade.  When Jeanne learns that her son is seated in what the
> >teacher describes as the "dumb section" of his class, she allows him to
> >stay home from school for the short remainder of the year.
> >
> >Scott, meanwhile, works as a delivery boy for Taft's Drug Store.
> >One day, he delivers a prescription to an older woman named Anya Herpick
> >(Reese).  He's thrilled when she accidentally pays him with a five dollar
> >bill rather than a one dollar bill, and walks out the door without
> >correcting her.  But as he departs on his bike, his conscience kicks in and
> >he returns to tell Anya the truth.  Impressed with his honesty, Anya
> >invites Scott into her home and shows him her collection of bells-a variety
> >different sizes and sounds-from all over the world.  It is then that Scott
> >learns Anya is blind.
> >Intrigued with Anya's bells, Scott continues to visit his new friend.  He
> >soon learns, however, that Anya's friend, Patrick Birmingham, is helping
> >her make arrangements to move away to a retirement home for the blind,
> >since her mother has passed away and is no longer able to care for her.
> >Unwilling to let her leave, Scott, takes it upon himself to teach her how
> >to use a rod-cane which will allow her to get around on her own.
> >
> >Meanwhile, Anya teaches Scott how to read braille, which he learns easily.
> >Concerned with Scott's difficulty with reading at school, she eventually
> >asks him to read a printed book to her.  When he confides that the words
> >seem to be "jumbled around" on the page, Anya's suspicions are
> >confirmed-that Scott is not the "retard" that the kids have labeled him,
> >but may have dyslexia, a then little-known learning disability that had
> >been diagnosed in her friend Patrick.  Their uncommon bond allows Anya to
> >break through Scott's fear in effort to find him help.
> >
> >Della Reese is best known for her role as Tess in the hit CBS drama series
> >"Touched By An Angel," for which she has received two Emmy Award
> >nominations for Best Supporting Actress and three NAACP Image Awards for
> >Outstanding Lead Actress in a television Drama Series.
> >Reese began singing in church in her native Detroit when she was 6 years old.
> >She expanded her musical repertoire as a vocalist with the Erskine Hawkins
> >Orchestra and began making her own records.  "Don't You Know" and "And That
> >Reminds Me"
> >were two of her biggest hits in the 1950s.  She appeared on television as a
> >guest on many variety shows, logging more than 20 appearances in one year
> >on "The Ed Sullivan Show," on the Network.  She was nominated for a Grammy
> >Award as Best Female Soloist in Gospel Music (1987).  Reese hosted a
> >television talk show (1969-70) and has appeared in numerous television
> >series, including "Sanford & Son," "The A-Team" and "Crazy Like a Fox"
> >and "Picket Fences," both on the Network.  Last year, Reese recorded an
> >album based on her 27-city tour with her revue "Some of My Best Friends Are
> >the Blues" and published her autobiography, Angels Along the Way.
> >Kelly Rowan has appeared in the television movies "Adrift,"
> >"Black Fox: Good Men and Bad," "A Match Made in Heaven," "When He Didn't
> >Come Home"
> >and "Grave Secrets: Legacy of Hilltop Drive" on the Network, as well as
> >"Harlequin's Loving Evangeline," "Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years"
> >and "Exclusive."  Her series credits include roles in "To Have and To Hold,"
> >"Michael Hayes" and "Sweating Bullets," on the Network, "The Burning Zone"
> >and "The Outer Limits."  Rowan's film credits include "Three to Tango,"
> >"Late Last Night," "187," "Assassins," "Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh"
> >and "Hook."
> >Mason Gamble, 13, began his film career at age 6 in the feature "Ground Hog
> >Day."  Three months later, he won the title role from over twenty thousand
> >hopefuls in a nationwide casting call for the feature "Dennis the Menace,"
> >directed by John Hughes.  He has also starred in features "Just In Time,"
> >"Bad Moon," "Gattica," "Spy Hard,"
> >"Arlington Road"
> >and "Rushmore."  While filming "Anya's Bell" in Salt Lake City, Gamble flew
> >back and forth to Jackson, Miss.  for a small role in the upcoming feature
> >"The Rising Palace."  He resides in Chicago where he's an avid participant
> >in numerous sports and enjoys computers, animals and the great outdoors.
> >ANYA'S BELL was produced by Lett-Reese International Productions in
> >association with Erratic Entertainment, Inc.  and Universal Studios.
> >Karen Danaher-Dorr ("Scattering Dad"), Franklin Lett ("The Secret Path"),
> >Graham Ludlow ("Call of the Wild") and Sam Okun ("Call of the Wild") are
> >the executive producers; Ann Kindberg ("The Patron Saint of Liars"), the
> >producer.  Tom McLoughlin ("Behind the Mask") directed the film from an
> >original screenplay by David Alexander ("Dead Ahead").
> >
> >--Sam Troia
> >(Your Alternative Uncle Sam)
> >KHUM rules!
> >
> >
> >VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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> >
> >
> >
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> To join or leave the list, send a message to
> [log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
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>


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
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