[nabs-l] Blindness and body contact

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi all,
So the feeling faces thread reminded me of something and I'm curious
what your experiences are with this kind of thing. My sister got
married last weekend and I gave a toast at her rehearsal dinner and a
short reading during the ceremony. At the cocktail reception a woman
approached me and introduced herself as the aunt of my sister's new
husband. She then went on for a while about how beautiful my speeches
were. The entire time she had her arm kind of around the side of my
back and was stroking my shoulder. It made me a bit uncomfortable
because we had just met and I am not a very touchy-feely person except
with very close family and friends. This is also not the firsttime
people I don't know, or barely know, have interacted with me in this
way. I have always wondered if the touching is somehow because of my
blindness and if so, why do people feel driven to be so physically
affectionate with me? Or, is this a typical way people interact, and
being blind my whole life, I just haven't noticed how other people
physically interact during conversation? If you guys have experienced
this sort of thing, how do you usually respond? I'm not talking about
being grabbed by over-helpful people; I'm talking about people making
physical (nonsexual) contact during a conversation. And not just the
occasional shoulder tap, but something more hug-like.
Best,
Arielle