[nabs-l] nabs-l Digest, Vol 61, Issue 44

Carly carlymih at earthlink.net
Mon Nov 28 21:48:43 UTC 2011


Good afternoon, Tara and other interested, folk,

We are without a particular sense which most people cling to, in my 
opinion rather helplessly. This is how, often we must rely on such 
input being supplemented buy those with ocular, vision.It isn't, in 
my opinion about "dependence" or "independence" but, it is what it 
is. If people wanna call it dependence, hopefully they can provide 
other suggestions as to how the blind person, would go about 
achieving the same thing, nonvisually?
Tara, Weren't you at the CCB back in '02? 'ts good to see ya, here!
for today,
Car


, Tara wrote:
>I'll add a little more about the appearance thing.  I firsst want to 
>let everyone know that I  don't judge people  by how they look, and 
>definitely believe people  have the right to choose how they 
>look.  I just feel that blind people need to have honest input about 
>physical appearance.  After this input, they an choose to change 
>their behavior or stay the same.  Like I said earlier, we are 
>conditioned socially not to say bad things about people, and in most 
>cases this is correct.  Yet, blind people  do not have all the 
>information, so have to use sighted assistance, just as deaf people 
>have to have hearing people tell them about sound.  I am not saying 
>blind people are dependent on sighted, or that we are 
>less  important.  Once blind people have this info, they can make 
>independent judgements. Personally,, I want constructive criticism, 
>even if it  hurts my feelings.  If the person is  giving me this 
>feedback to help me improve, then I will not take offense.
>
>I have  witnessed sighted telling blind that "no one can tell they 
>are different", and this makes me angry because it is a lie.  I know 
>they make the comments out of kindness, but they do not realize that 
>this  is keeping vital information from the blind person.  I feel 
>blind people should have the right to know how sight works 
>and  about body language.  For example, I have had blind people lean 
>towards me, pointing their ear at me to eavesdrop.  They do not 
>realize I can see they are spying on me, and they are not being 
>sneaky.  I have seen blind guide dog owners not pick up after their 
>dog and run away from the scene, but they do not realize that 
>sighted people have  seen them, since they can be watched at far 
>distances.  I have seen blind people pick a wedgie and do not 
>realize that sighted can see them from around the corner due to the 
>angle at which they are standing.  In these situations, the sighted 
>observer will glance at another sighted person and smile, basically 
>thinking the situation is "cute", but will not correct the 
>problem  out of fear of being mean.  Yet, this causes the blind 
>person to make these same mistakes over and over again.  I think 
>this is worse when it happens with the rehab profession, since it is 
>their job to help us.
>
>I would like to see rehab offer a class where you could be analyzed 
>1-on-1 to see how you appear.  The person would describe how the 
>public reacts to you, compares your style of dress to others, talks 
>about your body language, etc.  Once you finished this class, you 
>could chosse to change or    stay the same, but you would have more 
>"pieces of the puzzle" to help you make the best decision.  This 
>class would have to only be open to mature people, since it 
>would  be a very blunt way of talking about life.
>
>Everyone changes their appearance to fit the norm and please people 
>to some  extent. For example, all people wear clothes in public, 
>women usually shave their underarms, people clean and brush their 
>hair, brush their teeth.  Usually people dress up for a job 
>interview, at prom, or for their wedding.  Basically, I'm saying 
>appearance is important.  It's fun to experiment with different 
>looks to see how the public reacts.
>
>What we need to find out is how important on teh 
>social  acceptability scale different body language is.  Will 
>rocking back and forth upset 5 people or 2500 people?  Will 
>masturbating in class upset 1 person or 1 million people?  Will 
>these behaviors cause one to lose possible friendships, romantic 
>relationships, or employment opportunities?  Some are universally 
>negative, like the masturbation in class.  Yet, where do others fit 
>in?  Does having disfigured eyes cause a lot of negative 
>reactions?  How about having a stiff posture and strange 
>walk?  There are ways to objectively test these. Have a 
>control  group, people not exhibiting these behaviors go in public 
>and record with a hidden camera.  Then, have the same people go in 
>public and exhibit    the test actions and record with a hidden 
>camera.  Then, watch both recordings and compare/contrast.
>
>
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