[BlindTlk] Question about societal attitudes toward blindness

[Carly Mihalakis]

Good morning, Mike,

Fact is, we, as blind people exist within a place 
of deviance that is, (differing from the status 
quo) from other human animals in that we do not 
take in our worlds  via a 5-layer sensory 
experience. Indeed We are without the coveted 
ocular input, something that renders us special 
because the way we see  requires us to pursue an 
up-close and very personal vantage always. Yet, 
there are people whom are pretty much reliant 
upon ocular information to sort out their 
existential experiences, a perceptual experience 
which may be seen as a relatively impersonal and 
detached way of taking in the same world and I 
say, personally, I would not want an ocular input 
(like most other human animals), should it 
suddenly become available. I like my guaranteed 
hands-on vantage! After all, there are 5 avenues 
of sensory stimuli by which human animals take in 
their worlds. the 5 senses) all of which transmit 
to our knowing a layer of the subject in 
question. An infinitely amazing design of human 
animals takes into account that, for what ever a 
cause, certain human animals would find 
themselves separate from a particular sense. In 
our case, an absent layer of knowing is the 
ocular one. but, blind people can always figure 
out how to fill in the gaps in their knowing through altered means.
Mike, it's high time you are a little more upbeat 
about our specific way of perception. And, some 
teachings stress experiencing an absent ocular 
input as merely an "inconvenience." I believe it 
more than that. Ocular Blindness is more than a 
nuisance or inconvenience. It is beautiful. All 
of us need to get together and be proud that we 
embrace a special, specific way of taking in the same environmental cues.
Car  :13 AM 4/23/2019, Walker, Michael E. \(UMSL-Student\) via BlindTlk wrote:
>Good morning,
>
>Something I have been troubled by for a long 
>time is why society sees blind people 
>differently from people who can see. For 
>example, I often find that when the topic of 
>friendship or dating comes up, I still get asked 
>questions like whether or not I have considered 
>dating a blind person. It tells me that society 
>still has a ways to go in learning that 
>blindness is an inconvenience rather than 
>something that defines us. We like to 
>participate in the same venues as everyone else, 
>without being seen differently. How do we 
>overcome these challenges? The only thing I know 
>to do is to keep doing what I’m doing: putting 
>myself out there and meeting people. What do you 
>guys do to overcome these challenges? How do you 
>feel about being seen differently because you’re blind?
>
>Thank you,
>Mike
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