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

Sat Jul 19 20:54:02 UTC 2014

Yes Brandon, your articles are hilarious! I have share them with friends. I hope you will consider posting them on eHow or another such resource, best to you! Jennifer

> On Jul 18, 2014, at 12:58 PM, Chuck Krugman via Nfbc-info <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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
>>> 
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>> 
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> 
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