[nabs-l] Any Suggestions for Blindness Literature?

[Vejas Vasiliauskas]

Hi Elizabeth,
I completely understand where you are coming from about it being frustrating for sighted people talking to  the blind. I am not an expert on blindness literature, but I do have a couple of suggestions nonetheless.
My first idea would be to think of the most common questions you think the professor would have for your specific situation, if that makes sense. For example, in my situation, I would explain that I use a cane to get around, and might elaborate on the fact that I have  2 types, one that folds. I tend to prefer the folding cane for easy storage in a holster, and this is just my personal preference, and often one professors in my experience seem a little more comfortable with.
Then I would explain my devices. In my case, I use a Braillenote Apex. I would give a bit of information about how it works, and that I use it with my phone as a pair so that I have better Internet access.
I could then explain how I would use these devices to complete work, and then explain my preferred method of handing work in to the teacher.
My second idea is to just leave everything completely open.  You could just send him an email asking him if he has any questions, and to direct these questions to you in his reply.
Like I said, I am not the best at blindness literature, but I feel that your professor might be more interested in something coming directly from you.
One more thing: in my experience it seems like people are awkward at first around blind folks just because they have never  had to deal with them before and don't understand how much to help. A sighted friend of mine at LCB who currently attends Louisiana Tech explained it well to me when she said that there are so many blind people around, all requiring, or thinking they need, different levels of assistance, so there is no standard.
Vejas   

> On Nov 1, 2016, at 09:07, Elizabeth Mohnke via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> I recently posted a question about how to go about dealing with a professor who thinks I am the most amazing person simply because I happen to be blind. I really appreciate all the suggestions that everyone gave me about how to go about handling this situation. Since I did not have time to meet with my professor last week, I sent him an email telling him that I was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable in his class due to the fact that he either feels uncomfortable or unsure about how to communicate and interact with me as a blind student.
> 
> However, I am not quite sure how well this email helped the situation as I was a bit frustrated with other things when I wrote my email to him. As a result of my stress and frustration, I am not quite sure how well I came across in the email I sent my professor last week. But hopefully it serves as a good starting point in being able to talk to my professor about this situation.
> 
> I am sure he is simply curious about how I do things as a blind person. It  sounds as though he has not had too much interaction with other blind people. I would really like to be able to sit down with him and answer all his questions about how I do things as a blind person. However, my schedule is rather busy right now, and I feel as though I simply do not have the time to sit down with him and answer all his questions. Since I do not have the time to sit down and answer all his questions about blindness, I thought perhaps I could just simply share some articles on how blind people do things as they live independent lives.
> 
> However, I must admit, it has been a while since I have read through NFB literature. So I am simply curious, what articles would you share with someone who had questions about how you do things as a blind person if you did not have the time to sit down and talk to them about how you do things as a blind person? Are there any good articles to share that would summarize how blind people do things as a blind person without going too in-depth on a particular skill that blind people use in their daily lives? I can think of a couple of good articles as it relates to blindness philosophy, but I do not think an article on blindness philosophy works for someone who is rather curious about how blind people do things as blind people living independent lives. So any suggestions on articles I could share with my professor would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> Elizabeth
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