r/YouShouldKnow • u/LtSoundwave • Jul 19 '20

Other YSK That many people with a disability consider their aides (wheelchair, etc.) an extension of themselves. You should ask before touching or moving them.

Read this article and was surprised to hear how many people struggle with this. Even if you are trying to help, you should ask first.

www.bbc.com/news/disability-49584591

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u/blindchickruns Jul 19 '20

Do not get me started on the people who think I am faking blindness. News flash, most legally blind individuals have some useable vision. Yes, I can see enough to look towards your face. I can still see the symbols of the products I use because they have been the same since before my eyes went to shit. The fact that I am capable of looking at your face, does not mean I can actually focus on it. I'm getting bad enough now I can't necessarily guess a gender just from facial features anymore. Sorry, I'm not faking Karen; it's really time to see someone about your narcissism now.

Sorry. Just venting. But it's like the cane brings the attention of narcissistic personalities because they sense weakness. It's very bizarre.

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u/rkei Jul 20 '20 edited Jul 20 '20

Yeah that’s awful.... I’ll be honest, I’d never tell someone “oh, you’re not blind” (because how rude is that??), but somehow I never really understood the “blind doesn’t mean I see black like when you close your eyes” thing until I heard of Molly Burke (legally blind, looks not blind, does tons of YouTube videos about her life + Q&As on blindness etc). I even knew one of my mom’s friends was blind but I didn’t realize just how much remaining vision she had or how common it was until then - in retrospect, i think “legally blind” implied “but not bliiind blind, just really bad” somehow? Made much more sense in retrospect but it just didn’t click before that.

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u/blindchickruns Jul 20 '20

Yeah. The vision I once had is just no longer there. The best way I can describe it is I am falling slowly into an abyss. There is no color to be seen. It just doesn't exist. That feature is being slowly removed over time.

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u/haelennaz Jul 20 '20

I also didn't understand this until I had a class with a woman who had a guide dog but could read a laptop if the print was so large that you could only fit a few letters on screen at a time. And then one day she told me my coat looked really warm! I was surprised at first, but it was a long puffy coat, so I realized she must have been able to compare my normal size and shape with what I looked like that day, and logic would of course dictate that I don't actually expand when the weather is extremely cold, so I must have a large coat.