[nabs-l] Blindness versus other minority groups

[Chris Nusbaum]

Hi Tara,

That's a good point.  However, I'm not sure if the class is 
needed.  I say this because, especially in the case of those of 
us (like myself) who are totally blind or only have light 
perception, we would only get one side of the body language; that 
is, the body language that we display to sighted people.  While 
this is important, especially in how we present ourselves for 
things like job interviews and such, we'll have no way of knowing 
what body language sighted people are conveying to us, no matter 
what classes on the subject we take.  This is because, simply, we 
can't see the body language! So, in short, by taking the 
suggested body language course, we'd only get to use half of the 
information taught, because we can't discern what sighted people 
are conveying to us via body language, and therefore can't react 
to it.

Chris

"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The 
real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that 
exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and 
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical 
nuisance."
-- Kenneth Jernigan (President, National Federation of the Blind, 
1968-1986

P.S.  The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps blind and visually impaired 
youth in Maryland say "I can," by empowering them through 
providing assistive technology and scholarships to camps and 
conventions which help them be equal with their sighted peers.  
For more information about the Foundation and to support our 
work, visit us online at www.icanfoundation.info!

Sent from my BrailleNote Apex

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Tara Annis <TAnnis at afb.net
To: "nabs-l at nfbnet.org" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:20:31 -0500
Subject: [nabs-l] Blindness versus other minority groups

I think the first step in helping blind people to get their 
feelings across to the sighted is  to understand what is 
considered ignorance and what is considered outright teasing and 
cruelty in public.  Many of the meanest things are just said with 
one word    and a lot of body language.  Many people who hate 
blind people speak in a nice manner, but  exhibit cruelty in 
their body language.  I do think a lot of blind people, not all, 
but some, do lack discernment in this area, especially if they 
are blind from birth and a sighted person  does not take the time 
to explain nonverbal communication.  I think the first step would 
be for an honest sighted person to follow a blind person around 
and interpret the visual elements to the blind person, so that 
the entire picture can be analyzed for both parties.  I think one 
of the best ways to respond to those who are ignorant, who are 
not attempting to be mean, but make offensive remarks is through 
body language, like rolling one's eyes.  Most sighted people use   
nonverbal communication to show  when they are irritated by 
another person.  If the person continues to  be annoying, the 
person will then use verbal communication.  That is why sighted 
people think blind are mean for actually verbally stating their 
anger, instead of visually displaying it.  I would like to see a 
class where advanced nonverbal communication is explained, since    
currently it seems there are just the basics  taught, like  
facing the person you are talking to and shaking hands.  There is 
not a class in how to display   the various  ways of shooing 
levels of discomfort, from   annoyed, slightly irritated, 
somewhat irritated, to angry.  Blind people need to know that 
sometimes it is necessary to actively create facial expressions 
and body movements, as opposed to letting one's body language 
depict their true feelings.  Personally, I was surprised at the 
amount of communication that is displayed nonverbally, that 
sighted people watch me from across a large college campus, or 
from way down the street, and are making judgments about me from 
my appearance.  Once this was explained to me, I do feel that I 
am more comfortable around sighted people, and am  in   control 
of  getting my feelings across.  The great thing about learning 
all this stuff is that I have seen the amount of ignorance I 
faced by sighted people diminish significantly.  It is a 50/50 
situation: blind people need to do their half of    helping get 
rid of ignorance  and sighted people need to be willing to do 
their half.
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