[nabs-l] Blindness versus minority groups

[Ashley Bramlett]

Amen. I think blind people need to learn manners like moving out of the way, 
saying excuse me if you bump someone, etc.
We cannot help being blind, but we can attempt to cut out
strange movements like eye poking. By looking more normal, people won't 
focus on blindness, but see us for who we are.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tara Annis
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2011 1:55 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] Blindness versus minority groups

Arielle, I do think totally blind from birth can improve on nonverbal 
communication.  I'm not sure if all could get as good as sighted, but I 
would  say like any skill, each blind person would achieve their own level 
of progress.  I do agree with stiffness--a lot of nonverbal communication is 
done very quickly and in a kind of lazy manner with the hands at a relaxed 
position.  I'm shocked at all that is communicated; I recently learned there 
is a hand movement  for so-so or all right, as in how was your work day and 
the person would use this gesture as they verbally say it was all right or 
okay or so-so.

A blind person can still appear "normal" without knowing all of these 
movements.  It is more important for a blind person to get rid of strange 
movements than to learn "normal" body language.  It is absolutely necessary 
to  get rid of rocking, inappropriate facial expression for the  situation 
being experienced (smiling at a funeral), etc. A blind person can have stiff 
movements, but still  appear "normal"
What is really needed   is a sighted person to evaluate each blind person on 
an individual basis, and be honest enough to tell if there are any totally 
weird movements.  According to the comments on Youtube, Ken Jennings the 
blind guy on Jeopardy, had weird facial expressions, so  this seems to be a 
common problem.

I think some blind people need to learn more about manners, as in move to 
the side of the aisle in a grocery store when another person with a cart 
walks by,  do not stop at the top of stairs or escalators, and do not stop 
when entering  the doorway  of a business.  Also, some tend to cut people 
off in  crowds or push people  out of the way.  While I know it is  almost 
impossible not to fix this completely, I've met people who do not even try 
and get better at their O&M. I've been around blind people that will shove 
people  out of their way at the mall, or push a door open when there are 
people standing on the other side of it.  They told me, "it is sighted 
people's responsibility to watch out for me and I don't have to do anything 
on my part cause I'm blind."

Another area that some blind people   need to improve upon is dress.  It is 
better for blind to wear sunglasses if their eyes are  deformed--it will 
help  the general public be at ease when communicating.  Also, some blind 
wear clothes that are not in fashion.  I've seen parents give their children 
"simple" haircuts, buzz cut or shaved head for their son and a really short 
bob for girls, since they feel the  child cannot  learn to  take care of 
long hair.  (I hate when this  happens.)  I'd also like to see more blind 
kids dress for their peer group, such as emo or goth, hippie, skater, 
preppie, average person, etc.

I'm not making fun of people with these traits, I just feel they need the 
truth.  While I think  people  should not be judged for their appearance, 
many people in the world do act this way, though sometimes it is 
subconscious.

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