Hi. It's just really annoying because whenever I walk around my school and get close to a person and try to walk around them instead of wacking into them they're like, "Watch out!" And I'm like, "I'm not a monster, what'd you think I was going to whack you with the kane or something!" And yeah I was blind from birth and try to look (or at least face) the person who is talking.
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:14:59 -0500, Thomas Ward wrote: >Hi Yohandy, >Speaking from experience both as someone who has had sight and someone >who went blind later in life I think allot of it boils down to >misunderstanding and confusion on what both parties expect. >For example, when I first started losing my vision and I went to a blind > >school allot of the other students who were blind from birth wouldn't >look at my face, into my eyes, etc when I was speaking and that drove me > >nuts. Sighted people like to have good eye contact when speaking, and >when a blind person fails to look directly at a sighted person when they > >are speaking they think the blind person isn't paying attention or can't > >hear them. As a result the sighted person raises his/her voice or >something to attempt to get the blind person's attention not thinking or > >understanding the blind person was never taught to try and look at the >face of the person speaking. >As for the blind person's point of view I haven't had this problem >myself since I try and face the person talking to me, but allot of blind > >persons fail to do this. In my experience allot of them look off in >another direction, don't look directly at a person, etc and they think >so what. I have a cane, I have my guide dog here, and the other person >can see I am blind. They were never told or asked to look into the other > >persons face as that is important to most sighted people. Some blind >people never experienced sight and don't understand the suddle cues body > >language and eye contact express to a sighted person, and it makes a >sighted person react differently when they precieve a lack of attention. >As far as sighted people talking right next to you, about you, and >treating you as though you are deaf or something I think two words can >explain this one, "Myricle Worker." I can not tell you how many times my > >family has been approached by someone holy ignorant about blind people, >and they will say something they had watched the movie the Myricle >Worker and it is terrible to have a child who is deaf and blind. Never >mind I was not deaf and I would or my parents would inform the person I >wasn't deaf just blind. However, movies like the Miricle Worker, based >on one persons life, sets an example, an icon, for what blind people are > >like and sighted people base totally eronious assumptions on what they >have seen and heard on tv or through chit chat. >Hey, my own in-laws had a really warped idea about blind people when I >started dating my wife. They were worried I'd start taking food off of >peoples plates like Hellen Keller did in the Miricle Worker, and I had >to explain to them the obvious. At the time that happened Hellen was 7 >years old, had never been taught anything by anyone, and if the even >paid attention to the movie once Anne showed up she set to the task of >teaching Hellen things like table manners etc right quick. Hellen would >have never done any of those things in her adult life. As it was I went >blind later on so I still have the habits of a sighted person, but am >now blind. > > >Yohandy wrote: >>Oh I know exactly what you mean. A good example that occurs often is you >> >>walk into a classroom, and you can just feel everyone holding their >>breath >>or something, and the noise level drops dramatically. Also they won't >>talk >>to you unless you speak first. perhaps those that used to have sight >>could >>explain this? Did you all of a sudden turn into a dangerous animal when >>you >>lost your sight? gees! lol. I also had the experience with sighted >>people >>asking others do I want this or that. I even had some people yell as >>loudly >>as possible because for some inexplicable reason, they don't know the >>difference between deaf and blind. >> >> > > >--- >Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] >If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at >http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. >All messages are archived and can be searched and read at >http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] >If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the >list, >please send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
