[nabs-l] Body language and facial expressions

[Carly]

Hi, Bridgit,

         I have been thinking about this for a while and agree that, 
it is nearly impossible to integrate with sighted folks, if there are 
an excess of blindisms, with which someone must contend.
for today,
Car I  At 10:18 AM 11/21/2011, Bridgit Pollpeter wrote:
>Carly,
>
>But will that kid get a job? Date? Be accepted by other peers? I'm not
>trying to generalize and say it can never happen because I know people
>with blindisms, and they are active and social, but I know many more who
>aren't. Whether it's right or wrong, this is how the world works, and
>suggesting we create a utopia doesn't help things because outside of
>philosophical discussions, the world isn't going to change much. This
>isn't a defeatist attitude, but a realistic one. Just look at what is
>happening in the world, then tell me a kid can be treated as equal who
>rocks, pokes their eyes and any other blindism. We can't change being
>blind; we can't change what our eyes look like, or how they function,
>but blindisms aren't socially acceptable, and learning to not do these
>behaviors isn't stifling one's inner nature, but it's teaching them
>behaviors that will help them integrate into society.
>
>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: 9
>Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:03:30 -0800
>From: Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at earthlink.net>
>To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>         <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>,    "National Association of Blind Students
>mailing
>         list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Body language and facial expressions
>Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20111119125543.01e0a1a0 at earthlink.net>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
>
>
>Good afternoon, Ashley I think,
>
>What's with trying to cram everyone into boxes
>upon which are plastered identifiers like
>"blindness" and "cognitive impairments?" People
>ought to feel they can just do what feels right,
>and comfortable and not be pressured to shead
>some mannerisms, while retaining others. Doncha
>think? And, besides, there are folks starving, in
>this here world so if kid needs to rock, and he
>doesn't happen to have so-called cog native
>impairment, let the kid rock around the whole,
>clock!11/19/2011, Ashley Bramlett wrote:
> >Bridgit, Very well said! Sighted people in a
> >culture learn body language and facial
> >expressions from observing others; our culture
> >emphasises personal space, shaking hands to
> >greet, and eye contact just as some examples.
> >Blind and low vision people won???t see it, but
> >if someone works with us, its still a learned
> >behavior; we just learn in a different way. I
> >think behaviors such as eye contact and shaking
> >hands  are natural since I learned early on as
> >did sighted peers. Once practiced, it became
> >more automatic. I also like your comment that we
> >should try to extinguish behaviors associated
> >with mental and cognitive behaviors. Rocking is
> >one of them. Yet, I think it would be unnatural
> >to learn something now; I could do it, but it
> >would probably be stiffer and not as natural
> >like if I learned gestures. What I do though in
> >a presentation is look around the room from left
> >to right; speakers to do this to get attention
> >and establish themselves before talking to a
> >group; I do it even though I cannot see a lot,
> >especially toward the back of the room. I can
> >also say yes or no with my head because I was
> >taught early on. But other nonverbals such as
> >winking, shrugging shoulders, and becconing with
> >the hand were not taught and I think I'd be a
> >little stiffer and unnatural doing them. Still
> >it would be good to try and learn. Ashley
>
>
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