There has been a lot of hype lately involving Bird Box, and the Bird Box Challenge in the blind community. I\u2019ve heard: Bird Box gives an unrealistic view of blindness, and the Bird Box Challenge is dangerous. And this is true. It is definitely not advisable to blind fold yourself and go running through the woods, or drive a car without sight. And being under a blind fold for the first time in a terrifying, life threatening situation is most definitely not the normal feelings of an average blind person going through daily life. But I\u2019m not here to rehash and continue the debate of why Bird Box provides an unrealistic image of blindness; I\u2019m here to provide another perspective, to view Bird Box in a different light. I want to make one thing clear first: I am not in any way discrediting the existing arguments surrounding Bird Box from the blind community, I am simply providing my own and separate opinion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those who are unfamiliar with Bird Box, the premise is basically: there is some unknown thing that is super dangerous, and if you see it, you die, hence the need for blind folds. So these people are put in a terrifying situation, and to be safe their sight needs to be taken away. For most people, going blind is one of their top fears, so in order to not die, you would have to do something that scares the daylights out of you. I think this was actually a perfect premise for a horror genre, choosing between the top 2 fears. I think the author was very insightful in this, (yes, it was a book before it was a movie.) It\u2019s a perfect way to strike fear into the hearts of many, which is what horror is all about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, It\u2019s a great movie for it\u2019s genre, but does it negatively or positively impact the general public\u2019s view on blindness? As I mentioned earlier, some say that it gives a negative view on the reality of blindness, and yes that may be true. But there are at least two sides to every story, every debate. So could it not also be said then, that it makes a very positive impact on the general view of blindness? This is what I would like to explore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are always being told to educate the public on blindness. People are afraid of going blind, and are not quite sure how to interact, or help blind individuals. So as a blind person, I was taught when I went to an orientation center, to educate, educate, educate. How is the public to know that we are independent, and blindness is nothing to fear, if we don\u2019t teach them? But there are not cities, or large populations of blind people. Personally in my community, there is only a handful. So how then will the public at large be educated about blindness, when most people have never even met a blind person? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bird box has introduced the concept of blindness, and provided a small bit of exposure to the public eye. It has potentially even opened up a few minds on the topic of blindness. Taking a world of people who are forced to maneuver and keep safe without vision, has possibly shown people that things are not impossible as a blind individual. Maybe it\u2019s even desensitized them to their own fear of going blind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps watching this film has encouraged people to think about the question of what life would be like without sight. If someone with sight were to stop and think about this, would it not make them start understanding how to accomplish certain tasks without the use of their sight? Would it not therefore give them a little perspective on blindness? Would they not then start to understand blindness just a little bit? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the sighted community could become aware of blindness, and discover that it is not the end of the world, Then maybe they could start to understand the actual realities of a blind person. And start to accept the independence and value of non-sighted individuals. If they then can start to understand this and view blindness in a different light, then perhaps it will open the doors to an understanding and acceptance of other disabled communities as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being disabled in any way tends to be a taboo. So if one movie can start the ball rolling, start to diminish that taboo, then who am I to complain? If Bird Box introduces the possibility of successfully living with a disability, than I embrace it. I welcome it with open arms! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Safety Tip: If you are dead set on attempting the Bird Box Challenge, note that it is highly advisable to be supervised by a professional blind individual.\u00a0\ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is me! Hope you enjoyed the read. I love questions, so if you Thanks<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kelsi<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for listening! There has been a lot of hype lately involving Bird Box, and the Bird Box Challenge in the blind community. I\u2019ve heard: Bird Box gives an unrealistic view of blindness, and the Bird Box Challenge is dangerous. And this is true. It is definitely not advisable to blind fold yourself and go running through the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[239],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6rcRg-18b","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2272,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=2272","url_meta":{"origin":4351,"position":0},"title":"Senior Services for the Blind and the Silver Tsunami","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"November 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Blind Abilities Presents: Senior Services for the Blind and the Silver Tsunami Senior Services for the Blind is available from your State Services. Paul mattsen, a counselor in the Senior Services Unit talks to us about what they offer and what the future looks like as the Baby Boomer\u2019s Silver\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Independent Living"","block_context":{"text":"Independent Living","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=310"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5618,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=5618","url_meta":{"origin":4351,"position":1},"title":"That Blind Tech Show: The Voice of Audio Description \u2013 Roy Samuelson Returns to the BA Studio, The Big Bird is No More and Chuckie is Suspect, Best Apps of 2019 and Wow, isn\u2019t iOS 13 Doing it for You?","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"December 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Show Summary: Roy Samuelson, Audio Description advocate, and the voice of a many Audio Described movies and TV shows, returns once again to talk about the Audio Description boom as of late and answers the questions from our listeners. You can find Roy Samuelson on the web at\u00a0RoySamuelson.com On twitter\u00a0@RoySamuelson\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=467"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3132,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=3132","url_meta":{"origin":4351,"position":2},"title":"That Blind Tech Show 09: Pigs on a Plane, Sonos 1 Have Landed, and the HomePod Flight is Canceled","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"December 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Allison, Jeff and Bryan bring you another That Blind Tech Show talking about some of the tech news with a blindness perspective. This episode has gadgets, deals, suggestions and a lot of Allison\u2019s cool tools. Learn about the Sonos 1, the GE Laundry box that talks, Content blockers, chargers and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=467"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/That-Blind-Tech-Show-Mic-2.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7336,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=7336","url_meta":{"origin":4351,"position":3},"title":"Tech Abilities: Independence loss, Peacock Soars, Netflix Struggling, VoiceDream on Mac, Twitter Escape, Edge Browser on Mac and the Merlin Bird ID App Watch out Elon Tweet Tweet.","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Podcast Summary: Serina, Callie and Jeff share some tech tidbits and news from around the World and on this Wellness Month we dig into lost independence just a bit. Here are some links from this episode of Tech Abilities, Hope you enjoy. Peacock adds 4 million paid subscribers, up 40%\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"The TechAbilities Logo-Dark Sunglasses with TA and BA bold letters in each lens.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2523,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=2523","url_meta":{"origin":4351,"position":4},"title":"Blog Post: Learn How to Use the Blind-Friendly Prodigy Voice Blood Glucose Meter","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"April 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Blind Diabetes Independence Day A 30-minute (plus Q&A) training workshop on how to use the blind-friendly Prodigy Voice Blood Glucose Meter. Blind diabetics, blindness social workers, CDEs, and those who cannot be there in person may join the meeting via conference call by dialing 641-715-0861 and entering the pin number\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=239"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2886,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?p=2886","url_meta":{"origin":4351,"position":5},"title":"Life Interrupted and The Blind Perspective – Meet Karen Santiago. (Transcription Provided)","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"September 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Blind Abilities team member Jeff Thompson gets a chance to sit down with Karen Santiago for an opportunity to learn more about the person behind The Blind perspective News Letter. Karen was attending the National Federation for the Blind convention 2017 in Orlando, Florida, her first convention and her first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BlindAbilities Presents"","block_context":{"text":"BlindAbilities Presents","link":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4354,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4351\/revisions\/4354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
have any, or just a comment, feel free to email them to
info@blindabilities.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nContact:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities<\/a>
On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com<\/a>
Send us an email<\/a>
Get the Free Blind Abilities App<\/a> on the App Store.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"