[nabs-l] Blindness and body contact

[Alana Leonhardy]

I have experienced this on multiple occasions. I have an intense dislike for being touched by people, and generally feel extremely distressed and have a hard time carrying on a conversation with people who do this. My first instinct is to say that it's related to our blindness. It's like people think we have less of a right to our own bodies, or just don't need as much personal space as non-disabled people. On the other hand, I know that some people are just more touchy-feely than others, and make physical contact with everyone. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 14, 2014, at 21:51, Arielle Silverman via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
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