2018-02-19 08:20:12

Yeah I agree with navigation. It has always been a challenge for me, not being able to understand the layout of an area completely, etc. Not to mention struggling in college courses because of inaccessible programs, and stupid inaccessible report and lesson plan templets provided by professors, which were written like the enemy of nvda, which forces me to get help to complete assignments etc.  Also, non-24 has ruined my life in alot of fronts.  I once remember when I slammed my face into a table when I was 3 or so, in the middle of the night, and half severed the flap of flesh that  held my lip to my mouth. I can still see the connection points to this day in my mouth.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2018-02-19 09:50:28

@turtlepower17,
Yours sounds more like an issue of trust as opposed to one of inability.  From all I've read in your above post, you've been gradually, subtly told and schooled and trained from an early age to trust nothing and noone; whether this was intentional or not is another subject altogether.  The disgusting aspect lies in that this kind of nonsense ends up making you question whether you can in fact, trust your own judgment, particularly if you have always been at a disadvantage in any respect.
I was 10 years old when my O&m instructor decided she was going to deliberately drop me off by the side of a busy street in the middle or downtown area of a city I had never traveled alone, where I would then be told, "Your goal is to find JCPenney: I'll see you in awhile."  I froze.  "How in the world am I supposed to do that?"  I replied.  "I don't even have an idea where I am now, what's around me, which direction to go and what kind of landmarks I'm looking for!"
"You've been taught to ask for instructions and solicit assistance!  This coupled with your orientation and mobility training is enough."  and without much else, she sneaked off in the midst of all that sound, leaving me with the glaringly obvious truth that, unless I did something fast, I was going to end up standing there for at least an hour or so before she decided to give this stupid business up.
That day was a day I'll never forget, because I learned a few things of great importance.  first, the fear of doing something is usually greater than the something you fear doing.  Second, humanity needs trust; people, marriages, families, neighborhoods and whole societies  can't function without it.  From schools and other training facilities to government to immense corporations, all have shown that honesty and integrity are essential in order to survive in a world poppulated with people just like you, yet different from you in many respects given that no two persons are entirely the same.
Finally, in life, failure is entirely imminent if you do not plan to succeed, or to put it another way, if you aim at nothing, you're bound to hit it.  As long as we measure success based on the amount of things we've accomplished rather than the character with which we accomplish them, our story will always be one in which we strive to do more and feel like we're always doing less because there is always someone near or around you who is doing more than you, even if you haven't met them yet.  Should my success on ag net be determined by the fact that I've attained moderation duties, written a bunch of posts and banned a few offenders?  Nah, because Dark's been doing it longer than I have, and on top of that he helps moderate other places as well, and he has more forum Karma than I do, and Aprone has even more than that!  If I measure it based on the way I approach things, however, I find myself feeling successfull if I manage to help even just one person in a world of 7 billion plus individuals.  Sound like a shot in the dark?  Maybe, but it's less of a shot in the dark than you think, because at the end of the day, I was the one person out of 7 billion who actually helped.
to conclude, while you may not have the power to decide that you're going to become the next president of the united states because so many people are fighting for that spot, you do have the choice to try.  Will you determine your success by whether you reach the whitehouse, or by the work you did, the people you helped, and the agendas and legacies  you've helped to establish?  Very few people know that I had first dibs on both sound designing and scoring the soundtrack for AHC; I say it with all modesty... I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to write a puff piece about myself as I honestly don't need or want the attention.  If I determine my success based on the fact that I obviously did neither, I'm a failure.  A girl I had met just a little before being asked to work on the project got sick, was down with pneumonia and needed help with her child, her x-husband had just walked out on her leaving her in a heap of financial strain, and she was still trying to pursue a college education.  I left my home to help, ended up getting married, had a child, lost an apartment to a busted water pipe, lost another to an organization's greed, moved into  an old but mostly comfortable little house, braced for Hurricane Matthew, dealt with more flooding thanks to an old washing machine and an ancient garbage disposal, had another child, had an AC unit break down owing to a lightning strike or a tornado-I'm still not sure on which, was thoroughly banged, bruised and bashed by hurricane Irma, lost $400 worth of recently purchased groceries to the resulting power outage that lasted nearly a month, lost $200 more after the fridge mysteriously quit working, and somehow managed to start a contest in which my wife and I planned on giving away only 5 copies of AHC.  That 5 copies turned into 20, and people who otherwise wouldn't have had the game ended up receiving it without having to pay a thing for it.  Life is strange, full of intricacies we cannot fathom, decisions we sometimes wish not to make, and pathways that allow you to meet people, people who's lives you're  going to touch in delicate ways you yourself may never, ever understand or even see!  One thing's for sure though; I'd not trade in my wife and kids for anything, not even the status of being the musician and sound designer to what is quickly turning into the top audiogame of the year!  In some ways, I feel like I was able to help out a little more while being stretched out in the backseat; sometimes, that's how it works!

When life gives you oranges, demand lemons since everyone else is obviously getting them.

2018-02-19 09:56:34

For me....no. I've had mostly, say, 99% positive interactions with people in general outside of social services/advocacy groups which have been extremely, EXTREMELY negative in their attitudes and perceptions. If anything I'd argue it's the aformentioned prison/monster experiments again with social services/advocacy groups being closed minded, arrogant, pushy and extremely demeaning. Take that away, I have no issue with the world at large. I could have full vision and run into assholes, that's just a fact of life, nothing to do with ability or not.


I don't fit with the OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO BRAILLE LABEL EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!111 type of blind people, I don't fit with the Jaws is X, NVDA is Y type, I'm somewherer on the edge of it doing my thing, I mentioned earlier I broke a disabled riding organization by being good at riding (to the point where I'd go for long trail rides and showjumping and suchlike and barrel racing) and they had no idea where to put me next, so as said I got trained by the stable's instructor. She was always willing to treat me as somebody who can ride just as well as the next guy, but just can't see that well/at all....suits me fine.

Do I feel limited? No, but again I was not raised as blind with input from blind services, ahem, 'blind services' so I did stuff normal kids did, games, watching TV, reading and so on....yet blind services would, and had this happen, limit me from those things because,paraphrasing what I've heard, 'blind people do not watch TV or play games', which from both RNIB/NFB stances, is completely and utterly false, I'd rather stretch out on a couch, find a good show to get into and not deal with audio description since I find it extremely intrusive, personally, but I don't feel like that's  a limit at all. It's who I am.

Maybe part of it's giving the finger metaphorically to the worst parts of being blind, the stereotypes, the stereotypical culture o having every tiny tiny bit of yer house Braille labled and such, of doing what blind services tel you like some dog. I'm sorry but that's completely and utterly fucking demeaning to my way of thinking, having somebody come in, not even know you and say oh, this this this this and this have to change, stop doing this because you shouldn't and you have to do this from now on....ya, no. No thanks.

Warning: Grumpy post above
Also on Linux natively

2018-02-19 11:54:47

me not, because if i  get it back, i'll face a new strange world i bet i'll die in the first day of it

2018-02-19 12:10:07

someone asked why we would want sight back, whether it's past experience, or something else. first, I'll be the first, to admit that I  have trust issues, and I often feel insecure. anyone who knows me here will confirm that. but for me, it's the independence, that I'm after. the sighted just do things naturally, or they can look at how others do things. I don't remember any sighted reading user guides for their phones, I don't remember any sighted learning how to cross the road. it all comes naturally. and in some ways, I kind of feel isolated. there are just some things we simply can't, and will never join in with.

2018-02-19 12:28:40

@Braille:

That happens though even if you don't remember it...okay maybe not so much now for the user guide stuff but certainly 10+ years ago when everything had printed manuals.....which is one thing I miss about modern tehnology, now you get a little slip of paper in a box instead of a nice printed manual. Even flat pack furniture skips out on the cheap stuff, or so I ben told. That being said I got into the same discussion with family who work in preschool settings and an interesting point was raised. I was asked if it's easier not seeing the traffic that's coming, that got me thinking that in some situations,not seeing what's coming is a good idea. I've been skiing and it was more interesting not seeing where I was heading and going by feel, not by sight...though admittedly I had my head down the whole time anyhow.

Warning: Grumpy post above
Also on Linux natively

2018-02-19 14:08:32

52, I am not buying that argument that being blind is bad because of society. I feel the limitations of being blind, in every facet of life. It is not primarily because of society that I would want my sight back, but the limitations it puts on the things I can do.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2018-02-19 14:46:50 (edited by Orko 2018-02-19 17:05:59)

Hell yeah, I'd do it! While being blind is turning out not to be the catastrophe I thought it would be, still I'd much rather have my vision back and have to rebuild my life, than to remain being blind.

I've had vision most of my life, impaired vision to be sure in that what vision I had wasn't good enough to allow me to drive, but my feet, my bike, and public transportation filled most of my needs, so it was only an occasional inconvenience. So I know full well what I've lost and would love to get it back.

However, if I had been blind from birth, having never had vision, then I'm not certain I'd want it, because I'd have learned how to live my life with vision, and getting it back might be almost as traumatic as losing it was.

2018-02-19 15:08:40

I'm not sure how to put this, but what is it with some blind people and getting all depressed about what you can't do? Seriously, for every one thing you can't do there are a million others that you can do. I personally have next to no problem at all with being blind, aside from the fact i'll never drive or fly a plane, but honestly, who cares? Everything i've wanted to do in life that I saw somebody else do I've had the chance to do. I'm not held back. I live life like the next guy. To put it simply, I'm actually glad I'm blind. I see the world in a way many people do not. We blind people see people for who they really are not just how they look on the outside. I could write an entire essay on the positives of being blind, but I won't. All i'll say is, look on the bright side, live life to the fullest, and don't let lack of working eyes hold you back. Blind people seem to always focus on what they can't do at all or what they can't do as well as the sighted. But hey, you can't do everything, and you can't be the best at everything. Stop getting so damn depressed because a sighted person skied slightly faster than you or something. Because it isn't the end of the world if people are better than you. Embrace the fact your good at something, and accept that there is always going to be somebody better than you at everything. There's always a better person no matter if your sighted or blind. I only brought that up because once someone used that as an excuse to justify blind people spending 99 percent of their day on a computer. Just accept that nobody's equal and stop worrying about lack of eyesight. I've had friends tell me they forget i'm blind. Why? Because I ignore blindness and live life as who I am, no matter the barriers. I suggest all of you do the same. That's a word of advice, because it helps a lot socially. I'm sure many like nocturnus would agree.

I am the blind jedi, I use the force to see. I am the only blind jedi.

2018-02-19 15:13:57

In my experience, blindness is in no way a disability. It is simply a way of life. I am not hindered at all. If I want to do something or try something out, I do. I can understand why some people who go blind later in life may not feel the same, but its how I feel. I think that's the problem with how society treats blind people and why were often seen as being disabled or at a lower level than the sighted. Blind people have always said we were disabled, but we aren't. It depends on how you look at it I guess.

I am the blind jedi, I use the force to see. I am the only blind jedi.

2018-02-19 15:29:04

do you actually, honestly believe that, when you claim that being blind is not different than being sighted? The limitations imposed by blindness are not minor. This isn't depression, this is reality. To give you an idea on how important sight is, over 50% of the brain, maybe even more is dedicated to processing  visual input. If it was truly minor, and unnecesary, such a massive amount of brain wouldn't be alocated to it.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2018-02-19 15:47:28

Besides driving, what would be the limitations that put the blind in difference from the sighted?
Independance? Well. What if I say that I was able to hang out from my home with friends and get back withouth sighted help?
I think it's not the blindness that puts you aside, it's the way in which you handle it.
People that pretty much got depressed, or in a way discouraged by behing blind, or maybe by having some bad experiences with teachers I don't know, say that behing blind it limits you.
If you want independance, train for it. If then you had bad teachers and you got depressed or inconfident, that's  an other topic, the blindness is related in a minor way to it.
Tell me if I explained baddly smile

Paul

2018-02-19 15:56:46

Agree with @63. @62, the part of the brain that is normally used for processing visual input is used for your other sences when sight is lost. So yes, I do think that blindness is a very miner problem. Everyone has challenges no matter what you are.

I am the blind jedi, I use the force to see. I am the only blind jedi.

2018-02-19 16:44:27

OK. People have said that "blindness is not minor," "blindness is an extreme limitation," etc., and they have implied, in subtle or not-so-subtle ways, that "blindness is an extremely bad thing and it needs to be destroyed at all costs." I'm going to say that you all are wrong. Completely and totally wrong. While blindness may be a limiting factor, it is not a disease. It is not something that will cause the entire world to look down on you and say, "Oh my god, he's blind, he can't do shit!" It's very easy to tell that those who have educated you and have raised you guys to want your site back have mostly done this to you. It's very obvious. How do I know, you might ask? I'm no psychologist. Very true. But here's the major difference between you and me:

  1. I was raised by parents who truly loved me, and by a family who pushed me to succeed, to never give up, and to always live with what I had and have, and to not play the game of 'what if'.

  2. I have been taught two ways of life: the way of the blind person, and the way of the average person, as I call it. The way of the blind person is that of the ACB/NFB/RNIB, and other such organizations: to do one particular thing, in one particular order; to do a particular thing, and to only do that particular thing to accomplish a particular task; to be completely and totally independent, and to never ask for help, no matter if you feel it may be humiliating or not, and even if you know it is required; to read each and every manual and peace of documentation about a particular device, computer program or tool, no matter how simple or complex the item in question may be; etc. Then there is the average person: to learn variants, to self-educate, and to teach yourself and expand your mind to new heights and horizons; to discover new ways of using things, and work out your own way of working with things; to learn by experimentation and theories, not just by the "documented" way of doing things; to ask the six questions of life (What? Why? Where? Who? When? How?) and to question everything, no matter how factual or relevant it may be; to ask for help when you don't know how to do something; because you know that the person your asking might know more about the subject than you do, and, therefore, could teach you a few things you didn't know on the way; to figure out lots of ways of accomplishing one task, or lots of tasks; etc., etc. I chose the second option -- that of the average person.

I have learned, throughout my life, to completely and utterly ignore my blindness. It is there. It does exist. It is a hindrance sometimes. But, in a way, it is not there, does not exist, and is not a hindrance, because I have learned alternative ways of doing everything I have done so far. I can modify BIOS/firmware settings, with only a slight amount of help, and by mentally analyzing the possibilities of what may be available (UEFI has made this task a lot more difficult, I'll admit); I have learned to be able to alter my boot order with no assistance whatsoever by monitoring the behavior of my computer, through both light and auditory perception, when I select a boot device; I have learned to interact with certain parts of Linux when a screen reader is present and when it is not; I have learned to play video games (and will be expanding that horizon even further) without a screen reader of any kind, using the full range and depth of my auditory senses, and the analysis of my in-game surroundings; and, pretty much, have conquered every single issue raised in this topic that blindness is a limiter to. Yes, I cannot design video games in a full 3D game engine editing program like Unity or Unreal. So what? It doesn't stop me from making games and computer programs, and helping out with them, in Python or C++. Hell, I managed to install the full Unreal engine in the Epic Games launcher, which isn't even accessible, with Windows 10 OCR alone! And while I cannot tell when I have made menus graphical in a game with textures and fonts, I at least know that what I've done in the code has probably done something: either of two possibilities -- fonts or no fonts. Do I really care if it's graphical and has fonts and animations? No. Do I want it to have graphical fonts and animations? Yes. Why? Because I want my sited family, like my cousin, to be able to play the games I make, and to be able to use the software I create. Blindness is not as much as a limiter as you might think. Yes; 50 percent, if not more, of your brain is dedicated to visual perception. So? If you don't have visual perception, what does that do? It sure as fuck doesn't leave that portion of your brain doing nothing; no, your brain just allocates that dormant part of your brain to do something else. It doesn't really matter what that part is doing; the fact that it is doing something is fine. If you have light perception, perhaps that portion has been sub-allocated: 25 percent of it is allocated towards light perception, since not all of it is needed; and the other 25 percent is doing something totally different. There is no way to know. I will say this, though, to those on this topic who think blindness is a limiter that hinders your development and all that bullshit that's been spouted on this topic: you, along with the blind services who have taught you, are the closed-minded ones. It is not just the services that taught you; it is you, too. If you didn't get all depressed about your blindness being there, and if you didn't let your blindness deliberately hinder you, it wouldn't be such a problem. The thing about these kinds of things is that if you let them prevent you from doing something, they will prevent you from doing that something. But if you are determined to figure it out, in your own way, and you push them aside, and not let them limit you, they can't limit you. It's like fear, which, coincidentally, is the most powerful weapon -- even more powerful than the most deadliest of weapons we have in physical or gaseous form -- that man has ever known: if you let the fear control you, you'll never get anywhere. But if you push the fear aside, and acknowledge that, yes, you are afraid, but you know you can do it, the fear won't be so paralyzing and controlling. You'd do that with your emotions in general: if you acknowledge their existence, but don't let them control you, you'll find yourself doing exactly what your emotions told you you couldn't do just a moment before. But if you acknowledge them, but let them consume you, you'll never get anywhere. I won't even describe how important asking for help can be... I'd think that should be obvious, no matter how humiliating it is. The sited have to ask for help too, you know! Things might look easy to them most of the time, but what if their car breaks down in the middle of the road? What happens if their computer gets infected with ransomware and they aren't tech-savvy enough to know how to get rid of it? What if their computer crashes and they don't know how to fix it? What will they do, hmm? They'll call up their closest tech department and... drum roll please... ask for help!

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2018-02-19 16:44:53

"I want to ask a philosophical question that people are certain to have strong opinions on: Do people primarily want vision because they are reminded of their limitations as a blind person by the sighted world?"
Absolutely not, since I can judge on my own how problematic is the absence of sight as we experience it everyday, in or not in the presence of sighted people. You are limited in many forms and many aspects of life, where now I can clearly see how important is the social interaction with other people, that only this year I am getting what social life really means. Throughout university, only this year has been satisfactory for me in terms of interacting and hanging out with friends or engaging in activities that the institution organises. The first two years have been utterly destructive for me as regards social life as I didn't have many friends, and that was primarily due to the fact of being blind. But, do you know how underestimated I felt? I constantly kept asking the question, what is wrong with me, that I am one of the best students in class, and I can't have a solid friend to hang out with? This situation that went on for two years did fundamentally contribute to my results in university, particularly in the first year, when I experienced the most deadly stress in my entire life. Not going then about ensuring the textbooks and lectures for the courses I attended; that is a completely different story. I had to ask my brother to scan my books one by one and then correct the grammatical mistakes that would appear after converting them to electronic formats. There were worse cases, when the books would be very old and only the eye of a human could scan them, so again my brother would come and read for me. Sometimes he would get angry, and there were instances when he refused to read, which would nearly make me cry. I attempted many times to convince myself to abandon university, but then I stopped at the argument that if I left university, there would be no other chance of getting a satisfactory job in the future. This is the last semester for me at university; recounting again on all that has passed makes me conclude that I have been destroyed more than educated by this experience at university, compounded by the defects of the educational system to give the student the necessary room to study and reflect on the knowledge he gains.
Maybe a bit unrelated from the theme we are discussing, but I believe that again blindness has played a significant role on what I wrote about some lines above; and, I tend to see blindness with a bit of anger, since the sight was taken from me unfairly, when I was just a little baby, having caused no harm to anyone that could possibly be harmed by the existence of a human.
In short, going back to the question that TJT posed, the reminder of a sighted person that brings fourth your limitations, even in the form of assistance you are offered on the things and activities you can't do, does not urge me to think about being sighted or lament for being blind. It is certain that I am able to live blind; however, I know that getting my sight back will intirely change my life and I would be ready to pay the price of getting used to it.

2018-02-19 16:59:18 (edited by Orko 2018-02-19 17:20:34)

To the person who said they can't live alone, that sounds more like a limitation you are placing on yourself than an actual limitation caused by blindness. I lost my visionabout five years ago and have never stopped living alone, and if I can do it, anybody can.

Not only is half the brain involved in processing vision for those who are sighted, it is estimated that sighted people take in 80% of what they know about the world around them through their eyes. That's a large part of the world you live in to lose if you are blind.

Yes, you can adapt to living without vision such that it is not a major problem, but don't kid yourself into thinking that being blind is only a minor disability, it is not.

Initially, after I lost my vision I considered joining one of the advocacy groups such as the NFB or the ACB, or the AFB, but once I started learning more about them I realized that they were not what I thought they were and abandoned that thought real quick. Especially the NFB, they are very much like the NRA in their atitudes, very militant.

2018-02-19 17:09:55

I agree with ethin 100 percent. I also have chosen to live life like the average person; to know about my blindness, but to basically ignore it completely.
To be blind is more than just not seeing with your eyes. Blindness is what ethin said: doing things a certain way, not asking for help, ever, stuff like that. But just not using your eyes doesn't make you truely blind. There are other ways to see. Many people do not realize that or believe it, but its true. So no, I have no reason what so ever to want or need my sight back. Life's fine how it is.

I am the blind jedi, I use the force to see. I am the only blind jedi.

2018-02-19 17:37:41

Believe it or not, but a friend of mine, actually help sighted people with problems related to their computer.
and he's blind, so to who says that he never saw some one asking for help since he's sighted he's wrong.
Even sighted ask for help, and there are cases in which a sighted is more limited than a blind.

Paul

2018-02-19 17:48:56

Yes, very true.

I am the blind jedi, I use the force to see. I am the only blind jedi.

2018-02-19 18:07:47

ok so, you can't ignore being blind. That is like ignoring that you are paralyzed. You cannot do it. Every way you do things, you do it that way likely because you are blind. If you were a sighted person, for instance, you would likely use your eyes more often to perform those very same tasks. Also on help, while it is true that sighted people also ask for help, it is mainly for technical things and such. Blind people have to ask for help more often, and for things a sighted person would never ask for help for. There is a very large difference between asking for help to clean out a pc, and to cross the street.
As for the brain, from studies I have read, some of that 50% actually sits, and atrophies during early inphancy, in the pruning phase of the brain, where many unused brain cells are killed off. So no, you don't actually use all of that to process sound etc. Even for the parts that you do, it is an adaptation, which indicates that blindness is serious. The occipital lobes were not designed to be used as audio processing devices. Your disabled body basicly hacks the brain, and forces a part of the brain, through sensory input to assume  a role it wasn't designed to do. A kind of hacking I would say. Similar to trying to use your feet as hands.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2018-02-19 18:08:35

I wouldn't say I'm not interested at all in getting sight back, for I'm interested on how it would change my perception of the world and the way I do certain things, but I have to agree with posts such as 60 and 61. Then again I have been blind almost since birth, so of course depending on when you lost your sight your perceptions of what you can or can't do can differ widely.
But I'm at the point where I can live like the next guy. Well, technically, I'm still working on it in some aspects, but I'm at a point where I'm fairly confident it will happen.

2018-02-19 18:51:28

@TJT1234 I think it’s more than the limitations we have as blind people. I think that it’s the fact that we live in a visual world. It is that lack of something basic that we all should of had but don't. It is crazy to think about how many small things we miss even in communication as facial expressions and gestures speech a thousand unspoken words. I think that part of it is because we are reminded of our limitations from the sighted world but I don't think that's all of it. It is sort of like everyone that does not have a disability starts a game of Monopoly with all the railroads and they can get to the other properties faster because they can see them. Whereas the rest of us have to work twice as hard to get the same or at least as close to the same things as possible. Sometimes you will get the nice players that will help you and sometimes you don't. I'm not complaining about it this was the hand I was dealt and I am making the best with what I got. That's not to say that I wouldn't want to be on the same playing field with those that don't have a disability.

Kingdom of Loathing name JB77

2018-02-19 19:01:38

I was talking about success in post 53; I'm both thankful and exceptionally humbled to be  mentioned in a well phrased and put together post like BlindJedi's 60.  This is precisely what I mean; I write a bunch of stuff which is to me absolutely pointless because I've already learned it, so there's no further need to dwell upon it and all I need do is catalog it... I could privately do that in a journal!
and then I come across a post or receive a message from someone that says something to the effect that, duuuude, you're so right!  I'm not sure where you come up with this stuff, but keep it coming!  You've persuaded me to do such and such and it really worked out!  I'm thankful to you!  I appreciate your advice!  Here's a thumbs up and some karma for ya!  Do you mind if I add you to skype or can we chat on TT?  Hey, you're the guy who did walkthroughs for Lunimals and Castaways, right?  Do you play such and such game?  how do you do this particular thing?  do you think it'd be better to do this, or to do that?
It's humbling, I tell you!  I have two choices on what I can do with this immense gift I get from those who bestow it upon me... I can justify being the puffed up know-it-all because I have the reputation and chops to back it up, or I can keep doing what I do and guarantee myself and those who come to me at least an ounce of success every time I'm asked to give advice or esearch a particular topic.  then, I end up with both the responsibility and the powerful privilege of managing $300 that are not my own to hand out a bunch of copies of a game I otherwise never would have given out!  Woooooo!
You know what?  I love you all.  Call it sappy, mushy, whatever you want, but this website and every single one of its members has taught me a little something, even if that something was something I already knew and just rediscovered.  I try to read every post, but I obviously can't; that doesn't make you less important.  There are just far too many of you, and I have a ton of stuff on my plate at any given moment in time.  Can you imagine what your life would be like if you spent every day trying to read, oh, I dunno, every post posted by at least a thousand people on a forum?  Twitter itself is overwhelming; I have both it and a facebook!  somewhere in between I still have chores to do, children to feed, a wife to whom I'm commited, a mother and father who want to know where I am and when I'm coming home, a grandfather who's slowly dying and whom I'd seriously like to see one more time before he goes, and then?  I gotta take a breath... I'm just happy to be here.  I can't put it any better than that.

When life gives you oranges, demand lemons since everyone else is obviously getting them.

2018-02-19 19:56:18 (edited by Orko 2018-02-19 19:59:57)

I know what a lot of you have said here from personal experience and can sum it up this way.

I know a lot of sighted people who are more visually impaired than most of the blind people I know.

Blindness shouldn't define you, you should be defining your blindness.

Yeah, I'd love to have my sight back, but since that isn't in the cards I've been dealt, I don't let my blindness bother or define me other than that it's just one of my many traits, just as my hair is brown or my eyes are green are traits.

Some of my family members treat me as if I'm completely helpless. If I can't convince them that that simply isn't the case, I steer clear of them, the last thing I want is for them to treat me as helpless in front of other people.

At our family Christmas party last year, while I was navigating my way through the house towards a bathroom, a sister in law decided that I needed help navigating and grabbed the waistband of my pants and started yanking it around in an attempt to get me to go where she wanted me to go. After telling her to let go of me didn't work, I turned around and slapped her and told her that not only is that not the proper way to guide a blind person, it was a totally inappropriate way to touch anybody. She and my brother left soon afterwards. I don't normally go around hitting people, but not only did I feel that she was being completely inappropriate, it was embarrassing, and she wouldn't back off after I told her to let go of me.

2018-02-19 20:23:59

What if you want to be average? What if you would be perfectly happy blending in? As a blind person, that's harder to do. Not impossible, depending on the setting, but you definitely stand out in certain scenarios where you wouldn't as a sighted person. While there are many people who love the attention, or at least, love the ways in which it can get you noticed, there are many other ways in which one can stand out too that wouldn't involve holding a cane or walking with a guide dog.

It's not all bad, by any means. And I think if I hadn't had such a crap ton of bad experiences as a child, my blindness wouldn't have played such a big role in shaping who I've become. For example, No one would dream of telling an abuse victim that their skittishness and other ill effects of the abuse are just a minor setback, would they? Maybe that's a bad example, but I can't seem to come up with a better one off the top of my head.

My point is, as a blind person, you can't just be content with being average. You do have to work harder in some ways, such as with finding employment. You can't start from the bottom and work your way up with retail or fast food jobs, as most people do. That does put you at a disadvantage, because most blind people I've known have had to start writing their resumes later as a result. Employers notice that. They wonder why they should hire someone who they need to provide accomodations for, and just what were they doing in all of those years when their peers were working?

These are just a few of the considerations that can make life more difficult for us. Yes, I get that sometimes we have useful skills that some sighted folks do not. The hard part is being able to use them in a way that makes a contribution to society when people don't believe in us. When you grow up around people whose first question is, "so, what do you do?" Clearly wanting you to wax poetic about your job, and you don't have one, that kind of does shut out oppurtunities for socialization, and possibly even future networking. When your response to that question has to necessarily be nothing, people aren't usually tolerant of that, at least not in my experience. Then again, as I said, I'm from a rural area, where a lot of older folks live, and they're pretty set in their ways about how life should work.

Also, being self taught about subjects is a great thing, but again, not everyone wants or needs to be so driven. If a sighted person doesn't have to do this, why should we just to deserve to be taken seriously? Personally, I've always loved to read. I soak up information like a sponge. At the age of 7 or 8, I taught myself how to use a Braille Lite 40 that my school bought for me. I also practically taught myself JAWS a few years later, how to use the internet, and many other computer concepts as well. People were always impressed by this, but I say anyone can do it if they want to. It's just a matter of whether it's both within their interests and skill set.

Speaking of which, i've always heard that blind people make great entrepeneurs, because it kills two birds with one stone. We avoid the unemployment curse, and we further our cause to make society understand that we're just like everyone else. But, again, not everyone is cut out to run a business. I would be awful at it. I'm not good at math, and I'm also an introvert. My best friend, on the other hand, has exactly what it takes, and is working on this now. he's extremely charismatic and will doubtless be great at it. He never wanted to start a business because he felt he had to, though. He just happens to be passionate about what he does, and it shows, which of course is another huge reason why he'll be successful no matter what hurdles and setbacks he faces.

I just wish that it was more acceptable to be yourself, whether you're the next Bill Gates or just an average blue collar Joe, regardless of whether you have sight or not.

The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's just holding half the amount it can potentially hold.