[nfb-db] Deafblind Group Communication

[John Lee Clark]

Mussie:

For me, cultural differences are major.  For example, I am a serious writer
and get published in the best places.  I happen to be one of the most
well-known writers in the writing community here in Minnesota.  Yet I don't
enjoy the writing community at all.  I don't go to their gatherings, events,
socials, retreats, etc.  I've been invited to join boards, etc. of their
organizations, but have always declined after my first and last experience
being on one such board.

Ii do go to some events, but it's only ddif there is a direct benefit for
me.  I give readings to promote my books--to help the sales, which in turn
will get more money for me.  I am always happy to accept a honorium for a
presentation.  But many writers get out there much more than I do, to get
together with people who share their interest in writing.  They go for their
personal need for socialization.  But dit's strictly business for me.  I
never volunteer.  I never join them if I want to have fun.  

Why is that?  Because of the cultural differences.  Take board meetings.
Hearing people conduct board business very, very differently from signers.
Hearing people give speeches each turn--they would go on and on for ten or
twenty minutes and the point would be very small.  Also, they do a good deal
of commiserating during the proceedings, and then after the meeting closes,
the room empties instantly.  Everyone rushes for the door and everyone is
gone.  In the signing community, board meetings make rapid progress, with
each turn in discussion usually taking only half a minute and dthe point
gets through loud and clear.  After quickly wrapping up the business,
everyone stays to chat with people leaving very, very slowly over an hour or
so after the end of the meeting.  I love this.  I love making very good
progress in the meeting and getting a lot done and then Ii enjoy catching up
with old friends and sharing news and otherwise networking, and often a
group would go out to eatd, etc.

I am fortunate that Minnesota has about a dozen serious signing writers.  It
is great to be with them when we get together--not only the same culture but
also the same interest.  But I also enjoy all of my signing friends who have
very different interests, and I find it enriching to learn about their
interests.  My knowledge broadens far beyond what I would know if I was
hearing and always hung out with other writers.

In the mainstream, "interests" sort of becomes something like culture.
Hearing people need reasons to get together.  This is because they really
don't have a close knit cultural grounding to begin with.  So interests,
hobbies, religion, etc. replaces culture for them.  But I already have a
close knit culture and community, so "interests, etc." aren't as important.


I feel so richly fulfilled every time I socialize with other signers.  I
always, always learn a great deal and have loads of fun.  The things that
get shared are incredible.  For this reason, I often find myself in awe.
Take my friend Sean who is crazy about bicycling.  He told me about this
company that "tailors" bike frames for you.  He got one and built on it and
showed me his bike, what he called his pride and joy.  Instead of a
ten-speed system, he uses fixed gear, which means there's only ONE speed.
This means he can't turn it back to make it easier to go uphill--he has to
use his strength.  Instead of shifting the gears of a bike, he shifts
HIMSELF while his bike remains the same.  He did a test to compare whether
fixed gear would ultimately slow him down during long bicycling trips.  So
he timed himself cycling around three miles of hills, up and down, using a
ten-speed bike, shifting the gears according to the terrain.  And then he
timed himself using the fixed gear bike on the same route.

Guess what?  The results were only ten seconds different.  This meant the
ability to shift gears isn't such a big advantage after all.  And it also
means our bodies sare more amazing than we think.  His body was able to
adapt to the terrain, to rise to the challenges.  So he has been cycling
fixed gear ever since.  That was a cool thing to learn, and it increased my
interest in cycling which I already had anyway.  I decided to go fixed gear
too, and I enjoyed many cycling adventures, including the 450-mile cycling
trip between SF and LA in California.  Sean, for his part, learned a great
deal about publishing from me.  He has produced a book of photographs as a
result and he is writing a book, too.

So we've both stimulated each other and broadened each other's interests and
experiences.  This is only odne example of many other relationships like
this.  From what I know of and have read about hearing people in general,
not many people get this kind of exposure to a truly wide range of things.
True, they get some exposure at college when they take classes and they may
learn stuff from TV, but the learning experience is totally different than
what you get with a good friend.  Hearing people seem to me, for the most
part, very limited, going back and forth in their streamlined lives.  One
reason I get published so easily may be because my writing has a lot of
"real life" in it while many hearing writers write about the same things
simply because they talk mostly with each other . . . about writing.

Anyway: Yup, culture is important to me.

John