[Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids

Mon May 2 13:16:54 UTC 2011

I agree, that would be very scary! I can see some, and I get nervous if I do
not have my cane with and I go some where unfamiliar to me.

On Mon, May 2, 2011 at 7:59 AM, Graves, Diane <dgraves at icrc.in.gov> wrote:

> Chris,
>
> How horrible that must have been for you and the other kids. I can't say
> that I've ever had an experience like that, but from the sound of it, they
> war, and, if the practice is still ongoing, still are, leaving themselves
> open for some major lawsuits.
>
> The things that you're describing would be potentially unsafe for sighted
> children as well. I don't know what their security practices were, but it
> would have been incredibly irresponsible of them to leave a sighted
> six-year-old alone and unsupervised in the middle of an unfamiliar building.
> Were the blind children even using canes, or were they expected to maneuver
> without them?
>
> I ask, because when I was six-years-old, they weren't giving blind children
> canes. I didn't get one until I was a teenager about 13. Then, of course, I
> was worried about what I looked like to others, and wanted nothing to do
> with the cane. I had been given the message that sight was superior, so I
> wanted to look as sighted as I could.
>
> Just thinking about the scenario you are describing, about being around all
> of those steps without the use of a cane is very scary.
>
> Diane Graves
> Civil Rights Specialist
> Indiana Civil Rights Commission
> Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit
> 317-232-2647
>
> "It is service that measures success."
> George Washington Carver
>
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Chris Nusbaum
> Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2011 12:04 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids
>
> 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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-- 
I thank you for the emails
nikki