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blindbeta · 6 months ago

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Hello, I've been looking through all the links in your pinned post, but just to be sure, is it okay if I ask a few questions regarding on 2 of my prominent characters?

1) One of my characters' eyesight had been degrading since they were young, and though they now take special antiobiotics and treatment to prevent further loss of vision, they're only able to perceive shadows, light, and colors (which largely depends on contrast and lighting of the surroundings). Their cane is their main mobility aid in day-to-day life, but when in combat, they use a device similar to the Focus from Horizon: Zero Dawn. Moving targets like enemies or allies are highlighted/outlined with bright colors to indicate where they are, the colors symbolizing who they are. The device is also capable of scanning text or objects and transcribing them in audio form through an earpiece. I've done my best to research how my character's device can be useful for their lifestyle, but not negate or make their blindness an easily bypassed part of their life, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

2) One of my characters has partial blindess caused by a serious injury to the left side of their face. Their injured eye can only perceive some light and shadow, which affects their depth perception quite a bit. Relying on only one eye has caused strain on their uninjured eye, so they have nearsightedness and need glasses to prevent further damage. This character felt more comfortable to write for me because I'm also nearsighted, although to a lesser degree than my character, and my glasses are mostly to protect my eyes from worsening. So far, I've used my own habits and experiences to describe my character's, but since they are partially blind (which they compensate for by memorizing or mapping out their surroundings, training and practice to determine actual distance, and guides (family and close friends)), my own experiences are hardly enough to make my character seem more realistic. I'd like to ask if there are any mistakes I've made with writing them?

For the first one, I suggest adapting already-existing technology, such as the OrCam MyEye or the Sunu Band. OrCam is worn on glasses and is a device that can already detect surroundings and read text. It can also tell you when someone you know is approaching, such as a neighbor whose face the device recognizes. I don’t know how accurate it is, but I find it helpful to acknowledge that some of these gadgets already exist for realism and accuracy. They are not made up devices that might hypothetically help blind people; they are real and usually invented by people in the blind community themselves.

You can explain that you modeled it after the OrCam or it could be a specialized version of it that includes other features. Color coded enemies and teammates also seems plausible considering OrCam’s recognition feature.

Here is a video demonstrating the OrCam My Eye Pro. You can also go to their website here or look them up on YouTube for more videos.

Please note that some of the features can be found elsewhere or replaced with techniques. For example, someone who folds or organizes their money a certain way or uses a money reader probably wouldn’t need the money identification part of the product. Certain people will like certain features more than others, which could also provide characterization.

While this product is not an option for everyone due to the price, it may be accessible in the scenario you described.

You can also avoid negating their blindness by showing how it impacts them in other ways. A few examples may include navigation techniques, lighting preferences, home layout, assistive devices used at home, how they choose to read (audiobooks, trying to find Braille books they like that are actually available), eye strain, sensory issues, stimulation seeking, interactions with the blind community, sports and activities, etc.

Glasses for protection and the other stuff you outlined sounds good to me.

I love that they use a cane during the day, but what about orientation and navigating uneven ground? I ask because the technology you plan to use during combat scenes wouldn’t help with locating uneven ground or steps.

Could they use the cane for navigating in combat?

While on the subject, a Sunu band might also be helpful. It detects objects at and above waist level. However, it is not a replacement for a cane.

As for your second character, eye strain and fatigue are absolutely going to happen as you described. Your character might sometimes cover their injured eye to reduce strain. They may also need more frequent breaks from use of their uninjured eye, such as when reading or doing desk work.

Taking breaks from screens helps. Managing lighting also helps, such as having enough light to avoid strain, although nothing too harsh. For migraines or eye pain, they might carry medication. At home, they can use hot or cold compresses in addition to eye masks to rest their eyes.

So far, what you have described sounds good. Your own experience should be useful in writing this character. However, I also suggest considering how they navigate stairs and uneven ground when walking. Another common obstacle that arises for people with no depth perception is accidentally dropping cups. To circumvent this, it is helpful to use high contrast, avoid glass, and/or intentionally set the cup on the counter before releasing it.

Lastly, I wanted to add that people with partial vision will often be expected or pressured to rely on it. This character might need to self-advocate, as they could still benefit from audio descriptions, screen-readers, and other assistive technology.

If anyone else has ideas, feel free to share in the notes.

Hope this helps.

#blind #blind characters #writing blind characters #disability #accessibility #partial blindness #assistive technology

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blindbeta · 7 months ago

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Sending much love and support to Miya Cech in her role as Toph in the Netflix ATLA. While I am disappointed that a blind actress was not cast because it would have been a good opportunity, I believe everything I wrote in this post about blind actors still applies.

#miya cech #toph beifong #blind characters #blind #netflix atla

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blindbeta · 7 months ago

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I’ll finish the new post later. I work on several at once and this one I mistakenly posted instead of saving as a draft. Also my Toph post almost has a thousand notes so yay, thank you!

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blindbeta · 8 months ago

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Recently, I started writing a lot of Homestuck fanfiction, and Terezi is one of my fave characters to write, but I'm curious what your opinions on the canon portrayal of her blindness are and things that would be interesting to include in writing.

The basics if you aren't familiar with Homestuck:

Terezi is one of the troll characters, who are humanoid aliens. She was blinded by her best friend (Vriska) by being forced to stare at the sun, but learned to be able to "smell and taste colors" without being able to see them.

Here are my thoughts on the good and the bad (from other reading other stuff) as well as some things that a comment on would be nice!

At first mention, the "smelling/tasting colors" thing might come across as an instance of a power being used to negate a disability, but I feel like it meshes well with her general chaotic and even downright freakish personality. For this reason she loves and often uses wild and bright mixes/scribbles of color, which I would assume be due to them having stronger scents/tastes.

It's also shown that while the effect is better than you might expect from such a method, her "vision" through this method is still extremely blurry, often with smears (from licking her computer screen to read it) or streaks (from the drifting "scent"). (example image - https://www.homestuck.com/images/storyfiles/hs2/02745.gif [ID: A golden planet with a matching moon attached to it in orbit by a thick golden chain, with a small sliver of the larger cloudy blue planet the golden planet is orbiting visible. The whole image has a blurry effect applied, almost looking like a messy impressionistic painting. Instead of having defined edges, the colors look smeared and drifting in places.)

She does have a cane that's clearly styled after white canes, but it does fall in the trope of a weaponized cane as it contains a sword. Her weapon specialization is also specified to be "canekind." If she ever uses this cane to help navigate, I can't remember her doing so outside of her sprites from the walkaround games; it also often seems to be commonly drawn in the comic to more closely resemble a cane that would be used for balance.

She falls into the blind seer trope, as her in-universe title is the Seer of Mind, but is not the only seer in the comic--there are a Seer of Light and a Seer of Blood who are not blind, and a Mage of Doom who...it's complicated and changes several times, he's half-blind for a while and I think he's fully blind by the end of the comic? Her role as a Seer doesn't fall as much into literal visions as some instances, she can moreso sense the outcomes of different timelines and tap into memories of other versions of herself. The Seers and Mages aren't even the only characters whose stories play with knowing the future or knowledge of the world.

Here's one thing I like and that I've seen praised elsewhere--in a timeline that ends really badly and ends up being rewritten, she is talked into getting her eyesight restored. She immediately hates it, having never resented her blindness and preferring her new ways of navigating the world, and finds the return of vision not only a huge sensory overload but also something she likes much less than her skill to navigate by smell. She takes to wearing a blindfold and continues to live and navigate as she had prior, up until she dies and the timeline is overwritten. In the new timeline, she doesn't have her vision healed, and this is shown to be a good thing.

On a meta note, however, Homestuck's writing is often...not very screen-reader accessible, and Terezi's typing is probably one of the worse offenders on that front. She speaks in all-caps and leetspeak (a = , i = 1, e = 3), making a character who I feel is pretty unique with an interesting portrayal of disability be much less accessible to an audience that might relate to her. I really need to go in sometime and remember how to put alt text for their dialogue in my published fics!

These next couple points are generally about the prevalence of vision loss throughout Homestuck: Terezi's blinding was part of a cycle of revenge in her friend group, and Vriska's response to Terezi causing an explosion that caused Vriska to lose an eye (which had previously given her powerful vision, and losing it was like losing 7/8 of her vision instead of 1/2) and an arm. However, later in the story, Vriska gets her full vision and missing arm back which is connected to the fact her idealized self didn't include those injuries, while Terezi's did include her blindness.

Other than Vriska, there is another blind character (who is blinded due to overuse of psychic powers destroying his eyes) whose blindness, while coming from injury, isn't treated as the worst possible fate by the story--Vriska is the only character who agonizes over her vision loss, but 1) this is very understandable given her living situation and 2) she is certainly not meant to be a good source of disability representation, being a...feeply flawed person who is ableist herself.

There are also a couple characters who are missing eyes not really due to injury but more like...physically reflecting damage to an object in a way that doesn't cause injury but does mean they are both missing the same eye. This isn't really brought up in-text but if I ever write those characters, it'd be cool to acknowledge.

That's all the points off the top of my head that I'd be interested in your thoughts on!

I'd also like to share a couple examples of things I currently do in my writing of her that I'd be curious to get an opinion on!

In any material that takes place after she is blind (even in the timeline where she gets healed), I avoid relying on visual descriptions from her point of view, and when I do, I challenge myself to make every color word have a taste/smell association with it to portray how she experiences them. These aren't usually literal "cherry-red"/"lemon-yellow" descriptors but things more like describing something bright green and unpleasant as "sour" and so forth.

I also often use words that have a tactile connection, again trying to connect her methods of "seeing" to the ways she can get this information. Even when she regained her vision, during the times when she isn't blindfolded, I still use this different language to show how her perception has changed.

I once wrote a scene where Terezi shows up at her Vriska's house (just after she blinded her!) having just gotten her new cane, and immediately runs upstairs as confidently as ever, which Vriska notes as a sign of how comfortable and familiar she is navigating Vriska's house. This was inspired by things I've seen about being able to navigate a familiar space like one's own home without needing aids, and was meant to act as a sign of how much time she's spent at Vriska's house.

Wow, that got long, but I'm super curious what your thoughts here are!

Homestuck / Terezi and Blindness

Disclaimer: I have no idea about Homestuck other than hearing the name and knowing that the voice of Zuko, Dante Basco, is somehow associated with it or was mentioned in it?

I’ll do my best to offer advice based on what information is included here. If anymore more familiar with the source material wants to offer ideas in the replies, that would be helpful.

Associating Colors With Taste and Smell

This is a tough one for me, because it can be a bit of a stereotype. Not all blind people develop synesthesia or have it. In the book Blind, Emma seems to develop synesthesia after losing her vision. However, a lot of totally blind folks have their own ways of associating colors with concepts or emotions. I think it depends on the person and how it is portrayed in the story.

I feel that her being a troll and a bit of a weirdo generally helps in this case. Being able to smell and taste colors feels more plausible with Homestuck than it does in more realistic fiction. It may also help if she displayed a propensity toward synesthesia or just general color associations before losing her vision. This would show that there are already many ways to experience the world that are not only about making up for the inability to see colors. For example, she might experience day-color synesthesia through developmental synesthesia before losing her vision. She could also experience color-taste synesthesia, which might include smell since taste involves smell.

Developmental synesthesia is more common than acquired, making her more likely to have had the ability to smell and taste colors since birth rather than it being associated with losing her vision. While it could be argued that her brain could be trying to create stimulus for her when her eyes no longer provide it, she would more likely experience some synesthesia initially rather than acquiring it.

The page I linked above does have a section on squired synesthesia, although it is less consistent and instead associated with brain changes. This means that if Terezi (and Emma from the book I mentioned, for that matter) had brain changes, it might make sense for them to acquire synesthesia. However, this causes a few issues:

-blindness would be caused by a traumatic brain injury to specific areas of the brain that coordinate vision, such as according to this page on TBI and total blindness. “Blindness can come from a penetrating injury like a gun shot or a non-penetrating injury like a blast in combat. It can also be a result of an injury to the back of the head — like from a fall — that destroys or damages an area that coordinates signals between the brain and the eyes. In this case, the eyes could be perfectly normal, but the function in the brain allowing the eyes and brain to communicate would be damaged and no longer work.”

-In this case, her eyes would probably be fine, although unable to communicate with her brain

-A traumatic brain injury would account for her blindness and maybe acquired synesthesia, although I don’t know what injuries area would specifically lead to acquired synesthesia, although you probably wouldn’t have to explain this much aside from explaining about a TBI

-this still leaves the issue of smelling and tasting colors as a way of making up for blindness, which is as much of a problem as negating it altogether

Whether you use actual synesthesia is up to you. However, I think showing an inclination toward this association of colors with other senses would be helpful in dispelling the ideas that all totally blind people have this ability and that blind people need something to make up for their blindness.

About Making Up For Blindness

Sometimes, characters receiving powers or devising a special way to see colors can feel like an ableist assumption that blind people are bereft without colors. The same goes for faces. I have written a few posts that might contain relevant information on these topics.

While blind people do care about colors, I feel that someone the way sighted writers focus on colors does blind characters a disservice. Blind people can lead rich and fulfilling lives without constantly wishing they could see colors or faces or whatever. Sometimes the way it is written feels inauthentic or as if sighted people cannot imagine being happy without seeing colors, cannot be happy without sight.

Accessibility

While she might lick her computer screen or other objects to taste colors, you can also focus on accessibility needs. Just because she can taste colors doesn’t mean she can read text or signs on the street. She can’t read menus at restaurants, although online pictures of food might be an interesting experience.

Consider what other tools she might use. Since you mentioned computers, something like JAWS could work or a Braille display. She could use text to speech on her phone, such as VoiceOver or TalkBack. Perhaps she writes and reads Braille, enjoying the tactile experience, which would be in line with her other sensory experiences with smell and taste from the canon material.

From there, you could also explore what eating food is like for her. What about cooking or baking? What about candles or bonfires?

What other sensory experiences are important to her and why? Does she prefer certain textures in her space? She will lose her sense of time, so does she eat certain foods to signal to her brain and body that it is time to sleep? Does her routine change to instill a sense of time so her rhythm isn’t messed up or does she say screw it and go to bed on her own schedule?

These are all things to consider that might enrich her character after see becomes blind.

Cane Use and Navigation

Cane use allows for easier navigation and route memorization. Using one would also help her benefit from others recognizing her as a blind person. Stairs are also much easier with a cane. Since she already has one in canon, you can have her use it more in everyday life.

Cane as a Weapon

While this is canon, I’m not super happy about it. Canes housing weapons inside them or being used as weapons sounds cool, but is ultimately as an overused, unrealistic trope.

A cane is not a weapon. The idea that it could be can cause problems for blind people just trying to go about their day.

A weapon, such as a sword, inside a cane would mess up navigation, vibration, and make it impossible to fold or unfold. Depending on how the weapon is designed might also be unable to fit inside the cane.

I also probably don’t have to mention that a stability cane is not the same type of cane. You could address this with different descriptions of the cane.

Focusing on navigation over weaponry might help reduce some of the issues with cane use in canon. Navigation is also still important in battle, which is another reason I don’t personally like canes as weapons. While a folded cane would do in a pinch to smack an enemy, the blind character still needs their cane to navigate.

Go ahead and let her be a sword-wielding badass, though.

Traumatic, Accident-, or Incident-Based Blindness

Traumatic accident or incident based blindness tend to be over-represented in fiction. While blindness can be acquired, this is usually due to concerns such as glaucoma, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, etc. Other causes are often work-related injuries.

Since her being blinded is part of canon, I don’t think there is much you can do to address it other than explore her feelings toward her friends and her blindness. It may be connected to trauma, but you can make this better by instead focusing on friendship and betrayal, rather than angst about her blindness. If you happen to have any other characters you could use, other blind characters who haven’t gone blind through traumatic incidents could help show a variety of experiences.

Other Blind Characters and Community

Blind characters having access to their community is important. I think having a community could make it easier for her to cope with the sudden change in her life and help her learn how to be blind.

Making Your Work Accessible

Since the source material is not always accessible, it might help to include explanations, summaries, or image descriptions of the source material in your fan work.

The Blind Seer Trope

I have written a few posts on this topic that might help. However, I think this case is okay. She isn’t the only future seer. As long as the visions don’t negate or make up for her blindness, you’re probably good. Lastly, while I don’t know what forms her visions take, I think it helps if her visions don’t require, well, actual sight, nor give her sight she wouldn’t already have.

Closing

The thoughts you included about your writing so far sound good to me. I know from the points you’ve considering already that you’re going to write her blindness with care. While canon can sometimes be hard to navigate, fanfic also gives you a chance to explore and subvert these problems. You can also include your concerns in notes along with your story.

I hope this helps. If anyone has other thoughts, feel free to share in the notes.

#homestuck #homestuck terezi #blind #blind characters #writing blind characters #accessibility #disability

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blindbeta · 8 months ago

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Exploring How Toph Beifong Could Be Played By A Blind Actress and Refuting Reasons Some People Believe She Couldn’t

[Image Description: Toph Beifong from Avatar: The Last Airbender. She is waving her hand in front of her face after joking that she spotted the great library, tricking the Gaang only to remind them that she is blind. She rides on Appa who is flying above a desert landscape. End I.D.]

The live-action adaptation of season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender is underway. This means people are discussing Toph again, much like they did during pre-production of season 1. I have seen and even participated in promoting the idea of Toph being portrayed by a blind actress. Similarly, I have come across push-back against the idea.

Instead of if Toph Should Be Portrayed by a Blind Actress, Let’s Focus on How She Could

(should and could are bolded for emphasis)

This post will address common misconceptions that serve as barriers to the idea of a blind actress portraying Toph.

A Few Notes Before We Start

These points come from posts on online forums, YouTube comments on videos related to the casting of Toph, and tumblr posts. No one will be specifically called out here, as while these points may be attributed to certain individuals online, they represent much wider views that are shared by many, even without malicious intent. These common misconceptions stem from unchecked ableism and general lack of information. Keep in mind that my intention is not to call out any individual person, as ableism is a widespread, collective problem. The reasons I refuted in this post showed up repeatedly and were not isolated opinions of one or two people.

1. No, it would not be too difficult to find an actress who is Asian, blind, and the right age

[Image Description: Toph as The Blind Bandit uses earthbending to create three pillars of rock that shoot at an angle from the ground and smash into her opponent, throwing him against the arena wall. End I.D.]

This point suggests that it is difficult to find candidates fitting Toph’s description. I suspect this is due to racism and ableism, in that a white and abled person is considered default and therefore believed to be more common, especially by Western studio standards. This is not truly the case. People of color and disabled people are auditioning, especially for the comparatively few roles that seek them out specifically, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Blind Asian people exist. Some of these people are also actresses. Some have backgrounds in dance or martial arts, especially because many actors do similar activities to increase endurance and versatility. Finding a pre-teen or teenager to play Toph would not be as challenging as many people believe, especially those who already underestimate the amount of blind people in the world and their abilities.

Those who argue this point may be under the impression that a blind actress would be out of reach due to low numbers and lack of interest in auditioning. Blind people are auditioning. The reason you don’t see them on screen is because most of them are ignored in favor of abled actors. For example, in this video, Molly Burke discusses not being chosen to play a blind character whom she was told was based on her own life. The actress chosen to play the character was not blind. You can watch it here.

Additionally, Netflix has the ability to hold a widespread casting call. They are not a tiny studio doing productions in someone’s backyard. They have access to a wider pool of actresses than the average person might think, particularly if said person is not familiar with the resources big studios often have at their disposal.

In fact, Netflix is doing just that. Below is a link to their casting call, which encourages blind and low vision actresses to audition.

Link to casting call here with alt text.

2. Some people believe Toph isn’t really blind and therefore the actress who plays her needs to be able to see

[Image Description: Toph as The Blind Bandit using bending, with shots showing her hands and feet. As her bare foot slides sideways across the ground, the camera zooms out to show her sensing vibrations. The image turns greyscale, with circles of white vibrations emanating from around Toph’s body, where they expand and flow outward. End I.D.]

The rationale behind this is probably the same as it is for Daredevil, meaning some don’t consider Toph to be blind because of the way she uses her bending.

An argument could be made that Toph’s powers erase her blindness or that her powerful abilities make her less relatable to the average blind person. However, I suspect that many sighted people engaging with these discussions of Toph’s casting are not also concerned with questions of erasure or relatability. In discussions questioning her blindness, the evidence given mostly centers on Toph’s physical abilities rather than relatability to real blind people.

Her bending aside, Toph is certainly blind. She experiences ableism from her parents and general community. Blindness shaped her life in a lot of ways, even with her bending, which is also influenced by her disability.

We see Toph being guided while running on the airship, needing assistance while walking on ice, and struggling to travel in a desert. She uses her other senses, including hearing and tactile senses. She has limitations regarding how she is able to interact with an unaccommodating world, such as inaccessible reading and writing systems.

There are also lifestyle and cultural implications of blindness extending beyond the inability to see. Being blind is not only about what one can and cannot do, which is true of Toph’s experience as well. Blind people may have different values, experiences with family and friends, different senses of humor, or may place higher value on other sensory experiences compared to sighted peers.

Whether or not Toph is good blindness representation can be argued. However, she is still a blind character. Her blindness influences her whole life, even as she is more than her blindness at the same time. Her life as a blind person is about more than limitations and abilities. Reducing her, and any blind person, for that matter, to only these facets of her experience oversimplifies what it is like to be a blind person.

Claiming that she isn’t a blind character because of her ability to do x, y, and z can be incorrect for a lot of reasons.

Blind people are more than what we can do or what we produce. Our experiences are rich and varied. Our lives are inherently meaningful no matter our abilities or limitations. It is both ableist and inaccurate for sighted people to attempt to put us all into boxes.

Additionally, blindness is a spectrum. [Bolded for emphasis.] You can read about it at the following posts on my blog:

here

and here.

Here is a good list of legally blind YouTubers with various types of visual experiences.

According to various sources on the blindness spectrum, about 85% to 95% of blind people have some remaining vision:

93% according to RNIB

This Perkins School For the Blind fact sheet estimates about 90 to 95% of blind have some remaining vision

American Foundation for the Blind estimates about 15% of blind people are totally blind and discusses the spectrum of blindness here

The spectrum of blindness is important because our experiences become even more diverse when the spectrum is considered. This means that assumptions about what we can and cannot do become even harder for sighted folks to guess accurately.

This accuracy is important if sighted people are going to try to put limitations on blind people, which they have no business doing anyway. They are not the authority on what blind people can do, what we cannot do, or what is good for us. Only blind people can answer that for themselves.

Lastly, blind people are already used to navigating and interacting with their surroundings. They have had anywhere from months to a lifetime of experience, which would translate better to Toph’s ease with her blindness and confidence in her bending.

While an actor wearing contacts to obscure their vision might stumble around and have difficulty on set, someone who is actually blind could lend Toph’s character a much more relaxed, confident attitude in addition to possessing experience navigating in a way that works for her. She is used to being blind. Therefore, an actress who is also used to being blind brings a lot to the performance in terms of physicality, attitude, and the ability to focus on portraying the character, rather than simulating blindness.

Which leads me into the next point.

3. The idea that Toph doesn’t move like a blind person relies on stereotypes of blind people

[Image Description: A GIF from the episode “The Runaway”. Toph, Sokka, and Aang all con some con artists and cheer after their victory, Toph raising her arms high before snatching the prizes. They all run away. End I.D.]

There is no specific way of moving like a blind person. Like sighted people, the way blind people move may be influenced by many factors, such as level of vision, how long they have been blind, their mobility aid, navigation techniques, familiarity with their environment, level of confidence, feelings of safety, other disabilities, energy levels, cultural factors, and more.

While there are mannerisms that are recognizable to blind communities, there is no one way to move like a blind person. Just as there is no one way to look blind.

The ideas of “not moving like a blind person” or “not looking blind” come from stereotypes of blindness. In fact, these ideas can be so pervasive that blind people who don’t fit stereotypes may be accused of faking. I explore this subject here.

In this video, Sam from The Blind Life discusses the experience of performing blindness or being pressured to act more blind than he is. Link here. He explains while he has some vision, he uses his cane to indicate to others that he is blind. This is one of the main functions of a cane. Sam explains feeling pressure to adhere to certain stereotypes about blindness or risk being accused of faking.

Similarly, in this video linked here, Molly Burke discusses the stereotype that blind people’s eyes look noticeably different from sighted eyes. This includes the inaccurate belief that all blind people have cloudy eyes, blank eyes, eyes that are always closed, or eyes that simply must be covered in dark sunglasses to protect the sensibilities of sighted people. Molly explains that while blind people can certainly have these attributes, not all of us do. Molly laments that the phrase, “You don’t look blind,” is either used to invalidate her or to praise her for passing as a sighted person, which is ableist.

Just as blind people don’t look the same way, we don’t move the exact same ways either. That applies to Toph as well. For example, she prefers to keep her feet on solid ground for bending purposes, orientation, and possibly due to cultural factors valuing stability and connection to the earth.

4. The idea that accommodations would be impossible to provide is rooted in ableism

[Image description: A GIF of Toph and Zuko sitting beside each other on the floor at the Ember Island theatre episode. Toph punches Zuko’s arm. Metaphorically for the purposes of this post, she is punching ableist ideas that have nothing to do with Zuko. End I.D]

Here is a thread I shared in the early days of this blog, wherein the topics of blind actors and accommodations are discussed. The entire thread might also be helpful for this post, as I explore the same points, which shows how common these misconceptions are. While this may seem to be an isolated online disagreement, none of these arguments are new. That is why I believe this topic is important— these arguments about accommodations being too difficult or a burden on others also pop up in conversations about other workforces and other disabilities.

A blind character not being played by a blind actor is one thing. A blind person not being hired for a job they are qualified for due to resistance to providing accommodations is not so easy to ignore, not so seemingly isolated a concern. These barriers don’t only apply to blind actors looking for work. They apply to all blind people looking for work.

That means most of this isn’t really about Toph, nor the opinions of random people online. Instead, I hope to highlight common patterns in ableist thinking and dispel these ideas using a character people care about. This is, of course, in addition to my own desire to have a blind actress play Toph.

With that said, let’s explore what work accommodations might look like using examples of blind actors.

Dionne Quan is a blind actress who has an extensive filmography for voiceover work, including popular characters such as Kimi from Rugrats. In this article from when the character was first introduced, she discusses how she performs. Link.

Quote from the article: “Most of the recording was done in a studio with just a mike and a stand for the script. I had the lines in braille, and I would read them on the way over to get into character. You have to have your bag of tricks ready to go.”

Most of the work Quan discusses involves typical acting stuff. The accommodations given to her are similar to adaptations that might be made in an office setting. Additionally, with all the technology available now, it is easy to make a script accessible through large print, VoiceOver and memorization, Word document instead of a PDF, a Braille display, etc.

And as of August 2024, Quan can add adult Toph Beifong to her list of characters. Which is super exciting and, I thought, an appropriate fact to include in this post. You can read more here.

To continue the discussion of accommodations for actors, I would like to discuss Ellie Wallwork. Wallwork is a blind actress who has performed on Doctor Who.

She describes her experiences on set, such as blocking scenes and using tactile accommodations in this short video from the SeeSaw podcast. Link here.

Transcript:

Elie Wallwork speaking:

“Obviously, markers are just normally flat bits of tape on the floor. I had to have some sort of tactile ones so I knew where I was stepping onto. And it takes longer. It definitely takes a bit longer. I guess the thing that frustrates me about the industry is that sometimes casting directors will think, ‘Well, how could a blind person possibly do this, do that? How could they do stunts? How could they even navigate around set?’ But it’s perfectly possible if you— for example, with the crew that I had on all the productions I’ve been on, they’ve all been really kind, really patient with me and able to understand that, yeah, okay, it might take me five minutes longer to block a scene, but that’s fine because it means it’s authentic.”

End transcript.

You can listen to the full episode here.

Lastly, I find that many sighted people are not generally knowledgeable when it pertains to what blind people can or cannot do. Examples of this lack of knowledge include frequent questions about how blind people read, exist in online spaces, cook, etc—and these are simply from posts on my own blog.

Here is a link to a discussion thread that explores ableist assumptions people often make what blind people are or are not able to do. It particularly relevant for this topic. Link can be found here. Please remember that while I did respond to some folks who expressed opinions colored by ableist assumptions, that post is not about them. Just as this post is about addressing ableism in general rather than from a specific source.

The point is: consider why abled people are so comfortable stating what blind people can and cannot do, when one of the most common questions about blindness is still “how do you use a phone or the internet?”

People who aren’t blind often fail to grasp what our limitations actually are. Many people are still surprised to learn that technology or accommodations exist for us, despite having access to various forms of technology themselves. They struggle to understand that we can live our daily lives, possibly because they personally cannot imagine themselves without the vision they rely on, such as that time a professor asked blind content creator Stephanie Renburg [quote] “How do you live?” when the conversation was supposed to be about school accommodations [Link here].

This brings me to an assertion that is often made when sighted actors obscure their vision in order to play blind characters. It is often noted that it was too hard for them emotionally, mentally, and physically. Because of this reaction, the assumption is made that a blind person cannot possibly perform the role.

For example, in the article linked here, this is stated about Jamie Foxx in his role as Ray Charles. “Some actors, including Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in “Ray” (2004, best actor) and Blake Lively in “All I See Is You” (2017), have chosen to wear ocular prosthetics, rendering them literally blind during their performances. But this creates a new problem: Unlike real blind people, who can spend years honing their orientation and mobility skills, the blindfolded sighted person becomes lost, confused and frightened with the sudden loss of sight — Foxx told interviewers he began hyperventilating as soon as his eyes were glued shut with the custom prosthetic eyelids that the filmmakers affixed over his eyes.”

Being blind is different from a sighted person temporarily obscuring their vision. Blind people have a better handle on being blind because we’ve been doing it longer. Blindness is part of our lives. Of course blind people are going to have an easier time portraying blind characters. This means most of the concerns people bring up when discussing sighted actors struggling with being unable to see won’t actually apply to blind people who have been at this for far longer.

I also wanted to address the idea that hiring blind actors would cost more, according to the assertion made in that thread about hiring blind actors, which you can read here if you haven’t already. While I can understand why someone might believe hiring a blind actor would cost more, I believe it would actually cost less.

Blind actors can use their own canes or other assistive devices used by the character, which saves money on expensive materials

Blind actors likely already have experience with O&M training, saving money and time that would otherwise be spent training a sighted actor, such as described here

Blind actors don’t need contacts or prosthetics, which may otherwise be used help an actor simulate blindness

And blind actors would have an easier time navigating sets, dancing, or doing required physical activities while blind, which reduces the learning curve that sighted actors with obscured vision need

A few Disclaimers:

1) Blind people learn from our communities and through life experience. While we naturally have more experience being blind, our knowledge is enhanced through learning from other blind people and participating in training designed to improve our life skills. I maintain that a sighted person obscuring their vision for a few hours will not have the same level of experience.

2) Reminder that blindness is a spectrum that a blindfold cannot replicate.

and 3) This post is not to say that sighted actors cannot do well or cannot put effort into their performance. According to the article above, Charlie Cox won an award from the AFB for his commitment to portraying Daredevil. However, just because there are sighted actors willing to put in the work does not mean blind actors can’t. I wanted to include this disclaimer in case someone sees the AFB article I shared and worried I’m trying to disparage actors who have already portrayed blind characters and happened to do a good job. After all, I love the original performance we received from Michaela Murphy, who originally voiced Toph. That doesn’t mean studios should not make an effort to cast more blind actors moving forward, nor does it justify any of the silly or explicitly ableist reasons people give for why sighted actors must be chosen over blind ones.

Let us return to refuting those excuses with the last thing I wanted to address.

5. Some people are concerned that a blind person might get hurt doing martial arts, but so can literally anyone else

[Image description: GIF of Toph dressed in Fire Nation attire. She punches through a rock.]

Kids can get hurt in any kind of sport, yet society doesn’t try to keep children from these activities for their own safety. However, disabled kids—and adults for that matter—are often reminded that we are being kept out of spaces for our own protection. Which we didn’t need, nor ask for.

This need to protect disabled people can be not only infantilizing, but hypocritical as well. For example, a blind person might be discouraged from playing recreational sports in a misguided attempt to protect them. Conversely, structures that keep blind people at risk are allowed to stay firmly in place, such as discrimination around transportation, inaccessible infrastructure, and poverty.

Blind people play sports anyway. Often, these sports carry their own risks of injury, as most sports do. Blind people have the agency to understand this and consent to it. Examples include blind football [link] and goalball [link].

Here is a video of Sadi the Blind Lady discussing goalball with Eliana Mason, a Paralympic athlete who plays goalball professionally.

Transcript: “Goalball is sport for blind and visually impaired athletes. It was created after World War II for blinded veterans and is now a Paralympic sport. The coolest thing about it is that everyone wears eyeshades so no matter what your level of vision loss is—because blindness is a spectrum— it equalizes it. The ball has bells in it and the court is straight with tape over it. It’s on a volleyball sized court. It’s three on three. And basically in offense, we are throwing the ball as hard as we can with a lot of technique involved, about 30 to 45 miles an hour to have it hit the ground and roll and hit the other players on their bodies. And on defense, you are throwing your body out and diving in front of this 3 pound ball and blocking it. So essentially you want to get hit with the ball.”

End transcript.

Getting hit with a ball, especially in the face or stomach area, is going to hurt. That is okay, because as long as safety precautions are taken, pain might be part of the experience depending on the rules and anticipated possibility of injury.

Martial arts and dance, which are backgrounds sought specifically in the Netflix Toph casting call, can also lead to accepted forms of pain or discomfort. While one could argue that sports injuries could and should be preventable, this post is more concerned with the expectation of pain, injuries, and what steps are taken to prevent them, such as protective gear or an experienced coach / teacher.

A blind person auditioning for Toph knows that martial arts will be involved. She will spend time learning choreography, building trust with co-actors, and figuring out works best for her. This structure is similar for blind people playing football or goalball or tennis or fencing or whatever else they want to do.

Lastly, people who aren’t blind also experience pain or injury during sports. Same with martial arts or dance.

The actress who plays Toph might get hurt. She might not. Some pain might even be an expected part of training. That is no reason to exclude a blind person from participating. That is no reason to say Toph couldn’t be played by a blind actress. [Bolded for emphasis]

Lastly, anyone training actors on fight choreography already knows how to do so safely. That fact that this is choreography is also helpful, allowing for memorization of actions and reactions. Conversely, the sports and physical activities I listed above are not choreographed, with the exception of dance, and are therefore less predictable. Therefore, if blind people can get head injuries playing on a recreational blind football team, a blind actress can handle fight choreography.

Closing

Thank you for reading all of this. My points still stand whether or not a blind person is actually cast for Toph.

Too Long, Didn’t Read:

Unchecked ableism can lead to oppression even if it is unintentional

Blind actors exist

A blind actor would better capture Toph’s ease and confidence with her blindness

Blind people can do a lot more than sighted people usually think they can

Blind people also face discrimination and limitations that sighted people may not have considered

Blindness is a spectrum and most blind people can still see something

There is no one way to look or move like a blind person

Accommodations are not that difficult to provide

Hiring a blind person would actually cost less money

Most of the popular reasons people believe Toph cannot be played by a blind actress are rooted in ableism

This post is not only about Toph or actors, but an example of how unchecked ableism can be harmful

For example, low employment rates for blind people, inaccessible online resources, or Toph-related posts shared without image descriptions

Toph Beifong could totally be played by a blind actress

#blind #atla #toph post #toph beifong #netflix atla #netflix avatar #Netflix Toph casting #hiring blind actors is important #accessibility #disability #ableism #worked hard on this so I hope it gets alll the attention

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blindbeta · 8 months ago

Text

Exploring How Toph Beifong Could Be Played By A Blind Actress and Refuting Reasons Some People Believe She Couldn’t

Instead of if Toph Should Be Portrayed by a Blind Actress, Let’s Focus on How She Could

(should and could are bolded for emphasis)

This post will address common misconceptions that serve as barriers to the idea of a blind actress portraying Toph.

A Few Notes Before We Start

1. No, it would not be too difficult to find an actress who is Asian, blind, and the right age

In fact, Netflix is doing just that. Below is a link to their casting call, which encourages blind and low vision actresses to audition.

Link to casting call here with alt text.

2. Some people believe Toph isn’t really blind and therefore the actress who plays her needs to be able to see

The rationale behind this is probably the same as it is for Daredevil, meaning some don’t consider Toph to be blind because of the way she uses her bending.

Claiming that she isn’t a blind character because of her ability to do x, y, and z can be incorrect for a lot of reasons.

Additionally, blindness is a spectrum. [Bolded for emphasis.] You can read about it at the following posts on my blog:

here

and here.

Here is a good list of legally blind YouTubers with various types of visual experiences.

According to various sources on the blindness spectrum, about 85% to 95% of blind people have some remaining vision:

93% according to RNIB

This Perkins School For the Blind fact sheet estimates about 90 to 95% of blind have some remaining vision

American Foundation for the Blind estimates about 15% of blind people are totally blind and discusses the spectrum of blindness here

Which leads me into the next point.

3. The idea that Toph doesn’t move like a blind person relies on stereotypes of blind people

While there are mannerisms that are recognizable to blind communities, there is no one way to move like a blind person. Just as there is no one way to look blind.

4. The idea that accommodations would be impossible to provide is rooted in ableism

With that said, let’s explore what work accommodations might look like using examples of blind actors.

And as of August 2024, Quan can add adult Toph Beifong to her list of characters. Which is super exciting and, I thought, an appropriate fact to include in this post. You can read more here.

To continue the discussion of accommodations for actors, I would like to discuss Ellie Wallwork. Wallwork is a blind actress who has performed on Doctor Who.

She describes her experiences on set, such as blocking scenes and using tactile accommodations in this short video from the SeeSaw podcast. Link here.

Transcript:

Elie Wallwork speaking:

End transcript.

You can listen to the full episode here.

Blind actors can use their own canes or other assistive devices used by the character, which saves money on expensive materials

Blind actors likely already have experience with O&M training, saving money and time that would otherwise be spent training a sighted actor, such as described here

Blind actors don’t need contacts or prosthetics, which may otherwise be used help an actor simulate blindness

And blind actors would have an easier time navigating sets, dancing, or doing required physical activities while blind, which reduces the learning curve that sighted actors with obscured vision need

A few Disclaimers:

2) Reminder that blindness is a spectrum that a blindfold cannot replicate.

Let us return to refuting those excuses with the last thing I wanted to address.

5. Some people are concerned that a blind person might get hurt doing martial arts, but so can literally anyone else

[Image description: GIF of Toph dressed in Fire Nation attire. She punches through a rock.]

Here is a video of Sadi the Blind Lady discussing goalball with Eliana Mason, a Paralympic athlete who plays goalball professionally.

End transcript.

Lastly, people who aren’t blind also experience pain or injury during sports. Same with martial arts or dance.

Closing

Thank you for reading all of this. My points still stand whether or not a blind person is actually cast for Toph.

Too Long, Didn’t Read:

Unchecked ableism can lead to oppression even if it is unintentional

Blind actors exist

A blind actor would better capture Toph’s ease and confidence with her blindness

Blind people can do a lot more than sighted people usually think they can

Blind people also face discrimination and limitations that sighted people may not have considered

Blindness is a spectrum and most blind people can still see something

There is no one way to look or move like a blind person

Accommodations are not that difficult to provide

Hiring a blind person would actually cost less money

Most of the popular reasons people believe Toph cannot be played by a blind actress are rooted in ableism

This post is not only about Toph or actors, but an example of how unchecked ableism can be harmful

For example, low employment rates for blind people, inaccessible online resources, or Toph-related posts shared without image descriptions

Toph Beifong could totally be played by a blind actress

#toph beifong casting netflix #atla toph #toph beifong #netflix avatar #netflix atla #blind characters #disability #ableism

1K notes · View notes

blindbeta · 8 months ago

Note

Ok i don’t know if you’re doing asks right now but I’d honestly like to ask about a character in a murder mystery/fantasy story I have and I’m not sure if they align with any negative blind stereotypes or if it’s something I should avoid altogether even if it’s not a stereotype.

To start, my character (let’s call him B) has JOAG (juvenile open angle glaucoma) and has tunnel vision. He also relies on a cane and braille. He also takes medication for his condition ( I was thinking carbonic anhydrase inhibitors or beta blockers but I still need to dig deeper into that.)

I was thinking of having a blind main character (and blind side characters too). He has a tsundere/ojo-sama personality (rude on the outside, sweet on the inside type of guy) and water powers. I know that there is a bit of a pattern with rude or defensive blind characters and I feel unsure about whether or not I should add that into my story. I thought of him being apprehensive of one of the other main characters because he doesn’t know them personally and isn’t a huge fan of change. He slowly warms up to the other character but he struggles to do so. He helps the rest of the other characters in solving the mysteries and tries to think as logically as he can but sometimes his bias slips in every now and then.

Onto his powers, I was thinking of him having the ability to control water. I was also think about having him have an interest in potion-making and his spell books being written in mostly braille because he relays on braille the most.

He has a few hobbies and interests such as going on picnics, siren singing/just singing in general, drinking tea and organizing his stuff. (Apologies if this is a lot, I love rambling about my characters lol).

That’s all I have for this character at the moment. I hope nothing in this ask was offensive or anything. You don’t have to answer this if something in this post came off as rude or offensive. Thank you for your time!!!

Avoiding Rude or Defensive Blind Characters— Explore It and Add More Blind Characters to Show Different Personalities

It sounds like everything is in order right now. The only concern I have is addressing the rude/defensive thing you brought up.

I’ll admit, I actually enjoy this type of blind character. It falls a bit into Disabled Snarker trope, which I love. I feel these characters tend to be viewed as having more agency than blind people are typically believed to possess.

It also allows us a bit of fantasy escapism.

Typically, blind people aren’t allowed to express the level of snark that these characters are. This is because we are expected to lack desires of our own, be excessively passive, and to not complain even when we are wronged. An example of this would be blind people being told they did something incorrectly when they are denied services, or were ungrateful when refuse help they don’t need.

Here is a video where Sadi on Tiktok laments her rideshare troubles caused by bigoted drivers. Link here.

Here is one where she discusses being grabbed by a stranger. Link here. And another where she expresses her frustration with the dismissal she faces when she speaks about being treated inappropriately. Link here.

Here is one by Tobes, who describes accidentally running into cars that are parked on the sidewalk and being scolded for it despite that fact he had no reason to believe a car would be parked that way. Link here.

We are often considered rude because of ableism. Additionally, we often have to be stern and stubborn just to get through the day and this can be perceived as rude by others.

You could have him use this attitude in areas other than blindness or only when provoked in an obvious way. Having a cool attitude that others find intimidating or unapproachable might be a way to go about this.

Or he could still put someone in their place for being ableist and this actually might be a refreshing fantasy for a lot us who can’t always call out ableism the way we want to. To me, people are going to think blind people are rude no matter what we do. This means most of us, especially those of us marginalized in multiple ways, are forced to police our tone or reactions in frustrating ways, even when someone is being harmful toward us or openly oppressive.

Sometimes it’s fun to see a blind character who responds in a way that is proportional to the ableism being directed at them.

I am not sure if you can go against this stereotype one your own, because again, some people will see blind people as rude no matter what. This is in direct opposition to the idea that blind people are all innocent beings without agency. These two opposing stereotypes of blind people are very strong and I know from experience that it is difficult not to be put into one of these boxes. He may deliberately display an aggressive attitude in an attempt to gain some agency over how he is perceived. Conversely, he might be defensive or rude about everything, while being chill about blindness stuff or even ableist attitudes. Instead, he could become colder, distant, or emotionally cut the ableist person off. He could also be like Toph and react to personal or structural ableism with jokes.

Basically, it’s good to be concerned about this, but I think commenting on/exploring it would be a better option. Subverting the trope is also challenging because it might accidentally cause him to be put into another box. Therefore, it might be more helpful to explore it for him personally, giving him more depth and challenging the idea that all blind people are naturally rude for “no reason. [Quotes around “no reason” to indicate sarcasm.]

Personally, I want to see blind characters having agency, depth, a community, and using mobility aids and blindness techniques. So I’m okay with this. The story might still benefit from a sensitivity reader or two though, and I’d love to read it myself. You can also try @sensitivityreaders

Lastly, having other blind characters would help challenge any stereotypes readers might have. In addition to showing his sweet side mentioned in the ask. Sorry I couldn’t give you a yes or no answer on this topic, but my personal go-to fix for stereotypes is always to show more blind characters. This allows you to show off more personality types of experiences around blindness.

Also JOAG can be painful if not caught early or managed properly. You seem to have done a good job of showing treatment options and different conditions. There will be a lot of medical stuff in his future/present, which means he has experience advocating for himself. This could also help explain why his attitude might seem rude or defensive to abled characters, in addition to the Rude Blind Person stereotype.

If any other blind or disabled folks have thoughts or suggestions, please share.

In closing, I don’t have any concerns with his powers. Also points for cane use!

Some parts of this ask might be relevant as well. Link here.

Hope this helps.

-BlindBeta

#ask #self reblog

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blindbeta · 8 months ago

Note

Avoiding Rude or Defensive Blind Characters— Explore It and Add More Blind Characters to Show Different Personalities

It sounds like everything is in order right now. The only concern I have is addressing the rude/defensive thing you brought up.

It also allows us a bit of fantasy escapism.

Here is a video where Sadi on Tiktok laments her rideshare troubles caused by bigoted drivers. Link here.

We are often considered rude because of ableism. Additionally, we often have to be stern and stubborn just to get through the day and this can be perceived as rude by others.

Sometimes it’s fun to see a blind character who responds in a way that is proportional to the ableism being directed at them.

If any other blind or disabled folks have thoughts or suggestions, please share.

In closing, I don’t have any concerns with his powers. Also points for cane use!

Some parts of this ask might be relevant as well. Link here.

Hope this helps.

-BlindBeta

#blind #blind characters #writing blind characters #rude blind person stereotype #blindbeta #blind sensitivity reader #disability #ableism

42 notes · View notes

blindbeta · 8 months ago

Text

About the Toph post- I accidentally published it instead of saving it as a draft. Peak blind moment. Please give me a week or so to finish/elaborate on the last parts, especially part 5. If you have reblogged it, please consider deleting and reblogging the finished version instead.

#toph post

48 notes · View notes

blindbeta · 9 months ago

Text

Exploring How Toph Beifong Could Be Played By A Blind Actress and Refuting Reasons Some People Believe She Couldn’t

Instead of if Toph Should Be Portrayed by a Blind Actress, Let’s Focus on How She Could

(should and could are bolded for emphasis)

This post will address common misconceptions that serve as barriers to the idea of a blind actress portraying Toph.

A Few Notes Before We Start

1. No, it would not be too difficult to find an actress who is Asian, blind, and the right age

In fact, Netflix is doing just that. Below is a link to their casting call, which encourages blind and low vision actresses to audition.

Link to casting call here with alt text.

2. Some people believe Toph isn’t really blind and therefore the actress who plays her needs to be able to see

The rationale behind this is probably the same as it is for Daredevil, meaning some don’t consider Toph to be blind because of the way she uses her bending.

Claiming that she isn’t a blind character because of her ability to do x, y, and z can be incorrect for a lot of reasons.

Additionally, blindness is a spectrum. [Bolded for emphasis.] You can read about it at the following posts on my blog:

here

and here.

Here is a good list of legally blind YouTubers with various types of visual experiences.

According to various sources on the blindness spectrum, about 85% to 95% of blind people have some remaining vision:

93% according to RNIB

This Perkins School For the Blind fact sheet estimates about 90 to 95% of blind have some remaining vision

American Foundation for the Blind estimates about 15% of blind people are totally blind and discusses the spectrum of blindness here

Which leads me into the next point.

3. The idea that Toph doesn’t move like a blind person relies on stereotypes of blind people

While there are mannerisms that are recognizable to blind communities, there is no one way to move like a blind person. Just as there is no one way to look blind.

4. The idea that accommodations would be impossible to provide is rooted in ableism

With that said, let’s explore what work accommodations might look like using examples of blind actors.

And as of August 2024, Quan can add adult Toph Beifong to her list of characters. Which is super exciting and, I thought, an appropriate fact to include in this post. You can read more here.

To continue the discussion of accommodations for actors, I would like to discuss Ellie Wallwork. Wallwork is a blind actress who has performed on Doctor Who.

She describes her experiences on set, such as blocking scenes and using tactile accommodations in this short video from the SeeSaw podcast. Link here.

Transcript:

Elie Wallwork speaking:

End transcript.

You can listen to the full episode here.

Blind actors can use their own canes or other assistive devices used by the character, which saves money on expensive materials

Blind actors likely already have experience with O&M training, saving money and time that would otherwise be spent training a sighted actor, such as described here

Blind actors don’t need contacts or prosthetics, which may otherwise be used help an actor simulate blindness

And blind actors would have an easier time navigating sets, dancing, or doing required physical activities while blind, which reduces the learning curve that sighted actors with obscured vision need

A few Disclaimers:

2) Reminder that blindness is a spectrum that a blindfold cannot replicate.

Let us return to refuting those excuses with the last thing I wanted to address.

5. Some people are concerned that a blind person might get hurt doing martial arts, but so can literally anyone else

[Image description: GIF of Toph dressed in Fire Nation attire. She punches through a rock.]

Here is a video of Sadi the Blind Lady discussing goalball with Eliana Mason, a Paralympic athlete who plays goalball professionally.

End transcript.

Lastly, people who aren’t blind also experience pain or injury during sports. Same with martial arts or dance.

Closing

Thank you for reading all of this. My points still stand whether or not a blind person is actually cast for Toph.

Too Long, Didn’t Read:

Unchecked ableism can lead to oppression even if it is unintentional

Blind actors exist

A blind actor would better capture Toph’s ease and confidence with her blindness

Blind people can do a lot more than sighted people usually think they can

Blind people also face discrimination and limitations that sighted people may not have considered

Blindness is a spectrum and most blind people can still see something

There is no one way to look or move like a blind person

Accommodations are not that difficult to provide

Hiring a blind person would actually cost less money

Most of the popular reasons people believe Toph cannot be played by a blind actress are rooted in ableism

This post is not only about Toph or actors, but an example of how unchecked ableism can be harmful

For example, low employment rates for blind people, inaccessible online resources, or Toph-related posts shared without image descriptions

Toph Beifong could totally be played by a blind actress

#blind #atla toph #toph beifong #atla #netflix atla #netflix avatar #Toph Beifong casting Netflix #ableism #blind characters

1K notes · View notes