[Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids

Fri Apr 29 04:43:02 UTC 2011

This is a very personal story that happened to me. It still emotionally 
bothers me. I have a sister about 17 months younger than me who is sighted. 
Up until ai was about 5 years old, we were pretty much equals, playing 
together and she didn't seem to see me as different. We moved to a new house 
and went down the street to a park to play. I must have been about 6. In 
those days, parents could let children do that sort of thing. anyway, some 
kids started throwing dirt at me, especially at my face. I remember not 
being able to dodge the dirt and stuff they hurled. My sister grabbed my 
hand and we ran home. My mom was very upset and from then on, my sister felt 
she had to take care of me. She still tries to act like the older sibling 
even today. It's amazing how the actions of a few thoughtless children 
changed her whole attitude about me.

Sherri

Please check out the link below and help blind people in your local area 
achieve their dreams by visiting
http://www.raceforindependence.org/goto/Sherri.Brun
Thank you.

Character is the side of yourself you choose to show the world. Integrity is 
what you do, what you say and how you act when you think no one is paying 
attention.
Sherri Brun
flmom2006 at gmail.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "nikki Wunderlich" <nikki0222 at gmail.com>
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 10:20 AM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids

> Hello,
>
> My name is Nikki and I encounteredsome of the same stuff you're talking
> about, so when I was younger, I used to do blindness presentations at the
> public school that I used to attend. And even as an adult I've done one or
> two blindness presentations to help kids learn about blindness and some of
> the different things we use in our daily life such as the white cane,
> computers with speech software, electronic note takers such as the Braille
> lite, ect. Then after I do my presentation I let them ask questions, and I
> answer them to the best of my ability. When I am in public and some one 
> asks
> me about my cane, I simply tell them that my eyes do not work as well as
> theirs, and that my cane helps me see. I hope this helps you out.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of humberto
> Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 10:11 PM
> To: blindTlk at nfbNet.org
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids
>
> Hi dear listers:
>
> Some time ago, somebody in here posted a really really
> interesting message with an interesting question that caused
> threads that hit the list with high fever and great discussions.
> Today I'm here to ask you another question and to share my
> opinions. My concerns deal with the statement written in the
> subject line, blindness misperceptions coming out of children.
> First of all, I have found an essay that was really interesting
> that someone posted on the National Students Division (Nabs)
> mailing list, that explains that adults have these outdated
> negative views about blindness, and kids have better views about
> it than adults, especially when they were raised or growing
> around blind people.
> This person explained that her nephews had a more positive
> attitude around her and that they thought she was cool and could
> do everything by herself. They even think that it's not such a
> big deal being blind.
> In my personal experience, this is not true. Often kids, when I'm
> walking by, think I am weird and ask me a whole bunch of
> questions that I don't know even how to respond to. Some kids
> think I can not walk, and some even say my disability (blindness)
> is an illness, which makes me upset and wanting to advocate them
> and their parents. One day when I was living in California, I
> went to a social gathering with my family and one of their
> friends had two kids. I was sitting down and I had my wonderful
> trusty white cane folded with me at the side, and one girl asked
> "Why is he carrying those four sticks, and why are there for?" Of
> course she asked her mom but we quickly told her what it was and
> what it was used for. At the time I didn't know anything about
> NFB philosophies and my blindness philosophy was not the one that
> it is now, so my Mom had to explain everything.
> But now, when I'm walking down the street or even doing something
> that other people would do regularly, kids still ask me "Why the
> heck you have a stick in your hand?" Some other kids will just
> stare at me like non-sense and run away. Some others will talk,
> but yes according to myself, they would talk to themselves
> because I don't know if they are talking to me until I tell them
> "Are you talking to me?" And yet, when I was little, one day one
> kid even tried to hit me with a small rock, because of no reason,
> or maybe just because of a sign of disrespect toward people with
> disabilities, and even more, blind people. (or that is what I
> think now.)
> The problem with kids, I suppose, from my personal experiences,
> is that their parents inherit those misperceptions of blindness
> into them and / or the kids get them from other people, or
> they've never been around blind people before or something. I can
> understand how they have never been around people who are blind
> before, but the parents issue is what gets me straight the most.
> Yet I don't even have the right time to advocate these kids in a
> diplomatic way patience being one of the factors. But the times I
> try to educate them about my blindness and being just a regular
> person, I don't know how to start engaging them, and they keep
> asking dumb questions.
> Any opinions on how to say to them about positive attitudes of
> blindness, or how to diplomatically explain them? Have you had
> any similar experiences? Any stories you want to share? Any more
> concerns or issues? Any help is appreciated please.
>
> Cheers, Humberto
>
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