Thank you so much to everyone for your wonderful comments on my latest video, I'm going to be doing a lot more disability content on this channel. So if you'd like to support me you can by buying me a Coffee. ko-fi.com/A2587HJ
Yes a lot of people have a misunderstood a lot of times. I don’t take it personally it took me a long time to learn but I do really well I’m more patient then most people.
on the topic of watching tv, the main thing for me is dialog. I am 58 and been legally blind all my life. As a kid, I discovered old time radio programs and loved them. I recently found bbc radio online. I can watch the same movie over and over just to hear a well delivered line of dialog. On the subject of stares, I worked at Walmart here in northern Minnesota for over seven years. I could have not done the work without phone apps, but the thing that amazed people the most was my use of ladders. I kept telling people that if you are looking at the ladder, then your doing it wrong. Also at Walmart, I often was able to locate items other associates overlooked because it was hiding behind something or in a shadow. People often forget to use their other senses. Whenever I found an item that eluded others, I could not help but point out that "the blind man found it".
Since my sight loss became significant to become registered severely sight impaired, I had to change how I do daily tasks more than changing what tasks I do. However, after loosing my job, I decided changing careers, so now studying software engineering at Uni and I get so many questions about how I do this, a lot of people do not realise or understand I can still use a computer with the aid of a screen reader. I have been told that a lot of people will stare at me when they see me using my cane, then sit down and pull out a laptop to start doing some work. The funniest thing I get is when I'm using my laptop with the screen off, as I have no need for it to be on and it saves on battery power, when someone comes along to say "do you know your working away but your laptop's off!" Working on computer with no screen seems to really baffle some people.
SO GLAD I found your site! Newly diagnosed with macular Degeneration. As an artist, this is painful news. Drive for a living. Felt like a death sentence. Will help to "see" others with vision loss
I agree that relying on audio is not reading, because if you haven't seen a word written down before, you won't necessarily know how to spell it. Having said that though, although I can mainly see light and shadows and can't read print or really see color, I still know what things are supposed to look like if that makes any sense, so at times because I find it a lot easier to take in information by reading in braille and can read raised print (I insisted on learning to handwrite when I was about 8 or 9 although can't remember what some punctuation looks like) and at times like working with different colors as well as texture, I've been described as a very visual learner. The thing that does irritate me though is the conversation I get all the time where people ask if i've been "blind" or some other variation thereof all my life. I don't like to answer those kind of questions, because that seems to be all anyone wants to talk about, and quite honestly I probably have better places to go and things to do. Or how about the one where people think you're amazing or brave for doing something like going out on your own? I got tired of hearing that once and ignored this person, who then insisted on stopping and totally distracting me just to tell me "you're managing really well", well I would do even better if you went away I thought to myself. I don't go up to every person I assume to be fully sighted and tell them they're really brave just for living their daily lives, or has anyone ever asked a sighted person if they've been able to see all their lives? I should totally do that some time and see what hanppens!
My long cane has managed to get a crack in it near the roller. First the roller starts giving up by either strugging to roll or not rolling at all, now it’s got a crack and it’s getting worse, gradually opening more.
Admittedly, the assumptions can get downright insulting sometimes. A lack of vision does not equal incompetence. But then again, at least in the US, most people do not even realize how often the word “blind” is used as an insult to imply stupidity. Personally, I love messing with people. For example, I love telling friends, “I’ll see you next time.” I will admit, when I first lost my sight, as a way to cope with the grief, I collected blind jokes. I think I made everyone sick with those, LOL.
I really like this video. I use the term low vision. It makes me upset when people think I am 100 percent sighted. Other people think I’m faking blind when I use my cane because I wear glasses.
The thing that gets be about these people that say we're faking it or are "asking" a question is that instead of asking politely they do it in that accusatory way that will get you on the defensive and that way you'll answer them. Like they don't want to look vulnerable or dumb, or put themselves out there so instead they attack you so you answer the question and it's ridiculous and something that really needs to stop. I've been attacked online for being blind and playing video games. Like, not even the act of playing video games at first, but because I cover video game music, I'm not blind. How does being able to listen to a genre of music, like it, and cover things from it = not being blind? It's probably the worst thing that's happened to me online that's stuck with me, it devolved into people just saying yeah right you can't play games if you're blind you're a liar and all of these people just ganging up on me in comments, made me never want to post a comment about being blind on that person's channel again. Another weird one I've gotten is "How do you type?" and I started explaining to the person that I have a screenreader on my computer that tells me what's on screen. They were like "No...like, how do you type?" I was like "You mean...use the keyboard?" and they felt embarrassed and stopped asking but like..I was baffled haha. Doesn't everyone memorize what's on the keyboard pretty early on in life at this point? I'm with you Emily: I'm shocked people don't realize how much tech it out there for us, on devices they're already using! It's so easy to find out that I'm convinced people asking these questions just don't care to know and want to make you feel bad or something. Great video.
Crystal Dennis Music I’ve been told on here not on these videos but on youtube oh if you’re blind you can’t read comments and reply to comments etc. Oh? Well what did you just see thanks to some handy features on my ipad air? Hey sighted people, think outside the box, stop and think hey maybe this person is using this on their device. I’m not completely blind, completely blind in my right eye which is fake but even when it was real the right eye had zero vision, left eye is 2 meters blurred tunnel vision.
Thank you!! Thank you for addressing these challenges and issues that we people who are visualy impaired/partially sighted. I am from the states (Los Angeles) and I absolutely love how you break down the myths (sighted) people often think about those who have daily challenges and struggles living in such a fast-paced society, but we do manage... some of us even thrive!! I am truly grateful for today's technology, especially Kindle and other digital products because I enjoy reading and that makes it much easier to adjust to our eyes than a traditional paperback, I am writing my 2nd book and looking to write many more! You are so inspiring! . Your channel just "popped" on my feed, and I am soooo glad it did!!
When I was at school I it used to really annoy me when I told people that I have a mystagmus and they would say do you mean you have an astigmatism. I felt like saying no I meant what I said.
Something similar ish has happened to me before! Someone on the bus found out that I’m visually impaired and I was using my phone, so they were like well if you’re blind, why do you have a phone! And if I’m being honest I got SO mad!! Thank you for making this video❤️
“If science has advanced that much that we have been able to put humankind on the moon, don’t you think by now we’ve invented ways to enable people with sight loss to send a text” hahaha I’m laughing out loud. Great video
I have been legally blind since 2012 because of her condition called hydrcephalus. Here are a few of the challenges I've faced: 1. I have a neighbor who absolutely insist that our cannot read anything. I do have a kindle and I do have an Amazon Echo as well as a DaVinci CCTV. Patty says, ALL THE TIME, "You can't read! You can't pick up a book, look at it, turn the pages! Reading nerds vision!" No... All reading needs is a functional brain. You don't need to read with your eyes if your ears work. 2. I went with my brother and sister in law to a restaurant for my birthday. The server was a rather young lady, and she asked Pat and Janet for their orders first, then turned to me, looked RIGHT AT ME, anfd said, "... And what we HE like (her emphasis). Pat stood up to leave; I told him to sit back down , and I asked her directly what the specials were. I ended up getting a very good shrimp ravioli. 3. I'm a huge anime fan, for about 50 years now. I gravitate to dubbed anime because Japanese characters talk VERY FAST and I couldn't follow the subtitles even before my optic nerves went PFFFFT. I still get tagged for it... You're not a Real Fan because you listen to the dubbed. Vrrsion... Dubbed SUCKS!" No... You suck. If yore watching, say, a Danish movie with me, you would most likely watch the English dub. I do like movies with a lot of dialogue and I do NOT like trailers with no dialogue or narration. 4. I write a LOT with my Kindle. Thank GOD for internal mikes. 5.I have volunteered at my church twice as a pew polisher and library worker, ANF once as a greeter.
This video was quite helpful. I have an OC who is blind. I'm trying to make realistic. I think I've done pretty well so far. A few things that need adjustment l, but not bad. Thanks so much for your videos and you channel in general. I love it when people educate about stereotypes that are a result of false education.
One thing that you forgot to mention is that even if there are two people with the same diagnosis they still can see and it can affect them differently. I am "Legally Blind" from birth but later on, in life, I ended up in a power chair. I will tell you that I get this all of the time, especially in hardware stores. I will go up to customer service and ask if there is someone who can help me find something. I will let them know I am legally blind and I will need someone to come to me and tame me back to the area and help me find the item. After that, the person will say something to the effect of "Oh it is on aisle 54" while pointing in that direction. It's like they forgot the fact that I mentioned that I am legally blind because I came rolling in on a power chair and they can't imagine the concept of someone who is legally blind but is in a power chair but they just see the chair and think that I have good vision plus when someone in a store helps me and afterward they will ask me if I need help getting my groceries to my car after guiding me around the store and me informing them that I am legally blind.
I think you just spoke for a lot of us with this video. I’m hoping everyone who’s blind/VI who has responded to the post of the picture of the woman with her phone and cane has been able to start a discussion about misconceptions of blind people. I also don’t get why some people think listening to an audiobook doesn’t count as reading. Your mind is retaining information the same way as if you were physically reading the material. I’m starting to realize how often we may have to repeat some things over and over so people or people who’ve never heard about any of what you’ve mentioned can get it.
Personally I think we work harder with an audiobook. Before I lost my sight if I lost concentration while I was reading I could flip back however many pages I needed to to find where my mind wandered... using audiobooks it’s much harder to do that so I have to actively focus my concentration on the book I’m listening to
Definitely, I think that a lot of the time we are having to repeat ourselves and will do until sighted people get the message that there are solutions for visually impaired people to be able to do things like anyone else.
Lynne Nicholson actually I find myself focused like that when I’m listening to an audiobook as well. If my mind wanders for a couple of sentences I keep finding myself rewinding back just in case I missed something.
Oh I really find the miss-conception that just because people can't see as much as everyone else, it must somehow mean they can't use stairs. I was in a shop once and got annoyed when I asked someone how to got to the stairs so I could go back down to the ground floor and they asked if I wanted to go to the lift, so of course I was like no I can use stairs perfectly fine, there's nothing wrong with my legs. Anyway the staff member came down with me since she was finishing her shift so I asked her what the connection is between the eyes and the legs or the eyes and the ability to use stairs, but she totally didn't answer the question. Why does society seem to expect less of people who might have issues with say vision or hearing or perhaps some other difficulty. Just treat them the same as the rest of society and make everything accessible in order to do that. Yes that means signs in large print and braille, yes it means lifts or escalators for those who do have trouble walking, but people seem to have a habit of seeing the difficulty and making any number of assumptions, not seeing the person first as a whole.
I still don’t know what’s up with some sighted people. A friend told me about that pic being posted on facebook. Why would we want to fake it? We wouldn’t. Nobody has the right to accuse us of faking it.
I think the 1st item is confusion about definitions, I always thought blind meant unable to see, while visually impaired meant significant loss of sight
I think I've mentioned this before but I was on a city bus with my mobility (long) cane and was sending a text message and the lady across from me said "you are going way too fast, you can't be blind". Meanwhile I'd made about a thousand typos and most of the "speed" was me using delete. I have also heard a lot of the things you mentioned in the video. My described video for game of thrones is my partner-in-crime that is one show I wouldn't be able to watch on my own.
Hi Emily I’m watching one of your this video of yours and I am made me realise that I should put my point across and it was actually a time I was out doing mobility training with my instructor and she had literally left me for five seconds to go and get something and I was sitting on a lot on the wall waiting for her and this random man comes up to me and he says oh if you’re blind does that mean you’re deaf as well which really bugs me I mean it’s reality but if you’ve lost one sense or have very limited use of it doesn’t mean the other one is going to Val as well
Taking photos of people in public to shame them online is bloody disgusting. Surprised they didn't send it to DWP, seen as people seem to want to be fraud investigators these days.
I was diagnosed with a vision disease called Dominant Optic Atrophy in 5th grade. i am also colorblind. I am in 8th grade now and I’m going off to high school next year. I am not ready to face more challenges throughout my next 4 years in high school. I’ve been bullied because of being visually impaired. It really does suck because normal people just don’t understand what it like for visually impaired people. Since I have a vision disease, I have to have a vision teacher that meets with me every week. I was given an iPad Pro that I was able to connect to the teacher’s laptop through an app called Join.Me. So whatever is on the board like notes or a worksheet or just something important that I had to write down, it showed up on my iPad. Using the iPad in school has improved my grades so much. I am very happy that they have devices and other things that help visually impaired students. As I get older, I know that my vision will never get better and will only get worse, i am very scared to lose my independence and the way I used to look at the quality of life. You are very inspiring. It is a great thing to know that there are people who understand what i go through every day. I really hope you don’t let your vision stop you from doing what you want and love to do. I would love if you would reply back!!
I am a senior citizen male who is married and v ery much in love with my senior citizen wife who has been blind snce birth. We have been marriied for 7.5 years and I have heard of things that have happened to her and I am amazed that people cannot use common sense around a visuallyy impaired person. We have found that some people just don't know what to do around my wife. There is one video that you can make and that is spouses of the blind are unique people. We do all the things that our unsighted spouse cannot do. Housework is a biggie for me as I also work so time is limited. So a video about the uniqueness of a marriage with a spouse without sight would be something for you. By the way my wife is quite a musician. She plays piano, organ, autoharp, accordian and is now starting to learn the violin. When you start you car it beeps and she can tell you what key thats in. My wife is pretty much NOT blind when at home. I love my Jennie.
The one that steals the gem from my doughnut. Is I am standing there with my cane. and they walk up put their hand out to shake hands then act like I am rude for not shaking it. I have even had some ask me are you blind or something? To that I generally reply "Why yes I am but it must be terrible to be handicapped with no courtesy, or manners. How do you do it?" ( sarcasm included) LOL. Or even when I say, go into a chip shop, with a friend and one of the wait staff asks my companion(s) "Is he alright" I love to speak up and say He is fine and you can ask me yourself. I know it seems a bit harsh. But I am blind not, deaf or stupid. I personally have no problem entertaining genuine inquiries into the subject. I find the imperiousness presented tone, and brusqueness of haughtiness that makes the cheese slide of my cracker as it where. Lovely video. Crack on, I have found many well spoken ambassadors for the visually impaired on UA-cam. I give much thanks to you and the others for it. Cheers my dear.
13:00 my blind friend took the stairs for two years because our school built an elevator with a touch screen. Blind people can use stairs. They CANT use touch screen elevators.... Until my visually impaired self discovered the accessibility button... that one was on me... We hated the architect for that building for two years...
Great video, Emily, I am in the US and I have encountered all of these lol. Last night my husband and I went to the brewery to meet friends, he parked in a disabled parking slot as I have the cradentials to do so & because it was dark so it's just safer for me rather than walking through a parking lot. An older man literally stopped me to inform me it was handicap parking... I didn't have my cane I was doing sighted guide, I looked at him and said yes I know, as you can see I have a placard to do so. I personally get tired of having to explain or justify myself. I wish people could just go about their lives and mind theirs.
i love your videos i can relate to all of it as i am registered blind but severly partially sighted. when it comes to using my phone i like a big screen instead of big buttons. i get my phone close to my face and when out and about people can get nasty by saying go get glasses or ofer help as if i can't do it. i have been told i can't do things coz i am blind quite a few times and it really iritates me and it makes me want to prove it to them in a big way. when it comes to people asking what i can see it is very difficult to explain.
Thank you for making this video. One of the big things my brother and my sister fail to realize is that visually impaired people can cook their own food.
Hi Emily! I mentioned to Juan that it's awesome that the two of you had such overlapping topics! Great minds think alike! Yes, there are lot of misconceptions and I believe it is simple ignorance and lack of experience. I try to see those situations when people show their lack of knowledge as an opportunity to educate and make a difference. That's why it's so great to have so much representation in the blind community that we are normal, capable, feeling human beings that are just like everyone else. People like you, me, Juan, Casey, Sam, and others can work to change those public perceptions! Thanks for this video. ❤️
It was so uncanny! Me and Juan were laughing about it afterwards. I saw you with Sam on his stream tonight too and will definitely be subscribing to your channel ❤️
Oh wow you covered a lot there I try to remain patient with other people I really do but as someone who lost their sight relatively recently (cause diagnosed September 2016) and having been an independent person so long having people panic when they meet me in local woodland gets my goat (I have my white cane and white walking stick enjoying my solo hike, and use my phone to take photos of the signs at intersections to double check which path to follow to come out where I expect). This bit of woodland is not in the middle of nowhere one edge opens out into the town centre- the worst that would happen is I may come out of the woods in an area I don’t know but that’s why I use a map app (though it is often telling me to get back on route as even when indicating I’m walking it insists on road routes rather than pedestrian routes) However if I had to travel to London then I want to have someone with me as there are way too many people.
What bugs me about audio discription and subtitles are that they don't include the option on every showing on tv, cinema or theatre. I think it should always be available and you can switch it on or off or have some equipment always available.
I love this video! I'm visually impaired/ low vision. I have myopic degeneration and recently did O&M training, I'm now working with a cane for the time, and intend to get a guide dog. I've already had people pause suddenly when I say hello or thank you to them when I pass by or they move off the sidewalk LOL, no one has said or asked me about any of it yet, but at some point I'm sure I'll get some interesting comments. Especially when I use my phone also. I love that you really take the reality and truth of things and tactfully put it out there and answer questions. There is a lot of curiosity when it comes to visually impaired having lots of ability. And I'm only just slightly color blind, I sometimes ask my kids about colors LOL, I just put an app like Seeing AI on my phone and intend to play with that more. Your videos really help me a lot with acceptance and learning helpful and practical ideas for my vision impairment, thank you!
Hi! I love this video and I think you have so many great points. I am also blind because I have retinitis pigmentosa. I also have a UA-cam channel and talk about many of these topics to. Thank you so much for everything you’re doing it for us in the blind and visually impaired community. You have a great influence in following here on UA-cam and you are changing the lives of many of us. Continue making these powerful and informative videos, I really enjoy watching your channel! Thank you so much for all of your work, you are very talented and helping all of us in this community. Thanks again, Matt
Emily there is somebody on their way to watch this video hopefully as I provided them with the link. This other person is of the opinion we can’t read. Wrongo.
I am legally blind. Left eye is completely blind and right eye has Stargardts (a form of macular degeneration that takes away all colour vision and obstructs central vision). I am watching youtube while legally blind. As far as my phone goes, I had a friend make an app so that text comes in as Morse code from the vibration as I am loosing hearing as well. I can read too but it is very hard cause I still try to look directly at the words but they disappear in central vision. I am still facing the fact that my vision will most likely get worse, so I am in process of learning to overcome before it gets to that
I told a guy that I work with that he's taller than me. He was quite surprised that I knew he was slightly taller than me. We can hear where a person is... I knew he was taller because of where his voice was. And I get that a lot with the stairs, "Oh, you can use stairs?" Yes, it's only my eyes that are affected by my eye condition, not my legs. I mean, I do prefer the lift because sometimes I do feel safer using the lift. I have only light perception, and once I said something was quite bright. I instantly got I thought you couldn't see. I wish people would understand that blind or partially sighted doesn't mean no sight.
sigh... I had someone ask last year if I can read, with a straight face. (must have got the look right that day? heh) the nitpicking about the formats of reading is annoying, and probably everyone who’s using audio or AT in general has heard that. people seem to forget spoken languages are older than written ones, and storytelling is older than looking at books. maybe they should try a few audiobooks, in different speeds, to find some that they like. another thing to continue big time from this video would definitely be fashion and style! which is also irritating - people can like fashion and makeup whether they are blind or not, just like someone being typically sighted is no guarantee of them being interested in fashion. I love your fashion and makeup videos, as you do always such a good job in describing the details, and how to combine some new trendy thing with different outfits or accessories, or how to apply makeup or mix colors etc. Those are something that would be difficult when trying to follow from mainstream medias, as they rarely describe what things look like or what kind of things would look good with what.
Great video x I can relate to what you was saying I'm severely blind and I can see colour mostly, prime colours ,My sister shocked me in a phone conversation I told her my right eye central vision has gone so now in both eyes I need to learn to use my peripheral she compared my visual disability to her doing housework in the dark because she was trying to get across that if she can do housework whilst it's dark then I can do housework whilst living with my visual disability I was confused and strikingly shocked that she compared being in the dark to being blind it took a while for me to understand what she was talking about I even asked my daughter and she was confused and shocked like me I know I can still do housework and cook etc. It takes longer for me now but it's not so hard since I can memorise my house, what do you think of her trying to compare visual disability to being in the dark ?
Emily I just red about the eye disease you are going through. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 It doesn't sound fun at all.
Jacqueline Smith-Jackson it can be taxing at times. It’s a lot more than my eyesight, it’s also an endocrine illness. But it’s okay, I’m used to it ❤️❤️
Great video sweetie I find it amazing that you haven't " accidentally" hit people in the shin with your cane wen they come out with some of those Or have you??
I was thinking back to one of your videos the other day were you sead you had such a hard time finding characters in story's with disabilities You asked if we knew of any and I kicked myself because I know of just the perfect comic book and it completely slipped my mind Have you ever hear of (The Department for Ability ) If not then basically there's a young girl with a disability and she is wheelchair bound and like you she had a hard time finding any characters or heroes she could relate to Her dad came up with the best solution ever he made a comic book called The Department for Ability Were all the characters have a disability and they use supped disability aids that make them all hero's The best part he's daughter is the main character and Hero
I know that. Picture I went onto the person‘s Facebook page who took that picture I didn’t say anything I just want to see all the comments and all that stuff when she posted that picture was not fun that’s not fair uugh not fare
Thank you so much to everyone for your wonderful comments on my latest video, I'm going to be doing a lot more disability content on this channel. So if you'd like to support me you can by buying me a Coffee.
ko-fi.com/A2587HJ
Yes a lot of people have a misunderstood a lot of times.
I don’t take it personally it took me a long time to learn but I do really well I’m more patient then most people.
on the topic of watching tv, the main thing for me is dialog. I am 58 and been legally blind all my life. As a kid, I discovered old time radio programs and loved them. I recently found bbc radio online. I can watch the same movie over and over just to hear a well delivered line of dialog. On the subject of stares, I worked at Walmart here in northern Minnesota for over seven years. I could have not done the work without phone apps, but the thing that amazed people the most was my use of ladders. I kept telling people that if you are looking at the ladder, then your doing it wrong. Also at Walmart, I often was able to locate items other associates overlooked because it was hiding behind something or in a shadow. People often forget to use their other senses. Whenever I found an item that eluded others, I could not help but point out that "the blind man found it".
Since my sight loss became significant to become registered severely sight impaired, I had to change how I do daily tasks more than changing what tasks I do. However, after loosing my job, I decided changing careers, so now studying software engineering at Uni and I get so many questions about how I do this, a lot of people do not realise or understand I can still use a computer with the aid of a screen reader.
I have been told that a lot of people will stare at me when they see me using my cane, then sit down and pull out a laptop to start doing some work.
The funniest thing I get is when I'm using my laptop with the screen off, as I have no need for it to be on and it saves on battery power, when someone comes along to say "do you know your working away but your laptop's off!" Working on computer with no screen seems to really baffle some people.
SO GLAD I found your site! Newly diagnosed with macular Degeneration. As an artist, this is painful news. Drive for a living. Felt like a death sentence. Will help to "see" others with vision loss
I agree that relying on audio is not reading, because if you haven't seen a word written down before, you won't necessarily know how to spell it. Having said that though, although I can mainly see light and shadows and can't read print or really see color, I still know what things are supposed to look like if that makes any sense, so at times because I find it a lot easier to take in information by reading in braille and can read raised print (I insisted on learning to handwrite when I was about 8 or 9 although can't remember what some punctuation looks like) and at times like working with different colors as well as texture, I've been described as a very visual learner. The thing that does irritate me though is the conversation I get all the time where people ask if i've been "blind" or some other variation thereof all my life. I don't like to answer those kind of questions, because that seems to be all anyone wants to talk about, and quite honestly I probably have better places to go and things to do. Or how about the one where people think you're amazing or brave for doing something like going out on your own? I got tired of hearing that once and ignored this person, who then insisted on stopping and totally distracting me just to tell me "you're managing really well", well I would do even better if you went away I thought to myself. I don't go up to every person I assume to be fully sighted and tell them they're really brave just for living their daily lives, or has anyone ever asked a sighted person if they've been able to see all their lives? I should totally do that some time and see what hanppens!
Harmony Neil Relying on audio books is still reading.
Asking them if they have been sighted their whole life, Bloody comedy that.
My long cane has managed to get a crack in it near the roller. First the roller starts giving up by either strugging to roll or not rolling at all, now it’s got a crack and it’s getting worse, gradually opening more.
They should probably rename these things. Blind, and visually impaired. Where blind would be totally blind, and visually impaired can see something.
Admittedly, the assumptions can get downright insulting sometimes. A lack of vision does not equal incompetence. But then again, at least in the US, most people do not even realize how often the word “blind” is used as an insult to imply stupidity.
Personally, I love messing with people. For example, I love telling friends, “I’ll see you next time.” I will admit, when I first lost my sight, as a way to cope with the grief, I collected blind jokes. I think I made everyone sick with those, LOL.
Thats hilarious and something I need to start doing.
I am a sighted person and apologize on behalf of those who made these mistakes none of these surprised me just wanted to hear some of the solutions
I really like this video. I use the term low vision. It makes me upset when people think I am 100 percent sighted. Other people think I’m faking blind when I use my cane because I wear glasses.
Ugg I have the same issues.
Tina Caruso I’m glad I’m not the only one.
The thing that gets be about these people that say we're faking it or are "asking" a question is that instead of asking politely they do it in that accusatory way that will get you on the defensive and that way you'll answer them. Like they don't want to look vulnerable or dumb, or put themselves out there so instead they attack you so you answer the question and it's ridiculous and something that really needs to stop.
I've been attacked online for being blind and playing video games. Like, not even the act of playing video games at first, but because I cover video game music, I'm not blind. How does being able to listen to a genre of music, like it, and cover things from it = not being blind? It's probably the worst thing that's happened to me online that's stuck with me, it devolved into people just saying yeah right you can't play games if you're blind you're a liar and all of these people just ganging up on me in comments, made me never want to post a comment about being blind on that person's channel again.
Another weird one I've gotten is "How do you type?" and I started explaining to the person that I have a screenreader on my computer that tells me what's on screen. They were like "No...like, how do you type?" I was like "You mean...use the keyboard?" and they felt embarrassed and stopped asking but like..I was baffled haha. Doesn't everyone memorize what's on the keyboard pretty early on in life at this point?
I'm with you Emily: I'm shocked people don't realize how much tech it out there for us, on devices they're already using! It's so easy to find out that I'm convinced people asking these questions just don't care to know and want to make you feel bad or something. Great video.
Crystal Dennis Music I’ve been told on here not on these videos but on youtube oh if you’re blind you can’t read comments and reply to comments etc. Oh? Well what did you just see thanks to some handy features on my ipad air? Hey sighted people, think outside the box, stop and think hey maybe this person is using this on their device. I’m not completely blind, completely blind in my right eye which is fake but even when it was real the right eye had zero vision, left eye is 2 meters blurred tunnel vision.
Thank you!! Thank you for addressing these challenges and issues that we people who are visualy impaired/partially sighted. I am from the states (Los Angeles) and I absolutely love how you break down the myths (sighted) people often think about those who have daily challenges and struggles living in such a fast-paced society, but we do manage... some of us even thrive!! I am truly grateful for today's technology, especially Kindle and other digital products because I enjoy reading and that makes it much easier to adjust to our eyes than a traditional paperback, I am writing my 2nd book and looking to write many more! You are so inspiring! . Your channel just "popped" on my feed, and I am soooo glad it did!!
When I was at school I it used to really annoy me when I told people that I have a mystagmus and they would say do you mean you have an astigmatism. I felt like saying no I meant what I said.
Something similar ish has happened to me before! Someone on the bus found out that I’m visually impaired and I was using my phone, so they were like well if you’re blind, why do you have a phone! And if I’m being honest I got SO mad!! Thank you for making this video❤️
“If science has advanced that much that we have been able to put humankind on the moon, don’t you think by now we’ve invented ways to enable people with sight loss to send a text” hahaha I’m laughing out loud. Great video
I have been legally blind since 2012 because of her condition called hydrcephalus. Here are a few of the challenges I've faced:
1. I have a neighbor who absolutely insist that our cannot read anything. I do have a kindle and I do have an Amazon Echo as well as a DaVinci CCTV. Patty says, ALL THE TIME, "You can't read! You can't pick up a book, look at it, turn the pages! Reading nerds vision!" No... All reading needs is a functional brain. You don't need to read with your eyes if your ears work.
2. I went with my brother and sister in law to a restaurant for my birthday. The server was a rather young lady, and she asked Pat and Janet for their orders first, then turned to me, looked RIGHT AT ME, anfd said, "... And what we HE like (her emphasis). Pat stood up to leave; I told him to sit back down , and I asked her directly what the specials were. I ended up getting a very good shrimp ravioli.
3. I'm a huge anime fan, for about 50 years now. I gravitate to dubbed anime because Japanese characters talk VERY FAST and I couldn't follow the subtitles even before my optic nerves went PFFFFT. I still get tagged for it... You're not a Real Fan because you listen to the dubbed. Vrrsion... Dubbed SUCKS!" No... You suck. If yore watching, say, a Danish movie with me, you would most likely watch the English dub.
I do like movies with a lot of dialogue and I do NOT like trailers with no dialogue or narration.
4. I write a LOT with my Kindle. Thank GOD for internal mikes.
5.I have volunteered at my church twice as a pew polisher and library worker, ANF once as a greeter.
This video was quite helpful. I have an OC who is blind. I'm trying to make realistic. I think I've done pretty well so far. A few things that need adjustment l, but not bad. Thanks so much for your videos and you channel in general. I love it when people educate about stereotypes that are a result of false education.
One thing that you forgot to mention is that even if there are two people with the same diagnosis they still can see and it can affect them differently. I am "Legally Blind" from birth but later on, in life, I ended up in a power chair. I will tell you that I get this all of the time, especially in hardware stores. I will go up to customer service and ask if there is someone who can help me find something. I will let them know I am legally blind and I will need someone to come to me and tame me back to the area and help me find the item. After that, the person will say something to the effect of "Oh it is on aisle 54" while pointing in that direction. It's like they forgot the fact that I mentioned that I am legally blind because I came rolling in on a power chair and they can't imagine the concept of someone who is legally blind but is in a power chair but they just see the chair and think that I have good vision plus when someone in a store helps me and afterward they will ask me if I need help getting my groceries to my car after guiding me around the store and me informing them that I am legally blind.
I think you just spoke for a lot of us with this video. I’m hoping everyone who’s blind/VI who has responded to the post of the picture of the woman with her phone and cane has been able to start a discussion about misconceptions of blind people.
I also don’t get why some people think listening to an audiobook doesn’t count as reading. Your mind is retaining information the same way as if you were physically reading the material.
I’m starting to realize how often we may have to repeat some things over and over so people or people who’ve never heard about any of what you’ve mentioned can get it.
Personally I think we work harder with an audiobook. Before I lost my sight if I lost concentration while I was reading I could flip back however many pages I needed to to find where my mind wandered... using audiobooks it’s much harder to do that so I have to actively focus my concentration on the book I’m listening to
Definitely, I think that a lot of the time we are having to repeat ourselves and will do until sighted people get the message that there are solutions for visually impaired people to be able to do things like anyone else.
Lynne Nicholson actually I find myself focused like that when I’m listening to an audiobook as well. If my mind wanders for a couple of sentences I keep finding myself rewinding back just in case I missed something.
Fashioneyesta what frustrates me the most is the idea that many sighted people think we’re all completely blind with not even light perception.
Oh I really find the miss-conception that just because people can't see as much as everyone else, it must somehow mean they can't use stairs. I was in a shop once and got annoyed when I asked someone how to got to the stairs so I could go back down to the ground floor and they asked if I wanted to go to the lift, so of course I was like no I can use stairs perfectly fine, there's nothing wrong with my legs. Anyway the staff member came down with me since she was finishing her shift so I asked her what the connection is between the eyes and the legs or the eyes and the ability to use stairs, but she totally didn't answer the question. Why does society seem to expect less of people who might have issues with say vision or hearing or perhaps some other difficulty. Just treat them the same as the rest of society and make everything accessible in order to do that. Yes that means signs in large print and braille, yes it means lifts or escalators for those who do have trouble walking, but people seem to have a habit of seeing the difficulty and making any number of assumptions, not seeing the person first as a whole.
Great video
I still don’t know what’s up with some sighted people. A friend told me about that pic being posted on facebook. Why would we want to fake it? We wouldn’t. Nobody has the right to accuse us of faking it.
I think the 1st item is confusion about definitions, I always thought blind meant unable to see, while visually impaired meant significant loss of sight
I think I've mentioned this before but I was on a city bus with my mobility (long) cane and was sending a text message and the lady across from me said "you are going way too fast, you can't be blind". Meanwhile I'd made about a thousand typos and most of the "speed" was me using delete. I have also heard a lot of the things you mentioned in the video. My described video for game of thrones is my partner-in-crime that is one show I wouldn't be able to watch on my own.
I closed captioned this for you.
Hi Emily I’m watching one of your this video of yours and I am made me realise that I should put my point across and it was actually a time I was out doing mobility training with my instructor and she had literally left me for five seconds to go and get something and I was sitting on a lot on the wall waiting for her and this random man comes up to me and he says oh if you’re blind does that mean you’re deaf as well which really bugs me I mean it’s reality but if you’ve lost one sense or have very limited use of it doesn’t mean the other one is going to Val as well
Taking photos of people in public to shame them online is bloody disgusting. Surprised they didn't send it to DWP, seen as people seem to want to be fraud investigators these days.
The newer android also has quite a few access features. I just got the S8 and it tints screen without needing an app. 🙌🏻
I was diagnosed with a vision disease called Dominant Optic Atrophy in 5th grade. i am also colorblind. I am in 8th grade now and I’m going off to high school next year. I am not ready to face more challenges throughout my next 4 years in high school. I’ve been bullied because of being visually impaired. It really does suck because normal people just don’t understand what it like for visually impaired people. Since I have a vision disease, I have to have a vision teacher that meets with me every week. I was given an iPad Pro that I was able to connect to the teacher’s laptop through an app called Join.Me. So whatever is on the board like notes or a worksheet or just something important that I had to write down, it showed up on my iPad. Using the iPad in school has improved my grades so much. I am very happy that they have devices and other things that help visually impaired students. As I get older, I know that my vision will never get better and will only get worse, i am very scared to lose my independence and the way I used to look at the quality of life. You are very inspiring. It is a great thing to know that there are people who understand what i go through every day. I really hope you don’t let your vision stop you from doing what you want and love to do. I would love if you would reply back!!
I am a senior citizen male who is married and v ery much in love with my senior citizen wife who has been blind snce birth. We have been marriied for 7.5 years and I have heard of things that have happened to her and I am amazed that people cannot use common sense around a visuallyy impaired person. We have found that some people just don't know what to do around my wife. There is one video that you can make and that is spouses of the blind are unique people. We do all the things that our unsighted spouse cannot do. Housework is a biggie for me as I also work so time is limited. So a video about the uniqueness of a marriage with a spouse without sight would be something for you. By the way my wife is quite a musician. She plays piano, organ, autoharp, accordian and is now starting to learn the violin. When you start you car it beeps and she can tell you what key thats in. My wife is pretty much NOT blind when at home. I love my Jennie.
Well said 100% agree with all of them.
Adam Flavell thank you!
The one that steals the gem from my doughnut. Is I am standing there with my cane. and they walk up put their hand out to shake hands then act like I am rude for not shaking it. I have even had some ask me are you blind or something? To that I generally reply "Why yes I am but it must be terrible to be handicapped with no courtesy, or manners. How do you do it?" ( sarcasm included) LOL. Or even when I say, go into a chip shop, with a friend and one of the wait staff asks my companion(s) "Is he alright" I love to speak up and say He is fine and you can ask me yourself. I know it seems a bit harsh. But I am blind not, deaf or stupid. I personally have no problem entertaining genuine inquiries into the subject. I find the imperiousness presented tone, and brusqueness of haughtiness that makes the cheese slide of my cracker as it where. Lovely video. Crack on, I have found many well spoken ambassadors for the visually impaired on UA-cam. I give much thanks to you and the others for it. Cheers my dear.
Lol I remember seeing a video that said what blind people think and assume about sighted people
13:00 my blind friend took the stairs for two years because our school built an elevator with a touch screen. Blind people can use stairs. They CANT use touch screen elevators.... Until my visually impaired self discovered the accessibility button... that one was on me...
We hated the architect for that building for two years...
Great video, Emily, I am in the US and I have encountered all of these lol. Last night my husband and I went to the brewery to meet friends, he parked in a disabled parking slot as I have the cradentials to do so & because it was dark so it's just safer for me rather than walking through a parking lot. An older man literally stopped me to inform me it was handicap parking... I didn't have my cane I was doing sighted guide, I looked at him and said yes I know, as you can see I have a placard to do so. I personally get tired of having to explain or justify myself. I wish people could just go about their lives and mind theirs.
i love your videos i can relate to all of it as i am registered blind but severly partially sighted. when it comes to using my phone i like a big screen instead of big buttons. i get my phone close to my face and when out and about people can get nasty by saying go get glasses or ofer help as if i can't do it. i have been told i can't do things coz i am blind quite a few times and it really iritates me and it makes me want to prove it to them in a big way. when it comes to people asking what i can see it is very difficult to explain.
as for me i can see things around me cant see them very well but i can see them
Thank you for making this video.
One of the big things my brother and my sister fail to realize is that visually impaired people can cook their own food.
Sending another person to you now. This guy just accused me of faking being severely signt impaired/blind as he described me.
Hi Emily! I mentioned to Juan that it's awesome that the two of you had such overlapping topics! Great minds think alike! Yes, there are lot of misconceptions and I believe it is simple ignorance and lack of experience. I try to see those situations when people show their lack of knowledge as an opportunity to educate and make a difference. That's why it's so great to have so much representation in the blind community that we are normal, capable, feeling human beings that are just like everyone else. People like you, me, Juan, Casey, Sam, and others can work to change those public perceptions! Thanks for this video. ❤️
It was so uncanny! Me and Juan were laughing about it afterwards. I saw you with Sam on his stream tonight too and will definitely be subscribing to your channel ❤️
Oh wow you covered a lot there
I try to remain patient with other people I really do but as someone who lost their sight relatively recently (cause diagnosed September 2016) and having been an independent person so long having people panic when they meet me in local woodland gets my goat (I have my white cane and white walking stick enjoying my solo hike, and use my phone to take photos of the signs at intersections to double check which path to follow to come out where I expect). This bit of woodland is not in the middle of nowhere one edge opens out into the town centre- the worst that would happen is I may come out of the woods in an area I don’t know but that’s why I use a map app (though it is often telling me to get back on route as even when indicating I’m walking it insists on road routes rather than pedestrian routes) However if I had to travel to London then I want to have someone with me as there are way too many people.
Thank you for educating me! I want to learn as a sited person.
What bugs me about audio discription and subtitles are that they don't include the option on every showing on tv, cinema or theatre. I think it should always be available and you can switch it on or off or have some equipment always available.
I’m dyslexic and have a Nystagmus. I’m legally blind in one eye and Visual impaired in the other.
I love this video! I'm visually impaired/ low vision. I have myopic degeneration and recently did O&M training, I'm now working with a cane for the time, and intend to get a guide dog. I've already had people pause suddenly when I say hello or thank you to them when I pass by or they move off the sidewalk LOL, no one has said or asked me about any of it yet, but at some point I'm sure I'll get some interesting comments. Especially when I use my phone also. I love that you really take the reality and truth of things and tactfully put it out there and answer questions. There is a lot of curiosity when it comes to visually impaired having lots of ability. And I'm only just slightly color blind, I sometimes ask my kids about colors LOL, I just put an app like Seeing AI on my phone and intend to play with that more. Your videos really help me a lot with acceptance and learning helpful and practical ideas for my vision impairment, thank you!
Hi! I love this video and I think you have so many great points. I am also blind because I have retinitis pigmentosa. I also have a UA-cam channel and talk about many of these topics to. Thank you so much for everything you’re doing it for us in the blind and visually impaired community. You have a great influence in following here on UA-cam and you are changing the lives of many of us. Continue making these powerful and informative videos, I really enjoy watching your channel! Thank you so much for all of your work, you are very talented and helping all of us in this community. Thanks again, Matt
Yes, yes and yes! Sighted people have given me such great material to Blog and vlog about 😂🎉 xxx
Literally! I always see these situations as a positive because I'm like "new blog post to follow!"
Why would we fake it? It's not fun.
11:54 killed me 😂
Emily there is somebody on their way to watch this video hopefully as I provided them with the link. This other person is of the opinion we can’t read. Wrongo.
Love your channel. Greetings from Australia. My dad was a great chief who was blind.
I am legally blind. Left eye is completely blind and right eye has Stargardts (a form of macular degeneration that takes away all colour vision and obstructs central vision). I am watching youtube while legally blind. As far as my phone goes, I had a friend make an app so that text comes in as Morse code from the vibration as I am loosing hearing as well. I can read too but it is very hard cause I still try to look directly at the words but they disappear in central vision. I am still facing the fact that my vision will most likely get worse, so I am in process of learning to overcome before it gets to that
I told a guy that I work with that he's taller than me. He was quite surprised that I knew he was slightly taller than me. We can hear where a person is... I knew he was taller because of where his voice was. And I get that a lot with the stairs, "Oh, you can use stairs?" Yes, it's only my eyes that are affected by my eye condition, not my legs. I mean, I do prefer the lift because sometimes I do feel safer using the lift. I have only light perception, and once I said something was quite bright. I instantly got I thought you couldn't see. I wish people would understand that blind or partially sighted doesn't mean no sight.
Another is sighted people think blind/visually impaired people can’t make youtube videos apparrently. We beg to differ don’t we Emily.
sigh... I had someone ask last year if I can read, with a straight face. (must have got the look right that day? heh)
the nitpicking about the formats of reading is annoying, and probably everyone who’s using audio or AT in general has heard that. people seem to forget spoken languages are older than written ones, and storytelling is older than looking at books. maybe they should try a few audiobooks, in different speeds, to find some that they like.
another thing to continue big time from this video would definitely be fashion and style! which is also irritating - people can like fashion and makeup whether they are blind or not, just like someone being typically sighted is no guarantee of them being interested in fashion. I love your fashion and makeup videos, as you do always such a good job in describing the details, and how to combine some new trendy thing with different outfits or accessories, or how to apply makeup or mix colors etc. Those are something that would be difficult when trying to follow from mainstream medias, as they rarely describe what things look like or what kind of things would look good with what.
I love ur vlogs 😀
As I get them questions
I have Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)
Great video x I can relate to what you was saying I'm severely blind and I can see colour mostly, prime colours ,My sister shocked me in a phone conversation I told her my right eye central vision has gone so now in both eyes I need to learn to use my peripheral she compared my visual disability to her doing housework in the dark because she was trying to get across that if she can do housework whilst it's dark then I can do housework whilst living with my visual disability I was confused and strikingly shocked that she compared being in the dark to being blind it took a while for me to understand what she was talking about I even asked my daughter and she was confused and shocked like me I know I can still do housework and cook etc. It takes longer for me now but it's not so hard since I can memorise my house, what do you think of her trying to compare visual disability to being in the dark ?
I think visual imparted people can do anything unless it's like driving cars
Lacey Roo We can cycle too. There are bikes out there for us and I don’t mean tandems.
Actually I am Clinically Blind and have driven a vehicle obviously not on a road but yeah.
I’ve tried audio description at cinemas and theatres, never works in my experience.
By the way I love your channel
I love your videos ❤❤
Emily I just red about the eye disease you are going through.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
It doesn't sound fun at all.
Jacqueline Smith-Jackson it can be taxing at times. It’s a lot more than my eyesight, it’s also an endocrine illness. But it’s okay, I’m used to it ❤️❤️
Great video sweetie I find it amazing that you haven't " accidentally" hit people in the shin with your cane wen they come out with some of those
Or have you??
Hmm...don't tempted me 😂
I was thinking back to one of your videos the other day were you sead you had such a hard time finding characters in story's with disabilities
You asked if we knew of any and I kicked myself because I know of just the perfect comic book and it completely slipped my mind
Have you ever hear of (The Department for Ability )
If not then basically there's a young girl with a disability and she is wheelchair bound and like you she had a hard time finding any characters or heroes she could relate to
Her dad came up with the best solution ever he made a comic book called
The Department for Ability
Were all the characters have a disability and they use supped disability aids that make them all hero's
The best part he's daughter is the main character and Hero
I can’t use laptops, screen is too close to the keyboard therefore can’t get close enough.
I have that problem to so I just set all my computers up a certain way and memorize it so I don't need to use the screen.
@@VoidShepherd If it were an apple laptop I think I’d be fine due to the accessibility features.
@@danielledewitt1 Windows has plenty of accessibility options. They just aren't easy to find or very well implemented to be honest.
@@VoidShepherd Apple are the kings of accessibility features.
I know that. Picture I went onto the person‘s Facebook page who took that picture I didn’t say anything I just want to see all the comments and all that stuff when she posted that picture was not fun that’s not fair uugh not fare
Dina Hakim You are the victim of that idiot on facebook?
Wow, dems some stupid questions youve been asked. I understand that such questions would be frustrating.
This makes me so mad. I’m impaired not blind!
🔥 and I use Android and all of that same stuff is in the android. It's just not iphones. Android 😂 Android is just as good as iphone.
I had to use one for work recently and your right I found all the same kind of features I have on my iPhone which was great
Not as good on android though. Once an android phone starts talking you can’t shut it up.
But why do you need to wear clothes when you're blind??? Not like you can see them?? 😏 I can just imagine some person believing that lol
Sarah Camley 😂😂😂 OMG no lie, Someone actually said that to me
Fashioneyesta I’d be tempted to say well I’m not walking around with nothing on thanks.
Sheesh get to the point beloved😂
please tell me who types captions