[Blindtlk] Eye Poking

Wed Apr 27 13:27:58 UTC 2011

I have been following this thread, and finally decided to weigh in. To those of the age of Gary and myself, what he described was not considered abuse when it was done. Neither was spanking, or other forms of behavior correction. I say not that it was right or wrong, but that in his case, it worked. Other things worked for me. Constant reminders, of which I am sure my teachers and mother grew very tired did the trick. Rocking never appealed to me. One reason could be because I had some vision growing up, and the constant movement of some of my classmates frankly annoyed me.

One of the things I feel we need to remember, and nobody likes it, but it does seem to prove true, is that all are judged by each of us. It is not fair nor is it reasonable or are those perceptions true, but they exist. This means that what I do and how I do it can and does have an influence upon how you are perceived. I apologize for any erroneous perceptions of which I am the cause. Blind people are a minority, and the elimination of "blindisms" is just another way of fitting into the majority. We all do things which, in and of themselves, draw attention to us. Some are deliberate, like wearing a jacket and tie to meetings. Some are involuntary. I know the first one can be treated with an application of wardrobe counseling and removal of ties and jackets from the closet. The second kind, at my age, probably is not. I guess the bottom line is this: if something bothers you enough to want to change it, please do. If it is important to others, its need to be changed is in direct proportion to that person's (either personally or professionally) importance to you. Gary, this would be a good Monitor topic.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Roberthansen1970 at gmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 4:22 PM
To: gwunder at earthlink.net; blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Eye Poking

Its amazing how people can use abuse to correct this behavior. It creates resentmrnt in people.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 3:29:29 pm
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
From: "Gary Wunder" <gwunder at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Eye Poking

My family hated the habbit and when I would do it, they'd hit my elbow. This soon set the gratification into a competition with pain and disapproval, and the pain won out.

I think some habits are hard to break, but there is an attitude we all share from time to time that this or that behavior is such a part of us that we aren't interested in changing it. I have heard rocking acknowledged as a perfectly fine thing to do--it is what and who I am folks have said. I guess we all draw the line in different places. I occasionally snap my fingers for an echo location clue, while I know others who think this is not at all cool.

We may cover some of this in the Monitor.

Gary

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chasity Jackson
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 5:32 AM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Eye Poking

My close friend Terry who lives with me, is 59 and used to do it all the time...So much so that his left eye looks all sunken in...I often touch that area, just because it seems so peculiar to me...It's like a big hole there and the other eyeball is normal...I often joke with him that the hole is so deep that we could use it as a storage area for a few things instead of putting them in my purse. Now that is definitely an exaggeration. LOL. But he knows what I mean and it's always been a joke between us.

I myself have never done the eye poking thing...I've even gone through the motions of what other people say they do, just because I was curious if they just leaned on their hand and it felt comfortable or whatever the case may be...And it just feels annoying to me. I don't even like the feeling of it, but I guess if it is something that you were born doing and you've done all your life, it probably feels natural and you don't even know you're doing it.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Wheeler" <awheeler65 at windstream.net>
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 5:41 AM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Eye Poking

>I catch myself doing it, when alone, and I am sitting at at my computer 
>desk. I just lean on my hand and do it. Not even sure why.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of David Andrews
> Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 4:51 AM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Eye Poking
>
> I am 57, and I find myself doing it when I am stressed also.  It is an 
> unconscious habit.  I have broken it mostly -- but not 100 percent.
>
> Maybe that is the best we can hope for!
>
> Dave
>
> At 06:43 PM 4/24/2011, you wrote:
>>Hi,
>>I'm 21, and I still have this problem from time to time. I've gotten 
>>it under control enough that I don't do it in public at all anymore, 
>>but I notice I do it most when I am stressed or tired. As I said, I 
>>almost always do it when I'm alone now, but if I slip up and do it 
>>with a family

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