Do we need something like an NFB convention in the UK?
Loading reactions…
Rob.B
Dale
Never mind the convention, we just need something like the NFB in the UK. As a person who now lives in the states, I can tell you that blind services in the UK are pitiful compared to over here. I hope the UK gets blind people the services they deserve at some point. I think it has to come from us though. We need to do it for ourselves.
Loading reactions…
Rob.B
Loading reactions…
Rob.B
Loading reactions…
Dale
Hey Rob, so I do take your points on board. We are fortunate in the UK to have access to quite a lot of our stuff digitally or in braille. Also, PIP or personal independence payments and universal credit are just the names given to the benefits which a lot of blind people receive. If you try to get orientation and mobility training or technology training in the UK at this point you would struggle. You might have better luck if you lived in one of the very large cities, but other than that it's an absolute mess. I also have to disagree with your point about not making things political. Political is exactly what we have to make Things in order to get what we deserve as blind people. Of course you know about the RNIB in the UK, it is pretty much the only national organisation over there which holds any weight. However, they are geared towards small children and the elderly. Everybody in between has been ignored/fallen through the cracks. I now live in Minnesota and I can honestly say the services I have received since being here have been light years ahead of anything I ever received in the United Kingdom.
Loading reactions…
Rob.B
Loading reactions…
Dale
I don't think it's quite right to just say that every conservative wants services to be cut and every liberal wants them to be expanded. When I said we need to make things political, I mean we need to create new laws and actual ways of giving us a more level playing field. This doesn't have to be conservative versus liberal. Most times, the only way to actually get things done is to force people to do them. This is most productively done by changing laws or bringing a new ones. For example, in the UK we have something called the equal opportunities initiative. It's a law, but it isn't worth the paper it is written on.
Loading reactions…
Rob.B
Loading reactions…
Dale
Hey Rob, yes I definitely take your points on board. I think it doesn't always serve a good purpose when an organisation has to cater to a political administration. We are in some strange times though right now for sure.
Loading reactions…
Loading reactions…