"How to write a blind character" guide?

[steorran_worulde]

Hi,
This post may be stretching the boundaries of this community, since it's not exactly about fandom, but:

trouble directed me here and suggested that people here might have links to things of the form "How to write characters with X disability". The thing I'm particularly investigating at the moment is blindness. I want to know what kinds of things blind people can do that sighted people might expect that they couldn't do, and what kinds of adaptations they make to do these things. I also want to know about what kinds of things blind people find difficult that a sighted person might not expect. And, more generally, I want to know what I should know about blindness and being blind that I might not even know to ask about.

The context in which I'll be putting this information to use is not for writing a blind character in a sighted society, but for designing a culture in which everyone is blind. Still, things aimed at helping authors write blind characters in sighted society will likely still be useful to me.

Comments

[0jack]

I just today read these articles on blindness, art, and perspective:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2011/06/10/137082769/space-without-eyes
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2011/06/17/137139208/blind-perspective

The research of John Kennedy can be found here:
http://www.scar.utoronto.ca/~kennedy/

Hopefully this will be of some use in informing your concept of what it is to be blind.

Also, from a writer's perspective, I suggest that you abandon the entire concept of blindness in order to better create your milieu—if you work on the mental exercise long enough, you'll probably find it takes. I have a close friend who was born without complete optic nerves and he is in no way "disabled". He just perceives things differently than those of us who use sight.

Further, you can spend some time blindfolded, I suggest a significant length of time, in order to see how your perception changes. I did that for a piece in which a character had to be blindfolded for medical reasons but also had to function as the most able person of his group, in an unknown environment. Simply as an exercise, writing pieces without using one of the senses at all is really enriching.

[steorran_worulde]

Thanks for the links - I haven't had a chance to read them yet, but I will.

Also, from a writer's perspective, I suggest that you abandon the entire concept of blindness in order to better create your milieu—if you work on the mental exercise long enough, you'll probably find it takes.
I'm not sure what you mean by that.

I have a close friend who was born without complete optic nerves and he is in no way "disabled". He just perceives things differently than those of us who use sight.
Certainly one of the things going on in this imaginary society is that being unable to see isn't a disability, because it's just normal. That's how life is. They haven't even had contact with sighted society for thousands of years, so are basically unaware that human vision exists.

The blindfold practice idea is a good one. I'll have to see if I can make time to try that.

[0jack]

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

Well, this is how I'd take a run at the concept you're working on. Blindness is a deeply ingrained concept in our paradigm, so is sight. We ascribe all kinds of values for those concepts. So when you consider your creation (if you consider anything for a while, really), try and throw out the whole idea as a mental exercise. Don't even use the terms for a while and see how your perspective shifts. When you come across things like "he has great vision", disengage the concept of "vision" from the aspect that applies to using one's eyes. Then, what if you kept the concept of "seeing" and applied it to other input? Most of us can't imagine telling someone without sight to "look" at something, but what does "looking" become when vision has never existed?

There are all kinds of ways you can go about getting into the headspace necessary to write this world, those are just some of the mental exercises I'd do in order to get the concepts down.

[redbird]

I'm not mac, obviously, and don't know what zie meant, but one difference is that a blind person in our society is dealing with a society set up on the assumption that most people can see. In a society where nobody has ever had vision, that wouldn't be the case. For example, there wouldn't be a transport system that relied on large numbers of sighted people to operate vehicles, and risked the lives of people who couldn't see them. (Think carefully about your transport infrastructure, and remember that transport includes food.)

[steorran_worulde]

How much time did you spend blindfolded in your experiment?

[0jack]

Well, because I have severe migraines with optic distortion, it hasn't all been exactly voluntary. I've spent hours at a time without being able to rely on my vision, and I've had to do so when I've been out and about. Unnerving, but educational. Sometimes, it doesn't take long at all for my brain to make the shift away from using my eyes.

Just put yourself in a space where you've got some things you could do, like folding laundry or washing dishes, and do it without sight. Some form of blindfold is good because then you don't have to think about not opening your eyes. I find that after a while, I start using my senses differently. You could even do some experimentation like cutting and sewing a simple object, or assembling something out of Legos. :) But, absolutely, DO something concrete and productive. Make tea, make a sandwich.

(Yes, I do thought experiments like this all the time for all kinds of things, in addition to doing research.)

[ambyr]

Since your journal mentions you've also been thinking about a society where most people are deaf, I thought I'd point you toward Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard.

I know of nothing similar involving blindness. Sorry. (Well, I can think of a series of fantasy novels which has a culture in which everyone is blind, but--fantasy. I like 'em, but the people make heavy use of magic, which makes parallels with actual blindness dubious at best.)

[steorran_worulde]

Thanks - my half-deaf society is only a back-burner concept sketch right now, and is not likely to become more in the near future, but the Martha's Vineyard book does look interesting, and would certainly be extremely relevant if I ever do decide to do more with the half-deaf society. I've heard about the Martha's Vineyard story before but haven't read anything in depth about it.

[steorran_worulde]

Thanks for recommending "Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language". I just finished reading it, and I really liked it.

[jadelennox]

I can point you to an object lesson in how NOT to do a culture in which everyone is blind, which is David Stahler's truesight triology. Blindness as metaphor for ignorance is just the tip of the iceberg, along with way too fast learning of vision after acquired sight.

But I can't give much positive advice, sorry. D:

[attackfish]

Remind me not to read this. You had me at "metaphor for ignorance."

[bliumchik]

There's a short story by someone I can't remember about a post-economic-apocalypse traveler coming upon a deaf-blind free love commune - I mean, disability as spiritual awakening is a bit hokey and there's some awkward underage sex stuff, but I thought the actual adaptations made by the community in that story were really interesting, and it was in fact an entire community, so you might gain some inspiration from that. Particularly, I suppose, for accessibility accommodations for deaf people WITHIN the context of that society. Ah, I found it (thank google :P) it's John Varley. here they link to an audio version and google books and whatnot.

blindness resource page for fanfic writers

[(Anonymous)]

I put together an info & resource page for fanfic writers in the Covert Affairs fandom. The blind character, Auggie Anderson, is realistically played by sighted actor, Chris Gorham. (With the exception of Auggie's fictional laser projection mobility device. When the script calls for it, Auggie has great white cane skills. I wish the writers had kept that normal facet of blind life, instead of adding a sci-fi device.)

Here's the link. I apologize that it is not coded properly with heading levels that would make access by screenreaders easier. The site where I posted would not allow accessible html coding, but I wanted to place it there as a way to inform the Covert Affairs fic writers on that site who are/were unfamiliar with blindness.

http://www.fanfiction.net/~resourceress7
Mobile version: http://m.fanfiction.net/u/2554086?a=b

Re: blindness resource page for fanfic writers

[steorran_worulde]

Thanks. I'll look at it.

[learninbabysteps.blogspot.com]

If you or anyone else is still interested, I would be happy to talk to you about what it is like to live as a blind person, since I have been totally blind all my life.

[steorran_worulde]

Thanks for the offer! I'm definitely interested, but I'd have to think about what questions I'd want to ask, so I might not have questions immediately. How should I contact you?

[(Anonymous)]

My email address is latinanewschic (at) gmail (dot) com