[Blindtlk] Can a person's movement be affected by blindness

[Steve Johnson]

Tara,

Very fascinating.  Thanks for sharing.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Tara Annis
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2010 3:05 PM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Blindtlk] Can a person's movement be affected by blindness

Yes, a person's movement can, and about 99.9% of the time,  be affected by
blindness.  If he is blind from birth, never seeing gestures, than his
movements will be  different than that of the sighted population.  
People who become blind later in life, retain many of their facial
expressions and gestures, since they are engrained in their memory.
People  born with partial vision, have varying  degrees of movements that
are different that of the sighted community.


Not all blind people will have these movements, but following are a few that
are seen among blind people:

He will have a stiff body, being rigid when  walking and standing still.
When he  tries to make a gesture, like waving to a friend, it comes out
looking rigid, and not the same as if a sighted person were waving.

Many blind persons walk differently, by not bending their legs, rather,
walking with a straight leg swinging forward.  Some blind persons have
balance problems, and wobble around a lot when they are walking.

Blind people will either look up too high at the ceiling, or too low at the
ground.  A lot of blind people are trying to make eye contact, by using the
"point your nose at  the person's eyes" technique used  by many.  Yet, the
overcompensate, and look up too high, over the person's head at the
ceiling, instead of into their eyes.

Some blind people will point their ear, instead of their eyes, at a person,
using their ear to point at the other person's voice.
You can tell when a blind person is eavesdropping, because his body will
become rigid, he will have an intense look of concentration on  his face,
and will point his ear in the direction of the people he is eavesdropping
at.  This is the same as when a sighted person is staring--when a blind
person points his ear at a sound to eavesdrop.
Sighted people tell me this makes them nervous, because it feels as if the
blind person is focusing intently on  what sounds are coming from them.
It's  an invasion of privacy.

Some blind people have blindisms, such as rocking from side to side or back
and forth, poking their eyes with their fingers, and twisting their upper
body  from side to side.

I have noticed the smile problem mentioned  previously on this thread. A
blind person will have too big of a smile in a photograph--opening his mouth
kind of wide, like he would do while laughing.  In a photo, you should just
widen your lips, but keep your jaws together to ensure a normal looking
photo.

Some blind persons do not understand masking, which means hiding your
emotions in order to fit with the mood of the social situation.  For
example, a blind person will be smiling during a  church sermon or at a
business meeting, whereas the sighted people will have  a serious expression
on their faces.  In large group settings, sighted people do not show their
emotions  as  openly, as that in an intimate setting.  For example, sighted
people have a  masked expression on the subway, but will  have an animated
facial expression  when having dinner with a few of their close friends.

Some blind people do not mask their anger, and will have an angry expression
on their faces, even when dealing with   people they don't know well.
Sighted persons will often mask their anger around people they first meet,
or at a social gathering of acquaintances.  For example, if Bob offends Sam,
not on purpose, just by accident,  Sam will mask his  anger, appearing
neutral by Bob's remarks.  When Bob turns his back, though, Sam may roll his
eyes to the other person's in the group, showing them he is angry.   While
the group knows Sam is angry, Bob will never know he has offended Sam.  I
guess this  is done as a way not to show  weakness, by not admitting deep
emotions  and hiding true feelings.

I'll write more on this topic tomorrow.  Have to go for now.
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