[Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids

Mon May 2 20:09:01 UTC 2011

I don't think you did.

I understand why you might of thought that.

Cheers!

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 Desiree Oudinot
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 13:04
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids

Hi,
I thought this was part of structured discovery? I'm not a member of
either the NFB or ACB for this exact reason. Wires get crossed, things
happen...and the truth is never really known.
The camp that my friend went to at the age of 7 where he had a similar
experience to Chris's, well, I won't give the name of it but they
supposedly operated under NFB philosophy.
However, I'm a member of listservs both of the NFB and ACB because
good discussion doesn't have to involve their philosophies. In fact,
this is the first time I've ever seen it happen, so I apologize for
opening up a can of worms.

On 5/2/11, Gloria Whipple <ladygloria at webband.com> wrote:
> The nfb doesn't work that way!
>
>
> 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 Desiree Oudinot
> Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 10:50
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Blindness Misperceptions from kids
>
> Well, no offense, but that does seem to be a prevalent NFB practice. I
> have a friend who described a similar experience, and when his mother
> found out she took him home faster than you can say turtle soup.
>
> On 5/2/11, Nikki Wunderlich <nikki0222 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 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
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