[stylist] Blind or Visually Impaired Authors; RE: New Book, blindness on TV
Bridgit Pollpeter
bpollpeter at hotmail.com
Sun Feb 16 16:21:41 UTC 2014
Bill,
I'm no great writer, but I did write a short story where the main
character was blind but I never referred to him as being blind. The
entire story was told in his POV, meaning no visual descriptions. It
went over pretty well in one of my writing classes, but I found it
difficult to write this way since I was sighted for 22 years before
losing sight, and when I write, I see every detail visually and clearly
in my mind, so to not write visual descriptions was actually a challenge
for me despite the fact I haven't been able to see in ten years, smile.
By not stating my character as blind, it seemed to allow classmates to
read it and enjoy it without getting too caught up in that one fact.
During the critique session, only two comments were made directly about
blindness.
In light of the intent of this division, perhaps we can take this up as
a writing challenge? Write something, as long or short as you like,
using no visual descriptions.
Bridgit
Bridgit
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cheryl
Orgas & William Meeker
Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2014 8:59 AM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Blind or Visually Impaired Authors;RE: New Book,
blindness on TV
Linda,
Blind or visually impaired authors Homer, John Milton, James Joyce, and
James Thurber come to mind first. That they were known for their works
rather than their blindness is to me a measure of their success.
Several authors have written novels without using common vowels, such as
the letter "E." So how about a novel or short story depicting a blind
character without using the word "blind?" That is, describing them and
their actions including alternative techniques and letting the reader
figure out that they are blind.
Or how about a novel or short story written without visual
descriptions. That is, using only descriptions of sounds, textures,
tastes, and feelings?
I can think up these ideas, but I lack the skill, drive, and
self-disclipline to execute them. So have fun.
Bill Meeker
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda
Lambert
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2014 6:59 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
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