[Nfbc-info] FW: offensive content: please immediately remove {184578}

[ckrugman at sbcglobal.net]

Brandon, you should publish these articles. they are hilarious.
Chuck
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brandon Keith Biggs via Nfbc-info" <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
To: "Lisa Irving" <peacefulwoman89 at cox.net>; "NFB of California List" 
<nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2014 8:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbc-info] FW: offensive content: please immediately remove 
{184578}


> Hello,
> I found the said article very amusing and wrote a response to it.
> (I had never heard of EHow or About.com before).
> But I also read an article on how to feed a blind person and how to treat 
> a blind person. Which are all valid questions, they just need to not be 
> written by someone with no idea of what they are talking about.
> But here are my responses:
>
>
> How to assist a sighted person
>
> Instructions:
>
> Sight is a very complicated infliction many people are faced with. It can 
> lead to low self esteem, depression, prejudice and lots of extra anxiety.
>
> It often takes sighted people a lifetime to come to terms with themselves.
>
> Something you need to be careful with when dealing with a sighted person 
> is conforming to their definition of what a person is supposed to be. 
> Every sighted person is different, so you need to unfortunately observe 
> them in their own environment before making any kind of conclusion. 
> Sometimes their grasping hands and over enthusiastic reactions to what you 
> do or say can be hard to live with, but here are some techniques to deal 
> with those challenges.
>
> instructions:
>
> 1.
>
> Look at the sighted person's face. They feel neglected and confused when 
> you move your eye sockets away from pointing at their face. Often times 
> this can trigger an unfriendly response in many sighted people. Also make 
> sure your face moves. Good movements include lifting the eyebrows to 
> indicate interest, moving your head up and down to show you agree and 
> moving your head left to right to show you disagree. Another common 
> movement sighted people like to see is a small lift of the shoulders to 
> show you don't know something. But always combine your actions with what 
> you say, because often times sighted people don't see what you are doing 
> and that makes them anxious.
>
> 2.
>
> When you walk into a room make lots of noise so the sighted person knows 
> you are there. It causes lots of anxiety and fear in the sighted person if 
> you are doing something in the same room as they are and they don't notice 
> you are there. Most sighted people have a hard time focusing on more than 
> one thing at once and their eyes can only focus on one point in the room 
> at a time. Making noise alerts the sighted person so they can turn their 
> face toward you if they wish. Some noise options are clattering your cane 
> on the floor, scuffing your feet on the floor, clearing your throat or 
> talking while you enter the room.
>
> 3.
>
> Some sighted people have a hard time talking. Make sure you ask questions 
> in a clear concise manor so they just need to answer in as few words as 
> possible.
>
> 4.
>
> When playing music or a section in a book for a sighted person, slow down 
> your screen reader. Most sighted people have a hard time understanding 
> speech at normal speed.
>
> 5.
>
> If you notice a sighted person getting anxious about something you are 
> doing, start explaining what you are doing in a calm manor. Often times 
> sighted people jump to conclusions very fast. If they still are acting 
> anxious and start touching or grabbing you, stop and in a clear firm tone 
> tell them what you are doing.
>
> 6.
>
> when telling a sighted person directions use as many vague terms as you 
> can. Often times just giving a simple description of a building or object 
> they need to find is too much. They have a hard time understanding 
> landmarks and running into things, so even though they will probably spend 
> extra time finding something because the description they understood was 
> very bad, that is OK, because they thought they knew what you were talking 
> about.
>
> 7.
>
> Sighted people get scared when you use your fingers to steady and mark 
> where to cut with a knife, stab with a fork or place a hot object. Make 
> sure your hand is at least 5 inches away from the point of impact before 
> you perform your action.
>
> Tips and warnings:
>
> Sighted people can be very judgmental so be patient with them.
>
> Having sight does not mean that they use it. Don't expect people to know 
> buildings around a rout they follow every day, or even the street names.
>
> Avoid any mention (unless it is complementary) of a sighted person's dress 
> or looks, many are super sensitive about words like ugly and will fret 
> about it for the rest of the day.
>
> Also, sighted people use much more electricity than normal people, so be 
> aware of that. They like to use these strange devices called lights and 
> they don't do anything but make the sighted person happy. They let off a 
> little heat after they have been on for a while, but that's about it. Just 
> ignore it.
>
>
> How to cair for a sighted person:
>
> 1. Make sure lights are turned on and not facing toward the door. Sighted 
> people don't like walking into dark rooms. They also don't like walking 
> into bright lights, so one needs to find the perfect balance.
>
> 2. Open the curtains if it is day time, even if it is really warm outside 
> and the AC is on. Sighted people love to have the sun shining into their 
> house even though it raises the electrical bill.
>
> 3. Make sure print labels on food and appliances aren't covered by 
> anything so the sighted person can feel comfortable reading the familiar 
> labels. If there aren't already print labels on something, make sure they 
> are printed in at least 14 point font with black letters on a white 
> background. Sighted people have a hard time seeing small and or faded 
> print.
>
> 4. Make sure your TV screen is on and make sure your computer screen shows 
> what you are doing at all times. If you wish to be safe, slow down your 
> screen reader so the sighted person won't feel left out of what you are 
> doing.
>
> Warning!
>
> If you plan on cooking with the sighted person in the house, make sure to 
> wear big gloves, because it raises the anxiety level of the sighted person 
> seeing someone cutting and using hot items without protection.
>
> If you follow all these instructions, you will be able to interact with a 
> sighted person comfortably in your house.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Brandon Keith Biggs
>
> On 7/17/2014 7:43 PM, Lisa Irving via Nfbc-info wrote:
>> Hello Federation Family,
>>
>>
>>
>> For those of us who heard Dr. Mauer's banquet speech we heard him 
>> reference
>> an E-How article. The article described how to "entertain" a blind 
>> person.
>>
>>
>>
>> I wanted to see for myself what the entire article had to say. After 
>> reading
>> the highly offensive article I sent a message and strongly recommended 
>> that
>> the highly offensive article be immediately removed. Below is the 
>> response I
>> received today.
>>
>>
>>
>> From,
>>
>> Lisa Irving
>>
>>
>>
>> From: editorialteam at demandstudios.com
>> [mailto:editorialteam at demandstudios.com] Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2014 
>> 4:19
>> PM
>> To: peacefulwoman89 at cox.net
>> Subject: RE: offensive content: please immediately remove {184578}
>>
>>
>>
>> ## Reply ABOVE THIS LINE to add a note to this request ##
>>
>>
>>
>> Request Update
>>
>> View the complete request history
>> <http://helpdesk.demandstudios.com/index.php?pg=request.check&id=184578hdnhw
>> p>
>>
>>
>> Hello Lisa,
>>
>> Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are having the article
>> removed from the site as it is certainly not something we want on 
>> eHow.com.
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> The DMS Team
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfbc-info mailing list
>> Nfbc-info at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbc-info_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> Nfbc-info:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbc-info_nfbnet.org/brandonkeithbiggs%40gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfbc-info mailing list
> Nfbc-info at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbc-info_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Nfbc-info:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbc-info_nfbnet.org/ckrugman%40sbcglobal.net