[nabs-l] Concealing eyes

Chris Nusbaum dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Wed Nov 23 23:37:49 UTC 2011


I have a prosthetic eye in my right eye (the eyeball of which was 
removed surgically because of pain I was having in it) and I have 
a shell over the eyeball in my left eye.  I don't wear sunglasses 
either, as the color on the prosthetics does the trick of making 
my eyes look normal.  When they're out, according to my sighted 
parents, my eyes look opaque and the right eye looks like it has 
a hole in it where the eyeball used to be.

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!

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Jewel <herekittykat2 at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:18:36 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Concealing eyes

I don't wear sunglasses to cover my eyes.  I have a prosthetic 
eye in
my left side and the right eye is heavily scarred and has a 
cataract,
which a friend described as looking like cobwebs.  Much of the 
time,
however, my eyelids are almost completely closed, so the eyes 
don't
show, not by choice but because of problems with my eyelids.  
most
people say they didn't e ven notice I was blind at first, though 
more
people say they knew I was blind when I wore sunglasses.  Not 
that I
want to hide that I'm blind, but as another said, wearing 
sunglasses
is a steroetype of b lindness, one that I don't want to fit into.
Wearing sunglasses is something I only do on bright days or in a
bright room, and I think others should just do what feels best 
for
them.
~Jewel

On 11/19/11, Andi <adrianne.dempsey at gmail.com> wrote:
 I believe if it is something you can not control you shouldn't 
have to hide
 it and I actually think when blind people where sun glasses 
inside it just
 looks more stereotypical and reenforces the old stigmas.  I only 
know one
 blind person who can pull off sun glasses all the time and he 
actually has
 beautiful eyes but he kind of has this rock star look when he 
wheres them so
 it doesn't look funny.  Some people can get away with it and 
actually make
 it look good, but most can not.  However on the same token I 
where makeup to
 cover serdury scars under my eyes, and strangers are more 
willing to talk to
 me when I do as aposed to when I don't.  So while society does 
need to be
 more excepting of people and we should strive twards that end it 
is not
 usually what you can expect from the world.  The world is cruel 
and
 judgmental.  As I said before you have to be true to you, but 
there is a
 degree in which you should care.  On that same token it is hard 
to always
 know what society will and wont expect.  Obviously behaviors and 
things you
 can help should be things you care about but eyes well that is a 
personal
 choice.  Is it silly for me to cover up my scars so I am more 
approachable
 or am I being overly concerned.  I suppose make up is considered 
normal by
 society so maybe it isn't so odd to where it for that reason.  
Eyes however
 can not be covered up unless you where coloured contacts or sun 
glasses.  I
 personally think sun glasses are silly unless you are out doors 
and it is a
 sunny day or you have a sensativity.  Coloured contacts might be 
an option
 if you are truly concerned about the appearance of your eyes and 
that is
 something sighted people do to if they do not like their eye 
colour but I
 would imagine it gets expensive.  Usually peoples "weered" eyes 
are not
 usually as strange as they think,so it really is a personal 
choice like
 makeup.
 -----Original Message-----
 From: Ashley Bramlett
 Sent: Friday, November 18, 2011 6:18 PM
 To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
 Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Concealing eyes

 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:

 
<8FF687EB29A6AD4B8D020BAC05C85CC263A88580C9 at KOCL385270EXCH.msp.te
ch.int.
 digex.com

 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

 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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