I attended summer camp for blind kids when I was young and the staff was always telling campers to stop swaying etc and it always made me so mad. I didn’t sway (at the time I still had a lot of usable vision) but I remember thinking “This is a camp for blind kids. Can’t you just leave them alone and let them be their authentically blind selves?” I never understood why it was okay for Stevie Wonder to sway but it wasn’t okay for my fellow campers.
That's awful. I always swayed around because I don't have good vision (not bad enough to be anywhere near legally blind, but I still need glasses) and I don't even think about doing it. There isn't anything wrong with doing it and these ableists 'camps' get on my nerves..
@@ingesadventures I feel fatigue from a very bright or flickering lights. I’m legally blind. I have Nystagmus, which makes my eyes shake left and right due to lack of muscle control. It causes me to have eye fatigue and a slight headache. Molly also has it. Her eyes move in circles if you look closely enough in her videos. She also has a video explaining about why her eyes shake and that medical condition I mentioned.
In NO way should you feel weird about fidgeting!! I know you cannot see others standing in lines but it is super normal for many of the people to be fidgeting in some way as well! I definitely shift my weight between my feet, play with my hair… etc! I can only imagine how isolating it feels but you aren’t alone!!!❤ love you Molly!!!
Seizure haver here!!! I love this video so much. Recently, I’ve been trying to educate my friends about just how much my seizures affect me, like how hard I bite my tongue which then causes excruciating pain for days at a time and then my appetite suppresses itself so I don’t have to hurt myself by eating so then I’m losing nutrition. But many people wouldn’t think of this and wonder why I’m struggling so much
I am visually impaired, but there’s still so many things about this that I can relate to, I constantly walk slower, look down with everything that I’m doing and try really hard to work on it, but on top of having a vision impairment, i also have a physical disability which makes things like walking even more difficult, so I know exactly what that’s like. I love your videos like this, so many people can relate to both physical and visual disabilities!
I'm glad you walk slower and look down because that means you're being safe. Good job! We tell kids to stop running around wildly so they will learn to move at a pace that avoids the most hazards and keeps them safest. For you, safest may be slower than most, but it's what your body needs to navigate best because you have a higher risk of injury. Even with no disability experience, the rest of us already know how to slow our pace for kids and the elderly, so we can do it for anyone else's safety. Please speak up anytime you'd like anyone walking with you to slow down. They might not be thinking about it, but they would prioritize your safety over a brisk pace. Everyone, please tell us to knock off our careless nonsense whenever you notice it. It hurts my heart that people are sometimes made to feel like speaking up about these things is rude or impolite. You deserve to feel as safe and as comfortable as you can when you get around, and the last thing I should be worried about it why a visually impaired person isn't walking faster. Also, maybe a neck stretching routine before you walk and when you stop might help relieve some tension from looking down? Whatever you do, don't watch where you're going LESS to fit in with everyone else! That's a "politeness" that doesn't help us at all, and is dangerous for you. Whatever you got going on, please stand out as much as you need to instead of masking anything because that helps people around you be mindful of how they can accommodate you, like stepping out of your way, or offering you assistance or information about your path, or help by just not making things harder for you.
Deaf here! Like you said, balance comes from the middle ear. Me and many others have done lots of vestibular therapy to function as comfortably as possible. My working dog is also able to help with mobility and balance 💜
We also have the hunchback thing, from leaning into conversation trying to hear. Interesting being total opposite disabilities how many similarities there are 😅💜
A lot of these effects are also really similar to what people with sensory processing disorder, and adhd, autism, and connective tissue disorders experience! because the body is all messed up and the nervous system is confused. I can see but I struggle a lot with knowing if I'm straight, if one shoulder is up, the balance things too. As well as the stimulation and coordination things. I think it's important to recognize that a lot of these things affect multiple disabilities and that you shouldn't assume what someone is dealing with. Also, there a lot of things that people don't realize affect you, and often think that you're faking your disability cuz you do an unexpected thing like this. Ugh. But thank you so much for talking about this!
Molly I am so glad you did this video. I am a Pilates instructor and I am forever feeling guilty or having to explain to people why my posture isn't perfect even though I am an instructor a. As my eyesight has deteriorated I also round my shoulders to protect myself, tilt my head up to see better and help with my nystagmus, find it difficult to keep my balance and I never noticed it before but I also can't stand still for too long I am always shifting my weight from side to side and I never realised until you just said it. Great video Molly! Emma and guide dog Archie x x
My mom has macular degeneration and our rescue dog only has one eye so I found this video exceptionally helpful because I want to not only be sensitive to their visual challenges, but also to their feelings about the challenges they face. Thank you so much for sharing your insight and life experience. It’s interesting what you shared about how you assume a diagonal position on the massage table - my rescue dog (Sadie Grace) is extremely uncomfortable remaining in a standing position while being groomed! Her groomer cuts her hair while letting her lay down because she knows the reason why she doesn’t want to remain standing is because she doesn’t feel safe on the narrow table with only having one eye to see out of. Thank you Molly for this educational video! xx
I can't thank you enough!!! I am partially sighted and I always have thought something was absolutely wrong with me for struggling with some of these things you mentioned in this video . This has helped me gain insight as to why these things occur in my body. Now, I know there's a reason for it. Thank you so much Molly!
I can relate a lot to pretty much all of these. I fidget a lot with whatever is in my hand, rock back and forth constantly, walk with a flat foot, etc. and I had no clue that any of this was related to my visual impairment. Thanks for making this video!
It’s crazy thinking about how much disability can impact people’s bodies. Before I became disabled I never even considered how different I would function and go through my day to day
Person with high myopia here and there are many of these things you mentioned that I feel identified with. Like the headaches, eye aches, light sensitivity and the look down posture. Since I was a kid, my family always struggle with that last part and it's being very difficult. I'm glad I've watched this video because now I can have an explanation for lots of things caused by my poor sight.
The other thing that many people forget is that people with sight problems are not immune from being disabled in other ways. Sometimes vision loss is just one symptoms of a systemic disability. Not everything applies to every blind person because everyone is different. You explained this so well. And also you mentioned aging, and traditionally 'bad habits' developed to cope with being blind can cause long term problems and pain that changes their ability to cope with sight loss.
Another thing that is great about this video is the attention being drawn to certain positions meaning certain things but within the context of disability it changes. As a trauma recovery coach many of the things widely accepted and believed in that field really don't translate the same way with disabled people as they do for non disabled people so that's what I try and do my part in advocacy and education around that and I'm glad you also addressed confidence and safety as those are important in trauma especially as well!
I walk a bit more flat-footed than a sighted person would, but my stride length is pretty normal... Then again my dog is a pretty fast walker. Riding for many many years definitely helped with my posture, especially since I focused mainly on dressage! But yeah, a lot of recogntion with a fair number of these, and the balance thing has actually started affecting me more in recent years.
Oh god the posture one, I never thought it could be related to blindness. It’s something my parents constantly bug me about. I get why, but it’s just hard to open yourself up when you can’t see what’s right in front of you. Another thing that my music teacher pointed out to me because I was very limited in my range of motion while playing the violin, she suggested that I might struggle to open myself up cause I don’t know what’s around me so I try to take up as little space as possible, and I never would’ve came to that realization on my own but I related to it. Also relate to the eye is an organ part. I now barely rely on my vision for anything apart from seeing light shapes while moving, but despite that whenever I have a particularly long day I usually end it with a lot of pain in my eye and not being able to function. In regards to point 9, I hold my head crooked cause I’m completely blind in my right eye, the most I’ve ever had in that eye is light perception but even that is gone now. I’m starting to realize that my neck really hurts when im talking to someone sitting to my right, cause I instinctually want to look at them and subconsciously I have to do that with the eye with some remaining vision. I also can’t stand going sighted guide with the person on my right, really throws off my balance. Also, in elementary and middle school kid used to come up and talk to me and then they would start demanding why I’m not looking at them. I was looking at them, with one eye. And I never understood what their problem was as a kid. Thanks for this video, highlighted some thing I would have never noticed
It's really interesting to hear about the unconscious accomadations you make for balance and walking. I remember from your guiding videos that you match dogs to your walking speed and it makes sense how each person would have different walking needs to accomadate their blindness.
This was so helpful as someone not blind but going through significant vision loss. Am sharing w family so we can try to be on the same page! Thankyou so much for this!
I’ve noticed over the years that Stevie Wonder sways his head a lot when he sings. I always thought it was because he was blind but I didn’t know the reason for it. This video is so educational for us sighted people and I really enjoy learning about it. Knowledge, I think, makes me a better and kinder person! Fun fact, I live in Lansing, MI and Stevie Wonder attended the school for the blind here where my grandfather worked as a cook!
I watched a video recently that "proper posture" is not as important than we have been taught. Plus, you work out and do Yoga, so ppl need to fluff off! I can't lie flat. I start choking. In movies when a sighted person acts the part of a Blind person; they always look up to mimic what they are told or they see a Blind person doing this. My Mom always wore three-inch heels and when she became pregnant with me; the doctor told her to start wearing flats. Her calf muscles had tightened and she ended up falling.
I have progressive vision loss from genetic congenital cataracts, and you perfectly described all the things I deal with. One thing not mentioned that I deal with is heightened hearing sensitivity. Also because I suffer from MS which has caused nerve damage to my whole body, which has reduced my sense of touch.
Dots connected as to why I'm so flat footed! I knew why I have such a crazy head tilt, it genuinely helps me with what little remaining vision I have. And I'm so photo sensitive even dark glasses can't stop me squinting in the sun, though green shades do "relax" my eyes more! Love you're videos Molly. Thanks for sharing "our" world so well! Incidentally I have the most amazing guide dog also, a yellow Labrador. He loves dogs and loves watching your beautiful boys! He went so loopy watching Elton and Gallup meeting in a recent post!!!
I don’t think people get how disabilities can effect your body. My pain disability wears me out so much that if I get a bad pain I’m out for the rest of the day and makes me tired. Or that pots makes me more then just dizzy
Same. I am three auto immune diseases one of them being a chronic pain disease and god, I live off of caffeine of I couldn’t function. And yes that is with the direction of a doctor. It effects my memory so badly. I retain nothing.
I am sorry you are struggling. There is such a huge difference in dealing with acute/short term pain, & chronic/long term pain. It is even harder for them to process if you are dealing with invisible illness.
I get normal pain and then I get these weird spikes of pain that happen at transom times and that drains me none of my doctors know what’s up. It started in my ribs and now is everywhere in my body every year it gets worst
Another invisible illness here, I’ve got fibromyalgia and an underactive thyroid which both bring a whole load of other illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome, costochondritis etc. Everyday is different, I never know how I’m going to feel and it’s tough. Big love to all who suffer daily xx
OMG Molly! I think I've just had an epiphany. My vision is affected by chronic atypical migraines. I think I've just realised that my neck and shoulder pain is not an extension of my migraine pain but a muscle strain from changing my head position to try and see better. You have no idea how much this has just revealed to me!! Love you so much xxx
I can relate to the flat footed walk and the short gate. With the hunchback thing I used to have that but started yoga about 7 months ago and within a few weeks my wife and then others noticed that I stand up straight now.
Thanks for educating us! I have become more and more aware of my own situation. I am not blind, but I surely can't see great anymore. So thank you and be blessed!
VERY informative Molly. I had not thought about those characteristics before. I have recently been diagnosed with acute intractable vertigo after a couple of incidents, nystagmus consequently, is a symptom when having an episode. One of these episodes landed me in the hospital. I am learning a lot and learn from you as well.👍👏🥰
Wow! This is fascinating. I am not blind, but I have a lot of these resulting from autism, ADHD, hypermobility, and fibromyalgia. None of those were diagnosed until I was 29, married, and mother of a toddler. So I have spent most of my life with a body that won't stand up to social standards and pro tips and no idea why.
We call it compensating. Physically, mentally, we do it in all kinds of ways. Im a big talent in finding new ways, but it does effect me big time. Other muscles have to work harder and it causes inflammation and more tension and pain for example. People don’t understand that at all. So I get y’all too. It’s hard often.
I have cerebral palsy on my right side as well as being legally blind with sight, and i don't roll my foot when walking either, I'm also heavy footed with my right foot, when I step, I basically throw my leg out and slam my foot down. It's worse when wearing my full leg AFO brace. When I have my brace on it also throws my balance off and makes me more clumsy. Due to my CP, my right shoulder is lower than my left shoulder. Because of all of my surgeries on my eyes, I live with chronic pain and other issues along with extreme light sensitivity. So I totally understand what Molly says! My head tilts too, people notice, especially in pictures! I don't realise I do it until it's pointed out to me.
Thank you, have been a low partial since birth. And this explains stuff that even I didn't understand about myself. Thank you for taking the time to do this Molly
This is an amazing video! Very clear communication and educational/engaging. Learning about these day to day things helps normalize differences and increase understanding/acceptance.
Thank you for sharing this, these are the things that those of us who aren’t blind might not know and your vulnerability helps us be more understanding/considerate of our blind friends.
I have a blind cat who does number 9! He's always looking up and tilting his head, so it's really interesting to learn about why he does that. He only has a bit of remaining sight in one eye, so it makes perfect sense!
Ever since I found your channel, I've found that a LOT of people around me only know the stereotypes around blindness and I have to interject to correct those notions
This is one of the things that makes me want to "help" people. The fact that so much is related and connected. I know blind people are perfectly capable of doing almost anything I can do, except see, I still want to help them with secondary "issues" like the one you list here. I don't have a solution and know better than to offer to help with tasks, but I do find myself resisting the urge to offer help sometimes. Like I said I know they can do whatever they set their minds to, but I see the extra effort they sometimes need to put in.
I totally never thought about my very limited peripheral vision or lack of depth perception as a form of blindness but as I started relating to a few of these points (particularly) the head tilt- people still joke about it because my head is naturally tilted to one side and if you ask me to look straight ahead I think I am- it made me realize that it is mild blindness and I am fully compensating for the things I can't see! So thanks Molly ❤️
I love to learn about other peoples situations so deeply! I am not visually impaired but as a fellow short queen I also take smaller strides. Everybody always tells me that. 🙄 Also, I have a chronic illness and I know it's very frustrating when others don't know or don't want to know what else comes with my pain and hormonal imbalances.
This video makes me feel so validated right now. As someone that was bullied in school and even had grown adults bully me, I always felt "different". My vision, head tilt and nystagmus are kind of sore issues for me because they are what made me stand out and people used those things against me. I was only ever around fully sighted kids while growing up, so I never got to make friends with other kids that were blind/visually impaired. I honestly wish I had been exposed to the blind/visually impaired community when I was growing up because I never felt like I belonged in the sighted community and I probably could have made some friends that had similar vision to myself, a kid that I could related to. And honestly, I don't think I could have been bullied for my vision if the other kids were "in the same boat" as me, ya know? At least I don't think it would have hurt me as much as it did being bullied by fully sighted classmates. Make fun of me, tease me about anything else, I don't care, but just leave the vision alone.. being made fun of because of my vision, something that I can't change about myself, only led to me hating myself, hating to socialize, not trusting anyone, and becoming a recluse.. Anyway, thank you, Molly, for bringing awareness to people, especially the sighted population, about what you experience as a blind woman and what other blind/visually impaired people may also experience.
Oh my gosh, I love this comment so much and wish I could heart it somehow, and pin it. I can completely relate in so many ways as a kid growing up. I started out being submerged in the sighted community and didn't have any really good blind role models. When I was eventually exposed to blind people, they were people I could not relate to because many of them had additional disabilities. I wasn't educated or taught about other disabilities, so the only thing I could think of in my kid mind was that those people were on relatable, and I felt completely alone.
I'm a sighted person, but I really enjoy your videos and learn so much about blindness, and different disabilities on your channel. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Molly! I love how you explained the muscle issues. As a massage therapist, I tell my clients about improving their posture all the time. I hope you're able to get regular massage and stretch. That's super helpful for daily repetitive movements. Take care. Love your videos! :)
Molly Burke, I LOVE, and I put the word love in all caps. I love your rambles and I get so excited when you passionately talk about things that you want to share with us all. I learn so much when you talk a lot about the things you find important.
I have nystagmus and I have to tilt my head to the side to cope with the shaking all the time! I always get asked why I look so suspicious of everything lol, thank you for making me feel better about it!!
Wow! I myself can see, but I have nystagmus, and when you said “people with nystagmus often almost tilt their head back and look down cause it will stimulate the shaking of the pupil”, in that moment I realised that I myself am doing it right as I’m watching this video and have done that for as long as I can remember. I never noticed that, so thanks for making me aware of something that I myself did and didn’t realise, and also for letting me know that was even a thing, I seriously did not know that until you said it. Thanks again ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
the shoulders being off balance sometimes and cane/guide dog arm connection blew my mind. something I never would have thought of, but should definitely be talked about! I can only imagine how unbalanced that would train your body to be, in more ways than one!
Thank you for making this video. As a mom of a young child with both severe hearing and vision lost, I know now that his gait will always be different from his siblings who are not hearing or vision impaired.
I’ve followed Mollys videos for years and I remember her telling about when she was younger some ‘friends’ not believing that she was blind and being mean. She shared a particular hurtful encounter at a party. I’ve always wondered/hoped that those girls would have tried to reach out and apologize for the pain they caused. Does anyone know if she’s ever spoke on that? My heart hurt for young Molly and I hope that she got the apologies she deserved; whether she accepts them or not.
This was a really helpful and enlightening video. Thanks Molly! I get a lot of tension headaches due to tight neck and shoulder muscles and just wanted to share something that has helped me in case it's useful to anyone else. There is a Yoga pose I like to do using a yoga bolster. A yoga bolster is basically a large sausage-shaped firm pillow, but a rolled up blanket could also be used. Sighted users can look up "reclined bound angle with bolster" to see images of the pose, but I will also try to explain it for non-sighted users. Sit on a flat surface like the floor or a bed. Your legs can be straight out or bent at the knee, whichever is more comfortable. Put the bolster on the flat surface behind you so the short end of the bolster is pressed against your bum/lower back. Lean back, resting your back and head along the length of the bolster. You can put a cushion behind your head if needed. Open your arms out away from your body and rest them on the floor with palms facing toward the ceiling. The goal is to relax your neck and shoulders while the bolster supports your weight and encourages your shoulders to open up. This is the opposite posture to hunched shoulders. I do this for 10-15 minutes when I have a bad headache and it helps a lot!
Yes to alll of this!!! I feel it! But instead of flatfooted walking, I actually shuffle my feet!!! And I look up (posture wise) with my vision...I figured it was a coping thing to help with the vision loss! I've actually had someone tell me that me looking down makes me look like I'm not confident and I literally yelled at them saying "it's because I can not see when I'm walking!!!" I was so angry at them!!! It's not like I'm not confident as a whole! I just, ya know, don't want to fall on a hard block of cement!!! Totally all 10 of these, especially as someone also with progressive vision loss!
I have RO and am legally blind. I def have some of these things. Some things i never knew I did until my toddlers started imitating it. Lol. Last night my daughter said she wanted to read a powce of mail and grabbed my phone to take a picture of it. She’s three. There are so many things that are normal to her living with vision impacted family. ❤
I always fidget and rock ! I would say it’s a neurodivergent and blind thing - makes me wonder how often blind people are ND as well. I also walk that way too , I’m sighted but have ADHD
Great content. I am not blind but I 've got chronic neurological disease and I can relate to many issues you' ve mentioned. It's not only "I have problems walking" but also I got extremely fatigued 10 times faster because the brain is trying to use nerves that are not working. I have some compensation strategies to help with the loss of tension in my upper body. I also hunch to prevent tripping. Still for the majority it's "oh you have a drop foot" only.
You look great. Your hair, makeup and the top. I'm gonna need a link. Also this video is very informative and helpful as a blind woman with cerebral palsy.
These are very useful video for self reflection for me. I have low vision and I've never thought too much about how my vision loss effects things like how I walk compared to sighted folks but it's nice to have these as kind of prompts to see if I relate to what you are listing or if I experience a variation of it or if I don't experience one of the things you mentioned. For me, one thing I notice that I do a lot is use my elbows to keep my balance. I basically hug walls when I walk so I don't stumble. I ought to get some sort of elbow pads or something because I wind up scratching them a bunch doing it lol I know these videos help inform non-disabled people but they are so nice for disabled people too. Thank you for sharing your experience as always!
Definitely made me do a posture check! Lol. I am visually impaired, low vision and this made me think that sighted people just wouldn't necessarily connect the dots on things that seems "obvious" to me.
I can really relate to the posture thing. I’ve taught & forced myself to walk with my cane switching hands every so often. I also have been incorporating more reverse flys with bands or DB’s to help strengthen upper posterior chain.
Hey, I am totally blind and I’m 56 and I had to go to the doctor and get a physical done and she told me to lay on the bed. I damn near rolled right off the damn thing. It’s a good thing that she was there that is hard to do You do what you Gotta do and don’t worry about what everybody else thinks you’re very good at this and I have learned a lot too
I've had long COVID for over a year and have learned a lot about how COVID has affected my vision and how my vision affects my long COVID symptoms. Thank you for sharing this about your experience!
I attended summer camp for blind kids when I was young and the staff was always telling campers to stop swaying etc and it always made me so mad. I didn’t sway (at the time I still had a lot of usable vision) but I remember thinking “This is a camp for blind kids. Can’t you just leave them alone and let them be their authentically blind selves?” I never understood why it was okay for Stevie Wonder to sway but it wasn’t okay for my fellow campers.
That's awful. I always swayed around because I don't have good vision (not bad enough to be anywhere near legally blind, but I still need glasses) and I don't even think about doing it. There isn't anything wrong with doing it and these ableists 'camps' get on my nerves..
I love learning more about being blind. I’m personally not blind, but I love how you continue to educate about blindness
me too, i always wondered if a blind eye can feel fatigue
@@ingesadventures I feel fatigue from a very bright or flickering lights. I’m legally blind. I have Nystagmus, which makes my eyes shake left and right due to lack of muscle control. It causes me to have eye fatigue and a slight headache. Molly also has it. Her eyes move in circles if you look closely enough in her videos. She also has a video explaining about why her eyes shake and that medical condition I mentioned.
I'm not blind but I am disabled and have a few blind friends so finding Molly to educate me more helps a lot.
@@ChristianSullivan i think i saw that one :) molly seems like a very sweet girl
Same
In NO way should you feel weird about fidgeting!! I know you cannot see others standing in lines but it is super normal for many of the people to be fidgeting in some way as well! I definitely shift my weight between my feet, play with my hair… etc! I can only imagine how isolating it feels but you aren’t alone!!!❤ love you Molly!!!
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Seizure haver here!!! I love this video so much. Recently, I’ve been trying to educate my friends about just how much my seizures affect me, like how hard I bite my tongue which then causes excruciating pain for days at a time and then my appetite suppresses itself so I don’t have to hurt myself by eating so then I’m losing nutrition. But many people wouldn’t think of this and wonder why I’m struggling so much
I am visually impaired, but there’s still so many things about this that I can relate to, I constantly walk slower, look down with everything that I’m doing and try really hard to work on it, but on top of having a vision impairment, i also have a physical disability which makes things like walking even more difficult, so I know exactly what that’s like. I love your videos like this, so many people can relate to both physical and visual disabilities!
I'm glad you walk slower and look down because that means you're being safe. Good job! We tell kids to stop running around wildly so they will learn to move at a pace that avoids the most hazards and keeps them safest. For you, safest may be slower than most, but it's what your body needs to navigate best because you have a higher risk of injury. Even with no disability experience, the rest of us already know how to slow our pace for kids and the elderly, so we can do it for anyone else's safety. Please speak up anytime you'd like anyone walking with you to slow down. They might not be thinking about it, but they would prioritize your safety over a brisk pace.
Everyone, please tell us to knock off our careless nonsense whenever you notice it. It hurts my heart that people are sometimes made to feel like speaking up about these things is rude or impolite. You deserve to feel as safe and as comfortable as you can when you get around, and the last thing I should be worried about it why a visually impaired person isn't walking faster.
Also, maybe a neck stretching routine before you walk and when you stop might help relieve some tension from looking down? Whatever you do, don't watch where you're going LESS to fit in with everyone else! That's a "politeness" that doesn't help us at all, and is dangerous for you.
Whatever you got going on, please stand out as much as you need to instead of masking anything because that helps people around you be mindful of how they can accommodate you, like stepping out of your way, or offering you assistance or information about your path, or help by just not making things harder for you.
“We don’t need to fit in their box, because we’re not one of them. We don’t need to try.” Love this!! It’s so true! 💖💖💖
Deaf here! Like you said, balance comes from the middle ear. Me and many others have done lots of vestibular therapy to function as comfortably as possible. My working dog is also able to help with mobility and balance 💜
We also have the hunchback thing, from leaning into conversation trying to hear.
Interesting being total opposite disabilities how many similarities there are 😅💜
A lot of these effects are also really similar to what people with sensory processing disorder, and adhd, autism, and connective tissue disorders experience! because the body is all messed up and the nervous system is confused. I can see but I struggle a lot with knowing if I'm straight, if one shoulder is up, the balance things too. As well as the stimulation and coordination things. I think it's important to recognize that a lot of these things affect multiple disabilities and that you shouldn't assume what someone is dealing with. Also, there a lot of things that people don't realize affect you, and often think that you're faking your disability cuz you do an unexpected thing like this. Ugh. But thank you so much for talking about this!
Molly I am so glad you did this video. I am a Pilates instructor and I am forever feeling guilty or having to explain to people why my posture isn't perfect even though I am an instructor a. As my eyesight has deteriorated I also round my shoulders to protect myself, tilt my head up to see better and help with my nystagmus, find it difficult to keep my balance and I never noticed it before but I also can't stand still for too long I am always shifting my weight from side to side and I never realised until you just said it. Great video Molly! Emma and guide dog Archie x x
My mom has macular degeneration and our rescue dog only has one eye so I found this video exceptionally helpful because I want to not only be sensitive to their visual challenges, but also to their feelings about the challenges they face. Thank you so much for sharing your insight and life experience. It’s interesting what you shared about how you assume a diagonal position on the massage table - my rescue dog (Sadie Grace) is extremely uncomfortable remaining in a standing position while being groomed! Her groomer cuts her hair while letting her lay down because she knows the reason why she doesn’t want to remain standing is because she doesn’t feel safe on the narrow table with only having one eye to see out of. Thank you Molly for this educational video! xx
Your dog being groomed sounds similar to why Molly doesn't like showers (it was in one of her videos ages ago).
Youre amazing❤️
I can't thank you enough!!! I am partially sighted and I always have thought something was absolutely wrong with me for struggling with some of these things you mentioned in this video . This has helped me gain insight as to why these things occur in my body. Now, I know there's a reason for it.
Thank you so much Molly!
I can relate a lot to pretty much all of these. I fidget a lot with whatever is in my hand, rock back and forth constantly, walk with a flat foot, etc. and I had no clue that any of this was related to my visual impairment. Thanks for making this video!
It’s crazy thinking about how much disability can impact people’s bodies. Before I became disabled I never even considered how different I would function and go through my day to day
Person with high myopia here and there are many of these things you mentioned that I feel identified with. Like the headaches, eye aches, light sensitivity and the look down posture. Since I was a kid, my family always struggle with that last part and it's being very difficult. I'm glad I've watched this video because now I can have an explanation for lots of things caused by my poor sight.
The other thing that many people forget is that people with sight problems are not immune from being disabled in other ways. Sometimes vision loss is just one symptoms of a systemic disability. Not everything applies to every blind person because everyone is different. You explained this so well. And also you mentioned aging, and traditionally 'bad habits' developed to cope with being blind can cause long term problems and pain that changes their ability to cope with sight loss.
Another thing that is great about this video is the attention being drawn to certain positions meaning certain things but within the context of disability it changes. As a trauma recovery coach many of the things widely accepted and believed in that field really don't translate the same way with disabled people as they do for non disabled people so that's what I try and do my part in advocacy and education around that and I'm glad you also addressed confidence and safety as those are important in trauma especially as well!
I walk a bit more flat-footed than a sighted person would, but my stride length is pretty normal... Then again my dog is a pretty fast walker. Riding for many many years definitely helped with my posture, especially since I focused mainly on dressage! But yeah, a lot of recogntion with a fair number of these, and the balance thing has actually started affecting me more in recent years.
Oh god the posture one, I never thought it could be related to blindness. It’s something my parents constantly bug me about. I get why, but it’s just hard to open yourself up when you can’t see what’s right in front of you. Another thing that my music teacher pointed out to me because I was very limited in my range of motion while playing the violin, she suggested that I might struggle to open myself up cause I don’t know what’s around me so I try to take up as little space as possible, and I never would’ve came to that realization on my own but I related to it.
Also relate to the eye is an organ part. I now barely rely on my vision for anything apart from seeing light shapes while moving, but despite that whenever I have a particularly long day I usually end it with a lot of pain in my eye and not being able to function.
In regards to point 9, I hold my head crooked cause I’m completely blind in my right eye, the most I’ve ever had in that eye is light perception but even that is gone now. I’m starting to realize that my neck really hurts when im talking to someone sitting to my right, cause I instinctually want to look at them and subconsciously I have to do that with the eye with some remaining vision. I also can’t stand going sighted guide with the person on my right, really throws off my balance. Also, in elementary and middle school kid used to come up and talk to me and then they would start demanding why I’m not looking at them. I was looking at them, with one eye. And I never understood what their problem was as a kid.
Thanks for this video, highlighted some thing I would have never noticed
It's really interesting to hear about the unconscious accomadations you make for balance and walking. I remember from your guiding videos that you match dogs to your walking speed and it makes sense how each person would have different walking needs to accomadate their blindness.
This was so helpful as someone not blind but going through significant vision loss. Am sharing w family so we can try to be on the same page! Thankyou so much for this!
Molly, the title is mispelt! The word is "affect" - love the content, though! Always interesting to learn!
I’ve noticed over the years that Stevie Wonder sways his head a lot when he sings. I always thought it was because he was blind but I didn’t know the reason for it. This video is so educational for us sighted people and I really enjoy learning about it. Knowledge, I think, makes me a better and kinder person! Fun fact, I live in Lansing, MI and Stevie Wonder attended the school for the blind here where my grandfather worked as a cook!
I watched a video recently that "proper posture" is not as important than we have been taught. Plus, you work out and do Yoga, so ppl need to fluff off!
I can't lie flat. I start choking.
In movies when a sighted person acts the part of a Blind person; they always look up to mimic what they are told or they see a Blind person doing this.
My Mom always wore three-inch heels and when she became pregnant with me; the doctor told her to start wearing flats. Her calf muscles had tightened and she ended up falling.
I have progressive vision loss from genetic congenital cataracts, and you perfectly described all the things I deal with. One thing not mentioned that I deal with is heightened hearing sensitivity. Also because I suffer from MS which has caused nerve damage to my whole body, which has reduced my sense of touch.
Dots connected as to why I'm so flat footed! I knew why I have such a crazy head tilt, it genuinely helps me with what little remaining vision I have. And I'm so photo sensitive even dark glasses can't stop me squinting in the sun, though green shades do "relax" my eyes more! Love you're videos Molly. Thanks for sharing "our" world so well! Incidentally I have the most amazing guide dog also, a yellow Labrador. He loves dogs and loves watching your beautiful boys! He went so loopy watching Elton and Gallup meeting in a recent post!!!
I love rant/talkative videos the most 🥰
I don’t think people get how disabilities can effect your body. My pain disability wears me out so much that if I get a bad pain I’m out for the rest of the day and makes me tired. Or that pots makes me more then just dizzy
Same. I am three auto immune diseases one of them being a chronic pain disease and god, I live off of caffeine of I couldn’t function. And yes that is with the direction of a doctor. It effects my memory so badly. I retain nothing.
I am sorry you are struggling. There is such a huge difference in dealing with acute/short term pain, & chronic/long term pain. It is even harder for them to process if you are dealing with invisible illness.
I get normal pain and then I get these weird spikes of pain that happen at transom times and that drains me none of my doctors know what’s up. It started in my ribs and now is everywhere in my body every year it gets worst
@@ChimeraTruely heck yah caffeine to keep me awake I never use to drink caffeine before this now I have it maybe twice a day
Another invisible illness here, I’ve got fibromyalgia and an underactive thyroid which both bring a whole load of other illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome, costochondritis etc. Everyday is different, I never know how I’m going to feel and it’s tough. Big love to all who suffer daily xx
OMG Molly! I think I've just had an epiphany. My vision is affected by chronic atypical migraines. I think I've just realised that my neck and shoulder pain is not an extension of my migraine pain but a muscle strain from changing my head position to try and see better.
You have no idea how much this has just revealed to me!!
Love you so much xxx
I can relate to the flat footed walk and the short gate. With the hunchback thing I used to have that but started yoga about 7 months ago and within a few weeks my wife and then others noticed that I stand up straight now.
I love your teaching the sighted videos the most! Really eye-opening! ♡
I’m blind too and over half of the things that you mentioned happen to me. People with vision need to be aware of this so we don’t get judged. ❤️
Thanks for these videos, Molly! It’s so helpful to learn about your and others experiences and struggles and adaptations!
So well said. Thank you
Thanks for educating us! I have become more and more aware of my own situation. I am not blind, but I surely can't see great anymore. So thank you and be blessed!
VERY informative Molly. I had not thought about those characteristics before. I have recently been diagnosed with acute intractable vertigo after a couple of incidents, nystagmus consequently, is a symptom when having an episode. One of these episodes landed me in the hospital. I am learning a lot and learn from you as well.👍👏🥰
Your bedroom looks so warm and lovely!
I am a school-based occupational therapy assistant. I would love to hear more about your experience with OT!
Wow! This is fascinating. I am not blind, but I have a lot of these resulting from autism, ADHD, hypermobility, and fibromyalgia. None of those were diagnosed until I was 29, married, and mother of a toddler. So I have spent most of my life with a body that won't stand up to social standards and pro tips and no idea why.
Good to know I'm not the only one. I relate to so many of these
very true..sometimes people have no clue
We call it compensating. Physically, mentally, we do it in all kinds of ways. Im a big talent in finding new ways, but it does effect me big time. Other muscles have to work harder and it causes inflammation and more tension and pain for example. People don’t understand that at all.
So I get y’all too. It’s hard often.
I have cerebral palsy on my right side as well as being legally blind with sight, and i don't roll my foot when walking either, I'm also heavy footed with my right foot, when I step, I basically throw my leg out and slam my foot down. It's worse when wearing my full leg AFO brace. When I have my brace on it also throws my balance off and makes me more clumsy.
Due to my CP, my right shoulder is lower than my left shoulder.
Because of all of my surgeries on my eyes, I live with chronic pain and other issues along with extreme light sensitivity. So I totally understand what Molly says! My head tilts too, people notice, especially in pictures! I don't realise I do it until it's pointed out to me.
Thank you, have been a low partial since birth. And this explains stuff that even I didn't understand about myself. Thank you for taking the time to do this Molly
This is an amazing video! Very clear communication and educational/engaging. Learning about these day to day things helps normalize differences and increase understanding/acceptance.
I found this video very interesting, ty 4 sharing
Thank you for sharing this, these are the things that those of us who aren’t blind might not know and your vulnerability helps us be more understanding/considerate of our blind friends.
I have a blind cat who does number 9! He's always looking up and tilting his head, so it's really interesting to learn about why he does that. He only has a bit of remaining sight in one eye, so it makes perfect sense!
I have never felt more validated and acknowledged in my life! Thank you for all you do ❤
Excellent presentation. 20 stars!
I don’t believe that some people know just how much disabilities can affect people in different ways thank you for sharing with us
Ever since I found your channel, I've found that a LOT of people around me only know the stereotypes around blindness and I have to interject to correct those notions
This is one of the things that makes me want to "help" people. The fact that so much is related and connected. I know blind people are perfectly capable of doing almost anything I can do, except see, I still want to help them with secondary "issues" like the one you list here. I don't have a solution and know better than to offer to help with tasks, but I do find myself resisting the urge to offer help sometimes. Like I said I know they can do whatever they set their minds to, but I see the extra effort they sometimes need to put in.
This is such a great and helpful video, THANK YOU!!
I totally never thought about my very limited peripheral vision or lack of depth perception as a form of blindness but as I started relating to a few of these points (particularly) the head tilt- people still joke about it because my head is naturally tilted to one side and if you ask me to look straight ahead I think I am- it made me realize that it is mild blindness and I am fully compensating for the things I can't see! So thanks Molly ❤️
I love to learn about other peoples situations so deeply! I am not visually impaired but as a fellow short queen I also take smaller strides. Everybody always tells me that. 🙄 Also, I have a chronic illness and I know it's very frustrating when others don't know or don't want to know what else comes with my pain and hormonal imbalances.
As an ADHDer I am right there with you with fidgets and rocking!
I am a 73-year-old blind person with my dog Nari. Keep going good job
This video makes me feel so validated right now. As someone that was bullied in school and even had grown adults bully me, I always felt "different". My vision, head tilt and nystagmus are kind of sore issues for me because they are what made me stand out and people used those things against me. I was only ever around fully sighted kids while growing up, so I never got to make friends with other kids that were blind/visually impaired. I honestly wish I had been exposed to the blind/visually impaired community when I was growing up because I never felt like I belonged in the sighted community and I probably could have made some friends that had similar vision to myself, a kid that I could related to. And honestly, I don't think I could have been bullied for my vision if the other kids were "in the same boat" as me, ya know? At least I don't think it would have hurt me as much as it did being bullied by fully sighted classmates. Make fun of me, tease me about anything else, I don't care, but just leave the vision alone.. being made fun of because of my vision, something that I can't change about myself, only led to me hating myself, hating to socialize, not trusting anyone, and becoming a recluse..
Anyway, thank you, Molly, for bringing awareness to people, especially the sighted population, about what you experience as a blind woman and what other blind/visually impaired people may also experience.
Oh my gosh, I love this comment so much and wish I could heart it somehow, and pin it. I can completely relate in so many ways as a kid growing up. I started out being submerged in the sighted community and didn't have any really good blind role models. When I was eventually exposed to blind people, they were people I could not relate to because many of them had additional disabilities. I wasn't educated or taught about other disabilities, so the only thing I could think of in my kid mind was that those people were on relatable, and I felt completely alone.
I'm a sighted person, but I really enjoy your videos and learn so much about blindness, and different disabilities on your channel. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Molly! I love how you explained the muscle issues. As a massage therapist, I tell my clients about improving their posture all the time. I hope you're able to get regular massage and stretch. That's super helpful for daily repetitive movements. Take care. Love your videos! :)
Interesting. You're always teaching me things I'd never considered. This made my Molly Top 5. 😁
Molly Burke, I LOVE, and I put the word love in all caps. I love your rambles and I get so excited when you passionately talk about things that you want to share with us all. I learn so much when you talk a lot about the things you find important.
I love all the education you provide. It's very interesting.
Same sometimes I get the pain so bad and my eyes feel like I just wanna rip my eyes out at socket. So I can relate to you on that.
Thank you for your great videos . All the best to you
Your room looks incredible!
I have nystagmus and I have to tilt my head to the side to cope with the shaking all the time! I always get asked why I look so suspicious of everything lol, thank you for making me feel better about it!!
Thanks! I learnt a lot in this video.
I am blind in one eye and limited vision in the other and agree with these points.
molly i love the dimension in your hair color and the bangs soo much 😍
Wow! I myself can see, but I have nystagmus, and when you said “people with nystagmus often almost tilt their head back and look down cause it will stimulate the shaking of the pupil”, in that moment I realised that I myself am doing it right as I’m watching this video and have done that for as long as I can remember. I never noticed that, so thanks for making me aware of something that I myself did and didn’t realise, and also for letting me know that was even a thing, I seriously did not know that until you said it. Thanks again ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
the shoulders being off balance sometimes and cane/guide dog arm connection blew my mind. something I never would have thought of, but should definitely be talked about! I can only imagine how unbalanced that would train your body to be, in more ways than one!
I love this style of top on you! Great video as usual 🥰
You're neat. I appreciate this. You're humorous and engaging. Grateful for you and sharing your life with us.
Just started the video and wanted to say I love that top! The neckline/shoulder shape is so cute
This was very educational thank you! ❤️
Thank you for making this video. As a mom of a young child with both severe hearing and vision lost, I know now that his gait will always be different from his siblings who are not hearing or vision impaired.
Wow! I feel a lot of those things but had never realized them! Thanksss for pointing that out
I’ve followed Mollys videos for years and I remember her telling about when she was younger some ‘friends’ not believing that she was blind and being mean. She shared a particular hurtful encounter at a party. I’ve always wondered/hoped that those girls would have tried to reach out and apologize for the pain they caused. Does anyone know if she’s ever spoke on that? My heart hurt for young Molly and I hope that she got the apologies she deserved; whether she accepts them or not.
Such a cute background! Love the vibes!
This was a really helpful and enlightening video. Thanks Molly!
I get a lot of tension headaches due to tight neck and shoulder muscles and just wanted to share something that has helped me in case it's useful to anyone else. There is a Yoga pose I like to do using a yoga bolster. A yoga bolster is basically a large sausage-shaped firm pillow, but a rolled up blanket could also be used.
Sighted users can look up "reclined bound angle with bolster" to see images of the pose, but I will also try to explain it for non-sighted users.
Sit on a flat surface like the floor or a bed. Your legs can be straight out or bent at the knee, whichever is more comfortable. Put the bolster on the flat surface behind you so the short end of the bolster is pressed against your bum/lower back. Lean back, resting your back and head along the length of the bolster. You can put a cushion behind your head if needed. Open your arms out away from your body and rest them on the floor with palms facing toward the ceiling. The goal is to relax your neck and shoulders while the bolster supports your weight and encourages your shoulders to open up. This is the opposite posture to hunched shoulders.
I do this for 10-15 minutes when I have a bad headache and it helps a lot!
Yes to alll of this!!! I feel it! But instead of flatfooted walking, I actually shuffle my feet!!! And I look up (posture wise) with my vision...I figured it was a coping thing to help with the vision loss! I've actually had someone tell me that me looking down makes me look like I'm not confident and I literally yelled at them saying "it's because I can not see when I'm walking!!!" I was so angry at them!!! It's not like I'm not confident as a whole! I just, ya know, don't want to fall on a hard block of cement!!!
Totally all 10 of these, especially as someone also with progressive vision loss!
Very interesting! I have lots of chronic medical issues/surgeries/hearing loss with one ear, and several of these apply to me as well.
I have RO and am legally blind. I def have some of these things. Some things i never knew I did until my toddlers started imitating it. Lol. Last night my daughter said she wanted to read a powce of mail and grabbed my phone to take a picture of it. She’s three. There are so many things that are normal to her living with vision impacted family. ❤
I'm completely blind in my right eye, nearsighted in my left, and I've had every single issue you mention since I was a child.
I always fidget and rock ! I would say it’s a neurodivergent and blind thing - makes me wonder how often blind people are ND as well. I also walk that way too , I’m sighted but have ADHD
Fascinating!!! You are a wealth of information! Thank you!
Great content. I am not blind but I 've got chronic neurological disease and I can relate to many issues you' ve mentioned. It's not only "I have problems walking" but also I got extremely fatigued 10 times faster because the brain is trying to use nerves that are not working. I have some compensation strategies to help with the loss of tension in my upper body. I also hunch to prevent tripping. Still for the majority it's "oh you have a drop foot" only.
You look great. Your hair, makeup and the top. I'm gonna need a link. Also this video is very informative and helpful as a blind woman with cerebral palsy.
Another informative and amazing video!!! ❤❤ Thank you Molly
Thanks for mentioning that part about carrying liquids. I always thought it was a "me" thing. Never realized it might b related to my eyesight
i totally feel the fidget thing i do it so much especially because of my anxiety. you should do a video or short to show yours
I’m always learning from you. Huge thanks!
These are very useful video for self reflection for me. I have low vision and I've never thought too much about how my vision loss effects things like how I walk compared to sighted folks but it's nice to have these as kind of prompts to see if I relate to what you are listing or if I experience a variation of it or if I don't experience one of the things you mentioned. For me, one thing I notice that I do a lot is use my elbows to keep my balance. I basically hug walls when I walk so I don't stumble. I ought to get some sort of elbow pads or something because I wind up scratching them a bunch doing it lol
I know these videos help inform non-disabled people but they are so nice for disabled people too. Thank you for sharing your experience as always!
Definitely made me do a posture check! Lol. I am visually impaired, low vision and this made me think that sighted people just wouldn't necessarily connect the dots on things that seems "obvious" to me.
I'm legally blind and some of those things I have noticed relates to me. Thank you for the reasons why it happens
I can really relate to the posture thing. I’ve taught & forced myself to walk with my cane switching hands every so often. I also have been incorporating more reverse flys with bands or DB’s to help strengthen upper posterior chain.
Hey, I am totally blind and I’m 56 and I had to go to the doctor and get a physical done and she told me to lay on the bed. I damn near rolled right off the damn thing. It’s a good thing that she was there that is hard to do You do what you Gotta do and don’t worry about what everybody else thinks you’re very good at this and I have learned a lot too
You are just the greatest ! Thank you so much for all you have taught and cl to . Mira US I do HOPE 👏👏
I've had long COVID for over a year and have learned a lot about how COVID has affected my vision and how my vision affects my long COVID symptoms. Thank you for sharing this about your experience!