[nabs-l] pop culture portrayals of disabilities

Tue Sep 19 00:55:13 UTC 2017

Hello,
I've read the Seeing Summer and its wonderful. Its about a blind and sighted 
girl becoming friends and that the blind girl helps the sighted girl out.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Chris Nusbaum via NABS-L
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2017 2:03 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Cc: Chris Nusbaum
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] pop culture portrayals of disabilities

Hey Sophie:

A lesser-known but very powerful portrayal of blindness can be found in a 
book called "Blindsided." I can't remember the author offhand, but I know 
it's available under that title. The book follows a blind adolescent who 
struggles with and eventually accepts her loss of sight, and finally comes 
to appreciate the importance of learning nonvisual skills in her quest to 
regain her independence. A sighted friend recommended the book to me because 
much of it is set in Baltimore and the Maryland School for the Blind, which 
allowed me to relate on the surface to the people and places. However, I 
think it will have a universal appeal to all blind people, as the author 
captures very accurately the struggle which many blind teens face as they 
cope with their blindness while trying to fit in with their peers. Though I 
read the book in 8th grade, I still have vivid memories of my emotions while 
reading the book as I related more and more to the main character's story. 
On a side note, the scene in which the students take a field trip to the NFB 
national center will be especially interesting to those of us who have been 
there.

For other more positive portrayals of blindness in literature, you might try 
"The Seeing Summer" and "A Cane in Her Hand." As I've learned from teaching 
at our BELL program, there are quite a few children's books which have 
portrayals of blindness of various degrees of accuracy and positivity. As 
for TV and movies, "Daredevil" definitely gives you much to talk about. 
Also, don't forget about the Nickelodian special in which both of us 
participated! :)

Good luck,

Chris Nusbaum

Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 18, 2017, at 11:00 AM, Emmanuelle Lo via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> 
> wrote:
>
> All the Light We Cannot See has some issues, though I personally still 
> love that book. There's also a thriller film (I think it's called Don't 
> Breathe) where people break into a blind guy's house and have to hid from 
> him or something. I've never read or watched Me Before You but I know that 
> deals with disability in a less-than-ideal way. The TV show Switched At 
> Birth involves lots of deaf and hard-of-hearing people, but I believe it's 
> an accurate portrayal.
>
> Good luck on your project,
> Emmie
>> On Sep 18, 2017, at 10:50 AM, Roanna Bacchus via NABS-L 
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> That is a great idea.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On Sep 18, 2017, at 10:40 AM, Miso Kwak via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org 
>>> <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Sophie, I don't mean to complicate your project - just another
>>> perspective and something you can think about...
>>> Another aspect of disability in today's pop culture is Youtubers who
>>> have a variety of disabilities who create disability related and
>>> sometimes not disability related contents.
>>> Rickie Pointer, Sitting Pretty Lolo, Molly Burke, Fashioneyesta, Lucy
>>> Edwards, Christine Ha, Andrea Lausell for some examples.
>>>
>>> Miso
>>>
>>>> On 9/18/17, Sophie Trist via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> Sandra,
>>>>
>>>> I never even thought of that angle, actually. I was basically using Dr.
>>>> Jernigan's speech about blindness and literature as a template. That 
>>>> speech
>>>> talks about how blind people in literature/film often have super 
>>>> powers,
>>>> super senses, are helpless, are evil and ignorant, etc. But all the 
>>>> examples
>>>> in that speech are really old, so I want some more recent ones. But now 
>>>> that
>>>> you mention it, I could talk a little bit about actors pretending to 
>>>> play
>>>> disabled characters.
>>>>
>>>> Sophie
>>>>
>>>>> On Sep 18, 2017 9:12 AM, Sandra Gayer via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> 
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Hello Sophie,
>>>>> Are you going to be talking about acters pretending to be disabled or
>>>>> are you focusing on real disabled people playing disabled parts in
>>>>> films and television?
>>>>>
>>>>> Very best wishes,
>>>>>
>>>>> Sandra Gayer DipABRSM.
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 9/18/17, Sophie Trist via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>>> Dear NABS friends,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hope everyone's Monday is gejting off to a good start. Next month, I
>>>>>> will be
>>>>>> partnering with another student at my university to give a 
>>>>>> presentation
>>>>>> on
>>>>>> how pop culture portrayals of disabilities create stereotypes and 
>>>>>> form
>>>>>> people's perceptions about us. I will be talking about portrayals of
>>>>>> people
>>>>>> with physical disabilities, while the other student will be talking
>>>>>> about
>>>>>> portrayals of mental disabilities. I have a few ideas (Daredevil, 
>>>>>> Need
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> Breathe), but if anyone knows of a relatively modern book/movie/TV 
>>>>>> show
>>>>>> that
>>>>>> portrays people with disabilities, your input would be super helpful. 
>>>>>> It
>>>>>> can
>>>>>> be blindness, deafness, people in wheelchairs, whatever.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Yours sincerely,
>>>>>> Sophie Trist
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> NABS-L mailing list
>>>>>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>>>> NABS-L:
>>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/sandragayer7%40gmail.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Soprano Singer
>>>>> www.sandragayer.com
>>>>>
>>>>> Broadcast Presenter
>>>>>
>>>>> www.rnibconnectradio.org.uk/music-box.html
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> NABS-L mailing list
>>>>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>>> NABS-L:
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/sweetpeareader%40gmail.com
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> NABS-L mailing list
>>>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>> NABS-L:
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/misokwak12%40gmail.com
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Miso Kwak
>>> University of California, Los Angeles | 2017
>>> Psychology B.A. | Education Studies Minor | Disability Studies Minor
>>> (909) 660-1897
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> NABS-L mailing list
>>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>> NABS-L:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/rbacchus228%40gmail.com 
>>> <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/rbacchus228%40gmail.com>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> NABS-L mailing list
>> NABS-L at nfbnet.org <mailto:NABS-L at nfbnet.org>
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org 
>> <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org>
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> NABS-L:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/singingemmanuelle%40gmail.com 
>> <http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/singingemmanuelle%40gmail.com>
> _______________________________________________
> NABS-L mailing list
> NABS-L at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> NABS-L:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/cnusbaumnfb%40gmail.com

_______________________________________________
NABS-L mailing list
NABS-L at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
NABS-L:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/bookwormahb%40earthlink.net 