[nabs-l] Concealing eyes

Fri Nov 18 23:18:50 UTC 2011

well, light is a factor, one reason to cover eyes. another one is 
appearance.
If it detracts from your looks, you do what you need to do for acceptance. I 
think doing this on a job interview would help get you a job.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Friday, November 18, 2011 5:36 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] Concealing eyes

While I understand where you're coming from, I disagree about a blind
person covering their eyes just to make sighted people feel more at
ease. Many of us where sunglasses for various reasons. I where mine on
days when light is causing extra sensitivity or when I opt to not wear
make-up, smile. I have a friend who wears sunglasses to hide scar tissue
and another to hide a glass eye.

I think it's time the world learn to accept people as they are. If glass
eyes, or eyes with scarring, or cloudiness, cause discomfort among
sighted people, does this mean we need start concealing missing limbs,
birth, or accident related, deformaties, scarring on burn victims? The
list is endless.

I understand your comments, and I understand why some choose to cover up
any "abnormality" with their eyes, but I think this is unjustly unfair.
We, to some degree, have sway over how we act and present ourselves to
the public, but for many, they have no control over the function, or
lack thereof, color or clarity of their eyes. We shouldn't teach blind
kids to conceal something they can't control, but instead we should
educate society to accept that disability is a part of life and to be
comfortable with people who may have a physical deformity (for lack of a
better word at the moment) scar, missing limb, cognitive impairment or
any other "abnormal" issue. I think it all goes back to us, the disabled
people, having to fit into a mold in order to make others feel more
comfortable, or taking submissive roles so society doesn't feel awkward.
We shouldn't have to take extra measures in terms of a physical aspect
out of our control just so others feel better. We're human and have
feelings. What about the world taking extra measures so we feel less
uncomfortable around those who aren't disabled or have a physical
condition considered abnormal?

I agree that people who are blind can learn how to dress and interact in
ways that are more socially acceptable, but hiding your eyes because
they make others uncomfortable seems like the wrong message. Perhaps
this is a bit of a leap, but we once were relegated to dark corners and
institutionalized just so society didn't have to literally look at us,
causing them discomfort and guilt. Is covering eyes, limbs, scars,
fractures, etc. just a new way of relegating us into a different kind of
dark corner? Hide as much of us as possible so we don't frighten the
nondisabled population? God forbid people with disabilities get to feel
human for once.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:55:01 -0500
From: Tara Annis <TAnnis at afb.net>
To: "nabs-l at nfbnet.org" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [nabs-l] Blindness versus minority groups
Message-ID:

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digex.com>

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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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