Help through Facebook

When I first started thinking about King Lear in terms of blind studies, I started out talking with my two best sounding boards: my husband and my mother.

When I talked with my mom about blindness in King Lear and the criticism about it (see my previous post for more details), we talked for a little bit about the modern conveniences that can help the blind. And then my mom mentioned something that I should have remembered anyway.

My mom set me up with her friend in Australia, a rehabilitation therapist, to see if I could talk to people who have lived with blindness and could provide some insight. Soon after, this family friend, Genie, sent me a message:

So, after Genie set me up with her friends who could help me out, I sent a group message to them and, after introducing myself, asked the following two questions:

So, in summary, I have far more social connections than I thought I did that could add relevance to my project! I will post about the kind of answers I get from this Facebook interaction, but this social element has really made me more invested in my project. I've received email encouraging me to pursue this topic, too, so I am motivated to finish this paper. As far as research papers go, that's something new for me.

And, as I'm reaching out through people I know personally, I'm also starting to work on a research wiki. It's certainly in its beginning stages right now, but if you can think of things to add to the FAQ, I would really appreciate it.

My next post will be going back to King Lear and doing my own close reading of the scenes surrounding Gloucester's blindness. Stay tuned for that.