[nabs-l] Security in ourselves, acceptance in others

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Jedi and others,

I agree with you.  Movement is not necessarily a result of "blindisms."
While some motion- in anyone, disabled or not- is odd and even
inappropriate, as human beings, we move.  It would be odd for a person
to appear like a stone statue.

Before I lost my vision, I was a dancer-- like ballet and all that jazz!
*grin*  So naturally, movement is a part of my entire being.  I tend to
literally tap dance when standing, and I'm always doing things like
tapping or drumming my fingers on surfaces, or swinging my leg when
crossing it.  When bored, I also tend to do small ballet exercises with
my feet.  And when I hear music, well, I just gotta dance!  *giggle*
I'm always aware of my body and what I do with it, and of course, I
understand that there is a time and place for everything.  Tap dancing
while waiting in line to buy tickets for a movie is okay.  Tapping down
the aisle during a funeral wake may be a bit inappropriate!

Having been sighted for 22 years, I also respond visually to things like
looking in the direction of sound, or turning my head or eyes to follow
someone or something.  Most the time I can not visually see, but I still
respond as though I do.  It is learned behavior, which anyone can learn,
but obviously if you can't see, someone must instruct.  It is an
instinctive thing though.

In fact, all movement is instinctive, but some are more uninhibited than
others in their expressions and movement.

So don't assume every motion you make is wrong or out of place.  And if
you got the music in you, just dance!

BP

Message: 14
Date: Tue, 31 May 2011 20:56:22 -0400
From: Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net>
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Security in ourselves, acceptance in others
Message-ID: <20110601005622.20882.70893 at ip-10-203-66-216.ec2.internal>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format="flowed"

Okay.

We know that some blindisms (as they are called) are a direct result of 
blind children not getting the appropriate opportunities to move around 
that they should have gotten early on. But I also think that so-called 
blindisms can also be our version of boredisms, little self-adaptive 
behaviors that we do when we've shifted our attention. They could also 
be behaviors that we do when we're excited or overstimulated. Sighted 
people have these, too. For example, they drumb their fingers, fidget, 
shake their knees, etc. These are no more appropriate than our 
behaviors except that they are more normative. So here's a thought. 
Instead of trying to eraticate a so-called blindism, try employing some 
alternative movement. So instead of rocking, tap a foot or shake an 
ankle. My mother suggested this technique to me and it worked. 
Eventually, i found that I didn't need the alternative movement. I 
guess employing the alternative made me more aware of my behavior and 
so I stopped it on my own. But in those weird times when I am moving, I 
find that I'm shaking an ankle or something, and most sighted people 
don't think much of it because they do it, too.

Respectfully,
Jedi