That is so true. I am like you, enough vision to move around but not able to read signs and with no peripheral vision, in crowded spaces I use my cane to avoid tripping or knocking in to people but if someone offers me assistance, I suddenly find myself acting as if I can barely see. I also feel a fraud if I use my cane in the mall and when I get on the bus but not needing it when I get off the bus because I’m in familiar territory, I feel I have to use it because the other passengers will think I’m either faking or a miracle has occurred whilst I was on the bus.
I have RP with still pretty decent central vision (only in well lit areas). I personally think of my cane as my partner or my eyes for my lower half. As a pretty tall guy with tunnel vision, the can really saves my knees, shins, ankles, feet and neck (from constantly having to look down). This allows me to have my head more on a swivel and be more present in my surroundings instead of constantly looking down at my steps so I don’t trip or fall like in the pre cane days. I think low vision people live in this gray area where we see too good to be “blind” and don’t see good enough to “see”. I’ve never really felt a need to “fake it” because my situation is complex enough as is. Trying to use the cane only when I “need it” would have me folding and unfolding everything few steps or every time I turn as the lighting, contrast and colors around me change. Imagine how crazy that would look lol. Now the blind perks, I personally find to be awesome. As far as guilt, I don’t have any. If they come then great. I used to get some flack from my friends in college but I’d respond by saying, “Would you trade your eyes for mine?” And in the hundreds of times I’ve asked people that, I have yet for someone to say yes. So why feel bad about accepting a perk that comes as a silver lining to my situation? I think the whole “acting more blind” thing comes from an attempt to try to “be normal”. Thing is you being yourself is the most normal you can be. Don’t try to fit a mold that wasn’t made for you.
You've never been harassed when you can see some things? That's nice. You're lucky. I've been harassed multiple times. I'll act blind to avoid arguments.
For sure… I have RP as well, late stage. Pretty much the same/similar to your description. I have had ignorant people yell at me before, because they don’t understand why I’m using the cane but I comment on how cute their little dog is as they’re walking by lol
I just started using a cane despite being legally blind for 25 years and you’ve captured my sentiments exactly. I keep telling my O & M instructor that I feel like I’m faking it because I can usually navigate pretty well without one. Using my cane makes my walks so much more relaxing and enjoyable because I’m not focused on the ground. I can use the vision I do have to look around at my surroundings. I’ve just had to accept that others may not understand how I use my cane and remaining vision, but I gotta do me. I’ve found myself acting more blind here and there to fit a stereotype and expectations, but I’m learning. It’s so helpful to find this old content, as I relate to it so much.
I do it also. People in general don't how visual impairments work. So if I don't act more blind, many people will think I'm faking. At least that's what I think.
This!! I used to live in Boston and blind peopme could ride public transit for free . I had an id card from the Massachusetts Commission for the blind that I would show the driver or booth attendant, and I always wit how often they thought I must be faking when I’d show my card, then run because my train was coming.
I definitely do this sometimes. Like I always say, I would never TELL someone I am fully blind if we are talking, but I definitely feel pressure to act a certain way in public. Airports are the WORST!! Once they take me to the gate, I feel awkward getting up to go to the bathroom or buy a water from the store when they JUST had to show me where they gate is!! Hahaha! Thanks for the shoutout too, by the way! :)
+HowCaseySeesIt LOL, that very thing happened to me this last time at the airport! They showed me to the gate and set me down right in the middle of the waiting area and then when I needed to go to the restroom I felt like everybody was staring at me thinking, he was so blind that he needed help getting here but now he’s just gonna wander off?! That’s the very feelings and attitude that I need to overcome. I need to stop worrying what everyone else is thinking about and do what I want unapologetically!
Hello I would also like to communicate with the blind life. I am also visual impared and I also need to overcome those things at school. The jokes the blind life makes actually make me laugh too. ❤
I feel the weirdest with people who know me, who know I can see well enough for some stuff and am not "blind blind" but am "just" functionally blind. If I knew I was not going to bump into (figuratively or literally lol) anyone I knew, I'd use the cane way more often.
The Blind Spot - great new name to you're cast... also I act more blind in public so people understand my vision is not the same as well seeing people. Totally understand this post.
Thank you for sharing. I am also legally blind and agree with both what you and Casey have had to say on the matter of thinking I should be acting more blind during the times I use my cane. Bottom line, the more we are out there with a cane, even when we happened to be legally blind, the more we will continue to educate the rest of the population and it will become more acceptable. Keep those videos/posts coming!
Karolyn Campbell I hate to say it but all those devices bring attention to the people using them. For example I had to use a wheelchair for two years because I had surgery and everyone wanted to come up to talk to me. It's not an intentional thing we disabled people do to ourselves. I have Vision Impairements and lots of other disabilities along with that. I just don't want a reason for everyone to come up and talk to me, knowing it may be the wrong reason. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Acting more blind than you are. Funny, I also do that. I use to feel bad about it, but one day we skipped a long queue at a government office. One guy called out, " Hey, can I borrow your cane?" I chirped back laughing , "yeah, no problem, but you will have to borrow my eyesight too". My hubby's take on it is that it is about time I have some perks after struggling in secret for so many years.
You can't help how people "see" you. I've felt this way too but sometimes its easier than trying to explain your situation. I never ask for special treatment. Folks usually someone has to drag me along to get assistance again like you its because I feel I can see enough. Iy is really a tricky part of being visually impaired. I am so glad you posted this and knowing others feel the same is nice to know. Great job as always Sam
I think about all the things I can still see people do who think I’m completely blind (I’m close) and I don’t feel bad anymore. You wouldn’t believe what people will either do or try to get away with, assuming you can’t see them. It’s almost as if my cane gives fully sighted people license to act like jerks and fools. For personal safety, I live in a city, I never let on as to how much I can or can’t see. I have horror stories about people I know who were nearly crime victims, as their blindness was used against them as a weapon. Very sad, and scary. 😔😞
This is what I'm afraid of I live in a neighborhood where I'm always hearing about people being robbed and mugged so now I'm afraid to leave my home, I started a go fund me to try to get a down payment for a mobile home next to my mom but not one person donated, I just feel trapped now
I feel like this when I'm with my guide dog as well as when I use my cane. I start to feel weird about pulling out my phone or looking at a sign so that my OrCam can read for me. I even feel uncomfortable wearing my glasses. I feel like there's always that one person who is just waiting to call me out. Now here's the rub. I feel guilty about wearing sunglasses when I have the cane and or dog with me, because I feel like I'm lying to people.
I absolutely agree. I had a similar experience in Tampa airport. I had a Southwest person be a bit sharp with me. I did not have a cane and had to explain to her that I was legally blind. I cannot tell you how many times she apologized to me before helping me.
I am so thankful I am not the only one who feels this way! LOL I always feel like people are going to get confrontational if I use my phone and my cane at the same time.
Great video. I'm legally blind but to most people I appear to be fully sighted. When they come to me and ask me questions and I tell them i'm legally blind they say their sorry i didn't look like i was blind, and i say do i have to act blind to be blind youy';d be surprised of the responses I get. In any event, great video.
Thank you for this video! I’ve been wanting to get a cane to protect myself and others-if I can’t see people, I will walk into them. Others have told me I’m not “blind” enough for a cane. You’ve made me feel better.
ABSOLUTELY! This is a point I make to the support group I lead at Braille Inst. About a half of the time I use my cane I'm using it to inform the world around me. If I bump into using my cane, it's probably your fault (I'll still say excuse me) but if I'm not using my cane all errors are my fault.
Glad to know I am not the only one! I also solo backpack at times, and when people find out they really question whether or not I am blind. And yes, when I am around people I feel like I need to stop using the residual vision that I have and rely totally on my cane or hiking stick. When you think about it, it is kind'v crazy!
You are absolutely correct society expects us to act a certain way when we carry a cane or when we say we are some type of blind all they hear is the word blind so boom they automatically expect us to act a certain way that’s why we do it
I am both a gimp and partially sighted and so I use a white and orange support cane. When my physical problems developed (first) I felt I was not “crippled enough” for things like airport assist. I finally concluded that I needed that help because-hey! I was getting exhausted in long terminals and holding people up when boarding. So, I let them wheelchair me and I tip handsomely. Now that my cane is white, it is mostly a signal that there is a reason I am awkward in public places, taking so much time to figure out price tags, signs, sidewalk curbs, stairs and escalators. And I now have a balance disorder. I need my cane to walk and to catch myself if I have a vertigo attack. I switched to a white cane only to be able to avoid lots of explanations or little accidents re visual disability that is not evident. My cane is for me. It is now white only for THEM. I figure I owe everybody around me a sort of blanket explanation or warning and a white cane gives that signal and silently explains that it takes me some time to figure out what’s going on. And that is it. When I was able bodied and able eyed I was pretty sensitive to people who needed extra consideration or even help. I think I’ve earned (at 65) a bit of help from here on. I still use my blue cane if I have someone to help me navigate or if I don’t anticipate vision troubles, as when walking in circles on my gym track. There are going to be a hell of a lot of all kinds of color canes out there as my generation ages and loses abilities. I wonder if someday we WILL have to be tested to qualify for white ones...
I lost my “good” eye last March, and still can see a bit. I decided to continue traveling to see the World and bought a green cane, for low vision, just in case... But I have never used it. I walk a bit slower, use my phone to find the gate, ask for help to fill a form or when I need. Great videos👍
I actually do this a lot when in crowds or loud places. Makes it easier to interact (or not) because it is blatantly obvious I'm blind. There is actually a situation where I conciously choose to act less blind than I am. I sometimes walk along a highway that is a busy commercial thoroughfare. There are places with no shoulder at all; guardrails come right up to the white line. I have the cane with me for visibility to drivers but I just hold it at my side only using it when needed to avoid a particularly mean ditch. I intentionally leave the cane at my side so as not to spook drivers. I figure if they see me confidently walking unaided, they won't get all nervous and do something stupid.
LMAO this is soooo true! I can totally relate! I don't do it all the time but yes when I am at airports, sporting events, concerts, etc. wherever I may potentially get "special" treatment due to my disability. However, one time I went to the zoo with my family; now I cannot see anything at the zoo if its not pressed up against the glass so blind people get in free with a guest. So I used my cane to get in and shortly after we were through the gate I folded my cane up and put it in my purse because I didn't need it to walk around. My family died laughing at me and said I was using the system. I personally did not feel this way I cannot enjoy the zoo to the same degree they do I was mainly there to spend time with them. And the rest of them paid to get in so I honestly didn't feel it was a big deal.
I generally don't feel that way. I occasionally get questioned about it, but it's been more than ten years since anyone assumed that I might be faking it. Most people are just curious when they see me with my cane and it gives me a chance to better explain how my vision works if people ask about it. I completely understand the feeling of feeling like you should exaggerate a bit though. I often want to when people are skeptical of me needing to ask for help.
You've videos are so relatable! I'm really enjoying going through your channel. I am losing my vision to RP and started using a cane a few months ago and I can totally resonate with this video. I often feel like I should only get the cane out exactly when I need it, otherwise, I feel like a fake. But what inevitably happens is something then catches me off guard and I suddenly need the cane but then it's already folded up and it's too late, and I wish I had it open and ready. So now I start to care less about other people and I just do my thing, switching off my brain to what I think people around me must be thinking or expect me to behave. It's a hard one, but I guess everyone who starts using a cane probably goes through this same exact phase.
I'm glad I found your channel (via the RNIB magazine). Thanks for what you do. I'm visually impaired, blind in one eye and about 30% vision in the other since 2015. I actually attempt to act in the opposite direction, pretending to see more than I do and never using my cane. I've simply worked out various strategies for hiding my visual impairment as much as I can, and never asking for help unless I absolutely have to. I'm afraid I still feel somewhat ashamed of my disability - I know I shouldn't, but I do, and so try to disguise it. It's caused some agoraphobia (so as to avoid public situations) but I find that if I take things slow, I manage to deal with most social circumstances.
Well I should use my cane but I don't think I'm blind enough to do so, so i very very rarely . My vision is only 20/500. 10° peripheral. It's like looking at the world thru a keyhole The problem I run into not using my cane is that when I'm out shopping or in public people think I'm a jerk because I don't see them and get in their way cut them off or run into them with my cart (not often but it happens). Probably should let the pride go and use it more huh.
Tom - I'm with you on this one. I have only just been given a cane and am too to have training with it. I bump into people all the time, and walk into things - and of course, people think Im being a jerk. Why do they think this? Well, clearly because Im not using a cane to let them know I have visual problems... so, I shouldn't be scared to use it, but for some unjustified reason...I am - possibly because I can still see things, and as Sam said in the video - if people see me with a cane, they expect me to not see ANYTHING lol, which is ludicrous.... I hope you get the confidence to walk out with the cane (I hope I do too!)
Before I started using my cane, I was in a situation in a public setting with lots of people, where a small boy running around carelessly bounced his head off my crotch and fell down. His mother was calling me a pedo and my insisting on my blindness did nothing to help me until my sister came over to explain. The next time it happened to me at the airport about a year later, but I had a cane. The mom scowled at me, but just picked up her kid and walked away. Situation averted.
Rob Moss I agree with you 180% and do you want to know what else, I have never in my life used a cane and I was born with a eye disease called Retinopathy Of Prematurity. I also want to point out I was born at 24 weeks early. 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 Going across the street gives me the creeps and hey I was also diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and Uveitis. In January of 2018 I developed an Iritis.
Sir its true. People make us feel that way as we are low vision. Due to unawareness in thecsociety, cane is supposed to be used by blinds only. Being a low vision it is really difficult to explain the world that you unable to see things as a normal.sighted person does. Regards Ambika Sood From Shimla Himachal Pradesh India
I got my cane a few months ago, I only use it as an ID cane, and WOW I definitely noticed myself doing it! Now that I'm aware of that I think it will be easier to overcome. Thank you both for talking about this!
Thank you for your share, I use my cane all the time. A lot of people ask what the cane is for. I used to feel guilty, not anymore. There are so many eye conditions and varying levels of sight loss. Enjoy the fast route through the airport. You have paid a high price for this treatment. We can not drive, that's my biggest loss. There are other blind people who have never seen the sky, stop feeling guilty.
Hi Sam. Greetings from Costa Rica, my name in Geoffrey Gonzalez and I have low vision for retinitis pigmentosa, my central vision is 20/25 with 8% of peripheral. My life experience is the same, during the day I almost do not support support but in dark places and at night I require support and when I am in that situation I also feel the need to express a little more my low vision, I think it is excellent opportunity reflect and dialogue on the internal dilemma as an endless monologue. Thank you.
I've done it many times but doing so; I really feel like I am committing a crime. I see all these ppl looking at me & thinking " She doesn't need a cane". Yes I do! It's a hard thing to explain to ppl what you can & can't see. I don't like feeling guilty & normally when I do this; I really need the help. Love your videos. Thankyou for sharing!
I use my long white cane when I'm out and about just to let people know I'm visually challenged but also because "I don't know what I don't see." By developing good cane techniques I can discover hazards that I obviously can't see with my defective eyes at all. It took a long time for me to use the cane at all because it always makes/made me feel so self-conscious. Using a cane sure isn't the best way to "win friends and influence people" quite the contrary.
I do this too. But sometimes I think it’s because I’m working so hard to see things, I just need a break and I quit ‘seeing’. And I just need extra help when you’re stressed. I just didn’t realize other people experience this too
Ah, thanks for this man! I've not started using a cane yet, but probably should be. This social awkwardness and concern that people will think I'm 'not blind enough' are part of why I'm so nervous about using it. I have to catch the bus regularly, and using the cane as a visual indicator so the approaching driver will slow down until I can see the bus number would be so useful, but I'm then worried that once I get on the bus and start looking at my phone, people will think that I'm an imposter. It's nice to know that this is a common concern and that you and many of the commenters feel a similar way. Cheers mate!
Dear Sam, Thanks for the video, as always. I’ve been through it all. I’m sure we all have in some version. I believe that we need to get rid of “shame and guilt” all together! It’s that feeling of shame that’s dictating us to not use the cane when we should, or not ask for help, or put ourselves in dangerous situations by over stretching our limits. Pretending to look “more blind than we actually are” is another related emotional loop in my opinion. As Visually Impaired people, we all are constantly experiencing extreme emotional challenges which corner us into pretending “we are not blind”. Perhaps this is one of the main underlying reasons most of us try an accessibility aid for a while, and drop it (as related to your previous post on the Canadian company’s research). Aids and assistance make us visible as visually impaired. We go for the “bliss of ignorance” and “comfort and safety” of hiding. That feeling of guilt, that’s very much tangled with longing to see better, can make it very confusing both for ourselves and others. I believe we all can work harder to clear that confusion and create a better understanding of all of the details of what it’s like to be visually impaired. Here is a big “Thank you!” for you Sam for working on this one! What I think sighted people could do differently: Sighted people need to be informed what the white cane means, who is eligible to use one, and why. Like most problems in our society, we need to be informed about each other before making a judgement. An uninformed sighted person’s “bad vibe” which we can “feel” as visually impaired individuals, can make us have self-doubt and feel guilty. What I think we VIPs could do differently: Make contact with what we feel and need, communicate about it. For more than three decades I have been actively trying to be in touch with what I feel and why I feel that, with lots of professional help and personal research of course. I feel that working on understanding motives in my emotions help me have more patience, open heartedness and curiosity towards others, and more acceptance towards myself. In spite of all that work, it’s only very recently that I became able to even write a public comment like this one. I feel that sharing and interacting is very empowering and is a direct way to combat shame. A technical word on the cane: Here in the Netherlands, there are two types of canes. First is a signifier cane which is for visually impaired individuals who don’t need tactile mobility guidance and it is a short one. The other one however is the long, good old cane with a rolling tip for people who actually need to feel the ground to be able to navigate. Whether or not the general public is informed about this difference is yet another story. I try to tell people what I can see, what I can’t and what I need help with. Not always easy since people sometimes don’t have the time and patience, but I fell it’s worth to try to communicate. Warm greetings to everyone. Embrace that cane! And as my psychologist once said: “Own it as your light saber!”
+Oguz Buyukberber awesome comment! I think you’re absolutely right and everything you said and I also think you should be making videos! Great job and I hope everyone reads this comment!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I have been contemplating on the idea of making videos on these topics, your encouragement means a lot to me :-)
I think we are responding to the people around us. They expect someone without a cane to see them and get out of their way. They also expect someone carrying a cane to be useless alone. They don't seem to be aware of a middle ground where we can see the path but not read the signs. I've found without the cane I get cut off more and complaints i am too slow. With the cane I am permitted a larger personal space, people are more patient. I also found when training to use the cane i was so busy focusing on hearing that I did not look at the things i could see.🤪
My vision is bad enough where I do need my cane to be able to move around independently but I have a friend who is also visually impaired where she is constantly ask why is she taking her cane if she doesn’t need it all the time and it’s frustrating her because there are some situations where she doesn’t need it
Conversely, I am a wheelchair user because I am unable to walk. I always have "official's" ask me if I'm able to walk. And I want to say, "If I could, I would!" There's a reason I use my wheelchair. I'm sitting here for a reason!
Raeanne, it’s not a stupid question to ask if you can walk. Just like people have different levels of visual impairment, they have different levels of mobility. My mother can walk short distances just fine, like around her house. But whenever we take her shopping, etc., she uses a wheelchair.
I know there 4 other cane users in my area. I have seen them. I have homogeneous hemianopsia with good acuity. When I cross the street I act completely blind. I ignore all visual cues like waving or flashing headlights from drivers. I don’t want to accidentally train drivers to expect people with white canes can see them.
I mean in all honesty the long white cane is a tool like any other. Use whatever tool is at your disposal. I have both navigated airports with and without assistance, and I understand that I need to have the capabilities to navigate without assistance, but if I choose to or for some reason I am running late for a flight I will ask for assistance. It is like using sighted guide. That is a tool that you can choose to use or not, the nature of choice is the fact that you have the skills to independently accomplish a task. I feel the same way about services such as Aira, using human readers, etc.
Wow! This was so awesome. Thanks for sharing. I have never learned to use a cane mainly for this reason I have RP and I do still have some useable (limiteed but useable) sight and was always so self conscious of what peopel would say or think. Thanks so much Sam.
A guy who lives in my flat seems to expect me to be blinder than I am after I told him about my condition. He made every conversation about 'if you can't see, do you know what I look like? How do you use your phone?' and because I just cba to talk to him longer than I have to I just pretend I'm super blind so I don't have to go into specifics - whenever I tried explaining what I can and cannot see at a deeper level, he got all skeptical, so I figured better he thinks I can't see at all than not understand why I'm taking so long with my keys, or why I blanked him when I crossed by in the street....
Awesome video, thank you! I use my white cane mainly to ID that I have low vision (RP) and when I make eye contact people tend to do a double take. in airports I keep my sunglasses on to avoid eye contact because like you, I feel I need to look ‘more blind’. I think the reason is that everyone’s grouchy and in a hurry and why should I get special service like avoiding lineups, boarding first etc. But I only feel slightly bad about it and the feeling is fleeting, lol! Seeing the world close in little by little can be terrifying, It takes a lot of mental effort to forge through life in a world so visual...I am however, starting to appreciate the assists that are available, such as a guide dog, I’ll be taking O&M training which I’ve recently found out, is not only learning to use the cane but also learning to sense the world around me without vision. I’m looking forward to that and just knowing it will give me independence is incredibly exciting. It would be easy to fall into depression but knowing I’m not alone in this, finding info and support from people like you online gives me strength. Thanks again!
If it helps, I do this too and I'm hard of hearing, not blind (although my wife is, and she does this as well). I think part of the problem is most people not understanding the grey areas here. They understand sighted and blind, hearing and deaf, but don't understand this in between stuff. Being treated like able bodied doesn't work, so we go the other direction. And to this point, it's just easier to say you're [whatever flavor of disabled] than try and explain that you can do this in this situation, but not that in that situation, and it depends on this, that, and the other. Education and awareness would help, but I know we don't always have the time or spoons to provide that.
This is so true! I find myself doing the same things as my eyes have gotten worse over the years. I'm usually very stubborn and don't like using my cane but I'm becoming more comfortable with it as my eyes deteriorate more or rather as my vision deteriorates more. I used to feel ashamed to use my cane and other things because my visual impairment and now I'm learning to embrace it slowly but surely I know exactly what you are talking about I try to only use my cane when I absolutely have to but like you said as more of an indicator to other people until the hey I don't see well lol. That being said living in a small City in Central Florida or perhaps southern Florida depends on how you look at it a lot of people tend to be ignorant in a lot of people don't even know what a mobility cane or as we call it and slang terms a blind cane a lot of people don't even know what that is and some people are purposely rude and just step in front of you because they think that you can't see them at all.
Yes, based on the response to this video, it seems like a lot of us feel this way! Hopefully channels like mine and others here on TH-cam will help to educate the public on the VIP community, who we are and what we can do!
Thank you for peaking a truth shared by many of us … I call my cane, and many of us name our canes, the 10%er! I see out of one eye about 2% of my field. I find the 10%er very useful especially in tight situations; although, I could probably bumble my way through most things or depend solely on my wife. I do have that same feeling because when I am using the cane I tend to be more cautious and slow. Maybe that’s to avoid criticism, I don’t know, but I am glad to hear someone else express the same sentiments. Also, I love not having to explain myself over and over and over and over……
I actually just recently started using a cane. I've been visually impaired my whole life, and every time I use my cane, I honestly feel the same way. People will question a lot about it.
I use a 40in walking stick that folds and I use it as an ID also as well figureing out tall a curb or step or fpr stability on uneven ground. It also helps to show people I CAN NOT SEE EHRTR THEY ARE POINTING...
I'm not blind, visually impaired (nystagmus and diplopia/double vision) and completely relate. When I went on a plane last time, I was using my ID cane and .....they put me straight through the diplomat's entrance. While.....tons of people stood waiting to get on. Not going to lie. I felt guilty. ..like I was trying to decieve people.....but...I wasn't!!!! I just didnt walk into anyone!!!! but ....yah. Cringe.
I just saw this video,let me just say that i do the same thing. I have always told myself that i dont owe anybody an explanation.I have some usable sight but theres many things i cant see. All of us who have vision problems have to do this for our own saftey!.
It’s true, I do the same thing, I have glaucoma and only have one left. It’s really blurry but if I had to I probably could do without the cane but would be difficult.
I don't feel guilty. There are days (RP goung blind has picked up speed) that I can't see as well as other days and need more help. The airport is one place. They take your cane when you go through security & I don't go anywhere without my cane. I always thought when I'm moved to the short or express line it is so I don't hold up the line as I go slower than a sighted person. Just like in stores depending on how I'm feeling and how the lighting is will have me more or less blind at that moment.
I’m new to using a cane. I still have some vision in one eye; however, I have felt like a fraud using my cane because I can see a little. But, functionally, I can’t see. You made me feel better by talking about this.
Hi!! I have Amblyopia (almost completely blind in one eye) and photophobia which is extreme sensitivity to sunlight. I often wear sunglasses and even those don’t help. I have a cane that I just purchased and I feel guilty for using it because I can see pretty good with my good eye and I wear glasses. I don’t know how to feel like it’s okay to use one because I’m 22 years old and only used one when I was really young. It sucks to feel so terrible when you really do feel like you need the extra help. I also have a few other disabilities and illnesses but because I can walk and talk I usually get invalidated even with my papers listing all of my disorders and conditions.
Well, like I said in the video, we all feel this way from time to time. The best advice I can give is that if there is any area or aspect of your life where the cane would be helpful, then you should be using it. No matter what anyone else thinks!
I think this is a universal problem. I live in the UK and normally I dont use a cane as I can see to get about. Reading signs and the like are a problem for me. One occasion where I did use a cane was at a Destination Star Trek Comic-Con here in the UK a number of years ago. I was using it to indicate I was visually impaired. Because I was only holding it and wasn't tapping with it I lost count of the times it was deliberately kicked out of my hand. Love the videos Sam you say it as it is and don't over complicate things.
Yes this video is exactly how I feel as well as I started to use my cane I immediately started to act more blunt than I originally a.m. I have about 5% vision out of one eye only as I am getting used to using the cane I did immediately feel guilty for using the cane like I am 100% blind this is not the case but I also look at it that this is a way of training myself without anyone ever showing me how to use this cane I have only experienced been blind for three years now so I am learning as I go also I have just recently stumbled onto your videos and I am enjoying all of them and I appreciate all of your input thank you for the good work do not stop please
The general public only think of people being blind or full visioned. They don't know how many variations of vision impairment there are or how stress or lighting changes vision ability.
I need to use my cane to see how far away I am from a wall. Some people leave items in the hallway where I live. How close i am to chairs or other things. I only see shadows and it was really hard at one time to use a cane. This is my life and now I am happy to have a cane to get around. Don't feel bad about using it. There may come a time when all the practice will come in handy.. There are always the people that say you can see better than you say no matter what you say.
All the time! I live in a summer tourist town. And I find that unless I overact with the King to a certain degree, most people will not acknowledge, recognize the came, or simply flat-out believe that I am not blind .. Oh, humans! LOL
For me my experience has been the complete opposite. I was in denial, maybe still am a little bit, but I keep doing things i probably shouldn't and its other people who are around me enough start noticing me not see things or people that most would notice and confront me with comments like, dang you blind, or you really didnt see that etc 🤦🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
Interesting topic!! Thank you for sharing this. I personally don't use a cane but think it might be helpful to do so. Personally I HATE flying somewhere by myself. My fully sighted friends don't understand that. I think use of the cane may benefit me in the same way it does you.
You should definitely give it a shot. I just returned from a New York trip where I flew through four different airports. Would have been a nightmare if I hadn’t been using the cane. Because I use the cane and asked for assistance, it was a breeze and I enjoyed the entire experience.
Ha myself I am Totally Blind!in both eyes and get ppl mad always 4/my Aid walking in front.I lost my vision 2/Diabetes 10Yrs./3mo.but been a Diabetic since the age of13Yrs.also graduated from the C.4/Blind!yes my cell is a Iphone11/Pro/Max!I type and rarely use Seri and here u have my true Story👋♎️🇨🇺
Nah, man it is a tool that I use and have not felt that way in quite some time. Maybe when I was first using my cane, but then I had a situation when someone confronted me in a Walmart men's room saying "you aren't that Blind," my response was that Blindness is a spectrum and it would be cool if he understood that.
Yes, I have had this experience myself… I use the cane mostly for other people to understand that I’m not drunk or mentally impaired… L O L but, while walking around my apartment complex, which I do frequently and without help other than the cane, I have had someone yell at me from across the yard, “ are you really blind??!“ In a really angry and annoyed tone of voice. My neighbor witnessed this and she felt so awkward she was apologizing to me, like she was the one who said it lol I just said, “you never know what other peoples disabilities are, he is obviously mentally impaired“ and then I mentioned some thing about having to have thick skin when you have a disability. :-)
I’ve had people intentionally stand in my path to see if I’ll bump into them-at that point they can’t tell thst I’ and I have no choice but to walk right into them. It’s happened a few times.
At an airport in Portland Or. They actually insisted on putting me in a wheel chair , bypassed everyone straight to the gate. Too funny. But it was kinda cool.
I barely every use a cane. I don't like it as a navigation tool (slows you down, too re-active). It does help to identify yourself as being visually impaired though, especially for when you want to cross the road for example. One look at my eyes makes it perfectly clear to people that I have poor sight, so usually I'm treated as being more blind than I'm actually are regardless, lol. Reading signs is also a huge problem for me, so on airports I always arrange for assistance. Cutting the lines at the security is one advantage, but as you said, it's more for them than for you. Still, it's one advantage and with a disability it's always great to be able to find a few :D. Also, another way to look at it, is that the whole ordeal might make things a lot easier for us, but if you look at how much energy you're still spending during your trip, compared to someone with good sight, they probably still end up having the advantage. Looking around with impaired vision (or hearing for that matter) is just very draining. So in a way this service is a great help to preserve some of that energy, which makes me feel not the least bit guilty about using assistance as well.
I do this. It’s almost an involuntary defense mechanism. I find it very difficult to shake the feeling that everyone is meticulously watching my every move to judge if I’m “faking” my blindness. It’s tough because I know I’m being irrational, but I still feel a bit ashamed and guilty.
I dont even use a cane ( yet) just at the point of having stopped driving but can relae to what you satd about not reading signs etc. Already though, I find myself stopping at the bumpy bump things before the kerb, tapping ( just with fingertips) lampposts, fences, ther 'guides' as I walk along and sometimes it feels like I 'should' be doing this, sometimes I feel like an imposter becase I have most of my sight left and I don't yet need a mobility aid - but I really struggle to read some bus, train etc signs - I am in a strange 'netherworld' and it does feel like I get cross and frustration at 'thoughtless' sighted people who are just so unaware of the ssues some people with VI face. I recently added an extract from an article for my book, the writer describes how she was perceived by two men, who saw her using a cane but because she had enough sight remaining to navigate around them, one became annoyed, confused and angrily shouted across to hus frebds " She's not really blind". There appears to be more issues with educating society in general about the blindness spectrum than perhaps the people coping with it which is sad.
I think that people who are low vision from a disease process, in anticipation for the disease process progressing. I have lost my left eye and and progressing partial sight in my right.
I use my cane all the time and I wear glasses with a bioptic. So people know I see some. I actually face the other side of the issue; most people don't realize how bad my vision truly is because I've had good skills training and grew up with a blind dad. Of course it doesn't help that my vision fluctuates wildly. One time I may see 20/400, the next counts fingers at five feet. These were actual measurements at two different Dr offices two weeks apart. So I find myself being embarrassed to ask people who they are when they talk to me because I can't see their faces and have no clue who's talking to me. When people ask why I use a cane, or accuse me of not needing it (airports anyone) I explain I need the cane to warn me about steps and keep me from running into things around me. I have glaucoma and tunnel vision, if I'm not looking directly at something it doesn't exist. I also have only one eye and live in a 2D world, try and explain that to someone! Just thought it might be interesting to see if anyone else out there struggles with the same issue.
I have myopia & nystigmas (nearsightedness + focusing issues) and qualify as legally blind. That said, I can function pretty damn well in daily life, doing most things, except anything that involves small sizes or long distances. As a result, I've never bothered carrying a cane, even at night. I carry a flashlight at night to light the way, if I need to, but cane? Neh. I feel like if you carry a cane, you're expected to act or use it a certain way, and like...my vision isn't bad enough to NEED a long-cane, so I never bothered using one. I recently started looking into buying an I.D. cane, for when I'm out in public. Once I get it, it'll be used mostly for signalling to other people, but also for checking curbs, steps, dips, trips etc, more than actually finding my way anywhere. I deliberately bought a relatively long one so that, should I NEED to, it could be used as a guide-cane, but that won't be its main purpose. For the most part, I intend to just carry it like a walking-stick.
I feel the same way I can't read signs also I can not srr curbs thats why my cane is very helpful snd helps me from falling example there was road work going on at the crosswalk by my house and I almost fell in a hole because they did not put caution sign up. Thanks to my cane it was my caution and took another way. So yes I need my cane but in other areas I feel I am okay without it like at home where I know my surroundings.
Just last week I had a very pleasant encounter at Macdonalds when the cashier gave me a 'once over' and offered to take my food to the table. No cane needed. Yeah! There are some genuinely nice people still to be found.
Remember what time Ryder, Oakland, raider game and me and my husband are both totally blind as the security we could scoot up the line as it was about 2 miles long and he said yes so I said Cameron family go to and he’s like yes and here comes 20 of my family and friends, skipping the line to get to the front and to get to our seats before kickoff. That’s just perks because we’re blind! No problem with that
Month old video, might as well I only have an ID cane so it only used for well to tell people that I'm low vision. (no duh) The funny thing is I don't act like I'm legally blind I walk really fast. I don't feel I have to act a certain way. although is a little embarrassing when someone gives you a little too much space when approaching you on the sidewalk. I mean like don't have to give me that wide a birth. I won't bite..much :P haha jk jk
I use mine when either traveling or in unfamiliar areas because of my depth perception, and not having any vision in my right eye, and my peripheral vision, while there, is a bit wacky and is like 60 or so degrees? Like last time I did a peripheral test my optometrist said the one they use (the squares with the squiggles?) is useless. As to me pretending? If someone offers help, especially in an unknown area, and traveling alone, I will say yes. I also have mild cerebral palsy in my legs and my balance is all sorts of blah so I’d rather be safe than sorry you know?
![ร้อยพ่อพันแม่ - WanMai [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XY2pNYASEbg/mqdefault.jpg)
That is so true. I am like you, enough vision to move around but not able to read signs and with no peripheral vision, in crowded spaces I use my cane to avoid tripping or knocking in to people but if someone offers me assistance, I suddenly find myself acting as if I can barely see. I also feel a fraud if I use my cane in the mall and when I get on the bus but not needing it when I get off the bus because I’m in familiar territory, I feel I have to use it because the other passengers will think I’m either faking or a miracle has occurred whilst I was on the bus.
I have RP with still pretty decent central vision (only in well lit areas).
I personally think of my cane as my partner or my eyes for my lower half. As a pretty tall guy with tunnel vision, the can really saves my knees, shins, ankles, feet and neck (from constantly having to look down). This allows me to have my head more on a swivel and be more present in my surroundings instead of constantly looking down at my steps so I don’t trip or fall like in the pre cane days.
I think low vision people live in this gray area where we see too good to be “blind” and don’t see good enough to “see”. I’ve never really felt a need to “fake it” because my situation is complex enough as is. Trying to use the cane only when I “need it” would have me folding and unfolding everything few steps or every time I turn as the lighting, contrast and colors around me change. Imagine how crazy that would look lol.
Now the blind perks, I personally find to be awesome. As far as guilt, I don’t have any. If they come then great. I used to get some flack from my friends in college but I’d respond by saying, “Would you trade your eyes for mine?” And in the hundreds of times I’ve asked people that, I have yet for someone to say yes. So why feel bad about accepting a perk that comes as a silver lining to my situation?
I think the whole “acting more blind” thing comes from an attempt to try to “be normal”. Thing is you being yourself is the most normal you can be. Don’t try to fit a mold that wasn’t made for you.
You've never been harassed when you can see some things? That's nice. You're lucky.
I've been harassed multiple times. I'll act blind to avoid arguments.
For sure… I have RP as well, late stage. Pretty much the same/similar to your description. I have had ignorant people yell at me before, because they don’t understand why I’m using the cane but I comment on how cute their little dog is as they’re walking by lol
I just started using a cane despite being legally blind for 25 years and you’ve captured my sentiments exactly. I keep telling my O & M instructor that I feel like I’m faking it because I can usually navigate pretty well without one. Using my cane makes my walks so much more relaxing and enjoyable because I’m not focused on the ground. I can use the vision I do have to look around at my surroundings. I’ve just had to accept that others may not understand how I use my cane and remaining vision, but I gotta do me. I’ve found myself acting more blind here and there to fit a stereotype and expectations, but I’m learning. It’s so helpful to find this old content, as I relate to it so much.
I do it also. People in general don't how visual impairments work. So if I don't act more blind, many people will think I'm faking. At least that's what I think.
This!! I used to live in Boston and blind peopme could ride public transit for free . I had an id card from the Massachusetts Commission for the blind that I would show the driver or booth attendant, and I always wit how often they thought I must be faking when I’d show my card, then run because my train was coming.
Same!
I definitely do this sometimes. Like I always say, I would never TELL someone I am fully blind if we are talking, but I definitely feel pressure to act a certain way in public. Airports are the WORST!! Once they take me to the gate, I feel awkward getting up to go to the bathroom or buy a water from the store when they JUST had to show me where they gate is!! Hahaha! Thanks for the shoutout too, by the way! :)
+HowCaseySeesIt LOL, that very thing happened to me this last time at the airport! They showed me to the gate and set me down right in the middle of the waiting area and then when I needed to go to the restroom I felt like everybody was staring at me thinking, he was so blind that he needed help getting here but now he’s just gonna wander off?! That’s the very feelings and attitude that I need to overcome. I need to stop worrying what everyone else is thinking about and do what I want unapologetically!
The Blind Life haha yep, I totally get it. I need to overcome it too
Hello I would also like to communicate with the blind life. I am also visual impared and I also need to overcome those things at school. The jokes the blind life makes actually make me laugh too. ❤
When it comes to using my cane I tell people "I use THIS so that people can see that I can't."
I feel the weirdest with people who know me, who know I can see well enough for some stuff and am not "blind blind" but am "just" functionally blind. If I knew I was not going to bump into (figuratively or literally lol) anyone I knew, I'd use the cane way more often.
The Blind Spot - great new name to you're cast... also I act more blind in public so people understand my vision is not the same as well seeing people. Totally understand this post.
Thank you for sharing. I am also legally blind and agree with both what you and Casey have had to say on the matter of thinking I should be acting more blind during the times I use my cane. Bottom line, the more we are out there with a cane, even when we happened to be legally blind, the more we will continue to educate the rest of the population and it will become more acceptable. Keep those videos/posts coming!
Karolyn Campbell
I hate to say it but all those devices bring attention to the people using them. For example I had to use a wheelchair for two years because I had surgery and everyone wanted to come up to talk to me. It's not an intentional thing we disabled people do to ourselves.
I have Vision Impairements and lots of other disabilities along with that. I just don't want a reason for everyone to come up and talk to me, knowing it may be the wrong reason.
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Yes I do feel that way and yes people do infact judge you about it. Especially people that know you, friends and relatives.
I also feel this way. I use the cane to cross streets and someimes feel or notice changes in the street to sidewalk. It is a learning curve.
Acting more blind than you are. Funny, I also do that. I use to feel bad about it, but one day we skipped a long queue at a government office. One guy called out, " Hey, can I borrow your cane?" I chirped back laughing , "yeah, no problem, but you will have to borrow my eyesight too". My hubby's take on it is that it is about time I have some perks after struggling in secret for so many years.
You can't help how people "see" you. I've felt this way too but sometimes its easier than trying to explain your situation. I never ask for special treatment. Folks usually someone has to drag me along to get assistance again like you its because I feel I can see enough. Iy is really a tricky part of being visually impaired. I am so glad you posted this and knowing others feel the same is nice to know. Great job as always Sam
I think about all the things I can still see people do who think I’m completely blind (I’m close) and I don’t feel bad anymore. You wouldn’t believe what people will either do or try to get away with, assuming you can’t see them. It’s almost as if my cane gives fully sighted people license to act like jerks and fools.
For personal safety, I live in a city, I never let on as to how much I can or can’t see. I have horror stories about people I know who were nearly crime victims, as their blindness was used against them as a weapon. Very sad, and scary. 😔😞
This is what I'm afraid of I live in a neighborhood where I'm always hearing about people being robbed and mugged so now I'm afraid to leave my home, I started a go fund me to try to get a down payment for a mobile home next to my mom but not one person donated, I just feel trapped now
I have same problem.
I feel that way too. I've only been using my cane for a few months, but people are much more willing to help and seem more kind
I feel like this when I'm with my guide dog as well as when I use my cane. I start to feel weird about pulling out my phone or looking at a sign so that my OrCam can read for me. I even feel uncomfortable wearing my glasses. I feel like there's always that one person who is just waiting to call me out. Now here's the rub. I feel guilty about wearing sunglasses when I have the cane and or dog with me, because I feel like I'm lying to people.
+Connie Terry judging by the comments on this video, apparently we all feel this way
I absolutely agree. I had a similar experience in Tampa airport. I had a Southwest person be a bit sharp with me. I did not have a cane and had to explain to her that I was legally blind. I cannot tell you how many times she apologized to me before helping me.
I am so thankful I am not the only one who feels this way! LOL I always feel like people are going to get confrontational if I use my phone and my cane at the same time.
Great video. I'm legally blind but to most people I appear to be fully sighted.
When they come to me and ask me questions and I tell them i'm legally blind
they say their sorry i didn't look like i was blind, and i say do i have to act blind
to be blind youy';d be surprised of the responses I get. In any event, great video.
Thank you for this video! I’ve been wanting to get a cane to protect myself and others-if I can’t see people, I will walk into them. Others have told me I’m not “blind” enough for a cane. You’ve made me feel better.
+Strawberry Seed my opinion is, if you feel you need the cane, then you’re definitely blind enough to use it! Also you have a great TH-cam name!
I'm new to Vi and I feel same. I can make it to a elevator but can't read the buttons. Glad I found this channel
Yes, I feel exactly the same! You have expressed the feeling perfectly! It's silly but it's so true! Thank you thank you 😁
ABSOLUTELY! This is a point I make to the support group I lead at Braille Inst. About a half of the time I use my cane I'm using it to inform the world around me. If I bump into using my cane, it's probably your fault (I'll still say excuse me) but if I'm not using my cane all errors are my fault.
Glad to know I am not the only one! I also solo backpack at times, and when people find out they really question whether or not I am blind. And yes, when I am around people I feel like I need to stop using the residual vision that I have and rely totally on my cane or hiking stick. When you think about it, it is kind'v crazy!
You are absolutely correct society expects us to act a certain way when we carry a cane or when we say we are some type of blind all they hear is the word blind so boom they automatically expect us to act a certain way that’s why we do it
I am both a gimp and partially sighted and so I use a white and orange support cane. When my physical problems developed (first) I felt I was not “crippled enough” for things like airport assist. I finally concluded that I needed that help because-hey! I was getting exhausted in long terminals and holding people up when boarding. So, I let them wheelchair me and I tip handsomely. Now that my cane is white, it is mostly a signal that there is a reason I am awkward in public places, taking so much time to figure out price tags, signs, sidewalk curbs, stairs and escalators. And I now have a balance disorder. I need my cane to walk and to catch myself if I have a vertigo attack. I switched to a white cane only to be able to avoid lots of explanations or little accidents re visual disability that is not evident. My cane is for me. It is now white only for THEM. I figure I owe everybody around me a sort of blanket explanation or warning and a white cane gives that signal and silently explains that it takes me some time to figure out what’s going on. And that is it. When I was able bodied and able eyed I was pretty sensitive to people who needed extra consideration or even help. I think I’ve earned (at 65) a bit of help from here on. I still use my blue cane if I have someone to help me navigate or if I don’t anticipate vision troubles, as when walking in circles on my gym track. There are going to be a hell of a lot of all kinds of color canes out there as my generation ages and loses abilities. I wonder if someday we WILL have to be tested to qualify for white ones...
I lost my “good” eye last March, and still can see a bit. I decided to continue traveling to see the World and bought a green cane, for low vision, just in case... But I have never used it. I walk a bit slower, use my phone to find the gate, ask for help to fill a form or when I need. Great videos👍
I actually do this a lot when in crowds or loud places. Makes it easier to interact (or not) because it is blatantly obvious I'm blind. There is actually a situation where I conciously choose to act less blind than I am. I sometimes walk along a highway that is a busy commercial thoroughfare. There are places with no shoulder at all; guardrails come right up to the white line. I have the cane with me for visibility to drivers but I just hold it at my side only using it when needed to avoid a particularly mean ditch. I intentionally leave the cane at my side so as not to spook drivers. I figure if they see me confidently walking unaided, they won't get all nervous and do something stupid.
LMAO this is soooo true! I can totally relate! I don't do it all the time but yes when I am at airports, sporting events, concerts, etc. wherever I may potentially get "special" treatment due to my disability. However, one time I went to the zoo with my family; now I cannot see anything at the zoo if its not pressed up against the glass so blind people get in free with a guest. So I used my cane to get in and shortly after we were through the gate I folded my cane up and put it in my purse because I didn't need it to walk around. My family died laughing at me and said I was using the system. I personally did not feel this way I cannot enjoy the zoo to the same degree they do I was mainly there to spend time with them. And the rest of them paid to get in so I honestly didn't feel it was a big deal.
I would have done the exact same thing! If I can use it to save money, I will!
I generally don't feel that way. I occasionally get questioned about it, but it's been more than ten years since anyone assumed that I might be faking it. Most people are just curious when they see me with my cane and it gives me a chance to better explain how my vision works if people ask about it.
I completely understand the feeling of feeling like you should exaggerate a bit though. I often want to when people are skeptical of me needing to ask for help.
You've videos are so relatable! I'm really enjoying going through your channel. I am losing my vision to RP and started using a cane a few months ago and I can totally resonate with this video. I often feel like I should only get the cane out exactly when I need it, otherwise, I feel like a fake. But what inevitably happens is something then catches me off guard and I suddenly need the cane but then it's already folded up and it's too late, and I wish I had it open and ready. So now I start to care less about other people and I just do my thing, switching off my brain to what I think people around me must be thinking or expect me to behave. It's a hard one, but I guess everyone who starts using a cane probably goes through this same exact phase.
You read my mind!! I have RP with tunnel vision. It’s like I’m worried someone’s going to call me out for faking it. Thanks for sharing this!!
I'm glad I found your channel (via the RNIB magazine). Thanks for what you do. I'm visually impaired, blind in one eye and about 30% vision in the other since 2015. I actually attempt to act in the opposite direction, pretending to see more than I do and never using my cane. I've simply worked out various strategies for hiding my visual impairment as much as I can, and never asking for help unless I absolutely have to. I'm afraid I still feel somewhat ashamed of my disability - I know I shouldn't, but I do, and so try to disguise it. It's caused some agoraphobia (so as to avoid public situations) but I find that if I take things slow, I manage to deal with most social circumstances.
Thanks for sharing Neil! Also welcome to the channel. You’re definitely not the only one, it seems we all feel this way!
Well I should use my cane but I don't think I'm blind enough to do so, so i very very rarely . My vision is only 20/500. 10° peripheral. It's like looking at the world thru a keyhole The problem I run into not using my cane is that when I'm out shopping or in public people think I'm a jerk because I don't see them and get in their way cut them off or run into them with my cart (not often but it happens). Probably should let the pride go and use it more huh.
Tom Brown i have exactly these same issues. And if i do use a cane i feel i am even worse.
Tom - I'm with you on this one. I have only just been given a cane and am too to have training with it. I bump into people all the time, and walk into things - and of course, people think Im being a jerk. Why do they think this? Well, clearly because Im not using a cane to let them know I have visual problems... so, I shouldn't be scared to use it, but for some unjustified reason...I am - possibly because I can still see things, and as Sam said in the video - if people see me with a cane, they expect me to not see ANYTHING lol, which is ludicrous.... I hope you get the confidence to walk out with the cane (I hope I do too!)
Before I started using my cane, I was in a situation in a public setting with lots of people, where a small boy running around carelessly bounced his head off my crotch and fell down. His mother was calling me a pedo and my insisting on my blindness did nothing to help me until my sister came over to explain. The next time it happened to me at the airport about a year later, but I had a cane. The mom scowled at me, but just picked up her kid and walked away. Situation averted.
Rob Moss
I agree with you 180% and do you want to know what else, I have never in my life used a cane and I was born with a eye disease called Retinopathy Of Prematurity. I also want to point out I was born at 24 weeks early.
😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
Going across the street gives me the creeps and hey I was also diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis and Uveitis. In January of 2018 I developed an Iritis.
Sir its true.
People make us feel that way as we are low vision.
Due to unawareness in thecsociety, cane is supposed to be used by blinds only.
Being a low vision it is really difficult to explain the world that you unable to see things as a normal.sighted person does.
Regards
Ambika Sood
From
Shimla
Himachal Pradesh
India
I got my cane a few months ago, I only use it as an ID cane, and WOW I definitely noticed myself doing it!
Now that I'm aware of that I think it will be easier to overcome. Thank you both for talking about this!
Thank you for your share, I use my cane all the time. A lot of people ask what the cane is for.
I used to feel guilty, not anymore. There are so many eye conditions and varying levels of sight
loss. Enjoy the fast route through the airport. You have paid a high price for this treatment.
We can not drive, that's my biggest loss. There are other blind people who have never seen the sky, stop feeling guilty.
Thanks Mark, you’re absolutely right!
Hi Sam. Greetings from Costa Rica, my name in Geoffrey Gonzalez and I have low vision for retinitis pigmentosa, my central vision is 20/25 with 8% of peripheral.
My life experience is the same, during the day I almost do not support support but in dark places and at night I require support and when I am in that situation I also feel the need to express a little more my low vision, I think it is excellent opportunity reflect and dialogue on the internal dilemma as an endless monologue. Thank you.
I've done it many times but doing so; I really feel like I am committing a crime.
I see all these ppl looking at me & thinking " She doesn't need a cane".
Yes I do!
It's a hard thing to explain to ppl what you can & can't see. I don't like feeling guilty & normally when I do this; I really need the help.
Love your videos. Thankyou for sharing!
Thank you! I was just thinking about this the other day. It is so nice to know that I am not alone. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I use my long white cane when I'm out and about just to let people know I'm visually challenged but also because "I don't know what I don't see." By developing good cane techniques I can discover hazards that I obviously can't see with my defective eyes at all. It took a long time for me to use the cane at all because it always makes/made me feel so self-conscious. Using a cane sure isn't the best way to "win friends and influence people" quite the contrary.
I do this too. But sometimes I think it’s because I’m working so hard to see things, I just need a break and I quit ‘seeing’. And I just need extra help when you’re stressed. I just didn’t realize other people experience this too
Ah, thanks for this man! I've not started using a cane yet, but probably should be. This social awkwardness and concern that people will think I'm 'not blind enough' are part of why I'm so nervous about using it. I have to catch the bus regularly, and using the cane as a visual indicator so the approaching driver will slow down until I can see the bus number would be so useful, but I'm then worried that once I get on the bus and start looking at my phone, people will think that I'm an imposter.
It's nice to know that this is a common concern and that you and many of the commenters feel a similar way.
Cheers mate!
Dear Sam,
Thanks for the video, as always.
I’ve been through it all. I’m sure we all have in some version.
I believe that we need to get rid of “shame and guilt” all together!
It’s that feeling of shame that’s dictating us to not use the cane when we should, or not ask for help, or put ourselves in dangerous situations by over stretching our limits. Pretending to look “more blind than we actually are” is another related emotional loop in my opinion.
As Visually Impaired people, we all are constantly experiencing extreme emotional challenges which corner us into pretending “we are not blind”. Perhaps this is one of the main underlying reasons most of us try an accessibility aid for a while, and drop it (as related to your previous post on the Canadian company’s research). Aids and assistance make us visible as visually impaired. We go for the “bliss of ignorance” and “comfort and safety” of hiding.
That feeling of guilt, that’s very much tangled with longing to see better, can make it very confusing both for ourselves and others. I believe we all can work harder to clear that confusion and create a better understanding of all of the details of what it’s like to be visually impaired. Here is a big “Thank you!” for you Sam for working on this one!
What I think sighted people could do differently:
Sighted people need to be informed what the white cane means, who is eligible to use one, and why.
Like most problems in our society, we need to be informed about each other before making a judgement. An uninformed sighted person’s “bad vibe” which we can “feel” as visually impaired individuals, can make us have self-doubt and feel guilty.
What I think we VIPs could do differently:
Make contact with what we feel and need, communicate about it.
For more than three decades I have been actively trying to be in touch with what I feel and why I feel that, with lots of professional help and personal research of course.
I feel that working on understanding motives in my emotions help me have more patience, open heartedness and curiosity towards others, and more acceptance towards myself.
In spite of all that work, it’s only very recently that I became able to even write a public comment like this one. I feel that sharing and interacting is very empowering and is a direct way to combat shame.
A technical word on the cane:
Here in the Netherlands, there are two types of canes. First is a signifier cane which is for visually impaired individuals who don’t need tactile mobility guidance and it is a short one. The other one however is the long, good old cane with a rolling tip for people who actually need to feel the ground to be able to navigate. Whether or not the general public is informed about this difference is yet another story.
I try to tell people what I can see, what I can’t and what I need help with. Not always easy since people sometimes don’t have the time and patience, but I fell it’s worth to try to communicate.
Warm greetings to everyone. Embrace that cane!
And as my psychologist once said: “Own it as your light saber!”
+Oguz Buyukberber awesome comment! I think you’re absolutely right and everything you said and I also think you should be making videos! Great job and I hope everyone reads this comment!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I have been contemplating on the idea of making videos on these topics, your encouragement means a lot to me :-)
Oguz Buyukberber And may the force be wirh you!
I think we are responding to the people around us. They expect someone without a cane to see them and get out of their way. They also expect someone carrying a cane to be useless alone. They don't seem to be aware of a middle ground where we can see the path but not read the signs. I've found without the cane I get cut off more and complaints i am too slow. With the cane I am permitted a larger personal space, people are more patient. I also found when training to use the cane i was so busy focusing on hearing that I did not look at the things i could see.🤪
My vision is bad enough where I do need my cane to be able to move around independently but I have a friend who is also visually impaired where she is constantly ask why is she taking her cane if she doesn’t need it all the time and it’s frustrating her because there are some situations where she doesn’t need it
Yeah, it's a global phenomenon . I'm legally blind and I do this all the time in the train here in Brazil.
Conversely, I am a wheelchair user because I am unable to walk. I always have "official's" ask me if I'm able to walk. And I want to say, "If I could, I would!" There's a reason I use my wheelchair. I'm sitting here for a reason!
Raeanne, it’s not a stupid question to ask if you can walk. Just like people have different levels of visual impairment, they have different levels of mobility. My mother can walk short distances just fine, like around her house. But whenever we take her shopping, etc., she uses a wheelchair.
I know there 4 other cane users in my area. I have seen them. I have homogeneous hemianopsia with good acuity.
When I cross the street I act completely blind. I ignore all visual cues like waving or flashing headlights from drivers. I don’t want to accidentally train drivers to expect people with white canes can see them.
I mean in all honesty the long white cane is a tool like any other. Use whatever tool is at your disposal. I have both navigated airports with and without assistance, and I understand that I need to have the capabilities to navigate without assistance, but if I choose to or for some reason I am running late for a flight I will ask for assistance. It is like using sighted guide. That is a tool that you can choose to use or not, the nature of choice is the fact that you have the skills to independently accomplish a task. I feel the same way about services such as Aira, using human readers, etc.
Wow! This was so awesome. Thanks for sharing. I have never learned to use a cane mainly for this reason I have RP and I do still have some useable (limiteed but useable) sight and was always so self conscious of what peopel would say or think. Thanks so much Sam.
Well I hope you got the point of the video, that even though we may feel this way, the benefits of using the cane outweigh any uncomfortableness.
A guy who lives in my flat seems to expect me to be blinder than I am after I told him about my condition. He made every conversation about 'if you can't see, do you know what I look like? How do you use your phone?' and because I just cba to talk to him longer than I have to I just pretend I'm super blind so I don't have to go into specifics - whenever I tried explaining what I can and cannot see at a deeper level, he got all skeptical, so I figured better he thinks I can't see at all than not understand why I'm taking so long with my keys, or why I blanked him when I crossed by in the street....
You should watch my next video, it’s going to be about the blind life T-shirts. There’s one shirt in particular that may come in handy for you!
Awesome video, thank you! I use my white cane mainly to ID that I have low vision (RP) and when I make eye contact people tend to do a double take. in airports I keep my sunglasses on to avoid eye contact because like you, I feel I need to look ‘more blind’. I think the reason is that everyone’s grouchy and in a hurry and why should I get special service like avoiding lineups, boarding first etc. But I only feel slightly bad about it and the feeling is fleeting, lol! Seeing the world close in little by little can be terrifying, It takes a lot of mental effort to forge through life in a world so visual...I am however, starting to appreciate the assists that are available, such as a guide dog, I’ll be taking O&M training which I’ve recently found out, is not only learning to use the cane but also learning to sense the world around me without vision. I’m looking forward to that and just knowing it will give me independence is incredibly exciting. It would be easy to fall into depression but knowing I’m not alone in this, finding info and support from people like you online gives me strength. Thanks again!
Thanks for the comment Patricia! Good luck on your o and M training!
Bruh... This hits close to home. Great video!
Exactly! You have nailed it! The reason i leave the "magic wand" behind. Thanks for speaking up.
If it helps, I do this too and I'm hard of hearing, not blind (although my wife is, and she does this as well). I think part of the problem is most people not understanding the grey areas here. They understand sighted and blind, hearing and deaf, but don't understand this in between stuff. Being treated like able bodied doesn't work, so we go the other direction. And to this point, it's just easier to say you're [whatever flavor of disabled] than try and explain that you can do this in this situation, but not that in that situation, and it depends on this, that, and the other. Education and awareness would help, but I know we don't always have the time or spoons to provide that.
This is so true! I find myself doing the same things as my eyes have gotten worse over the years. I'm usually very stubborn and don't like using my cane but I'm becoming more comfortable with it as my eyes deteriorate more or rather as my vision deteriorates more. I used to feel ashamed to use my cane and other things because my visual impairment and now I'm learning to embrace it slowly but surely I know exactly what you are talking about I try to only use my cane when I absolutely have to but like you said as more of an indicator to other people until the hey I don't see well lol. That being said living in a small City in Central Florida or perhaps southern Florida depends on how you look at it a lot of people tend to be ignorant in a lot of people don't even know what a mobility cane or as we call it and slang terms a blind cane a lot of people don't even know what that is and some people are purposely rude and just step in front of you because they think that you can't see them at all.
Yes, based on the response to this video, it seems like a lot of us feel this way! Hopefully channels like mine and others here on TH-cam will help to educate the public on the VIP community, who we are and what we can do!
Thank you for peaking a truth shared by many of us … I call my cane, and many of us name our canes, the 10%er!
I see out of one eye about 2% of my field. I find the 10%er very useful especially in tight situations; although, I could probably bumble my way through most things or depend solely on my wife.
I do have that same feeling because when I am using the cane I tend to be more cautious and slow. Maybe that’s to avoid criticism, I don’t know, but I am glad to hear someone else express the same sentiments. Also, I love not having to explain myself over and over and over and over……
Yes, most definitely!
Sometimes ppl look @ me b/c I am not acting like a typical sterorype blind person.
I actually just recently started using a cane. I've been visually impaired my whole life, and every time I use my cane, I honestly feel the same way. People will question a lot about it.
Treblesome Nerd keep using that cane though! Hopefully it gets easier
I use a 40in walking stick that folds and I use it as an ID also as well figureing out tall a curb or step or fpr stability on uneven ground. It also helps to show people I CAN NOT SEE EHRTR THEY ARE POINTING...
I'm not blind, visually impaired (nystagmus and diplopia/double vision) and completely relate. When I went on a plane last time, I was using my ID cane and .....they put me straight through the diplomat's entrance. While.....tons of people stood waiting to get on. Not going to lie. I felt guilty. ..like I was trying to decieve people.....but...I wasn't!!!! I just didnt walk into anyone!!!! but ....yah. Cringe.
I just saw this video,let me just say that i do the same thing. I have always told myself that i dont owe anybody an explanation.I have some usable sight but theres many things i cant see. All of us who have vision problems have to do this for our own saftey!.
It’s true, I do the same thing, I have glaucoma and only have one left. It’s really blurry but if I had to I probably could do without the cane but would be difficult.
I don't feel guilty. There are days (RP goung blind has picked up speed) that I can't see as well as other days and need more help. The airport is one place. They take your cane when you go through security & I don't go anywhere without my cane. I always thought when I'm moved to the short or express line it is so I don't hold up the line as I go slower than a sighted person. Just like in stores depending on how I'm feeling and how the lighting is will have me more or less blind at that moment.
I’m new to using a cane. I still have some vision in one eye; however, I have felt like a fraud using my cane because I can see a little. But, functionally, I can’t see. You made me feel better by talking about this.
Hi!! I have Amblyopia (almost completely blind in one eye) and photophobia which is extreme sensitivity to sunlight. I often wear sunglasses and even those don’t help. I have a cane that I just purchased and I feel guilty for using it because I can see pretty good with my good eye and I wear glasses. I don’t know how to feel like it’s okay to use one because I’m 22 years old and only used one when I was really young. It sucks to feel so terrible when you really do feel like you need the extra help. I also have a few other disabilities and illnesses but because I can walk and talk I usually get invalidated even with my papers listing all of my disorders and conditions.
Well, like I said in the video, we all feel this way from time to time. The best advice I can give is that if there is any area or aspect of your life where the cane would be helpful, then you should be using it. No matter what anyone else thinks!
HAHA only just realised you were playing in the park at the end! Love it!
+Penny van Beek it doesn’t matter how old I get, I can’t not play on the park equipment!
I think this is a universal problem. I live in the UK and normally I dont use a cane as I can see to get about. Reading signs and the like are a problem for me. One occasion where I did use a cane was at a Destination Star Trek Comic-Con here in the UK a number of years ago. I was using it to indicate I was visually impaired. Because I was only holding it and wasn't tapping with it I lost count of the times it was deliberately kicked out of my hand. Love the videos Sam you say it as it is and don't over complicate things.
Thanks!
Yes I do, and I am a TVI and soon to be an O&M instructor.
the cane is our super power lol ... Great video
LOL thanks!
Yes this video is exactly how I feel as well as I started to use my cane I immediately started to act more blunt than I originally a.m. I have about 5% vision out of one eye only as I am getting used to using the cane I did immediately feel guilty for using the cane like I am 100% blind this is not the case but I also look at it that this is a way of training myself without anyone ever showing me how to use this cane I have only experienced been blind for three years now so I am learning as I go also I have just recently stumbled onto your videos and I am enjoying all of them and I appreciate all of your input thank you for the good work do not stop please
The general public only think of people being blind or full visioned. They don't know how many variations of vision impairment there are or how stress or lighting changes vision ability.
I need to use my cane to see how far away I am from a wall. Some people leave items in the hallway where I live. How close i am to chairs or other things. I only see shadows and it was really hard at one time to use a cane. This is my life and now I am happy to have a cane to get around. Don't feel bad about using it. There may come a time when all the practice will come in handy.. There are always the people that say you can see better than you say no matter what you say.
All the time! I live in a summer tourist town. And I find that unless I overact with the King to a certain degree, most people will not acknowledge, recognize the came, or simply flat-out believe that I am not blind .. Oh, humans! LOL
That is good there are people in my apartment complex that practice that.
Oh thank goodness I am not the only one who feels this way.
Yes!!! I totally do that!! I thought I was the only one!
For me my experience has been the complete opposite. I was in denial, maybe still am a little bit, but I keep doing things i probably shouldn't and its other people who are around me enough start noticing me not see things or people that most would notice and confront me with comments like, dang you blind, or you really didnt see that etc 🤦🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
Interesting topic!! Thank you for sharing this. I personally don't use a cane but think it might be helpful to do so. Personally I HATE flying somewhere by myself. My fully sighted friends don't understand that. I think use of the cane may benefit me in the same way it does you.
You should definitely give it a shot. I just returned from a New York trip where I flew through four different airports. Would have been a nightmare if I hadn’t been using the cane. Because I use the cane and asked for assistance, it was a breeze and I enjoyed the entire experience.
Ha myself I am Totally Blind!in both eyes and get ppl mad always 4/my Aid walking in front.I lost my vision 2/Diabetes 10Yrs./3mo.but been a Diabetic since the age of13Yrs.also graduated from the C.4/Blind!yes my cell is a Iphone11/Pro/Max!I type and rarely use Seri and here u have my true Story👋♎️🇨🇺
Nah, man it is a tool that I use and have not felt that way in quite some time. Maybe when I was first using my cane, but then I had a situation when someone confronted me in a Walmart men's room saying "you aren't that Blind," my response was that Blindness is a spectrum and it would be cool if he understood that.
Yes, I have had this experience myself… I use the cane mostly for other people to understand that I’m not drunk or mentally impaired… L O L but, while walking around my apartment complex, which I do frequently and without help other than the cane, I have had someone yell at me from across the yard, “ are you really blind??!“ In a really angry and annoyed tone of voice. My neighbor witnessed this and she felt so awkward she was apologizing to me, like she was the one who said it lol I just said, “you never know what other peoples disabilities are, he is obviously mentally impaired“ and then I mentioned some thing about having to have thick skin when you have a disability. :-)
I’ve had people intentionally stand in my path to see if I’ll bump into them-at that point they can’t tell thst I’ and I have no choice but to walk right into them. It’s happened a few times.
Yes this is so true, I do and feel same.
At an airport in Portland Or. They actually insisted on putting me in a wheel chair , bypassed everyone straight to the gate. Too funny. But it was kinda cool.
I barely every use a cane. I don't like it as a navigation tool (slows you down, too re-active). It does help to identify yourself as being visually impaired though, especially for when you want to cross the road for example. One look at my eyes makes it perfectly clear to people that I have poor sight, so usually I'm treated as being more blind than I'm actually are regardless, lol.
Reading signs is also a huge problem for me, so on airports I always arrange for assistance. Cutting the lines at the security is one advantage, but as you said, it's more for them than for you. Still, it's one advantage and with a disability it's always great to be able to find a few :D. Also, another way to look at it, is that the whole ordeal might make things a lot easier for us, but if you look at how much energy you're still spending during your trip, compared to someone with good sight, they probably still end up having the advantage. Looking around with impaired vision (or hearing for that matter) is just very draining. So in a way this service is a great help to preserve some of that energy, which makes me feel not the least bit guilty about using assistance as well.
+HalfBlindGamer Great points, thanks HBG
I do this. It’s almost an involuntary defense mechanism. I find it very difficult to shake the feeling that everyone is meticulously watching my every move to judge if I’m “faking” my blindness. It’s tough because I know I’m being irrational, but I still feel a bit ashamed and guilty.
+Josh Campbell well, at least now you know we all do it!
Excellent post I've had the same issues all my life.
I hear ya, Sam. I’ve done the same, yet don’t have a clear reason why I’ve done that. Glad to see I’m not the only one. 😃
+Lynn Blue yes apparently there’s a bunch of us that do it!
I dont even use a cane ( yet) just at the point of having stopped driving but can relae to what you satd about not reading signs etc. Already though, I find myself stopping at the bumpy bump things before the kerb, tapping ( just with fingertips) lampposts, fences, ther 'guides' as I walk along and sometimes it feels like I 'should' be doing this, sometimes I feel like an imposter becase I have most of my sight left and I don't yet need a mobility aid - but I really struggle to read some bus, train etc signs - I am in a strange 'netherworld' and it does feel like I get cross and frustration at 'thoughtless' sighted people who are just so unaware of the ssues some people with VI face. I recently added an extract from an article for my book, the writer describes how she was perceived by two men, who saw her using a cane but because she had enough sight remaining to navigate around them, one became annoyed, confused and angrily shouted across to hus frebds " She's not really blind". There appears to be more issues with educating society in general about the blindness spectrum than perhaps the people coping with it which is sad.
I think that people who are low vision from a disease process, in anticipation for the disease process progressing. I have lost my left eye and and progressing partial sight in my right.
I use my cane all the time and I wear glasses with a bioptic. So people know I see some. I actually face the other side of the issue; most people don't realize how bad my vision truly is because I've had good skills training and grew up with a blind dad. Of course it doesn't help that my vision fluctuates wildly. One time I may see 20/400, the next counts fingers at five feet. These were actual measurements at two different Dr offices two weeks apart. So I find myself being embarrassed to ask people who they are when they talk to me because I can't see their faces and have no clue who's talking to me.
When people ask why I use a cane, or accuse me of not needing it (airports anyone) I explain I need the cane to warn me about steps and keep me from running into things around me. I have glaucoma and tunnel vision, if I'm not looking directly at something it doesn't exist. I also have only one eye and live in a 2D world, try and explain that to someone! Just thought it might be interesting to see if anyone else out there struggles with the same issue.
I have myopia & nystigmas (nearsightedness + focusing issues) and qualify as legally blind.
That said, I can function pretty damn well in daily life, doing most things, except anything that involves small sizes or long distances. As a result, I've never bothered carrying a cane, even at night.
I carry a flashlight at night to light the way, if I need to, but cane? Neh. I feel like if you carry a cane, you're expected to act or use it a certain way, and like...my vision isn't bad enough to NEED a long-cane, so I never bothered using one.
I recently started looking into buying an I.D. cane, for when I'm out in public. Once I get it, it'll be used mostly for signalling to other people, but also for checking curbs, steps, dips, trips etc, more than actually finding my way anywhere. I deliberately bought a relatively long one so that, should I NEED to, it could be used as a guide-cane, but that won't be its main purpose. For the most part, I intend to just carry it like a walking-stick.
Thanks for sharing I feel the same way.... I’m legally blind as well
I feel the same way I can't read signs also I can not srr curbs thats why my cane is very helpful snd helps me from falling example there was road work going on at the crosswalk by my house and I almost fell in a hole because they did not put caution sign up. Thanks to my cane it was my caution and took another way. So yes I need my cane but in other areas I feel I am okay without it like at home where I know my surroundings.
Just last week I had a very pleasant encounter at Macdonalds when the cashier gave me a 'once over' and offered to take my food to the table. No cane needed. Yeah! There are some genuinely nice people still to be found.
Remember what time Ryder, Oakland, raider game and me and my husband are both totally blind as the security we could scoot up the line as it was about 2 miles long and he said yes so I said Cameron family go to and he’s like yes and here comes 20 of my family and friends, skipping the line to get to the front and to get to our seats before kickoff. That’s just perks because we’re blind! No problem with that
Month old video, might as well
I only have an ID cane so it only used for well to tell people that I'm low vision. (no duh) The funny thing is I don't act like I'm legally blind I walk really fast. I don't feel I have to act a certain way. although is a little embarrassing when someone gives you a little too much space when approaching you on the sidewalk. I mean like don't have to give me that wide a birth. I won't bite..much :P haha jk jk
I use mine when either traveling or in unfamiliar areas because of my depth perception, and not having any vision in my right eye, and my peripheral vision, while there, is a bit wacky and is like 60 or so degrees? Like last time I did a peripheral test my optometrist said the one they use (the squares with the squiggles?) is useless. As to me pretending? If someone offers help, especially in an unknown area, and traveling alone, I will say yes. I also have mild cerebral palsy in my legs and my balance is all sorts of blah so I’d rather be safe than sorry you know?
This is a great video and very true. This is why I hardly use my cane.