[NABS-L] Do you Disclose Vision to College Roomates?

[Gene Kim]

Hey Nick,

Lots of great thoughts here already (not sure if you're looking for more),
but I think as long as you're comfortable about what you decide, both
options work. I didn't disclose my blindness to my college roommate (or
study abroad roommates). There was an awkward first handshake and some
questions later down the line, but nothing major came up. I think if folks
get the sense that you are comfortable with your blindness and get to know
(or at least for now, get a glimpse of) your holistic
personhood/interests/character/story, things will very often pan out okay
whether the blindness piece comes in pre or post in person. I would lean a
little toward finding a natural opening to disclose via text since your
roommates are already getting the sense of who you are overall, but again I
think it won't go awry if you end up not disclosing until you meet in
person.

Kindly,
Gene
--
Gene Sung-Ho Kim | B.S. candidate, Symbolic Systems | Stanford University
Secretary | California Association of Blind Students


On Sun, Aug 2, 2020 at 10:21 AM nspohn0--- via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I will be a college freshman this fall. My Move in day is August 22nd, so
> it
> is coming up quickly! Do you disclose your visual impairment/blindness to
> your college dorm roommates?
>
>
>
> I will be living in an apartment style. The four of us each have our own
> room and there are two bathrooms, 2 people per bathroom. Students are
> responsible for cleaning the bathrooms among themselves. There are also 2
> washers and dryers that the four of us will share.
>
>
>
> I have started to text each of my roommates. We have been talking about
> what
> we are majoring in, things we like to do, etc. I would love to have
> multiple
> opinions on this.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Nic
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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/gene.sh.kim%40gmail.com
>