[stylist] Low expectations of the blind; RE: New Book, blindness on TV

Sat Feb 15 18:07:14 UTC 2014

Donna, I know for sure I can do it - I already created one slide, so if I 
can do one, I can do lots more.  This is my goal for this year, to put 
together a power point presentation for a program. Yes, it would be great 
for you to do when you are speaking about your book!  An academic audience 
is used to this kind of prsentation so it will help you, I am sure.
Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Applebutter Hill" <applebutterhill at gmail.com>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2014 12:40 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] Low expectations of the blind;RE: New Book, blindness 
on TV


> Lynda,
> Power Point! Dang, Girl, if you do that, I'll have to give it a try. It
> could come in handy during presentations. Let me know if it's accessible.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda 
> Lambert
> Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2014 7:59 AM
> To: newmanrl at cox.net; Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Low expectations of the blind;RE: New Book, 
> blindness
> on TV
>
> This conversation is making me begin to think about some authors I taught 
> in
> the past in Humanities and English courses.  Now that I am "aware" of
> blindness, which I was NOT at all in the past, I am wondering how I would
> interpret the literature of a blind author. I taught Bourges and I never
> knew he was blind!   I am thinking that now, if I go back to read his 
> work,
> I will interpret many things in a different way.  I taught the "Book of
> Sand" every semester!  Hmmmm.  Now it makes even more sense as an exampe 
> lof
> of Postmodernism which was the focus it had for me at the time.  WOW, this
> is beginning to be a revelation to me.  I know that many of the artists I
> taught were blind or visually impaired, but their work was not generally
> explored through that lens.
> I am going to begin looking much deeper into this for my own research - if
> anyone has any more information on artists and writers who are/were blind 
> I
> would love to hear from you as I begin my own little research project on
> this matter.
>
> I am re-learning how to do Power Point presentations now. Normally, this 
> is
> how I lectured but until now, I could not have done it again. I know now,
> that I can do it, it's just going to take awhile for me to teach myself
> again.  I am scheduled to do two presentation at Slippery Rock University 
> of
> PA in March - I'll use my milestone to give me verbal "cues" as I am
> speaking, for these presentations. But, I want to begin to develop some
> presentations using power point and I am sure I can do it again - I just
> need to have the time and put in the work to accomplish it.  I have always
> loved doing lectures and presentations and I want to do them again - so I 
> am
> gonna work on it!
>
> Lynda
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robert Leslie Newman" <newmanrl at cox.net>
> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 11:22 PM
> Subject: [stylist] Low expectations of the blind;RE: New Book, blindness 
> on
> TV
>
>
>> Hi you all, this has been an interesting conversation:
>>
>> Here is another generalization that many around the world have
>> developed over the eons: Blindness is the most God awful, feared
>> physical condition that mankind can experience.
>>
>> I had read and heard this forever, from the mouths of people on the
>> street, to what I've learned in a variety of college classes..though,
>> over the past couple of decades blindness has been pushed down to
>> third place. Guess what has eclipsed being blind as the most feared?
>> Aids and cancer. And hey, I can believe that these two physical
>> conditions are far worse...after all, either one of these two monster
>> conditions can kill you!!! (Though, there are some who feel that
>> blindness is a living death. And yeah, if you allow it to rule! And
>> this is where the NFB has done the world a great service...as in we
>> have developed a philosophy, built a framework of alternative
>> techniques, and influenced the making of a wide variety of tools that
>> in combination...will allow most of us to reduce the effects of
>> blindness, down to  a level whereby most of us can say with an honesty
>> level of 100%, 100%, that the loss of sight is not a major impediment
>> to living a successful and happy life. No...the true problem we face
>> is more the ignorance and the lack of information about the human
>> potential to successfully live with blindness is the toughest
>> impediment to being blind. MMM, go figure? [Being blind isn't the
>> problem, living in a world of ignorance is.]
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> Applebutter Hill
>> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 9:10 PM
>> To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>>
>> Lynda,
>> At 70, I should certainly hope you (or anyone) would have developed a
>> healthy level of skepticism. *grin*
>>
>> I know that black people face prejudice and low expectations, but I
>> think the fact that white people enslaved them to actually do
>> something, makes that low level quite a bit higher than for blind
>> people. We aren't deemed capable of planting a field, keeping up a
>> household or even caring for children -- as the incident in the
>> Midwest a few years ago shoed, when a child was removed shortly after
> birth from its blind parents.
>>
>> Our traditional purpose is to give the average person something they
>> can look at and say, "Well, I may have problems, but at least I'm not
> blind."
>> We
>> also have traditionally provided them with opportunities to do good 
>> deeds.
>> Expecting us to no longer be helpless fundamentally changes how they
>> see themselves.
>>
>> Your post reminds me of a story I heard from a blind woman who was
>> accepted to grad school. Her aunt was furious that she had stolen the
>> position from someone who could really benefit from it. The belief was
>> that anything that a blind person accomplished was just another
>> example of the kindness of strangers in elevating a pitiful person and
>> helping them feel better about themselves. BTW, she has a doctorate in
>> law. I heard many similar stories when I was writing about Braille
>> literacy -- they weren't on topic at the time, and I had hoped to
>> gather some of the things people told me into articles about some of
>> these more subtle things that are going on to this day, but it never
>> happened.
>> Donna
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda
>> Lambert
>> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 6:31 PM
>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>>
>> Donna, yes, the expectations for blind people are very low.  I believe
>> that is why blind people as a group are the highest educated of all
>> people with disabilities, yet, they are the lowest employed people of
>> all the groups.
>> This says it all - we are not expected to be smart, able, or willing
>> to succeed at anything more than very low levels.
>> This is my own thoughts on it and I recognize I am quite skeptical
>> about it
>> - but heck, I am 70 years old now, so I guess I can blame it on my age.
>> I think we have to work so far beyond what other people have to do to
>> find success at so many things. And, this is also true of black
>> people.  I do not know this from a distance, or from reading books on
>> the subject which of course I do all the time. I know it personally,
>> because my son is black and his family is black - they are very highly
>> educated professionals - she a physician, he a psychologist.  At every
>> level, black people still face very low expectations and racism - and
>> I think blind people are very close to the same in the general view of
>> the ST"STUPID public. I agree with you. They are ver STUPID, but we
>> won't tell them that, just yet. lol
>>
>> Lynda
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Applebutter Hill" <applebutterhill at gmail.com>
>> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 3:34 PM
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>>
>>
>>> Lynda,
>>> Like you've noticed with your sister and the key, sighted people will
>>> not accept anything we do as anything other than a fluke or a miracle.
>>> Even faced with a clear description of the usefulness of other
>>> senses, they somehow still have to brush anything aside that
>>> conflicts with what they kno ... Blindness is essentially
>>> insurmountable. I think of it as being similar to the days when a few
>>> nutheads were trying to explain to the human race that the world is not
> flat.
>>>
>>> Coincidentally, I just got an e-mail from a rehab counsellor in PA,
>>> who I reached out to on Linked In -- I offer them a free e-book
>>> version of my novel and explain why I think it has value for them and
>>> their clients. I mention the issue of dealing with low expectations.
>>> This man said that, as
>>
>>> a
>>> person who used to work with BVI and now works with other
>>> disabilities, he believes that the issue of low expectations is much
>>> worse for those with vision loss. I have always felt that way, but I
>>> don't have the credentials to say so. It meant a lot to me to hear
>>> that
>> from someone.
>>>
>>> You hit on the reason behind my removing all references to blindness
>>> from my online book descriptions; it's a taboo. Just imagine someone
>>> getting my book and not knowing that the heroine is blind and has a
>>> guide dog. They will have to read through at least a page before it
>>> becomes clear to them. Some will be angry with me, because I didn't
>>> warn them. Some, I hope, will have gotten hooked by something else in
>>> the story and read it anyway. It's fiction, so they don't have to
>>> change their stupid belief systems, but I hope they will have a bit
>>> of an adjustment  in spite of themselves.
>>> Donna
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda
>>> Lambert
>>> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 9:18 AM
>>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>>>
>>> It's a Friday morning snow storm here - a beautiful day outside. Time
>>> to get some coffee and begin my day, but first I wanted to drop a not
>>> on your discussion which is so interesting to me.
>>>
>>> I think Bridgit really hit it - unless a sighted person has had a lot
>>> of time together with a blind person, they are really clueless and
>>> they could care less about knowing positive things.  They still live
>>> with the mentality of the question they have asked themselves and
>>> each other for years, "Would you rather lose your sight, or your
> hearing?".
>>> To sighted people losing sight or hearing is the worst case scenario
>>> they can think of and they are not about to look any closer into
>>> either of the two life-challenges.  And, as Henrietta, experienced,
>>> even close family members really don't understand how we do things.
>>> Not really.  They watch us, but we are a mystery to them even though
>>> they have been around us many times over the years.
>>> Occasionally there is some little revelation that they grasp, but I
>>> think it is very rare.
>>>
>>> A couple years ago I went on a short 5 hour trip with my sister.
>>> When we arrived at our cousin's home, we had instructions to locate
>>> her house key and let ourselves in because they were away on vacation
>>> and we would have their home to stay in.  My sister retrieved the
>>> key, as instructed.  She began to try to open the door.  She fiddled
>>> around for quite awhile with the key and the lock in the door - yet,
>>> she could not get it open. She tried turning the key around, tried
>>> going faster, slower, but no luck.  Finally,
>>
>>> I
>>> quietly said to her, "Give me the key and let me see what I can do."
>>> She snickered and said "Oh, sure, you are going to open the door that
>>> you can't even see!"  I took the key from her, felt the key, and
>>> inserted it into the door's lock slowly. Then, I put my left had on
>>> the door, just above the lock, so I could FEEL any movement the lock
>>> would make.  And, I leaned very close to the lock, and I listened.
>>> Very quickly, as I slowly turned the key, I felt the vibration of it
>>> moving, and I heard the click as it was disengaged.  I smiled, and
>>> handed over the key to her, and said, "The door is open."  She loudly
>>> proclaimed, "I cannot believe it! A blind person could open the door
>>> and I couldn't."
>>>
>>> I smiled at her and said, "You could not open the door because you
>>> were using only your eyes. I opened it because I could feel it and
>>> hear it moving."  To her it was something very weird that I had
>>> actually opened up the door that she had struggled with and could not
>>> get the job done.  I think in her mind it was a lucky accident even
>>> though I explained why it happened.  Most sighted people do not think
>>> we can do much of anything, no matter what we achieve - honestly,
>>> that is what I think. So, for most sighted people to read about a
>>> blind hero in a fictional account, I say, "Dream on!"  I think the
>>> interest level for a sighted person to even read a book through is
>>> really a stretch unless that person is really on a mission to learn
>>> more about blindness and diversity and inclusion. Maybe in a
>>> literature course, where it would be included in the required
>>> reading, but on their own, I think the chances are quite slim.  But,
>>> then, as I write this I am optimistic enough to think I see a "movie"
>>> that could be made that would be exciting to them. Who knows? I sure
>>> don't.  Why is it that we are constantly told we are "amazing" when
>>> we do things that are high level achievements for anyone at all?  Why
>>> is it that some people droll all over us about how inspiring we are
>>> and how tragic it is that we
>> lost our sight?
>>> I just smile at them and say, "NO, not really! It is just who I am
>>> and who
>>
>>> I
>>> have always been."  That usually leaves them speechless and the
>>> conversation ends.  Write on! Lynda
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Applebutter Hill" <applebutterhill at gmail.com>
>>> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 9:07 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>>>
>>>
>>>> Great story!
>>>> Donna
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>>> Henrietta Brewer
>>>> Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 7:32 PM
>>>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>>>>
>>>> You guys make me laugh. You're right, Sighted people can't imagine
>>>> the blind being the hero. At Christmas, when the power was out in
>>>> our town, I had twenty five or thirty people here most days. We had
>>>> a generator so we had a few lights but not in more then half the house.
>>>>
>>>> I didn't think much of it while everyone was here. Though I was
>>>> tired of doing all the fetching because no one could find anything
>>>> in the dark.
>>>> When
>>>> everyone left and I was cleaning house, I saw how difficult it was
>>>> for our guests. They had only a flashlight in the bathroom and their
>>>> bedroom and nothing was where it should be.
>>>>
>>>> they all mention now, that they will call me in any black out. But
>>>> it took reality to get even family to realize that a blind person
>>>> can be helpful in a black out. lol Henrietta On Feb 13, 2014, at
>>>> 12:10 AM, Bridgit Pollpeter
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> When I wrote a short mystery story for a detective fiction class I
>>>>> took at university, I made my main character blind, which is the
>>>>> first time I did this. Anyway, at one point, the house the two main
>>>>> characters are sleeping in goes up in flames, and the blind
>>>>> character navigates them out of the house. Using his other senses,
>>>>> he makes it out the front door. I did do some research before
>>>>> writing the scene, but mostly based it off my own knowledge of what
>>>>> a blind person might do in that particular situation. When
>>>>> critiqueing our stories, a classmate said, to my face, it wasn't
>>>>> believeable that a blind person could do that and I should change
>>>>> that scene. Another classmate, to my surprise, said who better than
>>>>> a blind person to navigate through a situation where sight wouldn't
>>>>> be much help because of the smoke, and that by smell and feeling
>>>>> heat, surely a blind person would be able to navigate just as well,
>>>>> if not better, than a sighted person. After considering this point,
>>>>> the first person half-heartedly agreed. My point being that I agree
>>>>> with Chris that even though these stories are being written by
>>>>> blind people, most of the sighted world can't, or won't, buy a
>>>>> blind person doing the things we make them do, living as
>>>>> independent, active,
>> vital people.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bridgit
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>>>> Chris Kuell
>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2014 7:47 AM
>>>>> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>>>>> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Donna,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm generally skeptical by nature, but I really hope they do a good
>>>>> job with this show. It's exactly what we've been talking about
>>>>> here--an opportunity to crush the stupid stereotypes and let the
>>>>> public see a guy who is interesting, and just happens to be blind.
>>>>> If it does a good job, and if the public enjoys it, it could open
>>>>> the door to more blind characters in the
>>>>>
>>>>> arts. Personally, I feel certain that the reason books like yours
>>>>> and mine aren't getting read by agents and traditional publishers
>>>>> is because we have blind protagonists. An agent, or more likely, an
>>>>> agent's assistant reads my query and thinks--a blind protagonist?
>>>>> Nobody is going to buy that. It's too outside mainstream experience.
>>>>>
>>>>> Hopefully, the times, they are a changing.
>>>>>
>>>>> chris
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Writers Division web site
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>>>>> o
>>>>> tm
>>>>> ai
>>>>> l.com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>> om
>>>>> cast.net
>>>>
>>>>
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