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

[Jedi]

What's worse is that people assume that these weird behaviors happen 
because of blindness alone when they could be from some other reason 
such as not knowing what to do with one's wrapper or just simply 
feeling frustrated and not knowing what to do about it.

Respectfully,
Jedi


Original message:
> 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.


>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> nabs-l:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/liamskitten%40gmail.com


>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/iamantonio%40cox.net


> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/loneblindjedi%40samobile.net

-- 
Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network.  Visit 
www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.