[nabs-l] Blindness versus other minority groups

Carly Mihalakis carlymih at earthlink.net
Mon Nov 21 02:22:46 UTC 2011


HI, List,

Can others hear people's facial expressions, changing or is that just 
me?2011, Ashley Bramlett wrote:
>Actually, Chris, if you are observant and listen, you can pick up on 
>some body language. Not in a crowd, but if its one to one or a small 
>group in a quiet room, you will hear things. Some examples. You can 
>hear hand gestures because it sounds different when people talk, 
>you'll just sense their movement. You can hear expressions as well, 
>and if you hear them in a voice, likely they are facial visual 
>expressions too. You can hear a smile. Also a high pitched, fast 
>voice means happiness or surprise. I wish I could act it to show 
>you! But that is how I can describe it. Someone might say "Hi 
>Ashley, its great to see you again!" and I know they are cheerful, I 
>don't need to see it to know, but usually can see a smile.
>You can also hear sounds of shoes on a tile or wooden floor. High 
>heels make a certain noise; men's dockers sound kind of like a clop 
>clop sound. You can also hear bracelets rattling against each other. 
>You can definitely pick up on some nonverbal expressions by 
>listening to how people act. True not as much, but you can do some.
>
>Ashley
>
>-----Original Message----- From: Chris Nusbaum
>Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2011 10:20 PM
>To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Blindness versus other minority groups
>
>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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