[nabs-l] Am I the only one?Two Questions

Thu Mar 18 02:55:51 UTC 2010

Courtney,

I am just beginning to read this thread, so come from not having seen what 
others have said.

I disagree that blind people are generally rule-following individuals that 
do not deviate from what is expected. This is more a matter of habit than 
anything else.

Consider the person going to a fast food place. The norm, one might argue, 
is to order fries and a drink with your sandwich. Do blind people ultimately 
seek to know what is expected, and follow it as a rule? I doubt it.

Blind people are as rule-breaking as anyone else.

Now, if you don't know, and are not informed that people are acting a 
certain way, and you are acting in the way you think to be the norm, there 
is a social disconnect where communication is concerned. Let me use an 
embarrassing example or two to illustrate this point.

When I was newly arrived in the united states, I was at lunch with people I 
hardly knew. I hang with them because they were all from Brazil, and spoke 
my language, but I didn't find much in common with them. I was blind, and 
had to deal with more learning than they did as far as nemeth and grade 2 
braille. We all learned the language, and culture, and I guess my point here 
is that I felt uncomfortable hanging out with people just so they could get 
me through the lunch lines, and back to class in time. This was also middle 
school, and I found the people at the lunch table to be immature and 
irrelevant to my situation, and ultimate goals.

Enough analyzing the lunch friends. In the instance when I did something 
socially unacceptable, I had finished drinking my Sunny D drink, and 
finished eating my burger. I thought for some reason that it would be a good 
idea to insert my sandwich rapper in the bottle, but the bottle opening was 
too small for this. I could sense the conversation stopping and people 
looking at me. I had just committed a social blunder.

Consider my first few weeks in an American classroom, at the same middle 
school, in a math class in a language I did not speak, with a teacher 
writing on a board I could not see, working on something from which I was 
completely excluded. This time I thought it would be interesting to breathe 
in as much as I could, and let the air out while mouthing the words to a 
Brazilian Rap. Again, not such an acceptable thing to do, and a thing I 
wouldn't do today. I was excluded from the social situation, and went 
outside the norm.

I could have gotten out a book at math class, and pretended to go along with 
the work, but I was excluded. People were reciting and reading math problems 
in unison, and I couldn't do it because I didn't speak the language, and 
could not read the material.

I could have done the expected, and followed social rules, and not tried to 
jump through hoops to place the rapper inside the bottle, and I could have 
stayed quiet, and motionless in the class. I got bored and had a minute of 
strange behavior by mouthing words to something. I know I was being 
observed, and in both situations, I went outside the norm.

Maybe I am an isolated case.

To answer the original question, I am sure there are others who are strict 
followers of rules, and procedures. They will always drive on the right side 
of the road in this country, and try so hard to do what is expected of them 
that they may stress out more than enjoy life.

I was having a conversation with someone about something related to this 
topic, and we noted that those who are highly intelligent to the point of 
genius try, and they many times don't have to try hard, to be perfect. This 
is how they operate, but I bet they are not alone. They are the ones who 
will get the perfect score on SAT's and the like,

Sincerely,

Antonio Guimaraes

If an infinite number of rednecks riding in an infinite number of pickup 
trucks fire an infinite number of shotgun rounds at an infinite number of 
highway signs, they will eventually produce all the world's great literary 
works in Braille.

Shop online and support the NFB of RI at no additional cost to you.
http://www.givebackamerica.com/charity.php?b=169
Givebackamerica.org, America's Online Charity Shopping Mall
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Courtney Stover" <liamskitten at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 6:19 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Am I the only one?Two Questions

> Gen,
>
> Your first question is a complicated one, and the answer will vary
> according to who in the blind community you ask.  I'm somewhat of an
> anomaly, or at least feel like one, in the sense that not only do I
> sometimes "wish" to see, but it's becoming more and more of a goal for
> me.  The research/technology for giving blind individuals at least
> some vision is progressing at an astonishing rate.  I'm actively
> seeking to be part of the movement, through applying for research
> trials.. etc. etc.
>
> The reasons I want to see are precisely the ones you innumerated here.
> I know that blind people can be competent travelers and live/work
> independently.  But I want to see people dancing across a stage or the
> brilliant specail effects in a movie or.. a million things.
>
> As to the second question.. I, too, am overly procedurally reliant.  I
> really do believe it's a blindness thing.  We're afraid of missing
> visual clues e.g. seeing sighted students taking out their books and
> looking incompetent that we tend to follow procedures in the hope that
> we don't stand out.  Unfortunately, as I know from personal
> experience, that can have the reverse effect.  Oftentimes, you can be
> the only person with a book on your desk, which rather defeats the
> purpose.
> Hope this post answers at least some of your questions,
> Courtney
>
> On 3/15/10, Jen <spiderweb1 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> 1. Am I the only one who sometimes wishes he / she could see?
>>
>> I am comfortable with my blindness and would not want to be sighted, but
>> still wonder and am fascinated by what things look like at times (for
>> new members, I have been blind since birth.)
>>
>> Yesterday, I took my my to a River Dance concert for her birthday. I
>> loved the music but wanted to see the dancing that went with it as well.
>> It was hard to try to picture it based on the music...
>>
>> 2. I love / cling to procedural order in life - follow all steps, and
>> nothing can or will go wrong. I also try to make rules for everything
>> that won't change so everything is in a contained "box" in my mind out
>> of which it can't escape. I also find rules comforting so I don't have
>> to think and can just do something automatically. An example of such a
>> rule is "always take out your book in class [even if the professor isn't
>> using it that day.] If you do this, you will always be a good student.
>> If you don't, you are a bad student."
>>
>> I know there are no guarantees for things but still cling to the
>> procedural mind set to keep my mental boxes of rules intact. Is being
>> overly procedure-oriented a "blindism" or something with which the
>> sighted struggle as well?
>>
>> Thanks for your input.
>>
>>
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