Going To School As A Blind Person
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Tommy, who’s been blind since birth, talks about what it was like going to school as a blind person in both public and private schools.
Directed/Edited by Ben Churchill
/ radiotrippictures
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How Blind People Write Braille
• How Blind People Write...
How A Blind Person Uses A Calculator
• How A Blind Person Use...
Story: When I Was Busted By The Police
• When I Was Busted By T...
Story: When I Got Suspended Again!
• When I Got Suspended A...
More Videos About Growing Up As A Blind Person
• How My Parents Told Me...
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FOLLOW TOMMY
/ tommyedison
/ blindfilmcritic
/ blindfilmcritic
/ blindfilmcritic
tommyedison.com
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MUSIC
The Town Shop - “Befun” (No Vocals)
Kevin Graham - “Autumn”
Appearing - “A Look Out”
Alex Keren - “So Fine”
Marcos H - “Indie”
Mark Tracy - “Born Twice”
PHOTOS
“Gym” by Alan Light
“Canterbury School” by AdmissionsQuest
“Central Middle School” by Greenwich Public Schools
Photos used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Unported license
creativecommons...
#blindness #education #school
Thanks for watching! Watch more videos about growing up as a blind person here: ua-cam.com/video/D6a1NLPIJ7E/v-deo.html
The Tommy Edison Experience What is it like getting dressed and fixing your AWESOME HAIR?🤓
The Tommy Edison Experience how did you write this huh I need answers nigga
The Tommy Edison Experience I love your channel. I find it fascinating. Love learning about bind culture. Keep it up your doing great!!!!
The Tommy Edison Experience My school experience was mostly the same but instead of being blind I'm a little deaf in one ear and I was the only one so the teachers sort of made some of there own rules for me just to follow.
Hey Tommy, I just wanted to thank you! I'm a self defense teacher and recently I had the pleasure of teaching a blind person. Thanks to you and your videos I was actually really relaxed and cool with the whole situation and we both had a lot of fun. Before I knew your channel I was a little insecure whenever I came upon a blind person, but not anymore.
when I was in 6th grade there was a blind kid in my class, and one time the power went out and some girl screamed "I can't see!" and he shouted "neither can I" and it was magical. he was a cool dude.
Lol
Meliodas why?
when i was in primary, we had 2 new kids from other countries. teacher made them sit together. yet they couldn't speak each others language and integration was harder.
@@Timebomb_19 screaming when the lights go out is stupid I hated it when people did that
That's a lie
His mother is awesome. She didn't wrap him up in cotton wool. She fought for him to be treated like a regular kid in school. What an amazing woman
You don't really know she was an amazing woman
I love how someone who is blind managed to be successful on a visual platform. It's amazing, truly!
UA-cam and a blind film critic, Tommy is awesome.
I’d love to learn from those who support him in his work
Amazing
Tommy Edison...got detention for breaking a lightbulb. Oh, the irony xD
ᛞᛖᚾᚾᛁᛋ ᛏᚱᛟᚹᚨᛏᛟ LOL OMG
ᛞᛖᚾᚾᛁᛋ ᛏᚱᛟᚹᚨᛏᛟ oh my God… I just figured it out myself
Adry Florea Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb.... I think...
Thomas Edison patented the lightbulb, he did not invent it and was never an inventor. The inventor of the lightbulb and AC current that powers everything to this day was Nikola Tesla.
ᛞᛖᚾᚾᛁᛋ ᛏᚱᛟᚹᚨᛏᛟ 😂
Major kudos to Tommy's mom for getting him in the regular curriculum!
I wish we could see a video of little Tommy talking his way out of something!
He lived in a very prosperous area so they better have given him good services
When I was in second grade there was a blind girl in my class, and we would sometimes sit together at lunch/play together at recess. I remember one time we were talking about TV shows, and someone asked her what her favorite show was. Almost everyone at our table got super quiet, because I guess we thought it was rude to ask her that. But at that moment, she lit up and told us that her favorite show was Dancing With the Stars. I guess I still remember that moment because it was super eye-opening for me. It made me realize that she wasn't different from us at all, except for the fact that she couldn't see. I think it's really special and SUCH a blessing to know someone who is blind. Love your videos, Tommy!
My experience with school was pretty much the same, except I wasn't allowed to use the cane or learn Braille. The teachers all complained that the Braille writer was distracting, and it was supposedly unsafe to allow a blind kid to walk around independently, much less allow me to bring a metal pole. We had to fight so hard for me to use a cane. I had to learn it in secret at first. Don't even get me started on the textbook issues lol. It wasn't until I went to University that I was given a Braille writer or any other resources. I ended up with a Master's degree, and a decent job. I wish people knew just how lucky they are that they didn't have to fight so much for a basic education.
You are a golden person ;)
Under the ADA act, you are protected to use a cane or any tool to aid with your disability; you should’ve reported that school
@@chelseaezibe4765 unfortunately the ADA wasn't a thing until I was in junior high. In those days the emphasis was on making you as normal as possible, even at the expense of the education. The focus was on what you could see with your eyes. If you could see well enough to determine if there was a shape in front of you, you didn't get a cane. You just had to do better at watching where you were going. If you could recognize print at all, they'd just make the print bigger so you could see it. It didn't matter if reading gave you headaches. You were told to "suck it up". Braille and white canes were for the kids who were really blind. They finally pulled me out of regular PE when "Coach" came to the realization that I didn't try to catch a ball because I didn't see that he threw it. My freshman English teacher realized I'd only complete the homework if he announced it as he wrote it on the board. It's not that the school refused to accommodate, they just didn't know how to do it right. I learned to use a cane in secret because it was thought that it would cause more problems if students and teachers saw me do it. I started using it later in high school, and didn't have too much trouble with other students. Some of the teachers were a different story. They just didn't know how to deal with it.
I think with the policy changes and all the technology we have in place today I think the experience is much different.
Connie Terry thank you for sharing, I’m so sorry you had to go through that back then
you're like the blind uncle i never knew i wish i had
I have an acquaintance at school who's almost totally blind. She can see /some/ colors & basic shapes, if they're right in her face... But dang she's amazing! She's super friendly, and everyone (even the tough kids) loves her.
I did go to school with a blind kid. Mid 90s, I was 13 or 14. First day of class, the principal came in our class and made a speech to introduce him and to explain the challenges we would face. Everyone was sort of scared or embarrassed to go talk to him, so I went in and awkwardly talked to him and avoided the blindness subject as much as I could. About a couple of days later, we all got a calendar (the school used to print one at the start of every year and give out - keep in mind I'm from the south hemisphere, so our school years start in January), and while the kids were talking about the pictures (school photos), I sort of tried to ask him how it smelled nice - and he was not too keen on my explanation.
One of the kids was brave enough to just ask him if "all he could see was black", which is a stupid question for a blind person, but then we did learn he actually did see some light and some vague shadows - he could tell a person was in front of him and guess the shape of some familiar objects.
He would show us his braille machine (he had both a machine and a manual needle thing), and he would show us his talking wristwatch. On gym, he used to just sit there, and I would take the opportunity to escape from gym activities (which I hated) and keep him company.
He was not particularly friendly, though, and would not smile too much or keep a longer conversation, but I guess it was to be expected from his age.
And then, after one semester... he was out. The principal came back to explain he was not from that location and he was feeling homesick and decided to go back to where his parents lived (which I guess it was a BS cover story - it did not work out). He thanked all of us for the assistance and for proving, with that experience, that it could be done. And that was it.
I'm from Australia.
When I first got a job in child care there was a little 2 year girl who was completely blind from birth. That was my first and only experience with a blind person. She was the funniest kid though and I was always impressed when she could tell when it was me. Her mum moved her to a child care that cares for people with disabilities though and I miss her.
I went to school with a blind kid who was 2 grades below me. Holy cow he was the definition of going for the gold.
We were in the same scout troop and went to camp together. The first year, he took the riflery merit badge and was able to pass the shooting tests with only a spotter. The next year, he took aviation merit badge and became the first blind scout at that camp to complete the badge. He was able to fly with just direction from the copilot, and completed a great landing by himself!
in high school there were 2 blind twins, and im not even joking, sometimes they would bump into each other in the hall and have sword fights with their canes lol.
Watching it as soon as I noticed the notification!
I think in Japan there's one school for blind students, and one school for deaf students and another school for the rest of the students who are difficult to go to school with the "abled" students.
Yuka Momoyo One school for the blind? So it's there where Zato Ichi learnt his swordsmanship? I always wondered.
I'm not familiar with Zatoichi nor history but it looks like Zatoichi is from Edo era so I'm assuming they had a different school system back then. I took a quick look at the wiki page and it says he had an instructor who taught him how to kill people.
Yuka Momoyo You're kidding, right? My original question was (quite a bad) joke, but it kinda required previous knowledge of the famous blind masseur/swordsman (originally portrayed by Shintaro Katsu and more recently by Takeshi Kitano). From your name I've assumed you're probably Japanese and finding your comment about schools for the blind in Japan, moreover under Tommy's video, the idea you've never even heard of Zatoichi really didn't even cross my mind :)
Well, let's disregard my previous joke attempt, but I can really recommend the Zatoichi movies. I will even risk the fury of hardcore Zatoichi fans and recommend the newer Kitano's movie over the old Katsu's ones, even though they're really great as well... But probably not as well suited for today's mainstream audiences, unlike the 2003 reboot.
Jan Stavěl Of course I've heard of Zatoichi before but I meant I'm no expert about it. I'm sorry I didn't get your joke. Thank you for your recommendation! It is definitely on my list.
I never went to school a with a blind person but my dad did, when he tells me about it he said people used to bully him and put cardboard inbetween his paper and braille typerwriter, so it wouldn't print any words, which is just awful
Those bullies needs to go to hell!
And there were not teachers back then? That's disgusting! I remember being bullied at school and teachers did nothing about it. It wouldn't surprise me if those teachers were like that
I was always known as “That one blind guy“ all throughout elementary school, junior high, and high school. But I was the first blind kid in my generation in my family to go through schooling so it gave the schools an opportunity to adapt to teaching a blind student, which paved the way for good treatment of my younger brother who is also blind and it set him up for achieving some really high expectations that I had initially caused the teachers to set as I went through school
I used to have a blind kid in my school year, so people got taught how to be a guide and stuff. I never formally met him (we spoke once or twice but nothing more) apparently he was really mean to people, I struggle to understand why, guess he wasn't a happy person :(
EveryoneHatesAlexander I would have fucked him up
Doctor Who Fanatic woah calm down
Doctor Who Fanatic maybe because he was blind dude that's just insane just to think about I'd empathize with him
Well maybe it was because of what you just said, he wasn't happy. Unhappy kids often lash out
Growing up, my best friend in the whole world, happened to be blind. Watching your videos, reading comments, hearing the stories.... All bring back memories. I'm just now realizing that simply because of the friendship I had with a blind person altered the way I grew up and how I view the world. Here are a couple of examples. Even though I have full vision, I know how to use a brailler. From the big clunky one to the electric ones. I also missed the sound of voice over. We went to elementary together and high school, so it was something I heard almost every day. When she left for college, I guess I sort of missed hearing it. Another thing I notice, I navigate quite well in the dark. No light needed. I would equate a bit of that to not needing lights when I was at her house. I followed her around in the dark. Most of the houses on our street, had the same layout. So even though her house was on the other side, I knew exactly how to navigate my own house growing up without much light. Just wanted to share some of my experiences! UA-cam can sometimes be a one sided street with no much response from viewers besides demands. Thanks for the videos!
Who was the first blind person you met, then? I'd love to hear that story.
Liam M-D Me too👍👍👍👍
Doesn't he have a blind nephew? Maybe not the first person he's met but he definitely knows other blind people. And the few he's done collabs with
According to the rules of comedy they would have walked into each other
But that probably doesn't happen
No
Your educational story is amazing! You are absolutely right, I never seen a blind person in a regular classroom and is learning the typical curriculum. You are great sir!!! The blind is not the person who can’t see, the person who does not have a great heart and personality just like you!
I had a blind girl in my grade. She was there most of the day, but would go off with a special teacher for an hour or so each afternoon. She wasn't completely blind, she had very thick glasses and she had a big screen she sat at that showed her text in huge letters so she could read it. You could see what she was reading from across the room. I think she used a typewriter (or braille writer?) to do her assignments.
I went to school with, and dated someone who was legally blind. Like 90% of his sight was gone. So he used this big screen that you put the paper on the bottom and it magnified it a lot. But he was really lazy. He was my best friend and at times my boyfriend. So I stupidly helped him too much instead of making him do his own damn work. Lol.
I am so beyond grateful that you have made this UA-cam channel. My 2year old daughter is blind. While right now, she’s exactly like any other toddler, I can’t help but wonder how she will handle things in school. I hope this channel will still be able to watch as she gets older. All of your videos are so encouraging and I love your personality! There’s nothing more that I hope for my daughter to have than a strong, uplifting personality no matter what life throws at her. Thank you for sharing your experiences and being such a positive person. I hope you are truly this happy even off camera. You are such an inspiration.
Hi Krissy! I'm a researcher looking for inspiring stories about people connecting and learning through UA-cam. We would really like to speak to you more on this. Thank you!
We had a lot of deaf kids at my schools.
But there was one kid who is legally blind, he couldn't see things unless they were 2 cm away from his face.
One of the nicest kids in my school is blind so I feel like I’m able to relate with him more knowing about how school is like for people with the inability to see. It’s pretty interesting
im blind in one eye and going to school was the worst. i cant imagine being fully blind and having to learn brail in school. im glad you shared this story :) hope u have a good day
I haven’t met any blind person up until my last year of high school. One great thing I remember about her is when we were in arts class and she made a nice art project. The teacher and the others were really impressed by it. I love seeing people overcome their obstacles like that. It’s really inspirational to see.
I wonder... As a blind person would you still feel the reminiscent type feelings when you visit a place you grew up or hadn't visit for a long time?
Jordy R absolutely, it would feel very familiar. I'm sure it was still smell the same, sound the same, things like that. Great question, thanks for watching. :-)
Wow thanks for answering! I was thinking about this all day haha
My best friend in elementary school was blind! I helped her around the school and I helped her participate in gym class too! I had to move from that school in fifth grade, but I will never forget her!
I had a friend who was mostly blind and had tunnel vision due to an accident, and I knew of a few others. One was this kid naked Brandon who played the trombone in the band. I don't know how but that's cool.
I also did work experience with the blind support worker at our school. She wasn't a very nice woman, though.
Took me a while to figure out he was NAMED Brandon, and not a kid called Brandon who was really into nudist camps...
Emerald Nightshadow how was she mean? I'd like to hear about it
Tommy! Thanks for sharing this experience with us. Thanks to Ben too. You guys have made such an incredible channel. It truly is a gem of goodness here on UA-cam.
Anyway I wanted to share something you might find interesting. Growing up, I didn't have any peers that happened to be blind, but when I got to middle school, my home education teacher happened to be blind. She used a guide dog to navigate and she was 100% blind. All of my friends that took her class LOVED it because the dog was friendly and she would allow the dog to walk around the class and the students could pet him. So obviously when I heard that I signed up for that class next semester lol. But when I went to her class for the first day I witnessed something truly amazing. She told us if we had a question all we had to do was raise our hand and she would call on us. It was incredible. Somehow when I raised my hand, sitting 20 feet away, she knew exactly who's hand was raised and she called on me!
The only thing she asked of us is to not switch seats with anyone else lol
I was best friends with a blind student in elementary school. Always amazed me how they could function with out sight.
It'd be very hard for me to avoid accidentally treating a blind person like they were somewhat different as opposed to other people. But that's only because, in my experience, I am quite terrified of the possibility of my retinas pulling away from my eyes. ROP was something doctors predicted happening since birth and since I was a preemie, it's looking like it'll happen eventually. I rely heavily on my sight and I am grateful for being able to see things like art every day, and I know if and when I lose that gift, I'll become depressed and devastated. I know blind people are no different than anyone else but I just can't imagine how living with it must feel, and there's a very real chance that I'll find out one day. All I care about is being sensitive to how someone without sight mght feel.
We had a blind girl in high school that was a few years younger. She was super cool and literally the happiest person I've ever met. She loved to sing
Inclusionism ftw. I had similar experiences in school. Luckily, by the time I made it to fifth grade, they had invented the braille note. Made things so much easier.
You came to my elementary school back in the early 90s to do a presentation. You were awesome. It's great watching you here too.
Hey! Just popped by to say I think you look dashing, and now we know that you've always been a handsome devil :)
I went to school with a blind kid named Eddie. In v kindergarten I was assigned to help Eddie to and from the lunch room. I ended up doing that from kindergarten until the 10th grade when he went to a school for the blind. He really helped me learned patience and I hated missing school for dumb reasons cause I didn't want to leave Eddie hanging. Even though he really didn't need my help after a while I enjoyed being there for him. I actually never seen him again after he moved away.
I wish i could get a chance to shake his hand. Guy is radiating positive energy.
I went to elementary and middle school with a blind girl. She was a triplet with 2 other sisters. She was really nice, very soft-spoken
I went to school with a blind Asian guy, he had these cool blue shades, and I always thought his watch was neat.
This may sound crazy, but I became a passion-hearted teacher based on the experiences my brother encountered throughout his schooling. And let me tell you, I won't ever forget the experiences he encountered or the simple advice of treating students equally and equitably, which you spoke and shared with all in this video. Thank you for sharing your experiences, as it has brought me back a lot of memories and nostalgia of when my brother, who is also blind, was little and in school. ♡ Now, he is in college, and I couldn't be any prouder.
Hi there! I'm a researcher looking for inspiring stories about people connecting and learning through UA-cam. We would really like to speak to you more on this. Thank you!
I look at you as a normal everyday guy. And forget those kids that made fun of you because if they were in your shoes they couldnt handle it like you do! God bless brother
There is a blind kid in my class and he is so freaking smart
Yeah you're right ;)
You are so funny when talking about your blindness. You seem to have such a positive view of life and that is great.
This was a FANTASTIC video. Your story telling is gripping.
I never was in school with a blind person until college.
Hi Tommy, I'm 29 now but my high school was one of the few public schools in Los Angeles that had the resources for all students of any kind of "special" needs so I definitely was around blind students as well as handicapped kids. It was pretty neat now that i think back on it. I have never had a friend or a relative who was blind however but I was aware due to school, which is great. Thanks for sharing your experiences, i only came across your videos totally randomly a few days ago and you have already opened up my eyes (pun intended) about the experience of blindness. Thanks!
Greawing up, I always had to explain at the start of the year for every class and teacher, that I was legally blind, this is what my special glasses were (a monocular or mini-telescope, later glasses fitted with a little scape), what I could see and couldn't see, and so on. There were usually honest questions from kids who were curious, and kids who knew me from other classes, previous years. I didn't mind honest questions, kids really wanting to know. That actually helped. And bullying, well, that did happen, and was daily when I was in elementary and junior high, but got better by senior high. (They say middle school instead of junior high now, much clearer.) I loved school. I loved the friends I had. I loved learning. I hated getting bullied, though. It is just something you have to learn to deal with, to ignore, or how and when to fight back, in what ways. Most teachers were fine; only rarely was a particular teacher or administrator a problem. The teachers tended to want to help. Most kids were fine too. But hey, kids are kids. I was not a perfect little angel and neither were they.
Another great video! I'm so happy you keep posting :) I enjoyed this, quite cool and interesting. The only blind person I saw in school was at college with a seeing-eye dog.
“I saw them all day and everyday”
Me: you mean heard... I’m sorry
"You work for bullies" dammmmmnnnn Tom. hatss off.
Im addicted to this channel right now. Answering questions i didnt know i had
I ran the Canterbury cross-country course four times in high school. That was the toughest course I ever ran on. The last mile was straight uphill.
I did go to school with a blind kid, named Jim. He got around with a cane as well, and we became pretty good friends for a while. He had a similar sense of humor to you and loved to hear jokes. He used to come up to me in gym if he heard my voice and say "Eric you'll never believe who I saw today!" or something like that. And once in the hallway I was looking at my phone and accidentally ran into him, and without looking up i accidentally said "sorry dude, I'm blind as a bat" and before I had a second to get embarrassed he was laughing his ass off. Great dude.
I feel you man, I was that blind kid. thank you for the info in the links, I'll need to take a look at them.
Probably one of the funniest things that happened every single year back when I was in grade school was when the teacher would first see an entire bookshelf full of braille volumes that were all just one textbook and they'd always have a little bit of a freak-out moment. Nice thing is now we live in a time where all you have to do is put a copy of the textbook on a flash drive, put it in a computer, and you're all good.
Hello! I went to highschool in Germany about 25 years ago. This mainstream school was one of the rare options in Gemany for blind students to complete year 12/Abitur. There were about one or two blind students in each year, and there was a braille service centre, where the teachers could get their teaching material converted into braille. One of the (seeing) math teachers was able to read braille and she was able to work far more efficiently with blind students than other teachers. 'Other' teachers sometimes had funny ideas about mainstreaming, which screwed up the blind student's cheating techniques ;-)
One day most of us in our class had not done our homework and we agreed, that we would tell the teacher that he hadn't given us any homework. Sure enough, the time came that the teacher asked us to present our homework, and we all tried to pretend the best we could, that 'we don't know about any homework' - a big cheeky smile on the face of our blind classmate really gave it away, but our teacher went with what we said. Cool teacher, we thought!
I used to be friends with a girl who was legally blind in middle and high school. I remember her getting some special support, like huge printouts for standardized tests and having carbon paper so other kids could easily give her a copy of their notes for her. I think she kind of resented the assistance she got though. She didn't like to stand out because of her disability.
One of the boys in my maths in Secondary school was blind. We were going through an equation in the middle of class and our teacher said “As you can see on the board”. John immediately just shouted out “I can’t!”. He was one of the best kids in our school, the teacher had to stop for 5 minutes as she was crying with laughter.
Tell us about your birthdays!!
When I was a kid our elementary school had many handicapped and special needs kids in our regular classes and recess. It taught us courtesy and patience and made me appreciate our differences but the blessing I had being normal whatever that meant, and also that we were all people. It was great and still helps me to this day.
Wow you really got a lot of help from your family and those at your school that’s amazing!
Tommy, you never fail to make me smile. Your videos make me so happy! Keep it up, proud of you!
I went to Anne Sullivan School growing up. Went to school with deaf children! They made us hearers learn sign language too. So we could still communicate.
Tommy, I was the only kid in my public school with Tourettes Syndrome. My mom fought for me in public school after a private school I was attending asked my mother to take me somewhere else, because the school didn't know how to teach me. I don't know how bullied you were, but from the moment I started public school to my highschool graduation, I was bullied every day. I had no respite at home because I was bullied there, too. I sought refuge at the local library after school until the library closed each night because I didn't want to go home. I was bullied into sitting alone at church and was very isolated. As a 27-year-old, I still go out of my way to conceal the fact that I have Tourettes. It's easier if ultimately nobody knows. I shouldn't have to hide it, but it saves me a lot of trouble in the long run. Thanks for listening. God bless.
i always appreciate the nice music in your videos plus the uplifting personality of tom really puts you in a good mood
There was a girl that was blind a couple grades below me. Also, in CT! Fast forward 30 yrs...I in my local school district. Recently a girl who graduated and she was brilliant! She was one of the top students and super sweet!
My cousin insisted on going to regular school even though VANCOUVER had an excellent blind school. She said that it was challenging but a huge help later for University and a career as a bookkeeper.
You’re voice is so soothing
There was no blind kid in my school, but my grandmother told me a story once how she used to pass braille-notes to her blind friend, and her blind friend would return written notes.
I did go to elementary school with a blind girl. She wasn't there for long and was usually with an aide, but I remember playing with her at recess once and she was terrified on the swings even though she wasn't going very high. We all decided to close our eyes to try it and she was right- swinging blind is scary and so disorienting when there's a bunch of kids running around screaming!
I went to Western Michigan University, and they had a program for blind people and for the sighted. It was normal to either see a sighted person blindfolded or a blind person walking around campus or even downtown.
You were able to fight that way back then? I had to change schools before we could find one that was even kind of inclusive
In highschool and junior high it was a lot easier but still...I'm impressed
Also although I'm not in a school with anyone blind currently I had one in elementary school and there is a yearly camp for the visually impared where you can meet other people in the district so I've met lots.
Audrey Neal I want to plant camp too! One of my favorite places in the world! I have friends that I met a decade ago, that I'm still friends with today! It really help me with my self-esteem. It made me realize I wasn't alone. I didn't meet another blind person until I was like seven and started going there. It's like my second home, but it's way bigger, and I only was there for two weeks every year. Did you like your camp?
ZeldaWolf2000 it wasn't called plant camp but yes I loved it! I was surprised at how many people there are. It's really fun though, exspecaily comparing experiences and seeing how other people adapt, I enjoy it a lot and I hope to keep going to it for a while yet. Glad you got to have a similar exsperience
Audrey Neal I meant blind camp. Dictate's stupid. My bad. It was nice, because I wasn't segregated, but I still got to meet people who knew what I was going through, instead of trying to empathize with me. It means a lot when someone goes, "I know!" Verses, "yeah." It's the one please, where you can be happy about having shitty eyesight, and having the same shitty condition is somebody else. I remember finding out someone else had ROP, and or both of us going "yes!" And high-fiving each other. Do you ever have any of those moments? Also, do you ever have what I call, blind moments? For example, I once pet a plant thinking it was my dad's cat.
ZeldaWolf2000 yes I have those moments all the time! No idea what to call them. I rember once I was talking to a teacher and I noticed she was probably wearing makeup so I complimented it. Her response was "aren't I always wearing makeup?" It's so cool how at camps like those you can talk about things that "the sited" wouldn't get. all the "oh you (insert blind thing here) too? Cool!" Moments Are so fun to have. It's not the only place i feel at home being that I'm comfortable with being blind but it sure is nice to go to a camp where everyone views you as an equal and you aren't pitied or excluded.
Audrey Neal same here. I stopped giving a shit what other people said years ago, but it still feels good not to have that adjustment. For people. Although, now that I'm out of school, I'm in university now, it doesn't seem to happen as much. For some reason, being out of grade school makes people less annoying.
From 7th grade on, I went to school with Frank who had lost his sight to cancer at 4 years old. He was very intelligent and had lots of friends. He used a Braille writer, which we called his “clacker”. Well, his friends realized that during a quiz, the answer TRUE clacked differently than the answer FALSE, so they began waiting for smart-guy Frank to clack his answer before writing their answers... and suddenly lots of mediocre kids were getting top quiz grades. The teacher caught on pretty quick though and started giving Frank his quizzes out in the hall. Frank went on to get a law degree and worked in Washington DC. Sadly he died at 50 due to complications following a routine surgery (appendectomy I think). He was quite an amazing guy.
I was a high school teacher for about four months before returning to higher education and let me tell you it was interesting watching the one blind student I had working with that Perkins Brailler to do math of all things. Graphing was a challenge as well but we overcame it with a bit of 1 on 1 time and careful verbalizing of test questions as the braille/printing turnaround was just too slow for us.
A good friend of mine growing up was legally blind. We used to play a little of video games, just had to turn the brightness down to compensate
Thanks for the inspiration Tommy
I went to elementary school (k-6) with a blind girl, and she was incredible at playing the piano. She would play music for the class sometimes. I didn't see her again after 6th grade but we are friends on Facebook.
Tommy you are an inspiration to people
I went to school with a kid who was going blind, he left in year 2 because he had to go to another school who could educate him due to his blindness and only found out about it 8 years later because I was never told where he went and only found out when I randomly bumped into him in the streets, feels like ages ago now.
How does a blind person change a diaper? Or parent a child at all? I mean, if you can't see your kid doing stupid things, how do you teach them not to?
Frida Andersson cough Eric Whinmar cough
Franky/ QuilavaFireblast Who? I don't understand what you mean.
Frida Andersson I suck at spelling… Here you go
Erik Weihenmayer
Franky/ QuilavaFireblast Ok... Well, that still doesn't answer my question. I googled his name and found out that he's blind and an adventurer. If your point is that blind people can do whatever they want - I already know that :) my question is how.
I really wish you still made videos I just got into your channel and it sucks that you aren’t doing it anymore. I’ve been watching these every break at work and I’m sad that I’ll run out of videos soon :(
Have you ever walked by a fish market and said hello ladies?
lamontisabigdummy every day, every day. Thanks for watching. :-)
With two zig zags 🤣💀
I live in a pretty small community in an island in Greece,so I've never been to school with a blind person, I'd love to though,it would be awesome to talk to them and find out more about how they experience the world,and help them around if they have trouble
There was a girl at my school and she was blind. You can tell she had been blind since birth. She seemed kind! But not many people socialized with her.
Hi tommy, when i went to school as a blind person, i went to a regular school. I had some braille students in my classroom, but there were other students who read large print like I did.
Tommy i follow all your videos and you are truly inspirational.
So glad to see you again !!! I've missed my favorite youtuber!!! Also, I know you won't be able to see it, but the boy standing next to you in the 3rd or 4th grade is the only child not smiling... he looks like he's about to cry!! 😂
"Your not supposed to look at the keys when you type" "so i never cheated" this guy is gold
Since my father was in the Marine Corps for 30 years we traveled a lot when I was a child so went to many different schools overseas Japan in other places do not need very many blind kids wake myself until I moved to Massachusetts and start going to public school there were several while students and ended up doing different programs with Perkins school for the blind end the public schools in Massachusetts amazing on coming to helping in giving adaptive technology and a helper someone to assist you with whatever was necessary I had some vision up until I got in my late 20s then I went totally blind but I’ve always been legally blind and I agree elementary school was the only time I was picked on and bullied because of my vision once I got into middle school and high school I had lots of friends and people saw my personality and a great person not just that I was the blind kid Love your videos very inspiring. And just to touch on some of your other videos about what blind people do for their careers I have been self-employed for 15 years I own cafeteria and coffee shop and also I have owned a production company and done music production when was involved in major record labels but ever since the age of 14 I’ve had a job and have been employed I also don’t believe in sitting at home collecting a check if I can go out and make a good living for me and my family and be on my team enjoy all the wonderful things in life and also have lots of family members and friends that are perfect vision and don’t have a job they collect food stamps and a check for no reason at all and it drives me crazy when they call me for a loan or to help them out financially and they say hey you were successful in your always going on vacations why don’t you help us out and they think I’d mind me saying no occasionally I am a jerk but I tell them if a blind person can work 60 hours a week I’m sure you Cantu
“You’re gonna work for bullies” - I loved that
My old psychology teacher told that there used to be a blind guy at our gymnasium (college-ish place) who could recognize teachers from their footsteps
I didn't go to school with anyone blind but I did go to elementary school with a deaf girl. She was in the special class and was the only deaf girl in the school and she didn't talk so she taught me amarican sign language. I will never forget her I went to her class so much I actually went on a school trip before they found out I was not in that class
I didn't go to school with anyone blind but In college i hadda blind teacher she was great ! Absolutely amazing ! She even wrote on the board she wasn't born blind tho. She lost her eyesight but I had her for a couple classes & she was the school counselor. She was a really strong too. She tried her best
You indeed have great character Tommy!!
I didn't met any blind student on school, but in the middle of high school i got transfered to a new school, and there was no space for me in the regular classes so i have gone to a special one, which had 4 deaf students and a interpreter
Hell yeah a Tommy video!
You are always so happy! I Love it.
there's a blind man who comes into my school, he's not a teacher or anything and i'm not sure why he comes but i'll often see him walking around with his cane and a person with him presumably to assist with navigating the busy hallways