conavigator: what's in a name

What should the term be? Support Service Provider, CoNavigator
or DeafBlind Access Assistant?

I felt electrified when I first saw the term CoNavigator -- like
I was full of good energy and passion. To me, CoNavigator
expresses a team approach. I'm the brain who steers this machine,
and makes the decisions. And I'm the heart that keeps it alive.
The other person is the legs, the eyes, the ears, the driver.
Together we navigate this world. I love it. I know there is
Controversy about the term, but I have adopted it for myself.
That was my personal decision.

Some people have a dislike for the term because they feel it
means the DeafBlind person is the co-navigator and the other is
the pilot. If we are going to use that analogy, then the other
person is the co-navigator and we are the pilot. Otherwise we'd
call them the pilot. But I think of it more as a team approach, a
relationship.

I live in a place that has no SSP program. The term SSP means
nothing outside of the DeafBlind community. When I'm in the
public, I use helper or assistant. I don't like it, but people
understand, and it works.

The last time we talked about changing the term, I was against
it. No matter what we call it, the outside world isn't going to
know the term. What we need is education. Better to stick with
the current term and push awareness of what it means.

But like I said, the term CoNavigator set me on fire. It speaks
to me. It's what I want, and it's what I'm going to use.

Support Service Provider and DeafBlind Access Assistant... What
do they mean? A person who provides support or access. What does
that mean? It's vague, it's unclear. It doesn't hit me the way
CoNavigator does.

Support Service Provider provides support. DeafBlind Access
Assistant provides access. Provide means offers or gives. It's a
one way service. Them helping us. I don't like that.

I'm a writer. Words are power. I say DeafBlind, not deaf-blind.
It's a statement. It's a cultural thing. SSP and DBAA are flat.
CoNavigator is lively and colorful. This doesn't have to make
sense to you. It makes sense to me. And that's why I'm using
CoNavigator.

Angie C. Orlando

March 2020

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