Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Former members of the NFB why did you leave the organization? (self.Blind)
submitted 5.234579475308642y ago by LUCKYNOLUCK
bondolo 8 points 5y ago
The most common reason, and true of all member organizations, is undoubtedly "life". People get work and family obligations and have less time for outside activities. For many, especially younger people, NFB (or ACB) is just a social activity and one that they don't have time for as adults. I can think of many cases where I have heard "Convention over July 4th weekend? Don't they think I have a life? No sorry, I have other things to do." Miss a few conventions and even more chapter meetings due to being busy and you've "left" the organization.
ravenshadow2013 7 points 5y ago
i left because I felt ostracized for having reasonable eyesight, it seemed like every time i would suggest something or recommend a group or organization to come and speak I was told no no we don't do that, well needless to say I left
redstone1337 1 points 5y ago
I feel like there's something behind this question.
Just my two cents, but I think we as a society have largely lost the sense of being part of a larger whole. Before the 80's you could go your whole working life with one organization. That stopped around the time my dad entered the workforce. Fraternal organizations like the Lions and Knights of Columbus aren't attracting new members... or at least going by the average age of my local KofC council. The food pantry at my church is mostly run by retirees but probably where it's hitting hardest for me is the lack of communication between neighbors. We don't even know the names of most of our immediate neighbors, and people have moved in and moved out years later without so much as a "hello." I don't know the current state of the NFB's membership, but I'm sure this societal shift is affecting them, too.
I'm not really active in either the NFB or ACB, though I think I am nominally a member of the NFB thanks to presiding over the blind student club while in college. I've been to a national NFB convention, and while I enjoyed meeting fellow blind people, I wasn't interested in the NFB's goings on as such. Some people can be put off by the NFB's rhetoric sometimes...I mean how can making paper currency accessible *not* be anything but a good thing for the blind?
Just my two cents, but I think we as a society have largely lost the sense of being part of a larger whole. Before the 80's you could go your whole working life with one organization. That stopped around the time my dad entered the workforce. Fraternal organizations like the Lions and Knights of Columbus aren't attracting new members... or at least going by the average age of my local KofC council. The food pantry at my church is mostly run by retirees but probably where it's hitting hardest for me is the lack of communication between neighbors. We don't even know the names of most of our immediate neighbors, and people have moved in and moved out years later without so much as a "hello." I don't know the current state of the NFB's membership, but I'm sure this societal shift is affecting them, too.
I'm not really active in either the NFB or ACB, though I think I am nominally a member of the NFB thanks to presiding over the blind student club while in college. I've been to a national NFB convention, and while I enjoyed meeting fellow blind people, I wasn't interested in the NFB's goings on as such. Some people can be put off by the NFB's rhetoric sometimes...I mean how can making paper currency accessible *not* be anything but a good thing for the blind?
LUCKYNOLUCK [OP] 1 points 5y ago
The reason I made this post is because of this post.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/6xq8xn/toxicity_in_the_blind_community/#bottom-comments
https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/6xq8xn/toxicity_in_the_blind_community/#bottom-comments
SnoobertDoobertDoo 1 points 5y ago
It's a shame they used a throwaway account and that all that stuff happened and soured their perception of the community. For the record the blind community in Toronto is awesome. No bias of course.
redstone1337 1 points 5y ago
Makes sense. There was tons of drama at my rehab center. We weren't affiliated with the NFB, but we did go to the national convention \(in addition to the ACB state convention\). They warned us that there would be people there with a whole range of independence levels at the conventions. I was told one lady\-\-after falling down\-\-just waited on the floor to be picked up :|. People who are going through training are generally there because they want to be independent, so we didn't have too many problems regarding poor life skills at rehab, but plenty of other shenanigans took place. There was some romantic drama, and someone took a dump in a dryer.
LUCKYNOLUCK [OP] 1 points 5y ago
Someone at my training center took a dump in the bathroom sink.
jage9 1 points 5y ago
A dump in a dryer? WTF?
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