[Access] a question to ponder...

[Mary Otten]

I do not think you should be asked to "disclose" your blindness to
people whom you may potentially host. Only in the case where the person
being hosted is deaf, as you note, would this present a serious
comunication issue. Otherwise, I would want to know why anyone would be
asking you to disclose this fact about yourself. Are they asking people
to disclose their race? Sexual preference? Political views?  Why should
anybody need to know in advance that you are blind? If this were
required of me, I would decline to participate in the program, and I
would register a complaint with whatever powers that be that my worth
and dignity as an individual were being diminished, because I feel sure
that the other things I alluded to, race etc, are not matters that will
be disclosed to the potential guests ahead of time, nor should they be.
 It could be said that people might feel uncomfortable being with a
blind person. They might also feel uncomfortable staying in the home of
somebody who is of a different race or has a different sexual
preference than they. Would such potential discomfort be considered a
valid reason to require that these traits of a potential host should be
disclosed to their potential guest in advance? If not, then there is,
in my view, absolutely 0 justification for requiring more of a blind
person, person who uses a wheel-chair etc. Prejudice is prejudice, and
its not ok to make exceptions.

Mary