[blindkid] Fwd: Novel Research

Tue Jan 31 14:21:06 UTC 2012

Great idea, Linda.  I'll do that right now.

At 07:30 AM 1/31/2012, you wrote:
>I would suggest that this person access the Kernel Books at 
>nfb.org...  There sure are lots of personal stories there!
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
>To: david.andrews <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
>Cc: rachel peterson <tupperware87 at msn.com>
>Sent: Sat, Jan 28, 2012 4:33 pm
>Subject: [blindkid] Fwd: Novel Research
>
>
>I am forwarding this message to a few of our lists -- the woman seems
>o be genuinely interested in finding out about blind persons.  In
>articular, maybe some of you who are older can help her with
>ttitudes in 30's and 40's which I am sure were substantially
>ifferent, thus blind persons would have been different.
>Dave
>p.s.  Please respons to her directly, as she is not on any of our lists!
>
>
>From: "rachel peterson" <tupperware87 at msn.com>
>Hi David,
>
>My name's Rachel Peterson and I got your email address from Melissa
>Green, the president of the Greeley chapter of the NFB here in
>northern Colorado. I got connected with Melissa by Ed Morman, when I
>contacted the NFB Baltimore. I'm a writer of children's fiction and
>I have a desire to write a book where the main character is blind.
>It would be a late 1930's-1940 era story and the girl would be
>around 10-12. I am not blind and I currently don't know anyone who
>is. So why do I want to write this book? Well my younger sister has
>been interested in adopting blind children for several years, so the
>subject of blind people and how they live is a frequently discussed
>topic. And recently a friend of mine and her husband have been
>journeying in the process of adopting a little blind girl. This
>inspired me to start trying to learn some about Braille, so that I
>could write little notes to their daughter.
>
>   As a writer I'm passionate about detail and accuracy. If I can't
>  gain enough information as well as understanding of a person's view
>  point and feelings I don't feel comfortable writing about the
>  subject. I love history and am very curious about other people and
>  how they live. When I create a character I try and envision myself
>  in their shoes, so that I can best describe how they think and feel
>  in every situation. I really want to share the truth about life as
>  a blind person from their perspective, not the stereotypical public
>  view, or even what I try and imagine it to be like.
>
>Melissa said if I emailed you this information as well as my
>specific questions, you could post it to all the NFB lists. I don't
>know what that means but I'm sure you do.
>
>Now that I've told a little about what I'm doing and looking for I
>want to be more specific. I would really love to hear personal view
>points from real blind people. For who could better tell me about it
>than someone who lives it. I'm so eager to learn about this exciting
>new world, I'm very curious, and have a pile of questions, but I'll
>try and organize my thoughts some so that someone could actually
>give me some insight and answers.
>
>Story summary: This book is in its infancy in my mind but this is a
>loose idea of how I intend to start it. A ten to twelve-year-old
>blind girl is leaving the blind school she's been living at to spend
>the summer of 1940 with her great uncle and aunt. I want her to show
>people that she's not limited. She's very adventurous almost to the
>point of mischievous sometimes as she discovers her new world. She
>was either born blind or has been blind for a long time so she's
>very used to how to do things without sight. With that background
>here is a list of my more organized questions.
>
>
>
>1.)  When she arrives at her Great Uncle and Aunts house for the
>first time, how would she go about learning where everything is, in
>each room? Would she learn it all right away? Or would she learn
>about different rooms over the course of a week? How would she
>exactly go about discovering each room?
>
>2.)  In 1940, would she have a cane?
>
>3.)  How would she make her first assessment of the new people she's
>meeting? Does she judge them by voice? Do blind people still have
>forms of body language that tells attitudes? Do you get a picture in
>your head of what they look like? How can you tell if the person you
>are meeting is someone you can trust or not? Is tone of voice an
>important piece for a blind person or not?
>
>4.)  If our character is ever timid or fearful about something what
>would it be over? Is there anything that a blind person would be
>more fearful about?
>
>5.)  How would our character feel about other kids? Would she feel
>she needed to prove herself? Would she feel intimidated or inferior?
>Would she feel she was better than them if she was more gifted or
>skilled at certain things?
>
>6.)  How would our character feel about the questions adults and
>children would ask her in regards to her blindness? Would she be
>annoyed? Would she be excited to help people understand? What are
>common questions sighted people ask blind people? What answers do
>you give them?
>
>7.)  Before our character came to her relative's house, could she
>have lived at a blind school year round like boarding school? What
>things did they teach children at blind schools in the late 1930's to 1940?
>
>8.)  Realistically, how independent would a blind ten-year-old, in
>1940 have been?
>
>9.)  When you first come to a new place you've never been, indoors
>or outdoors, what are the first things you notice?
>
>10.)                 In your opinion, are blind people better
>listeners when someone is talking than a sighted person? Or do you
>get distracted in your own thoughts just the same?
>
>11.)                 Do blind people ever run into things? Walls?
>Doors? Furniture?
>
>12.)                 How will our character know when it is morning?
>And time to get up?
>
>13.)                 Are there any concerns our characters sighted
>relatives would have about her? Are there common fears sighted
>parents have about their blind children?
>
>14.)                 What are the top three most annoying things
>sighted people try and do for blind people? (If there is more than
>three feel free to list them.)
>
>15.)                 What might be our character's favorite thing to
>do be? What kinds of things are especially fun for blind people?
>
>16.)                 Are there any advantages blind children have
>over sighted children?
>
>17.)                 Are there any specific situations that would
>make our character feel left out?
>
>
>
>This is just a small list I thought up to get me started, but please
>don't feel restricted by the questions, for I'm certain I've missed
>key things I'll need to know. So if you think of additional things
>you feel are important points for our blind character to convey in
>her personality, perspective, and life I would love to share them in
>this story.  Also, if anyone has any personal childhood stories
>they'd like to share about funny, exciting, or scary things that
>happened to them as a blind child I'm always excited to try and use
>real life stories in my fiction. They don't have to be super
>personal or even related to being blind; maybe you just played a
>funny trick on someone once. Example being, my grandpa told me about
>how he and his friends turned an old door into a jump for their snow skis.
>
>So, if you know of anyone who would enjoy answering these questions
>and would like to help me learn I'd love to hear from them. My email
>address is: <mailto:shawshee1414 at gmail.com>shawshee1414 at gmail.com  I
>also have a blog:
><http://pagesforthedarkhorses.blogspot.com/>http://pagesforthedarkhorses.blogspot.com 
>
> >where I'm selling my other books if people want to learn more about
>what I've already done and I also talk more about myself there and
>how I got started in writing.
>
>Thank you so much for your time and assistance.
>
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Rachel Peterson
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