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first English folio
Aug. 26th, 2003 12:47 pmThought I might start putting in here some of my work. This is from 2001 English:
note: these are just my first drafts sorry
Instructional
Rachel Keyte.
How To Talk To A Blind Person
When approaching a blind person, most people appear hesitant, shy, confused, and in most cases petrified. When they have to then talk to that blind person, it's like a whole new step in life.
"oh my gosh," They'd think to themselves, "I've never had to do this before. Do I look alright? Shit, woops, they can't see!" … "Um, I've never done this before, how do I talk? … What if I say something wrong? … I wonder if any of my friends have done this before? I wish I'd taken more notice of how they did it."
All these thoughts are obviously rushing through heads of confused souls as they're about to step up to say that first word to a blind person.
My 22 years as a blind person, qualifies me to give my best advice to these people, which I will give in the below "seven handy tips."
Note: I will be using examples of what I've delt with myself (especially when I was younger) and the other examples have been taken from what I've observed, and/or what I've been told has happened to some of my other blind friend's.
1. If you observe a blind person in the street, who appears to you to be lost or confused on their path of travel, you may walk up to them and ask politely "excuse me, do you need help?"
2. Do not just grab their arm and drag them somewhere, (this is including and especially if they are having difficulty crossing a road.)
3. Always wait for a reply from the blind person, and if they do require assistance from you, then you should say "would you like to take my arm?" Now they may take your arm (as you have asked) or they may reply "I will follow you thank you."
4.
2. Kids have been known to give their blind peers a real hard time. It is hard enough for them to feel accepted in a school of all sighted children without the added pressure of unintelligent questions kids have been known to ask their blind peers.
"Hey you! How many fingers have I got up?" they'll say, and at this they'll hold their hand up so close to the blind person's face, that the fingers can be felt by the eyes, thereby, may be able to count them anyway.
If your child is being sent to a school where you've "heard on the great vine" there'll be a blind person attending, please try to educate your children well. Let them ask you questions, and answer them to the best of your ability.
For goodness sakes, explain the obvious. Don't say "blind people are very delicate creatures. Stay away from them" etc. Istead, let your child know that they're humans, "just like yourself" "They have perfect abilities, like you, the only thing that's different about them, is, they don't have sight like you. Something is wrong with their eyes, and they don't see as well as you. So please, I'd like you to be nice and include him/her. If he/she looks as if they're alone in the playground, go up and make friends."
By giving your child accurate information from the start, will eliminate the "stupid questions" and in some cases the "teasing" that goes on at school, mostly with the younger kids.
3. If you are a teacher, and find out there'll be a "blind kid" in your class, don't panic. Everything is okay, all is still right with the world.
All they want to do is "learn" just like everyone else. If they come up to your desk with a piece of work that needs correcting:
A. Just be grateful it's the 90's 00's, and there are such devices such as braillers attached to printers, laptops, etc. which will make it easier for you to have immediate access to the student's work.
B. Take the piece of work that's being handed to you from the blind student, read and comment just as you would to any other student. Don't be afraid to criticize accordingly.
4. In this step we will be discussing the "blind person" as they have successfully completed their year's of primary school, and are about to attend their secondary school.
Again, if your sighted child is attending the same school as a "blind person", talk to them. Explain to them that the "blind student" will be feeling just as apprehensive as you are, but added to all that, they can't see, therefore, they'll be needing additional help to initially learn their way around the school.
If it's your child that will be in the same class as the "blind person", explain to them that this student will more than likely have an additional helper (an integration aid) in the class with them.
If you can then appreciate the blind person's feelings about all this, you may then explain to your child that this blind student probably would feel "different" as it is without having another adult (apart from the teacher), present in the classroom. So, please, explain to your child that the student still wishes to socialize and feel "normal" so suggest going up to the student before/after class and make conversation. This will make the blind student feel a part of the group.
5. This step directly relates to any integration aid who may be reading this.
If you are, or have been assigned to work with a particular blind student, please know that your help will be really valuable. If this is your second, third, and so on, time of doing this, you are lucky. However, if this is your first time, here are some tips to get you started:
A. Remember your presence in the classroom is merely to assist the blind student with tasks such as, note taking, personal reading, etc. You are not the student's extra tutor.
B. Teachers will quite often talk to you instead of the student. Try your hardest to prevent this from happening. The best thing to do would be to back off while the student is being spoken to by the teacher. You could also kindly explain to the teacher that he/she should be talking to the blind student. Afterall, it is him/her that's doing the work, not you. Why should you get the credit for it??
C. Don't keep the blind student from socializing with his/her peers. Don't tell your student off for talking in class. It is up to them to be responsible for their own actions, not you.
D. Don't take your stresses out on your student; not a good move.
Keeping all this in mind with assisting your blind student, you will no doubt have the best integration - aid to student relationship any blind student has ever had in this country.
6. This step is talking to those of you who are loving members of our community, who again are too shy to talk directly to a blind person, so, what do you do? talk to their spouse, sighted friend, parent, sister, brother, etc. instead.
Yes, I'm talking to you; the people who have been known to approach a blind person, look away towards the sighted company and say "and what will she have," or, "Is he cold? Would he like me to turn the heater on?"
You sound like you have the blind person's best interest at heart, but are frightened that when you directly speak to the blind person, they may "freak out" or, not answer you at all.
Do not do this! Blind people are capable of speech. "Blind" doesn't refer to the person not being able to speak. They can't see. What, in the world does this have to do with speech?
Hey, try it. Next time, talk directly to a blind person. You'll be surprised; They'll probably be just as surprised as you are, as you'll both be communicating directly to each other.
7. Last, but not least:
When you are talking to a "blind person", you do not have to be wary of the words you use. For example, if you start to say "did you watch the movie last night on TV" but stop because you think you've said the wrong thing by saying "watch", stress less. Don't correct yourself, just continue your conversation. Blind people like you to talk to them as you would talk to anyone else. Words such as see, watch, look etc. have become a part of everyday vocabulary, and as strange as it may seem, blind people don't like being excluded from this way of speech.
General information
Remember, blind people are just as important in this world as you are. They have a right to be there as well as you. They want to learn, make friends, fight, etc. just the same as everybody else.
Blind person's will enjoy company from sighted people, but please remember, they strive for equality. Do not be patronizing when talking to them. Do not bend/kneel down to get down or up to their level. And do not talk loud (as though they're deaf.) Talk "normal"; how you'd be expected to be spoken too.
Thanks for reading these seven steps. Go on, make a difference. Right now, today, make a blind person feel special. Don't tell them you've had to read this recipe though, that might scare them off.
note: these are just my first drafts sorry
Instructional
Rachel Keyte.
How To Talk To A Blind Person
When approaching a blind person, most people appear hesitant, shy, confused, and in most cases petrified. When they have to then talk to that blind person, it's like a whole new step in life.
"oh my gosh," They'd think to themselves, "I've never had to do this before. Do I look alright? Shit, woops, they can't see!" … "Um, I've never done this before, how do I talk? … What if I say something wrong? … I wonder if any of my friends have done this before? I wish I'd taken more notice of how they did it."
All these thoughts are obviously rushing through heads of confused souls as they're about to step up to say that first word to a blind person.
My 22 years as a blind person, qualifies me to give my best advice to these people, which I will give in the below "seven handy tips."
Note: I will be using examples of what I've delt with myself (especially when I was younger) and the other examples have been taken from what I've observed, and/or what I've been told has happened to some of my other blind friend's.
1. If you observe a blind person in the street, who appears to you to be lost or confused on their path of travel, you may walk up to them and ask politely "excuse me, do you need help?"
2. Do not just grab their arm and drag them somewhere, (this is including and especially if they are having difficulty crossing a road.)
3. Always wait for a reply from the blind person, and if they do require assistance from you, then you should say "would you like to take my arm?" Now they may take your arm (as you have asked) or they may reply "I will follow you thank you."
4.
2. Kids have been known to give their blind peers a real hard time. It is hard enough for them to feel accepted in a school of all sighted children without the added pressure of unintelligent questions kids have been known to ask their blind peers.
"Hey you! How many fingers have I got up?" they'll say, and at this they'll hold their hand up so close to the blind person's face, that the fingers can be felt by the eyes, thereby, may be able to count them anyway.
If your child is being sent to a school where you've "heard on the great vine" there'll be a blind person attending, please try to educate your children well. Let them ask you questions, and answer them to the best of your ability.
For goodness sakes, explain the obvious. Don't say "blind people are very delicate creatures. Stay away from them" etc. Istead, let your child know that they're humans, "just like yourself" "They have perfect abilities, like you, the only thing that's different about them, is, they don't have sight like you. Something is wrong with their eyes, and they don't see as well as you. So please, I'd like you to be nice and include him/her. If he/she looks as if they're alone in the playground, go up and make friends."
By giving your child accurate information from the start, will eliminate the "stupid questions" and in some cases the "teasing" that goes on at school, mostly with the younger kids.
3. If you are a teacher, and find out there'll be a "blind kid" in your class, don't panic. Everything is okay, all is still right with the world.
All they want to do is "learn" just like everyone else. If they come up to your desk with a piece of work that needs correcting:
A. Just be grateful it's the 90's 00's, and there are such devices such as braillers attached to printers, laptops, etc. which will make it easier for you to have immediate access to the student's work.
B. Take the piece of work that's being handed to you from the blind student, read and comment just as you would to any other student. Don't be afraid to criticize accordingly.
4. In this step we will be discussing the "blind person" as they have successfully completed their year's of primary school, and are about to attend their secondary school.
Again, if your sighted child is attending the same school as a "blind person", talk to them. Explain to them that the "blind student" will be feeling just as apprehensive as you are, but added to all that, they can't see, therefore, they'll be needing additional help to initially learn their way around the school.
If it's your child that will be in the same class as the "blind person", explain to them that this student will more than likely have an additional helper (an integration aid) in the class with them.
If you can then appreciate the blind person's feelings about all this, you may then explain to your child that this blind student probably would feel "different" as it is without having another adult (apart from the teacher), present in the classroom. So, please, explain to your child that the student still wishes to socialize and feel "normal" so suggest going up to the student before/after class and make conversation. This will make the blind student feel a part of the group.
5. This step directly relates to any integration aid who may be reading this.
If you are, or have been assigned to work with a particular blind student, please know that your help will be really valuable. If this is your second, third, and so on, time of doing this, you are lucky. However, if this is your first time, here are some tips to get you started:
A. Remember your presence in the classroom is merely to assist the blind student with tasks such as, note taking, personal reading, etc. You are not the student's extra tutor.
B. Teachers will quite often talk to you instead of the student. Try your hardest to prevent this from happening. The best thing to do would be to back off while the student is being spoken to by the teacher. You could also kindly explain to the teacher that he/she should be talking to the blind student. Afterall, it is him/her that's doing the work, not you. Why should you get the credit for it??
C. Don't keep the blind student from socializing with his/her peers. Don't tell your student off for talking in class. It is up to them to be responsible for their own actions, not you.
D. Don't take your stresses out on your student; not a good move.
Keeping all this in mind with assisting your blind student, you will no doubt have the best integration - aid to student relationship any blind student has ever had in this country.
6. This step is talking to those of you who are loving members of our community, who again are too shy to talk directly to a blind person, so, what do you do? talk to their spouse, sighted friend, parent, sister, brother, etc. instead.
Yes, I'm talking to you; the people who have been known to approach a blind person, look away towards the sighted company and say "and what will she have," or, "Is he cold? Would he like me to turn the heater on?"
You sound like you have the blind person's best interest at heart, but are frightened that when you directly speak to the blind person, they may "freak out" or, not answer you at all.
Do not do this! Blind people are capable of speech. "Blind" doesn't refer to the person not being able to speak. They can't see. What, in the world does this have to do with speech?
Hey, try it. Next time, talk directly to a blind person. You'll be surprised; They'll probably be just as surprised as you are, as you'll both be communicating directly to each other.
7. Last, but not least:
When you are talking to a "blind person", you do not have to be wary of the words you use. For example, if you start to say "did you watch the movie last night on TV" but stop because you think you've said the wrong thing by saying "watch", stress less. Don't correct yourself, just continue your conversation. Blind people like you to talk to them as you would talk to anyone else. Words such as see, watch, look etc. have become a part of everyday vocabulary, and as strange as it may seem, blind people don't like being excluded from this way of speech.
General information
Remember, blind people are just as important in this world as you are. They have a right to be there as well as you. They want to learn, make friends, fight, etc. just the same as everybody else.
Blind person's will enjoy company from sighted people, but please remember, they strive for equality. Do not be patronizing when talking to them. Do not bend/kneel down to get down or up to their level. And do not talk loud (as though they're deaf.) Talk "normal"; how you'd be expected to be spoken too.
Thanks for reading these seven steps. Go on, make a difference. Right now, today, make a blind person feel special. Don't tell them you've had to read this recipe though, that might scare them off.
