[stylist] New Book, blindness on TV

Tue Feb 18 16:44:37 UTC 2014

flat?  Here be Dragons!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Applebutter Hill" <applebutterhill at gmail.com>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV


> Apparently, there was a recent survey that found that 26 percent of
> Americans did not know that the Earth goes around the Sun. That's 
> different
> than believing it doesn't, but it's still a sobering commentary on the
> general level of awareness.
>
> Although, I must say, the part I'm standing on certainly does feel flat.
> *grin*
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Homme, 
> James
> Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 1:21 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] New Book, blindness on TV
>
> Hay. The world is flat. I'm stickin' to that story.
> Jim
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Applebutter
> Hill
> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 3:35 PM
> To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
> 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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