Dedicated to helping individuals and families discover life after sight loss. I provide encouragement, product reviews, life advice, how to's and much more! I'm here for every VIP (Visually Impaired Person) and their sighted supporters!
I have absolutely gotten lost in the silver lining or more correctly the tides of my life; and neglected to leave room for greif. Nowadays I speak with a therapist to help undo the harm I wrought on myself. please dont do this to yourself.
Thanks, this is great! I'm a sighted user who does assistive technology and IT accessibility which often has me being tasked with testing the accessibility of something our college is going to purchase. Often I do that with desktop apps, NVDA, and some testing tools. But with so many mobile apps being a big part of the tech ecosystem for colleges and universities, I need to get more familiar with VoiceOver on iOS which I use on my personal phone. I've subscribed and will check out your other videos and if not covered in those, what kinds of things do you tend to encounter with mobile apps (not web pages read via smart phone)? And do you reach out to developers who made those apps to tell them about access issues where they then fix them and make the app more accessible? -Doug
Hi have any one like strangers on the street approach you because seem sighted when in fact of some type of vision impairment said to you “ you don’t need the white cane you just faking it?” Have you experience these situations like mentioned before look sighted but we are visually impaired and someday we use the white cane other day don’t use. Thanks
Hi guys,me having a bad sight day,😒😒 I live alone in France,it’s very hard,and I am worried about the winter nights,as I have to carry my firewood upstairs,😔 This is the first time ihave made a post,about the feelings,I am having right now,😒😒 Bonjourne,guys,🤠 XX
I got my first guide dog in 2008 from Guide Dogs for the Blind campus in California. They had just started using those harnesses. Those were nice. From there I’ve been to Guidibg Eyes for the Blibd and the Guide Dog Foundation on Long Island, New York for my 3rd, 4th and now 5th dog. The Guide Dog Foundation trains their dogs how to leash guide. Leash guidibg in perfect for taking your dog out to busy or inside an unfamiliar house. Oh, can’t forget tight spaces like restraints. The leash guiding in one of the primary reasons why I’ve kept going back to GDF.
I enjoyed watching your video and your ideas on eye fatigue is really helpful to me,I am visually impaired with limited vision,I wear glasses and I have a history of having detatched retinas and cataracts in both eyes and laser treatments and so far having to go through my first two cataract surgeries last fall in 2023 and now I have had secondary cstaraxts in both eyes for three months now which is getting difficult to do things and it is always way to bright etc that I use my wrap around sunglasses daily
is there a way you can do a review and kind of a set up for the Apple AirPod pros to, I am blind completely now, I also have to use hearing aids, so I want a good video on using them as hearing aids as well, if you can, recommend one, that would be fantastic or make one.
Okay just funny thing that happened on Friday at school: my teacher was introducing us to our Independent Novel Study project. She showed us one, and asked what everyone noticed about it. People answered with things like “Oh, there’s red on it” and “Oh, there’s black on it” and stuff like that. Then we got to this second one. No one, and I mean NO ONE said anything. Then my teacher went, “Guys. Come on. You all have eyes. You can tell me what’s on this poster.” and I’m just in my seat, luckily facing away from my teacher and i]my face was just screwed up trying not to laugh, because I’m legally blind and in that moment, I just thought, “hmmm…maybe but mine don’t really work too well…” Then there was this other time where this same teacher was just kinda letting us know that if we play games during class, she sees, but just doesn’t say anything. It’s a direct email home. She said, “And guys, if you’re playing games, just because I don’t say anything, does not mean I don’t see it. I’m not blind, I just stay silent.” Now a lot of people might think “Oh how insensitive there’s a kid in this room who’s partially blind”, but I actually appreciate it when people aren’t afraid to use the word blind in front of me. I love how bluntly she said it, and again, I was just trying not to burst out laughing. This teacher is my Grade 8 homeroom teacher. She was also my Media Literacy teacher last year in Grade 7, and the year before that, in Grade 6, she was my homeroom teacher, so she knows me and I know and trust her, so if she says something like that, I don’t get offended. I just know that’s how she is. And even if someone else said it, I would still be trying not to laugh.
Ok. So these dogs are amazing. And trained for guiding & targeting. But I can’t help but wonder, after your relationship and bonding deepened, did your dog go beyond training and figure out that you actually can’t see? Another mystery of these incredible creatures.
That is a great question! For me it seems situation based. When we are out working, he seems to realize that I cannot see and will make sure he is watching out for me. However, when we are at home, he tends to stand in my way as if he has forgotten the work we just did! lol...But, to the heart of your question, I do think they know us in a deep way. Probably more than we can even realize. Thanks for the comment!
Who can live on a fast food salary? One has to be wealthy to be vision impaired or blind. Maybe one living in a group home. I ride paratransit to work. Most of the passengers work at the Lighthouse. They start paying at $8 an hour. One 74 year-old man who is married lives in an upper middle-class neighborhood and works to pay for a maid and special eye glasses. Its sad that he has an MBA and is assebling pens and markers. Im usually on the bus for an hour and 1/2 to two and half hours one way to work. Everyone is exhausted. Its a difficult transition for me as I was an adrilian junkie. I went kayaking at least once a month and often went to the coast. Ive lost most of my friends and what few relatives do not get it. I cant teach fulltime and dont have the stamina. In addition, students and admin gave me a hard time. I was administering a state practice test and I had a administrator. Ask why I had to use a magnifying glass and get a different pair of glasses. I often have students and other teachers ask her I’m looking at when I’m talking to them, I’m amazed that special ed teachers would act like that, I’ve also been made fun of for riding paratransit, the short bus! I’ve gotten where I do wear the uniform, as I’ve had a couple cuss me out at the hospital for turning into them. I’ve also asked where the emergency room was when I was on an elevator and a nurse responded. I don’t know and walked off. I should have learned Spanish, and I that would have been a good back up plan. Thanks for the rant.
Hi, Derek! I puppy sat for Koa's half-sister, Bryn, this weekend. She is as amazing as Koa! And she can't help but lick 😂. Felt like Koa was back in my home.
I'VE. had diabetic retinopathy glaucoma and hearling loss for the past 10 years and can totally agree that trying to navigate the world and your surroundings without fully functioning senses is exhausting especially crowded and loud enviornents cause me so much anxiety and will have to have a low key day the day after to recover
I’m not visually impaired but I have ADHD and always forget where I put it and something I want to share is that with iOS 17 gonna be a feature to find it in find my and iPhone’ll be able to point to where it is and that can help you if you get the updated remote that has silver on both sides. Hope this is helpful.
This might sound silly but before I got a guy dog I always assumed that they automatically knew where to take their person.😂 now I know better you have to know where you are going so they can help you get there..
Thank you I think I needed to hear this as someone who has been slowly losing their sight since they were born I didn't think much about when it would finally happened that I wouldn't see anything and now that it has happened I do okay most days but there are still a lot a days when I'm not okay with any of this. All the things that I have done and learned in the past to maybe make things easier. I have since learned that it didn't help it make any easier to deal with in the when the inevitable happened I have started to see a counselor to help me deal with some of these feelings. It helps but I still have days where I think why me or I'm just really angry over things.
I’m on the waitlist for a guide dog because I have a 1yr old daughter and am around lots of toddlers. Toddlers and canes don’t mix well and I have knocked down kids before.
I just started caring one when I travel to let folks know to give me a wide berth.. I have found it's hard to manage my carry on, the cane and if. pick up a drink. thanks
I was hard stuck in the denial stage of grief for over a decade. I shut myself off from the rest of the world as my vision faded. I had a cane in my apartment but regarded it with resentment. It wasn't until undiagnosed severe anxiety and depression nearly had me take a permanent solution to a temporary problem (even though vision loss is permanent, kinda funny). The denial was essentially a brick wall in front of my life that was just where I'd remain stuck. I then crashed through that wall, battered and broken on the other side, but through it nonetheless. After recovering, I picked up the cane, turned on the screen reader, and dived head first into moving forward. Receiving treatment for my anxiety and depression, as well as going to doctors again to at least tap the brakes on what little left of my vision, I feel like I've gotten new purpose. I've picked up a career in accessibility consulting, utilizing my technical background combined with my disability as an asset rather than a liability. Reflecting on my life, I'm happier now than I think I ever was when I was sighted. I don't often get pangs of grief. The occasional wave of the why me's, but I recognize that I essentially did it to myself and if I stop moving forward I'll stop for good. What gets me the most is, strangely, imposter syndrome. I feel like a fake blind person, even though I can't see crap. My biggest fear is I'll confidently stroll in and suggest something and be met with someone who's been blind for decades longer than me and regards me with a "what is this chump doing?" reproach. Like I'll eventually find out that the advocacy that now gives me purpose actually does more harm than good. I have no rational reason to think this, and it is honestly the most frustrating part of my life now. Obviously vision loss affects people in as many ways as there are people with vision loss. For my own story, if someone gave me the sophie's choice of either getting my vision back and having to deal with the anxiety and depression, or lose all of my remaining vision immediately but I'd never have to feel those feelings again... I'd tell them to hit the lights on the way out because I wouldn't be needing them anymore.
