[nabs-l] Any Suggestions for Blindness Literature?
Vejas Vasiliauskas
alpineimagination at gmail.com
Tue Nov 8 20:14:55 UTC 2016
Carly,
I think you have misread what Elizabeth is saying. She sent some
long emails and talked to her professor for an hour.
At this point I feel that it is more of a case of the professor
choosing not to allow himself to be educated, so I don't think
that this is any of Elizabeth's doing.
Vejas
----- Original Message -----
From: Carly Mihalakis via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>,National Association of Blind Students
mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 08 Nov 2016 12:00:51 -0800
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Any Suggestions for Blindness Literature?
Afternoon, Elizabeth,
Well Elizabeth, if you don't want to put in the effort
to
make the relationship with teach full, maybe even enjoyable, I'm
afraid you will receive the kind of in depth relationship that
you,
yourself are willing to put in.
I don't think It is teach's job to chase you and your blindness.
Alas, you will probably experience the depth of relationship that
you
yourself are willing to cultivate.
Car
07:10 AM 11/8/2016, Elizabeth Mohnke via NABS-L wrote:
Hello All,
Thank you for the continued discussion in regards to this matter.
I
have found this discussion to be interesting and helpful.
However, it appears as though there may be an assumption that all
I
want to do is provide my professor with blindness literature
rather
than talk to him directly to answer all his questions and correct
his misconceptions about blindness. Please know that I am not
looking to provide my professor with blindness literature as a
substitute for talking to him. I have sent him two well written
emails as well as talked to him for about an hour after class the
other day, and the only thing this seemed to accomplish was
making
him aware that I am uncomfortable with the way he is interacting
with me.
I feel like this should be a sufficient amount of time to devote
to
this issue as I am a rather busy college student. I do not feel
as
though it is my job to spend all of my spare time answering all
of
the questions my professor has about blindness simply because he
is
curious or because he does not have much experience interacting
with
a blind person before. Simply because I have not had much
interaction with any particular subgroup of people, it does not
automatically mean that I question their abilities or tell them
how
amazing they are simply for overcoming the obstacles they have
faced
in their lives.
I am the one who is paying for the tuition required to take this
class. It seems to me that if I am paying for this class in the
same
manner as any other student that I should be able to receive the
same education as anyone else. I do not feel as though there
should
be some additional requirement for me to spend countless hours
educating my professor on blindness simply because he appears to
be
incapable of treating me as just another student in his sociology
class.
Since I feel as though I have spent a considerable amount of time
writing emails to my professor and talking to him after class, I
was
simply curious if there was any literature I could give him to
help
him understand blindness better. Sometimes hearing or reading
something in slightly different words by different people can
help
people understand things better. Since I feel as though I am not
very good at explaining blindness to others, I was just curious
if
there was any literature I could give my professor to help
explain
things better in a way that he might actually be able to
understand.
Warm regards,
Elizabeth
-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Vejas
Vasiliauskas via NABS-L
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2016 9:17 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Any Suggestions for Blindness Literature?
The next stop he follows you to the bus stop would be the perfect
opportunity to talk to him. Presumably you'll be waiting awhile
for the bus, so you could take that time to explain things.
Vejas
----- Original Message -----
From: Carly Mihalakis via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>,National Association of Blind Students
mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 08 Nov 2016 04:39:31 -0800
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Any Suggestions for Blindness Literature?
Good morning, EElizabeth,
Did you come later to the blindness party, or
something?
Seeing how Ol'Sighty gets all moved if he should chance to see
the
blink actually being self sufficient, as I see it, ought not be
too
suprising. So don't play stupid. I would imagine you know very
well
how Ol'Sighty can get.
Car2016, Elizabeth Mohnke via NABS-L wrote:
Hello Vejas and Carly,
Thank you for your suggestions. My schedule has been rather busy
lately, and I am not always quite sure how to answer vague
questions
about blindness, especially when my mind is focused on other
things.
So this is why I thought providing my professor with some
literature
might be helpful after trying to talk to him about how he is
treating me makes me feel uncomfortable.
I understand people may feel a bit awkward around me as a blind
person when they first meet me. However, it is now beyond the
middle
of the semester, and it feels as though my professor still feels
a
bit uncomfortable interacting with me as a blind person.
One day as I was entering class and finding my seat, I heard my
professor tell me that he does not know how I do it. Since it
appears as though I have migrated in terms of where I sit in the
classroom, I responded by telling him that I did not know how I
do
it either. However, it was not until after this exchange of
comments
were made that I realized that my professor and I were talking
about
two different things. It seemed to me that he simply could not
understand how I could possibly get around independently as a
blind
person. However, since I was yet again migrating to the next row
over when finding a seat, I was wondering how it is that I keep
migrating to the next row of seats rather than simply head
towards
the seat that I normally sit in during class. I generally sit in
the
same seat in class for all of my classes, so the fact that I keep
migrating to other seats for this particular class puzzles me a
bit.
There was also another day where my professor followed me out to
the
bus stop and waited there with me until my ride showed up to pick
me
up. While I was standing there, I used my Victor Stream to find
the
phone number for the person who was picking me up, and called the
person who was picking me up from the bus stop on my IPhone.
From my
point of view, I was just doing what I needed to do to find out
if
my ride was still planning to pick me up at this particular
location. However, my professor thought that I was somehow
amazing
for being able to do this simple task. The fact that my
professor
followed me out to the bus stop really made me feel
uncomfortable,
and the fact that he thinks I am amazing simply for being able to
walk to the bus stop and make a phone call tells me that he has
rather low expectations of me as a blind person.
I honestly do not know how to describe the blindness techniques I
use when getting around independently as a blind person. I have
never really had any real formal training in the skills of
blindness, so most of the techniques I use are simply based on
what
I have seen other people do that I have simply adopted to work
for
me. So when people ask me how I am able to get around
independently
as a blind person, I honestly have no idea how to answer this
question because I simply do what comes natural to me.
Since I have clearly demonstrated my capabilities as a blind
student, I thought perhaps providing him with some additional
information in the form of literature would help him understand
that
I am really just another student in his sociology class. I feel
as
though it is really not my responsibility to sit down with my
professor and answer every question he might have about blindness
just to satisfy his curiosity. I only have so much time in my
schedule, and sometimes I simply have more important things to
do.
So again, I simply thought providing my professor with some
literature on blindness might help this situation.
Warm regards,
Elizabeth
-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Vejas
Vasiliauskas via NABS-L
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2016 11:48 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Any Suggestions for Blindness Literature?
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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