[Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids
Chris Nusbaum
dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Sat Apr 30 16:04:04 UTC 2011
Thank you, Gloria! I totally agree! I went to a camp at Blind
Industries and Services of Maryland when I was 6 at this big, old
building in Frederick with a bunch of steps going every which
way. Without any orientation or any O and M teaching whatsoever
in that building, they expected a bunch of six and seven-year-old
kids to find their way everywhere totally independently, without
* anybody * there, blind or sighted. I remember the first day we
got there, the councelors were almost shooing the parents away,
saying "They (the kids) can carry their suitcases up those steps
by themselves!" Oh, not to mention those bags weighed more than
me at the time! Also, we had a campfire there one day where the
children's librarian at the Maryland LBPH came to do
storytellers, and she happened to be a family friend of ours.
The camp director dropped me off in the middle of the building
and told me to find my way outside and meet the rest of the camp
at the campfire. Fortunately, the librarian finally came in
looking for me and helped me find my way out there when I was
really late. As you can imagine, I never went back to that camp
again. Have any of you had this experience?
Chris Nusbaum
"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gloria Whipple" <ladygloria at webband.com
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Fri, 29 Apr 2011 07:34:12 -0700
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids
That reminds me of my childhood. My baby brother stuck up for me
also.
Another thing that bothered me was when my parents went out, my
younger
brothers had to baby set me and my twin brother. I hated it and
couldn't
wait until I went back to the state school for the blind.
My mother expected me to do everything for myself, but how do you
do that
when you weren't taught. I learned though. I just decided to
try different
things on my own and I think I did surprise her years later. I
wanted to
show her that being blind didn't stop me when I made my mind up
to it.
Gloria Whipple
Corresponding Secretary
Inland Empire chapter
nfb of WA
-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of nikki Wunderlich
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 06:43
To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids
I can totally relate to that story, because my younger sister
does the same
thing, she's also sighted. She had to stand up for me in
preschool, and ever
since she's tried to act like the older sibling.
-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Sherri
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 11:43 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids
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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