Aspects of Blindness

[serenity55 15]

Hi all,

I said I'd come back and write about myths and blindness. Here are just a few:

Because we have no way of seeing pictures, we don't have any. Not true. I have a photo album filled with pictures of the trips I took to England, and my sister is putting together another one of me from the time I was a child. I also love tee shirts with pictures and sayings on them.

Either we have super hearing, or we're hard of hearing, and people feel they have to raise their voices so we can hear them.

Our hearing is probably no more acute than any sighted person's. We rely on it more, but I often tell people that if they close their eyes and just listen, they might be amazed at what they can hear.

This may not be a myth, but one of my favorite things is going in to a restaurant, and the waiter or waitress says to my companion(s) "What will she have?" When I went to have my blood drawn a week ago, the lab technician spoke to my best friend, not me. I said that, as I was the one having the blood work done, she might want to talk to me. People often get flustered when I confront them like that, but I don't do it to be nasty. (Although, sometimes, like anyone else, i have bad days, and have responded sharply.)

I'm quite capable of asking for help, and when it is unsolicited, it's more of a hindrance than anything. People get their feelings hurt even when I try to be nice about it, but I have to admit that sometimes if they persist, I have to tell them that they're not helping.

If I'm walking in an area I'm not familiar with, very often it's hard to get people to stop to help me. And when I'm waiting to cross a street, and have missed the beginning of the cycle--meaning the light is in my favor--people want to help me cross. I love it when they say to me, "You can cross now," as they are coming toward me from the other side of the street.

OK, so these aren't myths, but there's one more thing I'll mention, and then close for now. If a blind person is in the middle of the street, and a sighted person sees that he or she is heading in to the intersection, or heading toward an idling car, the worst thing that person can do is yell, "Stop!" When I hear that, I'm not sure why I'm stopping, and why would I want to in the middle of the street? Usually, I'm able to correct myself and get safely across the street, but when I hear someone yell "Stop!" I wonder if there's a truck barreling down on me, if a big hole has opened up in front of me, or what. Usually, in my case, it's just that I'm about to hit someone's car with my cane. I don't have a death wish, and there's no way I'll veer in to oncoming traffic. Simply saying calmly that something is wrong is much more helpful. Also, what is most helpful is for a sighted person to approach a blind person and ask if they need assistence. I've heard horror stories of some blind people being jerks, but hopefully, if the answer is no, the person will say so, and thank the person who has offered.

Debbie

[globally yours 0]

Thanks for your insight Serenity. I never thought about yelling STOP how it would be very disconcerting to a blind person.

To answer your question, I have an appointment with the surgeon on April 10th, then all will be submitted to the Insurance Company. So then we will go from there.

Take care,

Melinda

[ReadySteadyGo 8]

Hi! I am a switchboard operator by day, painter by night. I admire you for your musical inclination. OH, I wish I wish I wish I could play an instrument, I have tried but I have no talent for it. I can carry a note carefully, but as much as I love music I just can't produce it.

Thank you for being brave and putting yourself out there. If you make the decision to get banded then I hope you are as happy with it as I am with mine.

[SuzanneG 1]

Hi Serenity,

I find your post very interesting. Thank you for all the information. Your comment about your hearing is particularly interesting to me. And your example of closing your eyes and listening is a good one. I often get teased by my family because I can hear TV better in a dark room, the darker the room, the better I can hear. I have trouble hearing where there is background noise, but have no idea why I hear better in the dark but I swear that I do. I can turn my TV volume much lower if the room is dark. My doctor said he's never heard of such a thing. I know, I'm strange.

I was wondering what JAWS tells you about the tickers in the signatures on this site. When I mouse over them, I don't see any alternative text, so was wondering what you hear when there is a ticker (like in my signature).

Thanks for being so forthcoming. It's enlightening and will likely help us sighted folks learn better manners when meeting a blind person. I always hate it when people shout at my mom because she is older. She has excellent hearing and when she's in the hospital, I sometimes remind her nurse not to shout at her. LOL

[Foofy 0]

Hi Serenity,

How about the news of the first legally blind governor - Governor Paterson of New York state? That's got to be an exciting milestone that will raise awareness.

[serenity55 15]

Hi all,

Ready, Steady Go--thank you for your post. I too am a switchboard operator by day. I really want to get banded, but I want to be as well-informed as possible, yet still moving forward. And, by the way, it's never too late to pick up an instrument. Go for it You may not be giving yourself enough credit. Try again, if you feel up to it. !

Suzanne, I don't think you're strange at all. Most sighted people would make fun of you because they don't listen--present company accepted, of course! :-) JAWS says some weird things. Sometimes it says ticker factory, but when it reads your signature, it says a bunch of letters which I can't remember--something like WQXL. That's not exactly right, but something like that. Could someone explain what that is, the ticker factory, and what all the letters mean?

Foofy, it's pretty cool to have a legally blind governor. From what I've heard of him, I'm sure he'll do us proud.

You sighted folk are awesome! :-)

Debbie

Edited March 19, 2008 by serenity55

[travelgirl 3]

Ok, I have another question for you. You said that you're not totally blind, you see shadows, not really shapes, but just shadows. So when you're alone, do you typically have the lights on when it's dark outside, or off, because you don't need them?

[SuzanneG 1]

The ticker is a visual representation of something we are counting toward. Most count how much weight we lost. It has a background image, there are tons to choose from, mine looks like a road and it has a little red car on it. The car moves down the road as my weight changes. The beginning has my starting weight, the car sits at my current weight, and the end is my goal weight.

Some folks track excersize, days until a trip, BMI and other stuff that I can't remember right now.

[OH Juli 15]

Hi Debbie,

I work at the Ohio School for the Deaf as the cafeteria manager. We share a huge piece of property with the Ohio State School for the Blind and we are starting to share services.

Anyway, I'm hearing and sighted but curious where you went to school and if you were at a School for the Blind how you feel about it.

Thanks for sharing!

Juli

[blahblahblah 4]

Hello Serenity,

It was rather serendipitis (is that the right word?) to come on tonight and see your post as I literally just finished reading a book in which a character lost her sight due to a car accident. It was a Danielle Steel novel called Sisters. Quite frankly, it was the first time I had ever read anything (fictional or non) about a blind person and found it very interesting.

In fact, as I put my four year old daughter to sleep tonight, I closed my eyes to see (remotely) what it would be like...she asked me if I was asleep. :embaressed_smile:

I don't really have any questions to ask you, but I wanted to welcome you to our board and congratulate you on your first steps toward becoming banded. I've been banded for 8 months now and have lost 92lbs. I feel amazing and wish everyone could feel this good.

Best of luck in your pre-op stages. Thank you for sharing yourself with everyone here.

Rain

[serenity55 15]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for the warm responses. I feel like I have a family, even though I'm just starting out.

Thank you, Suzanne, for describing the ticker factory thingie. Yours sounds really cute, I like the idea of the little car moving as your weight goes down. Much good luck to you.

I work at Braille Institute in Los Angeles, and though I never went to a residential school, I did go to an elementary school for the blind. I knew people who went to a school in Berkley, which has been moved to Fremont, I think, in northern California. I think that teachers, and the board of directors, or whatever they were called, had some pretty sad views of the things blind and visually impaired people could and couldn't do. They kept the boys and girls apart, even as teenagers, because I think they didn't believe that the sexes shouldn't mingle. I'm not sure how good the mobility--use of canes--teachers were, because I knew a lot of people who could get pretty disoriented when left to their own devices. This may or may not be a result of the schools for the blind, but I am glad I went to a day school and then went on to be mainstreamed with sighted kids. Sometimes the families of totally blind kids send them to residential schools because they don't think they can cope with them, which is pretty sad. But I also know some people who are quite productive and went to residential schools.

I'm sorry; my brain isn't working tonight, I'm forgetting names. Rain, thank you for your wishes. My brother-in-law did something similar when I lived with him and my sister for a while. My sister told me that he walked through the house in the dark to try to see what it was like for me. And, by the way, I do use the word "see" when I refer to myself, watching Tv, or a movie. Yes, I do go to movies. Please remind me if I'm forgetting anyone; I don't mean to. :-)

Debbie

[serenity55 15]

Good question, Travelgirl. Yes, I turn lights on at night, because I can see them, and actually used to be afraid of the dark. I open curtains and blinds during the day, too!

Debbie

Ok, I have another question for you. You said that you're not totally blind, you see shadows, not really shapes, but just shadows. So when you're alone, do you typically have the lights on when it's dark outside, or off, because you don't need them?

[MacMadame 81]

I knew people who went to a school in Berkley, which has been moved to Fremont, I think, in northern California.

Yep, that's where it is. It shares land with the CA School for the Deaf. There aren't a lot of students there though. Around 70-80. The School for the Deaf is much bigger, over 200.

It's been here as long as I've lived in Fremont. I didn't realize it hadn't always been here. Interesting.