Sarah J. Blake,
This blog began as an attempt to help people to understand my experience of living with disabilities. Over time, it has become a place where I share my thoughts about current events, theology, my experiences as a seminary student, and many other things. All of these things play a part in my experience as a person with disabilities; and my experiences as a person with disabilities shape my thoughts and experiences in these other areas. I hope that reading my entries is encouraging and/or educational. If you leave a comment on an older entry, please bear in mind that my thoughts and feelings about some matters have done a good deal of refining over the years and the entry may not reflect my current thinking.
I've been comparing some notes with another dog user who was in Louisville, and we have made some potentially interesting observations. I'm sharing them here because I'm interested in dialoguing about whether there might be ways to create a more workable system for everyone in the future. From an observational perspective, I find this rather fascinating. I may eventually be able to bring in another perspective if anyone is interested, as I have potential input from a Louisville resident who met both of us during the week after years of online correspondence and may be able to provide some interesting observations from the perspective of the kind of person who tends to sometimes serve as a volunteer (may have never encountered blind people in the past but be interested in what's going on and want to help out and learn).
( Read more... )This post has generated 6 comments.
| Read comments | Post a comment |
| Calendar | Previous | Next |
Having not been to a convention in quite some time, it was next to impossible for me to compare this convention with anything in my memory. I did not go in with any expectations and really wasn't sure what I would be able to attend considering the state of my health. I made it to about half of the things I registered for. I streamed portions of general sessions while treating arthritis flares. I nurtured a whole lot of relationships and formed some new ones. I got to do what was most important to me: talk with the Treasury people--and this happened in spite of the fact that the forum was moved up a night and I didn't know. It pays to be in the right place at the right time and to be willing to drop what you're doing if the right opportunity presents itself.
It was a deeply personal thing for me to see Doc Bradley get his award. I nearly missed it between almost not going to convention and almost not going to the banquet. I felt like I was sharing in something amazing. I am in the ACB at all because of Doc; and if I had had an opportunity, I would have said so. At the Seeing Eye breakfast, Lukas Franck talked about tracing who trained dog guide ttrainers... Sitting there in the banquet, I wondered who else was there because of Doc or because of some other person who has been instrumental in my life... Who are those people? I'd kind of like to meet them
I am at a stage in my life where I am sorting out why I go to convention. I discovered this week that being connected to the blind community in some way is important to me. I'm not sure whether it is through ACB business such as what happens in general sessions or whether it is through the kinds of dialogues that happen outside general sessions and inform the way that I live and work in my community. I certainly benefit from the informational presentations. I respect the fact that we need ACB business. I don't think it is wrong to go to convention for other reasons. Sometimes people begin by coming for other reasons and later find their way into ACB business. The organization is certainly big enough for all kinds of people. I learned that this week, too. I'm a very different person now from the person I was last time I was very active in ACB in any way. I'm finding that I need to locate a bit of a new niche for myself. That is ok with me. It will be a learning process; and perhaps that niche needs to be created.
This post has generated 1 comment.
| Read comments | Post a comment |
| Calendar | Previous | Next |
When I was nine years old, something life-changing happened to me. I met a blind adult for the first time. I wish I could say that it was a significant positive experience. For a young blind child, a meeting like this could have done a lot of good. Unfortunately, the meeting was not a happy one for me or for my parents.
( Read what happened and the impact it had on me. )I can't really call this something good about the ACB convention. It was an add-on. But I wouldn't have been in Louisville if it hadn't been for the ACB convention. I'm glad I was there.
Stacy's blog is called The Preemie Experiment.
This post has generated 8 comments.
| Read comments | Post a comment |
| Calendar | Previous | Next |
This journal content is copyright 2006 Sarah J. Blake. All rights reserved except for the right to use brief quotations in reviews or commentary. For permission to reprint entries in their entirety, please email me. My email address is in my user info.
| Previous | Calendar | Next |