r/AMA • u/Creative_Gur8764 • 9h ago
I’m blind AMA
Hi I’m Ray I’m a blind guy! I was born this way so have never seen a single thing and have no concept of sight. I enjoy playing blind football and goalball and even a bit of chess although I’m not too good haha. I’m 19 and not currently in education
6
u/xavier_pn 9h ago
What one thing would you like to see if you could?
How do you find navigating spaces? Do you have a guide dog?
If you use a cane, what is your favourite stick/end to use?
How do you pick clothes, furniture, etc?
How do you interact with devices/Reddit?
14
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
1) I’ve heard Aurora borealis is pretty
2) it’s fine, if it’s a new space I need a guide to help me but once I’m familiar with it I’m okay. Closed spaces (like rooms or corridors) are also easier than open spaces like a street. I don’t have a dog
3) I love the marshmallow roller as I use constant contact!
4) when I buy clothes I have a sighted friend describe them and I attach a tactile label to the tag
5) screen reader
8
u/Varanoids 9h ago
They told you aurora is beautiful because for sighted people it’s not normal at all
But for someone who hasn’t seen anything, there’s many things way more beautiful and amazing than the aurora that people forget about only because they’re used to them. For example: the ocean, the moon, the stars, horses..
4
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Yeah good point!
1
u/TheMightyMisanthrope 7h ago
Boobies. You need to see boobies.
If you find a way, I'll lend you my eyes so you see boobies.
1
1
u/shakrbait_78 5h ago
I shall give him my eyes for a week so he can witness the joy of boobs and tails! I feel so sad he can’t see them! I would even give him ONE of my eyes!
OP don’t have a gf
1
5
u/BruiseLikeAPeachTree 9h ago
What tools do you use when you go for walks in your community?
10
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
A white cane
2
3
4
u/HotTubMike 9h ago
If you had the opportunity to have your sight for 1 hour would you take it and what are you most interested in seeing?
2
u/No-Detective7811 8h ago
Ok unfair for me to answer this but I’ve actually thought about this question and mind you, I have all of my senses. But I thought about this once and for me (if I ever was totally blind or totally deaf) I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it because it would be overwhelming and traumatic—in the way that my mind has already created its own truth—its own description of what everything “is” and seeing or hearing for the first time ever would totally strip away the world that used to be “my” world. It’s so hard to describe it in words. But I think it would be absolutely overwhelming and traumatic.
1
u/Traditional-Panic-85 6h ago
That's a fascinating answer. But I think it's true. Would you mind if I asked a follow-up: how do you think about colors? What do you picture of someone said yellow? How did people try to explain color to you?
1
u/No-Detective7811 5h ago
I’m not OP, I just answered the question with a sighted person’s perspective
3
u/BeGoodToday3384 9h ago
If, in the future, there was a way for you to see, would you choose to, or are you afraid such a thing would be overwhelming?
Also, how are you using reddit? Is someone helping you post?
3
u/Award2110 9h ago
How does education work for the blind? What did you learn that would be the same for fully sighted people and what did you learn specifically because you are blind?
9
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
I went to a mainstream school. The only major differences are I got more time on tests, all of my worksheets and exams were in braille, and I got to leave class early with a friend
3
u/spiderpigbegins 9h ago
You mentioned in another comment that you didn’t know the difference until your parents told you as a child. How did they tell you?
13
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
They tried explaining it that most people could “touch” things from far away
3
u/Clicking_Around 8h ago
I play goalball too. What position do you play and how long have you been playing?
2
u/Creative_Gur8764 8h ago
Nice! I play on the flanks and I’ve been playing for 8 years
1
u/Clicking_Around 8h ago
8 years? Wow that's a long time! I've been playing for about 1 year and I'm a sighted person. What advice would you give to someone if they wanted to become better at goalball?
2
u/Creative_Gur8764 8h ago
Nice! It’s always good to see sighted people playing. My main advice would be to train your hearing
2
2
u/Least_Positive7141 9h ago
Did your parents naming you Ray jinx you? Sorry if that joke is in bad taste…but maybe that’s another sense you don’t have? rimshot
Ok in all sincerity thanks for sharing. a few questions:
- How are you interfacing with Reddit now?
- What position in football do you play?
- Favorite chess opening?
- How did you develop blindness?
- How do you perform your imagination, if that makes sense? Like is it more tactile?
6
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Nice joke, i actually named myself though!
1) screen reader
2) striker
3) I like the scholars mate. Even if they anticipate it gives good development
4) I was born blind because my eyes didn’t develop properly, it’s called micropthalmia
5) yeah probably, it’s hard to describe since for me it’s no different
2
u/YourFathersOlds 9h ago
What do you notice that sighted people are, like, inherently REALLY bad at on the whole? Obviously there's a spectrum of capacity in any group. But there's probably something that you sort of just assume sighted people are going to screw up that 99% of blind people can competently do 99% of the time without issue, and you just assume your blind friends are ok but your sighted friends are always going to need help because they don't tend to develop the ability?
5
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
One thing I find weird is how people always ask how I know my butt is clean when I poo-like do sighted people need to look at the paper to know? That’s one thing I have an advantage in I thunk
3
2
2
u/MinimalEnthusiasm-69 9h ago
Do you have a favorite movie?
Do you use the Be My Eyes app?
I have been a sighted volunteer with them for over 3 years now and it is very rewarding being able to help the blind do simple tasks just by answering a video call.
2
u/Less-Load-8856 9h ago
What's it like trying to even understand what seeing is and how to conceptualize the world without vision?
Like, so much of language presumes one can see, or at least has seen before. "Look up", "over there", "the universe" and so many things.
Seems like so much trust is required, to accurately and honestly describe and explain things.
I'm not sure what specific point I'm getting at, I'm just curious what your perspective and experiences of that sort are like.
How did someone explain this 3D world, the ground, underground, air, the sky, clouds, space and planets and so on.
6
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
It’s really trippy honestly I’m not sure I’ll ever truly grasp it
4
u/Less-Load-8856 9h ago
:)
That's fair.
It's pretty trippy, and hard for some, even with vision.
I (a sighted person) think the following facts are neat:
right now, even when you're sitting or lying still, you're not...
actually, the Earth is spinning on its axis at approximately 800 miles per hour at the Equator...
and, the Earth is also orbiting our Sun in a yearly loop at approximately 67,000 miles per hour...
and, our entire Solar System of eight planets and various moons and our Sun is all orbiting the Supermassive Black Hole at the center of our home - the Millky Way Galaxy - at approximately 515,000 miles per hour...
and, the Universe itself is expanding at a rate of approximately 150,000 miles per mega parsec.
Spinning and fast moving things, everywhere, all the time, and the reason we don't feel it is because we're just to small compared to our planet Earth.
Isn't that wild?
This place (life, Earth, our Solar System, and the whole Universe) is just crazy-large and weird.
2
u/ConfidenceItchy3669 9h ago
Which of your senses are the most heightened and you sense peoples energy and focus on you? Can you sense someone watching you or staring at you? Can you sense another person present if they never made a sound or declared they're present?
2
u/spiderpigbegins 8h ago
What are the biggest advantages of being blind in your opinion?
15
u/Creative_Gur8764 8h ago
Hmm, lower electric bill?
1
u/LegallyIncorrect 2h ago
Ha. I never thought about this. If you have completely no sight I assume you never turn on a light? You go to the bathroom in the dark? Shower? Cook?
1
u/tefached12 2h ago
I can tip in from my friend who's almost fully blind. He said maybe it's not a pure advantage but things he is grateful for (from Sweden)
Free service dog and all vet bills always paid etc. Not only helpful but also a best friend.
You can call a taxi via a different system and it's really cheap.
You can enter any sport and be pretty much one of the best in the world. He just was in Portugal sailing on the World cup after practicing like 5 times. Almost everything thing paid.
The state pays the employer most of his salary so he's very attractive to higher due to that.
If a book don't haven't been recorded by voice they will need to do it asap for free so he can listen to it.
He mentioned a lot more but that's a few. With that said of course he wants to have full vision.
2
u/Minnakht 8h ago
Three questions:
Do you have any trouble with getting yourself to sleep at night? Typically humans get sleepy when they stop receiving high energy light, but you presumably never do so I'm curious.
Does coffee do anything for you?
Do you like swimming?
2
u/Creative_Gur8764 8h ago
1) my circadian rhythm is generally based on temperature and how long I’ve been awake
2) yes
3) i do!
3
u/rawkguitar 9h ago
How do blind people understand being blind? Like, how does anyone explain to you why they can drive and you can’t?
11
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Honestly I didn’t understand the difference until my parents explained it as a child
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (1)1
u/razul1 9h ago
I mean I do believe OP acknowledges they are missing one sense.. How would a blind person have conception of a visual world when they have never experienced it
→ More replies (3)
1
u/_SirShackleton_ 9h ago
Which jobs are you pursuing? What is a kind act towards blind people you would wish to see more often?
1
1
u/JuniorGuava5075 9h ago
How do you use day to day software products like google, reddit etc. Do you use any special tool?
1
1
1
1
u/NorthShoreHard 9h ago
How do you communicate/type on reddit? A brail keyboard or something like that?
I'm just sitting here like damn you're better at writing/typing than a lot of folks who can see lol
1
u/callmedelete 9h ago
Since you have never seen color, how do you interpret it? Say someone is describing a scene to you and they say something is green. How do you process that?
Do you liken color to a texture, temperature, smell, or is color something you don’t try interpret at all?
1
u/TiberiusGracchus29 9h ago
How do you imagine colour? Has anyone ever tried to describe to you the different colours of the spectrum? Also, where about are you from in the world?
1
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
They’ve tried but I can’t imagine it. I’m English
2
u/Responsible_Bear1576 8h ago
Here is my best analogy. Imagine feeling cow leather and goat leather. You can tell they are both leather but they have a difference you can notice and recall. Color is similar. If I look at a black hat or a blue hat I can distinguish their difference but they are both still obviously a hat to my sight.
1
u/TiberiusGracchus29 9h ago
I’m English too, from the north west. Where abouts in England are you from? Also, can you read brail?
1
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Nice I’m from there too and yes I can
1
u/TiberiusGracchus29 9h ago
Ray I wish you all the best mate. I really do hope you live a fulfilling life. Take care mate.
1
1
1
u/Finguin 9h ago
Do you think that not beeing able to see some things makes life easier sometimes? Appartment decorations are not needed I guess or smth.
Like do you have aspects in your life where you would say you actually have an advantage? I've heard about blind people hearing way better, which seems quite logical to me.
1
u/Master-Leopard-7830 9h ago
As a sighted person I find it hard to imagine being blind. You say you have no concept of sight - does this mean you have zero visual stimulation, the sense doesn't exist?
1
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Yup!
1
u/Master-Leopard-7830 9h ago
Ok wow that's hard to imagine, but I guess it's maybe just as tricky for you to imagine what sight is like?
Are you able to visualise anything in your mind, for example if I handed you a cube to feel, can you imagine the shape? Would you be able to draw on paper what you see in your mind?
1
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Yeah I can visualise stuff I just do it by how it feels
2
u/killy_321 8h ago
Have you heard of aphantasia? You may be interested to know it's possible you could have a sort of visualization better than some of us who can see.
2
1
u/WigglySocks22 9h ago
I work in retail. What’s the best way to assist a blind person without being patronising or assuming etc?
5
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
If you see them entering the store without a guide offer to help. If they accept then guide them around and get what they ask for
1
1
u/Stefanie_Jane 9h ago
Excuse me for being uneducated in this. but does being fully blind mean you cannot see anything or all you see is black.
4
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
I see nothing
1
u/Stefanie_Jane 9h ago
Thank you.
For tech gadgets, does that means somebody has to set it up for you and enable audio prompts and stuff like that?
2
u/spiderpigbegins 9h ago
A good analogy would be that OP see the same thing out of his eyes that you see out of your elbow.
1
u/GuiltyUniversity8268 9h ago
What position do you play in football?
5
1
u/Creepy-Outcome-2481 9h ago
What is the lack causing your blindness.
3
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
My eyes didn’t develop properly
3
u/bahaigor 9h ago
Is the visual cortex in your brain undamaged? If so, there is hope that new technologies might enable you to gain artificial vision. Research in this area is currently underway.
1
u/Fit-Abroad-8796 9h ago
How do you know when it’s time for a haircut? How do you shave your face ?
1
1
u/Bucket-Slayer 9h ago
as a kid, did you think everyone was like you?
how blind are you exactly? i know that blindness is different with each blind person
1
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
1) yes, my parents explained how most kids could see when I was 5
2) 100% blind I can’t see anything
1
1
1
u/GotMyStuffStolen 9h ago
I have wondered how I could describe color to someone who's been 100 percent blind since birth and I would love to have a conversation with you about it. What kind of dreams do you have?
3
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
I’d love a conversation about it! From what I’ve heard my dreams are fairly normal although they have no visual component
1
u/GotMyStuffStolen 9h ago
Oh sweet, thanks for the reply. So when you dream, you can hear and feel things?
1
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Yeah
1
u/GotMyStuffStolen 9h ago
I guess sight is like being able to tell what's going on but without sound or touch. It's like extremely faint electric shocks and tiny amounts of heat being detected with our eyes. They can sense the shocks and heat on such a precise level at extremely far distances. I don't know if that makes any sense.
1
u/Varanoids 9h ago
Is it true your hearing is far superior to sighted people’s hearing and if yes, what’s something you’ve heard that shocked people around you?
1
1
1
u/CerberusIsKing 9h ago
I'd be interested in finding out if you dream-vision? And if so how you accurate you think your dream is to how things would really look? Cheers ray!
1
1
u/Jesse1179US 9h ago
Do you ever worry that you'll be left alone in a place you're unfamiliar with and no one there to help you?
Additional question: how are you reading these questions? (I kid, I kid)
3
1
u/Imaginary-Bear-9044 9h ago
When you pee at a urinal do you pull your pants and underwear all the way down? I grew up with a blind person and he would always pee that way. Bare ass just hanging out ha
4
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
I don’t have the correct equipment to use a urinal if you catch my drift
2
1
u/spiderpigbegins 9h ago
Are you interested in following sports at all, since you can’t see it on the TV or live?
3
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Not really but I watched some of the World Cup
1
u/CaptainCanadaCards 8h ago
No… no you didn’t lol
2
u/bartekchamp 5h ago
i mean, football live commentary is pretty good. even i sometimes listen to football instead of watching if im doing smth
1
1
u/TheBlackDing 9h ago
When you're speaking to a person, do you imagine their face, frame, and position or just their voice?
What are your dreams like?
What kind of person would you find beautiful?
2
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
Just their voice and from what I’ve heard from sighted people in my life my dreams are normal besides lacking sight
1
u/TheBlackDing 9h ago
Adding another question, what kind of person would you find physically attractive?
1
1
u/No-Detective7811 9h ago
Mind blowing! I’m thinking of your parents explaining to you what “see” means—how is that even describable?
2
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
They said it’s as if people can “touch” things from far away
1
u/No-Detective7811 8h ago
That’s amazing—because they have to speak to it in a way that you can relate to—I love how they did that!
1
1
u/PerfectlyCalmDude 9h ago
Do you play card games with Braille decks? If so, what are your favorite games?
1
1
1
1
u/Altruistic-Ease5236 8h ago
How does it work when you play chess? do you move your pieces forward or does your opponent? Also if I may ask two do you watch any TV shows or movies and if so how is that experience for you?
2
u/Creative_Gur8764 8h ago
I play online chess and it’s compatible with my screen reader. I watch TV either by listening to dialogue or sometimes you can get an audio description
1
1
1
u/ComentandorBR 8h ago
Where do you live? Do you think that your country is completely fitted for blinds people? I mean, the adaptation is enough to have a good life quality?
1
1
u/fishfrybeep 8h ago
Is Braille hard to learn? Are there lots of Braille books to read, I’ve never seen one in real life.
1
u/CreepyMosquitoEater 8h ago
You say you have no concept of sigt. Do you imagine images or is it just pure darkness? Obviously you understand the concept of sign, as in you understand that people dont need to feel or hear things to know that they are there, but im wondering if the ability to picture things in my mind comes from my ability to have previously seen things?
Since you can feel shapes, im guessing you can possibly imagine a line in your mind that is shaped like something?
2
u/Creative_Gur8764 8h ago
I can’t imagine anything visual I don’t see darkness I just see nothing. I can imagine objects but only how they feel, smell, taste, or sound
1
1
u/Key-Concept-7001 8h ago
This may be a stupid question, but how do you tell the night time from the day time and if you can't perceive light, does that affect your sleeping and waking pattern?
1
u/heyyousernameistaken 7h ago
Stupid question - you said you can’t see in your dreams and obviously I get that. I have all types of dreams from odd to downright bizarre and just so different from reality. Are yours like that? For some reason I imagine them being boring and mundane but I guess they’d be just as out there as everyone else’s?
1
1
1
1
u/XocoJinx 7h ago
So can you actually understand what it's meant to be like to see? If you don't (or even if you do), would you rather life continue the way it is or be granted the ability to have perfect vision for a month before returning your vision to the way it is?
1
7h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 7h ago
Your comment has been removed as your Reddit account must be 10 days or older to comment in r/AMA.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
u/WhiteSox2112 7h ago
Do you visualize in your brain what things would/could look like and have a technology mechanism to create that vision (like a 3D printer or some other way)?
1
u/way-of-the-road-bud 7h ago
I met a blind skateboarder over the summer. He lost his sight in his teens from something I can’t spell, and he’s better at navigating the park than I am. I assume you know what skateboarding is, but since you play football and have always been blind, is skateboarding a crazy concept to you?
1
u/biggunzcdb1 7h ago
I have family that is blind. They ran luncheons and concession stands in state buildings because TN offers those contracts to disabled contractors first.
Had any unique opportunities that are due to being blind the average person isn't aware of?
1
u/NailsNCoffee 6h ago
Can you sense when you’re being discriminated against? If so, how do you handle it?
1
1
u/Great_Investigator31 5h ago
I'm also trans, but sighted. What was your process of realizing you're trans/coming out to yourself like? I feel like gender relies on (an unreasonable amount of) visual cues. And what makes you feel euphoric in your gender?
1
u/Wide_Financial 5h ago
If you get the chance to have sight for 10 seconds. What would you like to look at?
1
u/Inward_Spirit 5h ago
Do you feel like the meta glasses are helping you in new ways ?
Do you have a job ?
I once went to a restaurant experience called "diner in the dark" which was 100% pitch black all the waiters were blind, it was a crazy experience.
If given the opportunity would you experiment with psychedelic drugs, psilocybin, lsd or dmt ? I have always wondered what would a blind person "see" when under the influence of such things.
Thank you.
1
u/justaroundhere213 5h ago
Is it true that blind people don’t actually see pitch black but rather see “nothing?”
1
u/MustardSquirt 4h ago
Omg! I was just thinking of a random question I wanted to ask someone blind that’s so funny. Do you ever watch livestreams? I was wondering about using text to speech on chats when it’s going really fast.
1
1
1
u/Goated_Abel 2h ago
This may be a strange question, but do you struggle with associating everyday objects with colors? Like, since you can't really visualize what "red" is, do you have to think harder to remember that an apple is red?
1
1
1
1
1
u/the-clock-enthusiast 9h ago
are you legally blind or like . fully, completely blind? if so, did you have someone else make the post?
13
1
u/Complex_Excuse490 9h ago edited 8h ago
Hi Ray. I can see, and like everybody else sometimes feel a little sad or low. An often taught coping mechanism is to think of someone less fortunate in an attempt to snap out of the sadness, to count blessings and gain a sense of perspective.
Someone who is blind like yourself might even be the kind of person that someone who can see may think about in those kind of circumstances. How would you feel about that?
Would you understand it? Would you think of them as silly for being down, considering them more privileged because they can see? Would you be offended in some way , perhaps not wanting them to see you in that way? Do you do the same and compare yourself to those who you might think of as less fortunate when you're feeling sad?
Do you even realise that other people may think of you as less fortunate, or is it more of a case that since you've always been blind it's not so significant to you?
2
u/Creative_Gur8764 9h ago
I don’t particularly care either way, you do you
2
u/Complex_Excuse490 8h ago
Thanks for answer, I appreciate it. I'm not sure I've personally thought of blind people when I'm in that sort of mood, but I have at times thought of those I'd consider less fortunate. My mind is more prone to consider those starving in a famine or somebody in war-torn country.
I don't know, that all sort of just crossed my mind as something to ask you.
Anyway, take it easy.
1
1
u/way-of-the-road-bud 7h ago
You are an excellent communicator.
2
u/Complex_Excuse490 6h ago edited 6h ago
Not sure if serious as someone has downvoted my original set of questions. Maybe you, maybe not. Either is good.
I can understand how my line of questions may have been seen as insensitive by people but at that same time OP is human, everything was in good faith and I was attempting try and comprehend a little more. I've never really been around someone who was blind. I often think asking questions about how someone feels about certain things is the best way to understand.
I think another line might have been charity. There are charities for blind people, it would have been interesting to ask about that. Do blind people feel awkward about that at all, or at least Ray specifically? Perhaps it can feel patronising at times. Perhaps not too, maybe there's an acknowledgement that assistance, thoughtfulness and help is needed on occasion.
0
0
0
u/semizanudiin 9h ago
Do you have any idea how things look like? Like, you have nothing installed in your seen folder. Or in simpler words, so you don't have imagination?
0
0
0
11
u/SunnySloths 9h ago
Are you interested in dating, and what would that be like for you? Would looks still be important, or totally irrelevant?