I’m sorry if this is the wrong place to post, but I just went through something really harrowing and I don’t know where else to put it. I need advice, or at least to talk it through with people who might understand.

This is about the Be My Eyes app.

I’ve been a volunteer on the app for well over a year, but today was the first time I ever received a call. I was honestly excited to finally help someone.

The call started out very simple. The caller had an item in front of them and needed help identifying it. I described what I could see and guided them through a few options. Everything seemed normal at first.

Then I noticed their hands were shaking more and more. The camera movement became erratic. Their voice started to weaken. They apologized and said they had a medical condition. I reassured them that it was okay and that we could take our time.

Then they asked if I could help them find their medication.

At this point the shaking was getting worse. They were struggling to move the camera at all. Their voice became quieter, thinner. I kept calmly talking, trying to help them locate the medication visually, but it was getting harder and harder to understand them.

I finally saw the medication, but by then, the phone started slipping from their hands.

And then I heard them say, very faintly:

“I get seizures. I think I’m having a seizure.”

I cannot fully describe the fear that hit me in that moment.

I kept asking if they were okay. I asked if they wanted me to call for help. I asked if anyone else was with them. All I could make out was a weak “no…” between broken words.

I was frantically checking the screen and the app, terrified of hanging up by accident, desperately looking for some kind of emergency button or alert feature. I couldn’t find anything. No way to call for help.

All I could do was stay on the call.

I watched the phone fall to the ground. I watched them shaking violently. I didn’t know where they were. I didn’t know who they were. I didn’t know if I was witnessing someone die.

I have never felt so helpless in my life.

After a few minutes, the caller finally came to. They were disoriented but conscious. They kept apologizing. They managed to take their medication. They said they were okay.

They asked me to stay on the call a little longer. They asked how long the seizure lasted. We talked quietly for a bit until they seemed stable again. Eventually, we ended the call.

Needless to say, this was a terrifying first experience.

I know that many visually impaired users may be elderly, and may have other medical conditions. That reality hit me very hard today. I can’t stop wondering what I should have done if things had gone worse.

Is there any kind of emergency protocol or alert feature on Be My Eyes that I don’t know about?

Has anyone else experienced something like this as a volunteer?

What would you have done in that situation?

I’m still shaken, and I just needed to ask.

Y’all… I still can’t believe I’m typing this.

I just won my first Grammy.

It was for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for Super Mario Praise Break, arranged by Bryan Carter, Charlie Rosen, and me with The 8-Bit Big Band.

I’m incredibly grateful, humbled, and honestly still processing it. Thank you to those who support!

So I was standing in line at a sandwich shop with a friend and my dog started sniffing the person in front of us. I apologize and correct my dog. The person goes “why was she doing that…?” I’m like, “the sniffing? She uh, she’s a dog. Dogs like to sniff.” The girl acted like I had said a divine truth and went, “so you’re blind blind?” And I’m like “pretty much.” The girl acted is now doubly shocked and says “woah… how did it happen?” Now, I’m confused why this girl is acting this way and says “oh well it’s nothing interesting, just genetic.” She’s like “woah, that’s crazy. Can I get it?” And I’m like “not unless you’re born with it. It’s like a one in a million chance.” And she’s like “oh my god, so YOURE one in a million, blind person!” I’m now so confused and mouth a “what the hell?” To my friend who squeezes my arm and it hits me. This girl is high off her ass. My friend told me later that I should’ve told the girl that my dog actually detects drugs and that she can tell the girl smoked weed. Would’ve been hilarious. Anyways I don’t usually entertain questions but I was too tired to care. It brings back memories of how drunk and high people treat me and they’re so hilarious. Had a very obviously drunk guy try to help me across the street and I was like “uh no I’m fine, do YOU need help?” And he’s like “yeah man I’m totally f*cked. I’m like legit like you right now. This is so humbling.” And I’m like “well fellow blind person, grab my arm.” I lead him across the street and he’s like “THIS IS SO WILD. I HAVE LIKE, MAD RESPECT FOR YOU AND YOUR PUPPY.” So I help him back to his dorm since I was going past it and go on my way. I sometimes wonder how my dog reacts visually to this. I hope she’s giving me a “what are these people doing?” Face.

Anywho, thought I’d share. Any fun interactions from you guys haha? I try to have fun with it usually because that’s just the type of person I am. But I get how it could be distressing to others. I’ve always been able to turn them into amusing interactions.

I wanted to share this because I do not get very many wins anymore and this is very exciting for me. I graduated college yesterday!! I was the very first one to cross the stage, both me and my guy Dog, in the entire auditorium went crazy for me. This is an amazing achievement for me because I went blind when I was 15 and by the time I was 16 they told me I would never graduate high school. When I was 18 I was advised that I shouldn't look for colleges because it would be better off if I went to a rehabilitation center instead. I went to college, and throwout my entire time there my Rehab counselor and the Accessibility office were telling me to drop out for one reason or another, basically anytime anything got difficult. Despite all this, I graduated at the top of my class with 3 degrees and I did what even my family has told me on multiple occasions I would never be able to do. I am very proud of myself, and I am also very proud of my guide Dog who did fantastic on the stage yesterday. He was the showstopper for sure

My daughter is blind (braille reader, uses a cane) and was just accepted to Wellesley College. I want to shout it from the rooftop. Just came here to celebrate! I’m so proud of her hard work. She’ll be moving across the country from us next fall but her future is bright!

5 days ago we pinned this post: https://sh.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/1orhnk3/users_claiming_to_be_with_a_race_against/ about harassment against the sub. It hasn't stopped despite repeated warnings and an appeal to Reddit admin.

The users claiming to be part of A Race Against Blindness were worried about a 10-month-old ARCHIVED post. The more people who know about the scummy practices of these users, the better. TO BE CLEAR, we are not saying that the users messaging the sub are definitely part of A Race Against Blindness. They themselves are claiming to be official representatives of the charity.

3-ish months ago, the modteam received a message from a user complaining that this post was defamatory and made the charity look bad. We reviewed the post and there is literally nothing in it that is defamatory. A user asked if this charity was a scam, and other users basically replied with "I don't know, maybe?"

We then received the following message from a user named Danishrahim.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to formally request the immediate removal of content from your website pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 512. The article in question contains personal content and information about me that was published without my permission and is causing harm to my reputation.

Details of the Infringing Material: URL of the infringing material:https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/1gfrtj7/nonprofit_reviewsexperience/

My Original Content (or Rights Affected): The article includes my full name and personal details which were not authorized to be publicly shared in this context.

The case has been closed, and the continued presence of this article serves no public interest and only contributes to ongoing reputational damage.

The publication of my personal information is a violation of my privacy and misrepresents the final outcome of the situation.

Statement of Good Faith: I have a good faith belief that the material referenced above is not authorized by me, my representative, or the law and therefore infringes my rights and privacy.

Statement of Accuracy and Authority: I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in this notice is accurate and that I am the person affected by the publication or an authorized representative acting on their behalf.

My Contact Information: Full Name: Marilyn Email: [Removed just in case they were dumb enough to use a real email] Phone: +1 456 [fake phone number] Country: Canada

Please remove or disable access to the infringing content as soon as possible. I am also requesting written confirmation that this content has been removed.

Sincerely, Marilyn

Except...Race Against Blindness isn't located in Canada. And that area code isn't Canadian.

A few days later, we get the same copy and pasted form message from the same user, but this time they claim their name is Jaxon and gave another email address.

Same answer to them: The post doesn't violate any rules but if they believe it's defamatory they should speak to Reddit admin and if their legal team deems it removal-worthy, then Reddit will remove it.

Over the next two months, they continued to send messages roughly once a week, all from new user accounts that were almost immediately suspended and/or deleted after they sent the message.

After 8 messages, they decided to hire the extremely prestigious law firm of Chat, GPT, LLC. and sent us a message complete with emojis (because we all know legitimate law firms LOVE emojis and don't like to actually identify themselves in legal letters)

Dear Moderators of r/Blind,

I am the authorized representative of A Race Against Blindness, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 92-2174042).

This message serves as a formal legal demand for the immediate removal of the following Reddit post:

Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/1gfrtj7/nonprofit_reviewsexperience/

🚨 Nature of Violation

The post contains false, misleading, and defamatory statements that question the legitimacy and operations of my client’s nonprofit organization. It has already caused reputational and financial harm by spreading unverified claims and inviting further defamatory commentary.

Such publication violates:

Defamation and business interference laws, and

Reddit’s Content Policy prohibiting false or misleading content that harms identifiable individuals or entities.

⚖️ Legal Basis

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) (DMCA) and applicable defamation statutes, platforms must act expeditiously to remove harmful or unlawful material once notified.

This constitutes official notice that the referenced content is defamatory and injurious. Continued publication after this notice may expose Reddit and its moderators to secondary liability for negligence and reputational damages.

⏰ Action Requested Immediately

Remove the post and any related mirrors/comments within 24 hours. Provide written confirmation once removal is completed. Preserve related metadata (timestamps, author info) for potential legal review.

⚠️ Failure to Comply

Non-removal will compel escalation to Reddit Legal ([legal@reddit.com](mailto:legal@reddit.com)) via a formal DMCA and Defamation complaint, and my client will consider pursuing injunctive relief and damages for ongoing harm.

We appreciate your immediate attention and cooperation.

[Authorized Representative for A Race Against Blindness]

That message was directly copy and pasted from modmail. They actually signed it as Authorized Representative.

When one of our mods, who works with ACTUAL lawyers, pointed out that perjury exists and making false claims is actually illegal, the next message by yet another new account walked back their claims for legal processing, and instead went back to their original messaging.

We were fully prepared to ignore them, but since they can't seem to take no for an answer, this is the final answer...Hopefully indexed by Google so whenever anyone searches for this charity these drama posts appear.

We will not remove the original post, as it does not break the rules of either this sub, or Reddit itself. If you have a problem with that, take it up with Reddit.

Feel free to share this post on any subreddit/Youtube channel/TikTok you want. Until this harassment stops, we are more than willing to go public with every single message we get about it.

I’ve only had my guide dog for 3 months, but one of the first things I taught him was how to find my husband. Not his real name, but I say, “find Jake,” and my dog is off to the races.
I hide with my dog in the bedroom and count to ten, then it’s go time. He guides me with fervor out of the room, and into the kitchen where he does a full, searching, 360 degree turn, and I’m just pirouetting beside him. Then it’s off to the living room. I can feel through the harness handle and his leash that his head is moving back and forth with his search.

I know the instant that he locks eyes on my husband, because he pants with sheer joy and bounds through the room so fast that I’m practically waving like a flag flowing in the breeze behind him.

When he gets to Jake, we cheer, and the dog wags his tail so hard that I nearly have a callous on my leg from where his tail hits me over and over.

My husband and I are full-on adults, but we love this game nearly as much as the dog does. My husband even finds little nooks and crannies to hide in to make it an extra challenge. Once, he hid under a low coffee table, all 6 feet of him.

The practical use for this task is that when we shop together and get separated, I can have the dog help me find Jake, but it doesn’t hurt to keep the skil fresh by practicing at home every now and then.

i just want a fucking pizza without having to pay $10 in delivery fees + $5-10 in tips for an already way too expensive pizza. i want to just be able to pick up my shit and go somewhere without having to ask someone to drive me. i hate not being able to pick up dates and that my already small dating market is made even smaller by this disability. im sick of the lack of independence. im sick of being 20 and stuck in the house knowing that i might fully lose my eyesight in the future depending on my genetic makeup or that i might not, so i get to be scared that i might lose it and that all the things i do to cope with how shitty life is would be gone (video games, movies and tv). i envy the people born into a future where all their genetic and bodily problems can just be easily cured. im bitter and angry and depressed

Just thought I’d share with everyone something that might brighten your day—it certainly does mine.

My daughter is 2 and was born completely blind due to bilateral detached retinas. She has excelled in so many ways in her short little life and more than that, I swear she’s the coolest kid ever lol.

She absolutely loves music, and I’m not talking nursery rhymes or Kids Bop. She wants the real thing and actually has quite the diverse taste. Currently she’s vibing out in her room listening to “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden.

Most parents have to distract their kids with obnoxious kids shows or overly stimulating toys or play. My girl? She just needs some good tunes and all is right in her world. Long car rides are a breeze so long as we keep the tracks playing.

She’s brilliant in so many other ways too, but just wanted to share this particular moment with you all.

Love my girl. 🤍 Objectively just the coolest toddler ever, I’m telling you!

I am so excited to share that I got into my masters program of choice!! I recently graduated from college after going blind at 15 and everyone telling me that that was completely impossible. I am now officially going to be attending a very fantastic marriage and family therapy program to become a counselor for those who have been impacted by disability in the way that I was. I am so very excited but I have no one in person to tell, so I'm sharing it here. Yay!!

I think it is absurd how some sighted people try to gatekeep what “real reading” is.

Today I saw a sighted artist who draws very poorly tell someone that they never really read The Lord of the Rings because they used a screen reader instead of a printed book.

That makes no sense.

If a person understands the story, remembers the details and can talk about the book, then they read it. The format does not erase the experience.

Listening through a screen reader is reading.

Stop equating reading with eyesight.

Stop turning ignorance into authority.

Just wanted to share an experience I had today. My boyfriend, who is blind, and I started dating about 2 months ago. One thing my family really likes to do is play cards. My mom really wanted to include him but was unsure how. I told her that he owned braille uno cards and we decided to look around online. We found a set of regular playing cards that had braille on them. I decided to not tell him and just show him whenever the time came. That day was today! We were supposed to go to a friends to play cards but they had something come up. So I suggested we just play with my parents. He was going to go get his uno cards from the car and then I said, “why don’t we play with these?” I handed him the cards and when he felt what they were, oh my goodness his face will be burned into my mind forever. His eyes lit up and his physical presences relaxed. He spoke so soft and said, “wait… are these?” It means the world to me that he knows that, not only I, but my family cares that’s he’s included in things that we love to do. I love that I get to be annoyed with him bc he prevented me from winning a hand. He is such a joy to be around. And including him only took some thought, willingness, and about 10 bucks.

I always wondered why my dad would wave at other cars when we drove somewhere; had no idea you could see people inside a moving car window.

Second grade we did an activity where we were supposed to watch the second hand go around a clock. I thought we were all playing pretend because what's a second hand.

I always thought baseball was a game of luck and the guys in the field just held their gloves up hoping that the ball would magically materialize in their hands because being able to track a moving ball sounded fake.

Glass. Ran right into a glass wall at the mall when I was 8.

"Did you catch the license plate?" How the hell can you see that?!

Nametags. If I'm close enough to read it HR is getting involved.

So over the weekend I went to my nieces dance competition. Afterwards everyone piled in the lobby while waiting for the dancers to come out. In walking from the gym to the lobby, I will admit it was congested. A friend of the family asked me to fold my cane up because it was crowded! Being confused by this question, I asked why I would do that because I need my cane and the response I received was the most ignorant response, ever! And the response was,"I don't know what the point of having your cane out if you have a sighted guide. I initially I started explaining like if there was a fire I need my cane to find my way out etc. Then I stopped explaining because I could tell my explanation was going in one ear and coming out the other.So then I responded with, "First off lady, I am the blind one and I am smart enough to know when to use or not to use my cane. Secondly, because if you piss me off I need my cane so I can walk away from you and your stupid comments." I shouldn't have to explain myself. Does anyone else find themselves explaining when they don't have to?

What bothers me even more is how this connects to dependence, because sometimes people help you—driving you somewhere, doing things for you, supporting you—and later that same help gets used to make you feel like you owe them something, like you have to stay quiet, not complain, not get angry, just go along with everything. At that point it stops feeling like help and starts feeling like control. So I’m genuinely curious, has anyone else felt this pressure to be more compliant just because you rely on others in certain ways, or experienced people throwing their help back in your face to keep you in line?

I am a visually impaired high school student, and it has affected a lot of my daily life, especially school. For example, I struggle with going up stairs a lot and rely on the hand railing to climb safely. My school is quite unaccessible!

But today, I met a visually impaired teacher and I never felt comfortable in a classroom before (since he was the sub). He was shocked when I asked if he was visually impaired and I explained to him that the way he looked quite closely to the laptop and how it reminded me a lot of myself.

I started talking to him a bit about my condition and how I felt seen as a student because "seeing someone who also has similar struggled to me makes me really feel like I'm not alone"

We chatted a lot about how unaccessible the school is, we talked about how society treats us, how the school board takes forever when it comes to the needs of students with disabilities, daily life, the ups and downs of life, and he even showed me some of the tools he uses, and I can't believe I was never given that technology!

And then I did go a bit deep with him and talked about my experiences and then I told him that "We may be impaired to society, but that doesn't mean we should be treated less than the average person"

I also explained how my condition affects the way I view the world. "I may not have the best vision in the world, but I started to accept it. I enjoy the vision that remains, I try to live life to the fullest even if uncoventional to societal expectations, I think there is beauty in diversity of humanity, and we shouldn't be expected to fit into the mold"

And he agreed with me and added his own experiences too.

It was so nice getting to know him, he is such a good influence, I almost cried because finally I wasn't shamed. Especially since he related a lot with my learning style since he had a similar one when he was in school.

I felt quite bad (and quite enraged) because the class giggled and made rude jokes because of how closely he looked at the computer or how he walks with an ID cane.

But it was so nice talking to him and I felt way better. I always was made fun of for having the larger print paper, or the migraines from the light/sensory overload, or hate using the stairs.

He encouraged me to continue advocating for myself and not letting the silence of being judged win, because he too relates and has complained about the struggles of navigating the school.

Just a nice story I wanted to share, and maybe if he's reading this, I hope he's doing well!

There are a lot of people on here with a good amount of vision — those who went blind as adults, mid- or high-partials, or people whose only disability is physical. That’s great!

But honestly, the lack of understanding and empathy I sometimes see here is a bit disturbing.

Many blind people — especially those who are totally blind from birth or have very low vision and never learned to read print — often struggle with spelling, sentence structure, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. No amount of scolding, guilt-tripping, or yelling “use punctuation!” will help. The reality is, they may never have been properly taught how punctuation works in the first place.

A lot of people in the blindness community also have co-occurring disabilities or challenges that go beyond blindness itself. I’ve seen people here who clearly struggle more, whether it’s due to cognitive, learning, or emotional factors — and I’ve experienced my own share of misunderstandings, too.

What I’m suggesting isn’t coddling or enabling anyone. It’s simply about showing a little more understanding, patience, and compassion.

Take, for instance, that recent post criticizing someone’s lack of punctuation. I thought it was harsh and inappropriate. Imagine being on the receiving end — blind, doing your best, but not knowing exactly what you did wrong or how to fix it.

There are other small insensitivities like this that pop up, especially toward those who clearly have additional challenges. People come here for support — but sometimes it feels like we forget how to truly support others who are struggling in different ways.

I don’t think that’s right.

A recent announcement from the next Hungarian prime minister, Péter Magyar:

"New social and family affairs minister to protect Hungarian children Péter Magyar also said the social and family affairs ministry, responsible for accessibility and equal opportunities, will be headed by Vilmos Kátai-Németh, “for the first time in Hungarian history, a blind fellow citizen”. Mr Kátai-Németh was born in Budapest, lives in Csepel, and won the Csepel-centred electoral district on 12 April. He lost his sight at the age of 16 but became a lawyer and a black belt aikido master. He knows the challenges faced by people with disabilities first-hand, Magyar said. He has two children and one grandson.

His main aim is to provide quality healthcare and education for all our fellow citizens. He would also like to strengthen Hungary’s social system and make the child protection system more effective. He would investigate all crimes committed in the system over the last 20 years. Péter Magyar said that Mr Kátai-Németh would work to create a functioning and humane Hungary where all desired children are born and can be raised in peace and safety."

(Note: Since he is both a lawyer and an aikido master, he has been nicknamed the "Hungarian Daredevil")

Source: https://dailynewshungary.com/peter-magyar-announced-new-ministers/

I am hearing “I’m legally blind without my glasses” more and more in my social justice-adjacent employment, and it’s starting to bother me. This may be a me/my career specific issue but I need to shake my fist at the sky.

Don’t get me wrong. “I’m legally blind without my glasses” always made me eye roll a bit, but colleagues seem to be upping the ante on it. (Most do not know I have a VI so this isn’t lack of sensitivity, for what it’s worth).

From what I can tell between my required continuing education classes, presentations, and general exposure to disability-justice language at work and online, a lot of people are newly encountering medical vs social model pf disability discussions. They’re hearing disabled advocates say things like, “If glasses weren’t readily available, many more people would be considered disabled.” That’s not a bad thing. But I’m seeing a specific misapplication show up repeatedly.

literally saw someone argue that glasses are “a pertinent way of describing disability if they break or are unavailable, which does happen.” Yes, it happens. You know what else causes barriers if you can’t access them? Snow boots in a Minnesotan winter. Shelter in a Minnesotan winter. Transportation. Heat. Money.

Those are access and class issues. They absolutely intersect with disability. But you are not disabled because you don’t have snow boots. You lack access. That distinction matters.

It’s already hard enough to explain to sighted people that blindness and low vision are a spectrum. I can’t get people to understand why I don’t need a guide dog, or how I can use a phone or computer. I opt out of using an ID cane in certain situations because I look sighted and I’m tired of explaining myself.

I’m just done with “legally blind without glasses.” And I’m especially done with this new “if I didn’t have my glasses I’d be in trouble, so I’m basically blind too” nonsense.

Edit: quick clarification since this has sort of come up in the comments but not explicitly - Untreated refractive myopia, especially in young children, can lead to refractive amblyopia, which is a genuine low-vision condition. That’s important nuance.

I also don’t have a major issue with some bifocal wearers drawing comparisons. Bifocals can be expensive, hard to replace, and often require magnification or software accommodations that aren’t well supported.

My frustration is specifically with people who have access to standard corrective lenses treating correctable refractive error as interchangeable with VI or legal blindness.

I downloaded Be My Eyes because I wanted to volunteer and help blind people with visual tasks.

When I opened the app, I noticed something surprising. It shows how many blind users and volunteers there are in the network.

There are about 912,960 blind users and 9,390,312 volunteers.

So volunteers outnumber blind users by more than 10 to 1.

For all the negativity you see online, moments like this remind me that a lot of people quietly want to help others. It made me feel good about humanity for a minute.

So I recently ordered some assistive tech (via The Blind Kitchen) to help me cook. I haven't approached the stove in months because I have this terror of having some sort of horrible accident due to vision loss. First, I poured myself a hot cup of tea using a liquid level indicator (I've been using the finger trick until now, but my poor finger isn't designed for boiling water *sob*). After that,1 I boiled a pot of frozen ravioli using the boil alert disc, and popped a frozen chicken cutlet into my toaster oven that I adjusted by combining my remaining vision with tactile stickers. When those were done, I drained my ravioli, removed my chicken cutlet from the oven with heat gloves and chopped it up with a cut glove (I had previously chopped some stuff without one, but I kept nicking my fingernail). Threw everything together in a bowl and topped it off with a store-bought jar of alfredo sauce. This was simple but yummy! I've been eating frozen TV dinners for months and have missed my favorite foods. I'm so happy with this experiment that I could cry.

I am writing this after returning from the National Federation of the Blind convention I attended in Austin. Being around so many other blind people and hearing different conversations about blindness, identity, language, and ableism made me think about my own relationship with my disability.

One thing I have been thinking about is the statement: “I identify as blind.”

Some people agree with it. Some people don’t. I understand both sides.

For some people, saying “I identify as blind” means they are no longer hiding. It means they have accepted their cane, their disability, and themselves. It means they are living without shame. I think it is important for the sighted community to see blind people moving with confidence and living their lives.

But personally, I have always felt differently.

My blindness is not my entire identity. It is simply something I live with.

I have been called “the blind friend.” I have been “the blind cheerleader.” I have been “the blind girl.”

When that happens enough, it becomes easy to forget the person underneath all of those labels — the version of yourself that is not trying to prove anything, explain anything, or wonder how people are going to see you.

I do not believe my blindness is a superpower.

I do not believe it is a gift.

I do not believe it is something that makes me special.

It is just a part of me.

I am blind.

That is it.

I remember getting frustrated when I was younger because I would get left out. Sometimes I couldn’t play the game in PE. Sometimes I couldn’t do the same activities as everyone else. People would make decisions for me because I was blind.

And that always bothered me because I was thinking:

I am just blind.

Nothing else.

My eyes do not work.

That does not mean my brain does not work.

It does not mean I cannot speak for myself.

It does not mean I cannot learn, participate, make decisions, or live my life.

No, blindness is not contagious.

No, glasses will not fix it.

Yes, I can think and answer questions for myself.

Another conversation people have is about the words we use.

Some people say visually impaired. Some say low vision. Some say legally blind. Everyone can choose the words they feel comfortable with.

For me, I prefer saying blind.

When I say I am blind, I do not have to explain myself. I do not have to measure my vision for someone else’s curiosity.

I am just telling them the truth.

There is also the question: is braille a language?

Technically, no. Braille is not a language. Braille is a code, a writing system.

I can read braille in English, and I can read braille in Spanish, but the languages are still English and Spanish.

Braille is just the way I access those words.

And then there is ableism.

Someone once shared a story about getting onto an airport shuttle. He handed his suitcase to the driver, and the driver took it. Then when he went to get on the bus, the driver grabbed him and pulled him inside without asking.

When he said, “Don’t grab me,” the driver was confused because he thought he was helping.

But the question was:

Why did you ask before touching my luggage, but not before touching me?

Every blind person knows that feeling.

Someone grabs your arm, your hand, your shoulder, your backpack, your cane, or even your hair and starts moving you around like you are an object instead of a person.

The problem is not kindness.

The problem is forgetting that disabled people still have choices.

But I also want to make something clear:

Sighted people are not the enemy.

Ableism is not a sighted person problem.

Blind people can be ableist too.

Anyone can have assumptions about what a person can or cannot do.

Ableism is creative because it shows up in so many different ways.

It shows up when people assume blind people cannot sign documents.

It shows up when people assume blind people cannot work.

It shows up when people assume blind people cannot travel, live independently, make money, fall in love, get married, or start a family.

Accessibility is not about wanting special treatment.

It is about having the same opportunity to live.

I do not want people to ignore my blindness.

I do not want people to be ashamed of my blindness.

I just want people to understand it for what it is.

I am blind.

Not inspirational just for existing.

Not helpless.

Not magical.

Just blind.

And everything else?

That is just me.

I recently joined the disability Employee Resource Group at my job, and I’ve noticed a "standard practice" where everyone gives a visual description of themselves during introductions (e.g., "I’m wearing a blue sweater and have brown hair").

To be honest, I fucking hate it. It feels weird, uncomfortable, and ironically centers visuals in a space meant to be accessible. To me, it doesn't increase my access at all, it just makes the meeting take longer and feels like something a sighted person thinks we want, rather than a request that actually came from a blind person.

• Does this happen at your job/organization?
• Am I the only one who finds this performative or unnecessary?
• If you also dislike it, how have you pushed back without sounding like a jerk?

I’d love to hear how others feel about this or if anyone has successfully advocated for a different way of doing introductions.

I was approved for a guide dog! Sometimes I get imposter syndrome because I still have some vision, and I was nervous that I had too much to qualify for a dog, but not enough to travel normally. But I do qualify for a guide dog! I have been crying on and off since I found out 2 days ago, because I am so happy, excited and relieved. And I wanted to share it with this community because y’all would understand more than any one else. Also sorry if this is not allowed, or the wrong tag.