[nabs-l] Blindness versus other minority groups
Chris Nusbaum
dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Sun Nov 20 03:20:40 UTC 2011
I have never understood the difference between making eye contact
and facing the person you're talking to, and have just faced the
person and they're usually fine with that. How do you make eye
contact and know nonvisually that you are in fact making eye
contact? I'd be interested to hear your ideas!
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: "Andi" <adrianne.dempsey at gmail.com
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:34:52 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Blindness versus other minority groups
I agree nonverbal comunication is so very important and I
think it
should be included in the curriculum that VI's and training
centers use, not
only what we want to say but also avoiding the nonverbals that
say what we
do not want to say. I use to work at a summer camp and I notice
a big
difference in the social lives of the blind kids and teens who
had an
understanding of nonverbal comunication versis the blind kids and
teens who
were not taught nonverbal comunication. Part of the reason
sighted people
think so badly and incorrectly about the blind is because
sometimes blind
people do not allways look compatent even though they are. I am
not saying
that all blind people look this way, nor am I saying that blind
people who
look compatent are never faulsly judged. I know that the sighted
are
largely ignorent to the truthe about blind people, but I think
blind people
also need to present themselves in a way that portrays them how
they want to
be seen. I know that you shouldn't care to much what other
people think of
you, because you can not please everyone, and you should always
be true to
yourself; however all people especially people who are already
dealing with
stigmas such as the blind should care to a sertain extent.
Many blind people have atrophy in the muscles in their face.
This
means that many facial expressions are hard or in some cases
impossible to
make. When people have a blank look on their face it looks to
the sighted
like there is nothing going on upstairs. Even other sighted
people get this
blank look on their face sometimes but it is usually when they
are dazing
off or falling asleep. When a person has that look all the time
it looks to
sighted people that the blind can not have an intelligent
conversation
because you can not talk to someone who is off in space. Some
Blind people
go to physical tharipy to remedy this, but that is not necessary
just some
exercises at home can fix it. Also eye contact is a big part of
nonverbal
comunication. Many blind people keep their eyes closed, or look
at the
floor, or look up in the sky. That to a sighted person shows
disinterest,
bordom, or again the off in space thing depending on the rest of
your body
language accompanying the lack of eye contact. Even though we
can not see
the person we are talking to we should make eye contact. Isms
such as
rocking, poking, spinning, or flicking, are not exceptable ever
as this
looks like a cognitive impairment. At the camp their were blind
kids with
no other disability, and blind kids who also had cognitive
impairments. I
had my sighted sister come to the camp and help teach a weekend
dance camp
as she is a very skilld dancer. One teenager who is very smart
by the way
and has no other disabilities was rocking and poking while
singing loudly at
dinner. My sister had not yet met him and asked me how old he
was mentally.
Once she met him and realized he was mentally a normal teen she
felt bad for
asking the question, but that is how the sighted world looks at
isms. The
placement of your hands is a simple but often socially faital
thing if
placed oddly. Also the way a person stands or walks is
importaint. Many
blind people move stiffly, I am not talking a robot, but still
stif
movements can tell a sighted person something you are not trying
to say.
Depending on what you are doing with the stiff movement you can
look either
angry, nervous, or mocking. This is just the tip of the
nonverbal icebirg,
and it can make a huge difference in the way we as blind people
are viewed.
Also you are right about understanding the body language of
others, and
even though we can not see it there are ways of telling what is
being said
silently. Some actions make noise, while others have a different
energy
feel. I was told that only 7 percent of all comunication is what
a person
says, 32 percent of all comunication is tone, and 61 percent of
all
comunication is nonverbal.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tara Annis
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 10:20 AM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
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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