[nabs-l] Concealing eyes
Peter Donahue
pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com
Thu Nov 24 02:30:18 UTC 2011
Good evening everyone,
Cosmetic and corrective surgery has done much to eliminate the need for
a blind person to conceal their eyes by wearing dark glasses. During one of
my corneal transplants the doctor removed some structures from my right eye
that made it appear abnormal. If you wear sun glasses that's another matter
but I could never stand the thought of having to wear them just because
someone may not like the way my eyes appear. That's their problem not mine!
JMO. Have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving.
Peter Donahue
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Nusbaum" <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 5:37 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Concealing eyes
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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