‘What it means to be New York’s first legally blind governor’
March 12th, 2008
Stereotype alert: In one story, Jessica Ryen Doyle on FoxNews.com manages to reference the old “overcoming adversity” theme AND mention Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. An excerpt:
… Paterson is no stranger to adversity. “(He is) very capable, not withstanding his near sightlessness,” former New York City Mayor Edward Koch recently said. “It’s never impeded his public actions or his personal actions, and he’s really overcome it in an extraordinary way.”
… Dr. Michael Ehrenhaus, director of Cornea and Refractive Surgery at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Long Island College Hospital, said individuals who are considered legally blind are often quite functional.
“Some of the best examples are in music,” Ehrenhaus said. “Look at Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. Would anyone really say they were completely handicapped?”
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on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 3:16 pm and is filed under blindness/visual impairments, language, politics, public attitudes, stereotypes.
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March 12th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Some fine journalism here on the part of Fox News. That’s the opinion of this potentially functional blind guy. And I wonder why the quality of healthcare I get is so terrible. Guys like this doctor don’t hold blind people or, probably, most people with disabilities in high regard.