[Job-Discussions] Question about Non-verbal communication with sighted people

[dickblind at gmail.com]

I always taught my blind careers students to look in the direction of a person who is talking to them. Nodding your head and leaning toward them shows interest too. Slouching conveys boredom.
 Persons born blind do not usually develop those habits, so must work at them. 

Staring is looking at a person without nodding or doing anything to humanize the process. It is considered spooky, as is looking off into space, although looking up from time to time is a sign of thoughtfulness. Ask your sighted friends to work with you and give you feedback. It may seem artificial first, but it will become a habit. 

Body language is 70 percent of all messaging. Looking away, to a sighted person, means you are not telling the truth. Looking down means you are ashamed or hiding something. Or that you are afraid. 

 If you have a central vision problem like Mac-d, you may have to explain to people that you need to look away to see things better. That will make sense to them. Always tell sighted people why you do things if they are different from the way things are normally done. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 6, 2023, at 11:55 AM, Karen Rose via Job-Discussions <job-discussions at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Sorry, Siri messed up. Lol is a person born totally blind,
> 
> Karen Rose MFT/LPCC www.career-therapy.net
> 
>>> On Jun 6, 2023, at 9:50 AM, Karen Rose via Job-Discussions <job-discussions at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>> As a person born to lead blind, I have always wanted to know how to make a contact in the first place. Any tips much appreciated :-)
>> 
>> Karen Rose MFT/LPCC www.career-therapy.net
>> 
>>>> On Jun 6, 2023, at 9:37 AM, Andrew J. Harmon via Job-Discussions <job-discussions at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> Hello
>>> I’m currently taking a class online about effective communications in the workplace, and I had a question about non-verbal communication. I’ve always heard how important it is to make eye contact with an individual you’re trying to communicate with, but I wanted to know if there is any additional “unwritten rules” about this? Is it better to only maintain it while speaking, or while also listening to the other participants in the conversation? Can you make people uncomfortable if you try to maintain eye contact too long or too little?
>>>  
>>> Thank you in advance for any help on this topic.
>>>  
>>> Sincerely
>>>  
>>> Andrew Harmon
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