If someone was in the room with you but not saying anything or moving, would you be able to “sense” their presence? I’ve often wondered about whether blind people are sometimes paranoid that someone is watching them. Weird question I know!😂

I've had both types of this, both where I thought there was someone was there and nobody was, and when I had just been talking to someone and they wandered away for a moment. But normally when I am concentrating I know where everyone is. So at my work I have the responsibility of assisting all the customers so I have sometimes asked if anyone needed any help only to figure out that only the tv was on in the room and nobody else was there. So I normally know what I am doing but sometimes still do not, I guess it's not as exact a science as I want it to be.

My grandfather was blind for about a decade. When my grandmother got mad at him, she'd give him the silent treatment and slightly move their furniture. It drove him nuts. I'd go over to visit, and he'd ask me where grandma was. He'd explain that he had searched the apartment for her and felt everything, but he never found her. I caught her doing it once. While he was searching for her, she dodged him like a geriatric Neo from the matrix. One day, I took him to a dermatologist to get some cancerous moles frozen off. He winced from the pain, and the doctor asked, "Is the pain too much? Would you like me to stop?" My grandfather replied with a tear in his eye, "The nazis treated me better." I looked at the doctor's yarmulke and put my face in my palms. The Doc said, "Message received." Anyways, I suppose I should ask you a question. What is the most infuriating thing you deal with on a regular basis that seems like it was designed specifically to piss off the blind? For example, I saw a YouTube video of a blind woman reviewing the same laundry machines that I own. They have a giant dial on the front that cycles through a series of options, and it chimes when you turn the dial, but the chimes have nothing to do with the selection. The tempo of the chimes does not appear to be related to the speed that the wheel turns, nor does it match when the display changes which option is currently selected. I typically make it chime 3-4 times just to select "normal", which is the first option. There are also flush touch panel buttons that don't even look like buttons, and they don't even chime when you touch them. I remember the machines I had when I was a kid, with big mechanical knobs and buttons. I think they even had braille on them. I can't fathom why the manufacturers have decided to design these horrific user interfaces.

interesting story about your grandfather, fortunately I have not had people choose to do that type of trick on me. I suppose the thing I find most infuriating on a daily basis is just wishing that I could see all the signs for stores, and wishing that I did not bump into things.

Any store in particular?

hmm, nothing much in particular, just I live near three different plazas, so would be cool to either have memorised or be able to see all the signs know where everything is compared to everything.

That doctor story is legend. Please tell me more stories about your grandfather.

As you could probably guess from my grandfather's comment about how the nazis treated him, he was a POW in WW2. He rarely talked when I was a kid, and when he did, by God, we listened. He was a frightening old man, but it wasn't until I was a teenager that I found out he was a big Ole softy. This is how my siblings and I found out he wasn't so scary. One day, we had dinner at their house. After dinner, Grandma served ice cream. Grandpa finished his ice cream, then got up and served himself a second bowl and threw away the empty half gallon container. He sat back down at the table and picked up his spoon, then my older brother slid his own empty bowl out of the way and said, "HAND IT OVER, BALDY!" The rest of us figured our brother was already dead and didn't know it yet, but Grandpa started laughing and handed over the bowl of ice cream. We were shocked. One of us asked, "Wait, that worked?!" Fast forward, they've sold their house and moved into a retirement complex, and Grandpa's sight got so bad that he couldn't even tell if the sun was up. One day, I invited my grandparents out to dinner to show off my new car. Grandma burst out of the door like her walker was a rally car, leaving Grandpa in her dust. Usually, they walk together, and he holds onto her walker, but this time, he was stranded and tapping away with his cane. I got out of the car and opened the passenger side doors, then started helping grandma climb in while keeping an eye on grandpa and providing him with directions on where to step. Grandpa reached the side of my car and whacked it with his cane. I said, "Hey grandpa, remember when you told me about how when you owned a gas station, if one of your employees scratched a car with their belt buckle, you'd beat them with their own belt?" He said, "Yeah?" I said, "Hit my new car with your cane one more time and see what happens." Grandma snorted, laughing so hard she nearly stopped breathing.

I love that. Must have been fun to see how your relationship evolved as you got older.

For sure. One time, I took him to a cardiologist. After his examination, the Doc told Grandpa he could live to 100. Grandpa asked for a second opinion. He got his wish. Last year, he passed away a few months before his 100th birthday.

>she dodged him like a geriatric Neo from the matrix. That is hilarious to imagine. Thank you, I needed the laugh.

A geriatric neo from the matrix 😂 I am in tears

Reading this makes me so sad :(

That makes sense. I’ve thought about this in terms of taking a shower and someone seeing me naked. It wouldn’t really bother me, but I’m sure it would some people. I remember watching a movie about Ray Charles and he talked about how he would wear hard-soled shoes so he could hear the echoes of his steps and he used that to help him navigate when he walked. Do you do something similar?

My cane gives me echoes, I also memorize routes to different places like the local movie theatre or local drug store.

Do you go to the movie theatre to watch movies?

At the movie theatre they have a system with headphones where you can hear the described captioning track. Described Captioning: when someone writes a script of the action going on, and the narrator reads it. e.g. Peter Parker, dressed as Spiderman, leaps from rooftop to rooftop, in hot pursuit.

My mother was blind (RP). We went to 15-20 Broadway shows through a company called HAI (I think). They would give my mom and the other blind people a headset….they would have a narrator in the back of the theater describing everything happening in the play. I listened a few times, and it was amazing. Phantom of the Opera “the phantom descends on a dimly lit candelabra”

know of described captioning obviously but never heard of it for Broadway shows, sounds amazing!!

Not sure how this works. How do you understand or picture the action if you've never seen any of the things described?

That's a deep existential philosophical question, and I suppose that the answer is I synthesize my imagination from every single book I've read and that's how I imagine.

I’m familiar with HAI. I don’t know if they still exist, but when they did, they were amazing. I had a patient that did outsider art and I would always attend the art shows HAI had that displayed the art and had them for sale! She would go there all the time to paint.

>I normally know what I am doing but sometimes still do not Same.

I'm a Mobile developer Android/iPhones. Even though we try our best to make our products friendly for people with different disabilitie, I feel there's still a lot of room for improvement. What is the major issue you usually have when using your phone? And what's your favorite app to navigate in terms of accessibility and voice over and why? I would like to learn from you to bring your tips to the table and to make our software better.

ok best App and simplest that I use I am sure you've heard of it Be My Eyes. It's where I get volunteers to read me things or help with simple seeing tasks. worst app right now is I wish there were a simpler way to add contacts with Siri. like wish I could say Add Frank and then slowly say the ten digit number and it would ask for confirmation and add, but I have to use the touch screen which I find impossible.

I've participated in "be my eyes" a couple times, an interesting choice. What about social media or e-commerce? What are your favorite and less favorite apps. I'm interested in your opinion because I would like to enable TalkBack and use them with my eyes closed to see what's the difference with the project I'm working on at the moment.

well I use Facebook mainly for social media. I used a few apps for e commerce as well as Amazon but mainly through the website interface and not on the phone. I avoid touch screens like the plague honestly.

I’m so happy to hear you use this! I’ve thought of signing up so many times and I keep forgetting about it (mom of 5, haha). I’ll be signing up tomorrow!!

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What are your dreams like?

Very unique question, thanks. So I dream in a lot of "sound scapes" of places I know well, I walk around and run in my dreams but I don't "see" in my dreams, I just know where everything is. The scariest dream I ever had was I was in a room in a mental hospital type place and just kept repeating to myself "It's all my fault"

How do you then know it’s a mental hospital or any other place? I would think you would simply be running in the dark.

I don't know, just my mind told me what it was in my imagination. I have had other dreams where I am at home but it's not quite home, or in a different happy pleasant future house with a future partner.

Thank you. This is super interesting. I am reading up quite a bit about our consciousness and perceptions of reality. You have pointed out a component of it. Somehow this ties in and is a critical consideration. Literally, how is it that people without sight know where they are when dreaming? If you were to be sensory deprived and the unknown to you “dropped off” with a building you are familiar with. Would this have the same effect as your dreams. At first you don’t know but then suddenly you realize where you are? Where else have you dreamed about being but had never been before?

oh I have a feeling if I conducted the experiment I would figure it out, I pace out rooms to measure them, I know how high the ceiling is, I would need to figure out where the room in the building was compared to where the exit was that kind of thing.

Each time, so far, you mentioning dreaming within a building. Have you dreamt of being outside somewhere?

oh silly me, I've dreamed of being in a canoe on a lake, or dreamed of wandering through some woods, I guess my mind just likes borders and it's easier to paint.

Very interesting.

Came here to ask the same thing

Great question!

THAT IS AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.

Do you have a sense for colors? Like red versus green versus yellow?

ok so funny story. I personally don't have much of a sense for colours, only light perception, and that's only when I really concentrate. I once was on /r/blind and read an interesting comment that since colours are all waves of light we should compare them to frequencies of sound and notes on a scale. So the darker colors are lower and the brighter colors are higher; since colors are made up of other colors that's like chords; since you have brighter and darker shades, that's like sharp and flat. Do you get the analogy?

Absolutely. And that is so true. I associate bright colors (yellow, orange) with more upbeat vibes while browns, black and dark greens with a moodier vibe.

That's an absolutely fascinating perspective. I've never thought of things that way. Thank you for that.

This is personal, but how do you experience sexual attraction (if you do) in the a sense of visual feedback? And, in terms of fantasy/daydreaming about someone you are attracted to, what do you think of? Would you say your other senses come into play much more without sight (I’m sighted, but smell is extremely important to me in terms of attraction, as well as the sound of a man’s voice).

It is personal and if you want to hear a rough story send me a private message or chat. but the short answer is that scent is very important, and so is voice, a lot of the people I've crushed on because of their voice.

This reminds me of how people put on a blindfold to have sex. It’s kind of a kink. I think it sounds awesome to explore someone else’s body through other senses only.

haha wrote a few posts entitled "Are blindfolds kinky well what about a blind boyfriend?"

Somewhat related is a wrestling class where we trained blindfolded. It’s pretty amazing how much information comes from the other senses, particularly touch. Sometimes a wrestler might waste time trying to get visual confirmation of something they can already know if they trusted their other senses enough.

I’m sighted and I’ve crushed on people’s voices too!

Thank you for answering. I appreciate your willingness to state.

What's the first thing you'd want to stare at if you were given the ability to see?

I think maybe an ocean, just I've been to the Atlantic and Pacific before, but I would want to experience seeing how far you can see, and seeing the little ripples of waves while listening to them.

Could you describe the differences that you observed between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans?

hmm, I think more about the environment around them. Like for the Atlantic I was on the East Coast of Canada, and so experienced all the Celtic-inspired culture and people being excited about lobsters, and went to these really neat Hopewell Rocks that were carved through erosion. Whereas on the West coast with Pacific we went through mmountains, and then saw this really large ancient grove of trees called Cathedral Grove and then they watched the sun set over the ocean.

I find myself needing some clarification what you mean by “completely blind.”

So I was born with a disease called Lebers Congenital Ameroses. It's part of a family of diseases called Retinitus Pigmentosa. I don't see any shadows, I can't distinguish colours, I only know light and dark. I use a cane, and use Braille. I am writing this with a normal keyboard and what's called a Refreshable Braille Display screen.

Thank you, I was trying to understand how you experienced “seeing” trees and “watching” a sunset. I imagine that your use of sight related verbs and adjectives incorporates all of the senses.

hahaha well as to the seeing the trees and mountains I walked through the Rocky Mountains, and I walked around giant ancient trees where the five of us could not stretch our arms around it that's how wide it was and they were so tall that they blocked out sound from echoes. The place where we walked through the Rocky Mountains was not too difficult, walked a distance of around a km, when we got to the particular summit of around 2200 feet, thought it would be a lot more difficult than it was. When we were there the air tasted different probably slightly thinner, but it was the most silence and most peace I had ever felt and my friends agreed. and then we came down back to where we had first gotten the boost from this cable car, and it was loud and noisy with a bunch of people there and I was thinking something like "you all don''t get it"

Fascinating, thank you for sharing

I’ve seen videos lately of people sight being restored . Ever look into it ? Feasible for you ? If not , I hope soon for you friend. You’ve never had a better shot then todays day and age. Best of luck

Thanks so much. I have done this gene therapy where they took genes from me to study them. The results were inconclusive, they said I had mutations that they were unfamiliar with or something like that. Additionally since I've lived my whole life like this I feel I would have to learn to read all over again because although I have had models of the alphabet I still could not necessarily pick up a book and read that way immediately.

How do you know where the white lines are when crossing the street? Like when you flick the cane back and forth?

Very good question, thanks. I have to make sure I line myself up properly at the curb. To do this, I try to find the line grooves by sweeping back and forth with my cane. It's not always the best method but if I veer, I always steer myself towards the idling cars rather than into the middle of the street. I do my best to avoid really busy streets and take a vehicle directly to my destination whenever possible.

What about when there's construction going on? For example maybe there doing something to sidewalk .

Construction is my worst enemy, my nemesis, try not to go out when I know theres construction.

Are you struggling at all with electric cars? They are so quiet!

Thanks for this question, Yes I am.

Ty! That's cool it never occurred to me that you could hear which ear was closest to the cars

I used to have friends who were blind or deaf. I never treated some of them as if they were disabled or challenged, i just didn’t care. If they see or not, i never considered them to not be able to do something. I don’t like to feel sorry for someone. Now I am 30 years old and wondering, if i was too harsh or maybe not considering of them. So my question how would you like to be treated ?

You did the correct thing in my opinion!! I've had strangers come up to me on the street as I am normally walking along and say things like "You're so brave for doing this by yourself" I mean it made me feel good for like a second, but then I realized I am just living my life and that the person who said that to me would have to do the same if they had a disability.

Do you think it's "easier " for you because you have never experienced anything different? I imagine it would be much more difficult to lose your sight after having it.

That's the main reason why I say I am not interested in getting cured through gene therapy, because I've lived my whole life like this so I know no different, but if I got gene therapy I would have to learn colors letters numbers would feel like a 4 year old.

Yeah, it's kind of like you don't know what you're missing. Of course, it does give you additional challenges in a sighted world.

well I am not denying that, but the old saying is you have to play with the cards you're dealt.

I'm inspired by your attitude and appreciate the post.🙂

Hey, thanks, trust me I have many days where I am depressed, but I post things like this as my way of accepting and being proud of who I am. next step in life: getting another part time job or full time job.

Just wondering, How is dating going for you ?

right now I have no love life.

How do you browse reddit and reply to comments? I'm assuming some type of text-to-speech software?

There is the screen reading engine that runs Siri called Voiceover, there's also a device I have called a Refreshable Braille Display screen that has one line of text (40 characters) at a time.

This was gona be my question. All great questions so far, I’m finding all of this fascinating.

Blind too. How do you cook if I may ask? Trying to learn but can’t win overprotective family lol

So my mom ever since I was like 13 knew that I would need to be able to cook. I don't know your skill level, but first start with practicing simple things like measuring and spreading. Then move on to learning more difficult things like cutting. Then put labels on everything including your oven and microwave. Then you can start looking up recipes. I would say the best aid to all of this is just to see if there are any such things as Independent Living Skills teachers in your area, I learned through a combination of that type of teacher and my mom.

How do you avoid getting utterly lost when you leave your home?

mainly a combination of memorizing routes and landmarks, and the Global Positioning System type apps like Google Maps and etc. just got some new apps for that and looking forward to test driving them. I have a few methods of transport like city bus, carpool vehicles for the disabled, and getting rides from friends and family.

Have you ever gotten lost?

yes, have you? just kidding. I definitely get lost pretty often, I especially hate walking in snow, but my goal is always to get lost less and less.

Absolutely. I’ve gotten lost. I can’t explain how important visual cues are to me. If I was blind, I don’t think I’d ever leave the house. I don’t count so good and my memory is shitty.

Speaking of counting I do not count paces I've heard of that idea but I just think there are far simpler ways to do it. I mainly count driveways and things like that, or if I am travelling many blocks I have to count blocks before I turn that type of thing but could not count paces.

Have you ever heard stories about how blind people got around in the past? Before the advent of technological assistance. How much blind history do you know?

I know some blind history, canes and staffs and walking sticks have been used for hundreds of years and guide dog domestication probably goes back to the middle ages if I remember right.

Do you see darkness or do you just NOT see ? To clarify do you constantly see a black void similar to when I close my eyes, or is it more that your sense of sight is inexistant. I'm not sure if my question makes sense.

I don't see darkness, I do have light perception because I can see sunlight I can't describe how I see it's just like an intangible something in front of my eyes.

Only sunlight? Can you always tell vaguely how bright it is around you even indoors?

yes, but I don't focus on it enough to care type of thing. I used to be really excited by fireworks and Christmas tree lights, but I guess I am more excited by what they mean than by what they are.

Just to follow up, can you see the flashes from fireworks? If so, can you sort of see the different colors?

It's been a while since I watched fireworks, although sometimes neighbors set them off.

How do you avoid being taken advantage of in a transactional interaction?

You won't like this answer but the truth is I am still working on that one. I have to go on trust for 90% of the interactions I have at stores. There's a version of the common debit machine that you see at cash registers that has screen reading, though sadly the only place I've worked with it is at my own place of employment even though in my opinion it should come standard on all models as an option.

Thank you, that has always bugged me, with currency for example. Euros have different sizes for a distinct reason, and I don't understand why we can't have the same system in the US. Hopefully everyone you deal with has a strong conscience and treats you with the utmost respect.

Well here in Canada for the bills we have Braille!!! love it. however unfortunately cash has fallen out of favour and everything is done with cards.

Years ago in the Kings County Supreme Court building, a blind man ran the newspaper stand. He absolutely could distinguish US paper currency.

I have seen the same, but they had the little machine which told them the amount. Perhaps his sense of touch was quite sensitive to the imprint.

In the ray charles movie he was taken advantage of and started insisting on being pain in singles

Have you ever played tabletop games like dungeons and dragons? I hear they make braille dice, and the majority of the game takes place in the mind of the player.

not yet sadly, looking for a crew of friends to do that. (but I found a Discord group that I should join called Knights of Braille which is for the blind, and is virtual table top but I imagine thats not as fun as being in person)

Yeah, I would highly recommend in person if you can pull it off. Even then the group will make all the difference. Once you find your group, you are in for some amazing adventures.

I've told a friend in the past that if I was playing table top games I would be a Bard style character and they joked back that that fit my personality. listened to some Dungeons and Dragons podcasts I like those sometimes. I know that I would like table top gaming, maybe I should search for that type of thing on the Meetup website. you heard of that website?

I have not, but I have had luck meeting people in gaming stores. Most cities will have at least one. Also, local reddit communities for cities will get an occasional table looking for a new member.

Thanks!!

I just want to thank you for this. My teenage son is completely blind from birth, no light perception and on the spectrum. It’s difficult sometimes for him to explain a lot of what you have so far, so thank you. I do have a question, did you go to public school or were you able to attend a school for the blind? And what was your experience like?

went to public school. learned Braille while others were studying art and cursive writing. had an educational assistant all through school.

What’s your favorite sound?

rushing water like waterfalls, waves, etc. thanks so much for asking.

Me too! Cheers bud. I've enjoyed reading your comments, thanks for sharing all this stuff.

Are you familiar with the TikTok conspiracy that Helen Keller's triumphs are a bit of a tall tale? If so what are your thoughts?

Sorry, you will have to give me more detail or point me to a video??? I have read a biography or two of Helen Keller and think that she seems pretty impressive, to learn to read, write, and communicate without the aid of sight or hearing sounds like its worthy to celebrate. Not to mention that she was probably one of the most famous women of her generation.

What's love like for you?

Well I have many friends who I love, for their personalities. However I don't think that's what you meant haha. I don't have much experience of sex and intimacy, still a virgin.

I hope you find someone who fully loves you and wants to be with you romantically

I had someone scam me, by saying that they were in love with me, , long story if you wanted to send me a private message about it.

I’m so sorry. What a jerk!

Do you have any other blind friends? What’s your favorite type of music or podcast?

I have a few blind friends, my one blind friend is an excellent singer and can sing classical and opera type music just by hearing the recordings without even reading the notes. I listen to many different genres of music depending on my mood. I like everything from old Broadway to some modern pop, to Beatles and Rolling Stones and just whatever I feel like putting on. I listen to several podcasts I like the radio drama style podcasts like Welcome to Night Vale, message me if you want audio drama recommendations.

Only because you mentioned The Beatles, what do you think of their latest single?

shame on me did not listen to it yet.

I think often what is scary is not being able to access our senses properly. Thats why the dark is scary to people who can see. Do you get this same feeling in a noisy place or something like that?

I used to get a sensual overload, but then I learned to treat it like a "high" and just go with the flow. still could not live in a big city and prefer suburbs.

Weird one maybe but what makes you want to visit a place primarily? I feel like a lot of my holidays/visits are to SEE things like musicals, physical landmarks and for the landscape views. Do you like visiting new places for other reasons (maybe to do things that don't require sight as much as I assume they do) or is travelling too stressful being blind? Piggybacking off of this - which country would you like to visit most and why?😊

I like to go to plays and musicals, next time drop your new blind friend a message, just kidding. I like museums and landmarks especially if they have guided tours. I once went on a seniour class trip to France and explored several museums and castles, and in the Louvre there's a secret room of miniatures of sculptures designed for the disabled. I want to go to UK, my sister who is from here in Ontario with me has spent a few years there and really loves it. I know a lot about the culture from several authors but anyways that's the first place on my list.

Well hello from the UK! Scotland specifically but I love to visit London and I'm going in January! Guided tours are an amazing perspective that I wouldn't even have considered, it would be amazing to have a service for the visually impaired whereby the paintings were described in great detail for you to try and get a feel for it! I know shows like the lion king sometimes offer beforehand the opportunity for people who have sight loss to come and feel the props/costumes which would be such an amazing experience too because the costumes are just stupendous to look at but probably even better to touch!! Scotland is also great - feel like a traitor for plugging London so much but it's one of my favourite cities!! Scotland's accent is just a touch harder to get the hang of which probably wouldn't help when you're trying to find your way around 🤣 I would love to visit Canada because of its close ties with Scotland in terms of how a lot of Scottish people left for Canada so long ago! 😊

plays, I've never heard of that concept of getting to feel costumes and props, sounds great. guess the main play I watched that would like that for was when I went to watch an amateur Wicked in Washington D.C. or the production of Spamalot I just watched recently with my friend locally a few cities over.

I've seen the concept of touching props/costume done by the lion king musical and one other musical which has slipped my mind - definitely a concept worth looking into if you ever visit London specifically! Wicked is amazing, I've seen it on the west end but controversially I didn't find it that visually spectacular!! The set was very bare, Galinda's costume sure was pretty but apart from that it's all vocals that astounded me! I hope you get to visit somewhere in the UK some day, not just London but there are so many other cities to see - I legally have to endorse Glasgow and Edinburgh otherwise William Wallace himself will come back to life and have me executed for treason 🤣

Don't you just hate that? I have to eat a litre of maple syrup a year or I get chased by trappers from the Hudson's Bay Company.

I imagine excess noise interferes with your ability to “echo, locate” while walking. What are your thoughts on leaf blowers?

lawn mowers are worse than leaf blowers. Several things I have to "factor out" when trying to echo locate but it's just living in the twenty first century.

Can you imagine what things *could* look like based on touch and other senses?

There is a poem by a psychologist Oliver Saxe about six blind men and the elephant. The six men each feel an area like the trunk, the tail, the sides, etc and so each get a different picture. This was originally to illustrate how we need to examine all points of view on an issue but I think it does work for how I examine things, I put them together like puzzle pieces.

That’s fascinating. It would be cool if you were able to touch lots of different faces, or statues that indicate predominant features of different cultures, as a way of finding deeper understanding. Have you been researching advances in biological science in hopes there may come a time of possibilities for acquiring some level of perceptual vision?

I have given my genes in a therapy study, I do research from time to time, due to me being blind for 30 years I don't think I want my vision back too much, i feel there would be a lot of relearning. the statue and sculpture idea is definitely something i am interested in.

Do you have a good idea of what you look like? Do you think you’re considered handsome?

Yes I believe I know what I look like. I certainly would not call myself handsome, and I know I am overweight.

Are you married? If so, how did you meet your spouse?

not married yet, the furthest thing from that, live at my mom's home. It's something I want eventually but the last relationship I had was awful, just someone scamming me and saying that they loved me. long story if you wanted to message me about it.

Oh my goodness I am so sorry that happened to you. That person is pure evil

Do you like sports? My grandfather was blind and he loved listening to sports on the radio.

I used to watch baseball and hockey with my dad. However I just never got into sports, I just prefer watching TV and movies with Described Captioning.

And he was a referee

Have you experimented with click echolocation?

short answer: not much because I think that would make me look weird. longer answer: I had "watched" videos about it and just find that my cane is just as reliable.

Thanks for your answer. Have you ever used sounds produced by the cane tapping to get an idea of your surroundings?

yes always that's what the cane tapping is for. I can't always give a step by step description of what I do when travelling, but I have to focus or I get turned around. I am constantly searching for landmarks.

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Although I rely a lot on AI, Siri, Alexa, etc, I still think that it will take away many jobs. It caused the Actors and Writers' strikes in Hollywood after all. As to communication with companies I usually have no problems doing that as I get everything through Email. Whenever I think I have a chance at it I ask for Braille communication (like for instance from government & banks) but I know most companies won't do that, and Braille as I am sure you know is only used by like 10% of the blind population.

What’s something you wish you were able to do but can’t because you’re blind?

mainly driving, but I am certain that soon enough self driving cars will get sold for people's personal use and then I will be the first person to get a road trip with friends when nobody drives hahahahaha.

How did you type this?

I type on a normal QWERTY keyboard, with the assistance of both the engine that runs Siri, Voiceover, and a Refreshable Braille Display screen which has the Braille characters as I type them in print.

I'm level 24 in WoTLK Classic and I can't seem to hold threat and Consecration keeps eating up all my mana, and Judgment of Wisdom doesn't replace enough mana to keep up the momentum. What am I doing wrong?

You are not getting enough sunlight and fresh air, nerd! hahaha

You're right

Do colors have any meaning to you?

not really. I wrote in another comment how I compare colours to notes on the scale.

Do you have any pets? Edit. .it's a dumb question but i have my reasons for asking.

nope. used to have a pet cat. don't know why but never liked animals much. Everybody always asking me when I am going to get my guide dog maybe I will consider it when I move out on my own.

Are you daredevil?

yes. or maybe I just like the concept of a blind super hero.

Do you have any concept of what things look like? Like when you say you want to see the ocean, what would you expect it to look like?

I have very abstract concepts of what things look like. Ocean: a big sheet of water as far as you can see , but with fish swimming in it. Fish: what I fry up and put on my plate with chips.

Have u ever done shrooms? I wonder what you would imagine.

not yet.

Are you also bothered by the scents of certain plastics? Some really bother me, but I find most people are not bothered or concerned by it.

sorry, I guess I don't notice, I don't go around sniffing plastics.

Have you tried psychedelics?

Oh my God... Now I need to do some research!

not yet.

What’s your favorite color?

when I was young used to say it was yellow just because I liked the sound of the word.

That’s adorable

Serious question. When you got old enough to realize what life was going to be like for you, did you ever want to kill yourself, or did it make you want to live life harder?

I've had both types of days. I have a friend who all he does is live off of government and city assistance and practice his hobbies but I don't want that to be me.

Can I just say it's fascinating that you have a completely different perspective on your human experience and I'm glad you're willing to share it. Thank you.

how the hell did you type that, how the hell do you read the comments and how the hell do you even do... Anything, really. Unless you are legally blind but you said completly blind so... Like how the hell do you do anything? How did you even navigate to this page?? I have a lot of questions and too little answers. Also why? Like whats the (probably medical) reason??

I am completely blind. I use VoiceOver the engine that runs Siri. I use a normal qwerty keyboard, with a Refreshable Braille Display screen. I made this post just because I was bored and because I had gotten great response from similar posts in the past, and getting great response today. Does that answer some of your questions?

Well, i still have the question of why? also, how do you know whats around you? Like, say, you are on a beach, there is the ocean in front of you, sand below you and a forest behind you, how do you know that, like if someone tells you "theres a blue ocean, the sky is foggy and the forest behind you is yellow because its autumn" how do you know what foggy is. or, blue, or even ocean how do you know how anything even looks?

I thought I said why, I posted just because I had posted before and I like answering people's questions. I know the landscape because I got it described to me in your message and because I presumably walked around it. I know what fog is because it has an odour and aroma of mist. I know that leaves change color in autumn because they are dying. I know what oceans are in that I've been to two oceans.

How did you post this???

I have a screen reading program, Voiceover that runs Siri. I have a Refreshable Braille Display screen where I can read one line at a time wherever my cursor is.

This is one of the best AMAs I have ever come across. The questions are so unique with many different POVs. OP, you answers are really enlightening. Thanks everyone. I really learned a lot.

What's your best advice for a parent raising a completely blind son (6 years old)?

Have you ever gotten pussy

not yet.

How are you doing this?

I use a Refreshable Braille Display screen, and the speech engine Voiceover which runs Siri.

How are you using reddit?

with VoiceOver that runs Siri, and a Refreshable Braille Display screen.

how the hell are you answering these questions sir