[acb-hsp] video I saw on NY Times

[MARILYN LUTTER]

Hi everyone,
One of the great things about this list is the opportunity to hear other 
people's reactions to information provided.  Initially I tried to look at it 
with concern for the individual.

The idea that things like this might endanger other people's with 
disabilities ability to get loans is really a serious concern
I am older than most of you, I think.  I was very fortunate that rehab and I 
saw my goal as achievable.  I got money from rehab and for graduate school I 
was able to get some other small scholarships.  I got my MSW in 1962 so a 
lot has changed since then.

Marilyn Lutter .
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Karen Rose" <rosekm at earthlink.net>
To: "Discussion list for ACB human service professionals" <acb-hsp at acb.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2012 4:15 PM
Subject: Re: [acb-hsp] video I saw on NY Times


This video and the ideas it portrays is very, very dangerous.  I, for one,
went to a private graduate school and incurred a great deal of student debt
which I subsequently defaulted on and later repaid.  As someone born totally
blind, I knew full well that I would have difficulty finding internships
required for licensure as a therapist when I first took the loans, but did
it anyway, as my goal was definitely to become a psychotherapist, not a
computer programmer as rehab wanted me to become.  (And me, who can't do
math to save my life.(LOL)  That being said however, I am very, very glad I
took those loans, and I am now a successful therapist earning a six-figure
income in private practice after having served on faculties at two
universities.  Without those loans, I would never have had those
opportunities in the long run.  My great fear is that ideas such as those
expressed in this video could easily lead to the loan agencies, (now
fortunately no longer banks), requiring sight as a condition for being
allowed to borrow student loans or, for that matter, simply eliminating all
people with disabilities from being allowed to borrow for school.  This
would be highly dangerous and restrictive were it to happen.


Karen Rose, MFT
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Abels, Arnold V." <abelsa at umkc.edu>
To: "Discussion list for ACB human service professionals" <acb-hsp at acb.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2012 10:07 AM
Subject: [acb-hsp] video I saw on NY Times


> HI all
> I looked at this video and wanted to share it as I found  the message
> about vision loss and blindness disheartening. While it portrays
> (economic, transportation, societal,, etc.) challenges that many
> individuals with vision loss face each day, including the sigma,
> discrimination, access barriers, etc. it left it at "hopeless". While I
> appreciate the realities that some individuals with disabilities cannot
> work FT and a few cannot work at all, I was left disheartened by the
> incomplete message of hopelessness. It was sad that none of the resources
> available to the blind were highlighted, the initiatives and benefits of
> having a diverse workforce, planting seeds that there is hope, options,
> even in the midst of the realities of very real challenges was a message
> that was hard to hear and that continues in the battle for inclusion. It
> was striking how the connection of the student debt was tied exclusively
> to vision loss as a primary reason, most sadly by the man himself and the
> hopelessness he acknowledges. If you are interested in looking at it I
> Hope the video plays and streams to the start of the story as there are
> other news segments on the link as well.
>
> Perhaps I am just ironically reflecting on the Labor Day holiday.
>
> May we all know we have great things to offer the world.
> Yours,
> Arnie
>
>
> Video: Certainty of Hopelessness
> One of the only ways to shed student loan debt, even in bankruptcy, is to
> be found "hopeless" by the court. Doug Wallace, who is now legally blind
> and owes $89,000, is awaiting a ruling.
> http://video.nytimes.com/video/2012/08/31/business/100000001727793/certainty-of-hopelessness.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1_20120901
>
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