Hello Everyone,
I have attached several articles that may be of interest to some of you. If
you have some articles that you feel may be of benefit to us, please attach
it and send it out.
Jeff
Aloha everyone,
I?m writing today to ask a question about the names we use for the other major approach to providing services to blind people.
Since they are the majority and the dominant group, they create, maintain, and are served by the dominant narratives about blindness. They have the privilege of practicing with the same kind of default nod or primacy effect that an incumbent candidate receives in an election for public office when only a few of the voters are aware that they could do better.
Sometimes, we call it the ?traditional? approach or the ?conventional? approach. We often end up defining what we do by stating how we differ from the conventional approach, but this way of talking and thinking about our identity as Structured Discovery practitioners still centers the other approach. There are many people, including a few in my family, who are perfectly happy to default to whatever it is that they perceive to be the most mainstream. It occurs to me that these people in my family all moved to suburban communities, too, so maybe it has something to do with trying to blend into the dominant groups in society. Perhaps it comes from conflict avoidance, where they?ll be less likely to face conflict if they?re doing whatever the default already is. Perhaps they think they?ll be able to extract some of the crumbs of power if they attach themselves to those who already have the most power to potentially give. Perhaps it is because they do not trust their own ability to know any better and assume that the masses must know what they?re doing. It could be any or all of these things, or it could be something else.
In recent years, before and after he became our President, Mark Riccobono has discussed another name for an approach to working with blind people, which he has called the ?vision-centered? approach. I love this term and how he has constructed it. I?ve found it as early as his speech from a research conference that was transcribed in the very first issue of the Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research, and I?ve heard him use the term at national convention every year since about 2017. To me, it seems that this term also describes that other approach that we often reference.
If we start framing the two opposing approaches as the Vision-Centered approach and the Structured Discovery approach, this does not inherently skew toward either approach. ?Vision-Centered? gives the other approach a name that more clearly explains what it is.
I don?t know how we get the practitioners of the Vision-Centered approach to adopt this name for what they do, but maybe we don?t need to. Maybe we need to start by naming this model that has been maintaining the marginalization of blind people and the Vision Industrial Complex. Borrowing wisdom from some other minority groups, we cannot wait for the master to give us the tools to dismantle his own house; we must name our opponents and make it easier for people to choose a path. Once aspiring professionals see two options: Structured Discovery or Vision-Centered, they can make a choice between those two options. This may create less bias than telling aspiring professionals that they can choose the conventional approach or the Structured Discovery approach.
Sometimes, we can sit and think about ideas that sound good to us, which I have been doing with this. That doesn?t mean that it sounds good to others. To figure that out, I?m sending it to all of you to see what you think. What do you think?
Mahalo,
Justin
PS: In case you?re interested in reading the earliest naming I know of the vision-centered approach, check it out here: https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/jbir/jbir10/jbir010103.html
Justin MH Salisbury, MEd, NOMC, NCRTB
English Pronouns: he/him/his
Phone: 808.797.8606
Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu
From: Delgado, Cassi <Cassi.Delgado at nebraska.gov>
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2023 3:32 PM
Subject: Vacancy Notice - Cane Instructor
Hello,
The following position is being posted and available for application:
Cane Instructor - Blind and Visually Impaired
Continuous For more information, click HERE <https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/nebraska/jobs/4120150/cane-travel-in…>
*if the link doesn't work, copy the link into a different web browser
It is important that your application show all the relevant education and experience you possess, including your current position. AS Personnel will reject your application if it is does not reflect the required minimum qualifications or if you do not provide the required materials.
Please read the job posting and the requirements carefully before you submit your application. Once you submit your application for a job, you cannot modify it for that job, nor re-apply for that job, unless the job is posted again. When you have successfully applied for a job, you will receive an instant confirmation via e-mail.
Thank you,
Cassi Delgado
HR Specialist | Human Resources
Nebraska Department of Administrative Services
1526 K Street, Suite 150 I Lincoln, NE 68508
PHONE 402-363-8261 | FAX 402-742-8361
Cassi.Delgado at nebraska.gov<mailto:Cassi.Delgado at nebraska.gov>
Human Resources Shared Services Website<https://das.nebraska.gov/hr/index.html>
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Treating others with dignity and respect, acting ethically, and creating a culture where the customer is always the priority.
[cid:image001.png at 01D9B59F.31A0A760]
Hello,
The Nebraska Center for the Blind, a program of the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, is seeking a Cane Travel Instructor. Please share this announcement far and wide.
The Nebraska Center for the Blind is one of only six programs currently approved by the National Blindness Professional Certification Board as a Structured Discovery Training Center. We are a state-run residential training center for blind adults located in the heart of Lincoln, Nebraska. You can learn more about NCBVI and the Center at www.ncbvi.nebraska.gov<http://www.ncbvi.nebraska.gov/>.
To access the job posting, visit the following link Cane Travel Instructor | Job Details tab | Career Pages (governmentjobs.com)<https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/nebraska/jobs/4120150/cane-travel-in…>. If the link does not work, search for "Cane Travel Instructor" on the Nebraska State Jobs government web site http://statejobs.nebraska.gov<http://statejobs.nebraska.gov/>. Only applications submitted through this web site will be accepted.
If you have any questions about the position, please feel free to contact me at Jessica.Bartenbach at nebraska.gov<mailto:Jessica.Bartenbach at nebraska.gov> or (402) 219-3739. The position is open until filled, but we will be reviewing applications as they come in, so please apply right away if interested. In addition to filling out the online application, you are also welcome to send me an email with your resume.
Thanks,
Jessica
--
Jessica Bartenbach, NCUEB NCRTB
Center Supervisor
Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired
4600 Valley Road, Suite 100
Lincoln, NE 68510
Cell: 402-219-3739
Main: 402-471-2891
Jessica.Bartenbach at nebraska.gov<mailto:Jessica.Bartenbach at nebraska.gov>
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