Great job my friend, great job!!! When crossing streets, always be cautious but never be afraid because sometimes fear will take over and then you are more apt to making mistakes. I'm like you man, sometimes I will wait a few cycles and cross a street with traffic and you are absolutely right Matt, the bigger the intersection the easier to cross due to more traffic. You have come a long ways my dear friend and as you continue on this incredible journey of independence know that we are all proud of you!
Hey dog, I could not agree with you more! Sometimes it is smart to just stand back and let a few cycles go through the light to get a better understanding of the flow of traffic before crossing. We just need to rely on our skills and go for it when the time is right. When there is opportunity, execute! Thank you, I cannot believe how far I have, and just the last couple of months, it is incredible. Thanks again David, I could not have done all this without all of the support from amazing people like you. Thanks for being my friend :-) Matt
Hey Sweetcheeks - haha. Terry here. Loved your video. Matt, the time you have been O&M training has simply flown by. I remember, not so long ago, you struggled so much to go by yourself to the mailbox - look at you now! I am super chuffed for you and so proud too. here in the UK, what you call curb cuts we call down curbs and up kerbs. I agree, the tactile paving by a crossing is massively helpful, its amazing how I rely on them since sight loss, whereas before, I paid them no attention at all. At our crossing, the vast majority of them have , like a little spinner - you know where you hot the button , and you would wait for the walk sign, and the audio walk, walk, walk. Here, the light turns green, and we have beeping - BUT, at the bottom of the box, there is a plastic cone shaped thing that when the lights turn green, the spinner spins around, so, we put two fingers on the spinner, then when it spins, we know its good to cross - so helpful. A problem we have here at crossings is that many pedestrians dont wait for the green light, they see a small gap, and they go for it, before the lights change, so, I dont trust people beside me to pace me across the road lol. I think people are better behaved in your part of The World haha. Do you have the same concerns that a lot of us do about electric cars, as they are silent - they are passing law now that they have to have an artificial noise generated at low speeds, so, it gives us a better chance at hearing them Anyway, great, as always to see you, and love to you and the lovely Corey x x
Hey buttercup! LOL :-) thank you, I’m so happy that you enjoyed the video! I always enjoy hearing from you, each each time we release a video, I always anticipate your comment! We just love talking with you so much!I agree with you, prior to the training, I never paid all that much attention to the bumps at the curb cuts, but now that I have been paying attention with the training, I find them to be very helpful. I love the beeping on the stop lights and the sign that says walk, walk, walk. That is very helpful although they were not present in the city that I was training. I have never heard of the spinning cone on the light, but I love that concept, that is so smart! I told Corey about it and she thinks it is such a cool idea also. I think we should move it to the UK! Do you have any room, can we live with you? Move over and snuggle bug. LOL ;-) I agree with you about electric cars, and very low speed‘s they make almost 0 noise, they need to be moving out somewhat of a quick pace in order to make some road noise. I think it would be smart to have some type of noise maker on the car at lower speeds. Thanks again for watching and for the very nice words, huge virtual hug‘s and tons of love to you from Corey and me :-) MATT
@@BlindtoBillionaire Hahaha - my little barm cake, there is always room here for you two lol. I rather think there is so much more going on and to look forward to at your part of the world than here in the uk though lol Have a fabulous weekend my two little snuggle bugs lol x
Hi dad! :-) LOL. I am not sure why I just called your dad, but it sounded fun :-) LOL. It would be so much fun to meet you and to visit you! We would have way too much fun together, you are such an awesome and fun person! I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend, I was just thinking of you and wanted to respond to your last comment! I’m not sure if I mentioned this to you already, but if you are interested, I am doing the self promotional project once again this year, if you would like to submit a video, I would love to feature you and your channel! I think you have so much to offer and you’re an amazing person. Have a nice day and see you soon :-) huge hugs, Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire hahaha - OMG... Dad! lol ( mind you, I am old enough to be hahahaha ) I have meeting you and Corey on my bucket list my little poppet :-). It would be awesome for sure - I think my cheeks will ache from laughing so much. Oh, thanks for the reminder Matt, I will try get a short promo done in the next few days - thats very good of you. I am attempting to get my home a little smarter starting from tomorrow - I have bought lots of different things like lights, alarms, sensors etc - so, I will have fun seeing what I can achieve - as well as a lot of frustration no doubt getting everything set up. I was always one of those boring people who loved to read all of the product manuals that come with them, and I thought that was no longer possible for me, BUT, course, you can get most product manuals online now too - so, my screen reader takes care of that for me. My son always used to laugh at me, saying, Dad, just plug it in and play with it, instead of reading every word from cover to cover ha Anyway my lovelies - Have a wonderful Sunday, and I catch ya later x
Hi! That sounds like a lot of fun making your house a smart house with all of the fun technology. LOL, yeah you definitely don’t need to read all of the manuals anymore, I agree with your son, just plug it in and start using it, I feel like that is the best way to learn a new piece of technology. Perfect, I look forward to your promotional video! We also think it would be so much fun to meet you, I’m sure that will happen at some point! Have a nice day, I hope all goes well for you and as always, I look forward to hearing from you again :-) Matt
Thank you Matt for sharing your experiences. Sometimes I use the white cane, especially if I go to a new place or a place with a lot of stairs. Sometimes drivers react to a person using a white cane but sometimes there is people out there that do not stop or stop the car in front of us blocking our way. I think that videos like this are beneficial not only for people with visual limitations but for sighted people too, to educate them about the challenges we go through. Thanks again my friend.
Hey Raphael! Thank you, I always enjoy reading your comments. I’m glad to hear that you use a white cane sometimes especially when going to a new location or one with a lot of stairs. I completely agree, videos like this are not only helpful to people in the blind and visually impaired community, but also for sighted people to be more aware. I agree, some people definitely do not pay attention, but that again is one of the reasons why we have the white cane and put that out into the road first, hopefully people will see it or worst-case scenario they will hit the cane versus us. Either way, we definitely need to educate more people about the blind and visually impaired. Thanks again my friend :-) Matt
Yep! It's true. I am sighted and I'm enjoying the learning process of how blind people get around independently and how they live independently as well. You guys are fascinating 😊
Hi Kim! Thank you, that is so incredibly nice of you to say! Also, thank you for sharing this video :-) have a wonderful day, it’s always so nice to hear from you! Matt
Hello math and good morning ! Another 3:00 a.m. for me and i am very happy i waited . Thank you for this very interesting and detailed post . I really hate myself now for not thinking about sharing your channel and all your videos to my local organization . I am sure they will be able to share it to the people who needs to see them the most . Especially my low vision specialist . Thank you so much again and hugs and kisses from manila philippines
Hi my amazing friend! Thank you so much for watching this video and for staying up to watch it! That is so incredibly thoughtful and sweet of you to do! I really enjoy hearing from you :-) I think you can still share the video with your group over there, I think they would absolutely love it. Thank you so much for sharing, I think they would find a lot of these videos and this channel to be helpful. Thanks for being such an amazing friend, have a wonderful day and thank you once again for staying awake to watch this video! Huge hugs and kisses, Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire i am more grateful to you mad . If not for you and this channel i feel so terribly alone . I said literally am but now at least every time you post a video and i read the comment it makes me feel like i have people who are going through the same thing like i am . It really helped me a lot . And i'm sure it will help more when i share this with my local organization . No worries about that it is my honor to be able to introduce them to your channel .
Thank you, that is such a special comment! You are definitely not alone, I am here for you anytime you need me! I’m so happy that you found this community and that you are part of it, it makes me so happy to know that you enjoy the content and the connections that you have here :-) just know that you’re never alone, I’m always here for you :-) Matt
Thank you! It is scary to cross a busy intersection like that strictly based on what I hear, but that is also where the skills come into play. Thanks for watching :-)
Matt, I am a sighted driver and your cane is very hard to miss. Just as it's your job to avoid getting hit, it's also the driver's job to stay alert for anyone blind crossing the road or street. And it is a crime if a driver was to hit you. It goes both ways. Just some info for you. I'm glad you're doing well.😊❤
Thank you Tony! It is exciting to continue learning new skills and expanding on my skill level! Thank you so much for watching and for the very kind words as always! :-) Matt
Well done! Big smiley!! True the busier the easier at controlled traffic lights. Also sometimes there will be aggressive right turn on red light people in your parallel flow. They can fool you sometimes at less busy intersections or just non stop prevent you getting enough parallel flow to cross during high traffic times, when the parallel flow is up close to you. At times like these, sometimes I have changed my strategy and gone the other way to triple cross my way completely around the intersection to used the oncoming other parallel traffic to block those right on red turners for me. It just means I have to stay hyper focused for three consecutive crossings and not the jump the gun, or be too slow either. It's a strategy that can help though. Two nights ago I had to keep waiting through three complete light cycles to get a good enough flow of traffic to tell what was happening and that there was enough time left on the light. Some of left hand turn traffic was missing from the orchestration just long enough to make it too hard to tell. I always stay back and listen to unfamiliar intersections for a long time, gathering information. I like make sure I can know if it is a one way traffic situation at any of the points like downtown will sometimes have, or two way traffic as usual. Some intersections can be a little skewed like an X instead of a plus sign at right angles. I try to hear my line of parallel traffic whether it is coming towards me or going along with me. I feel like the ones coming towards me can see me, better, than those coming along with from behind my shoulders. So I keep listening over my shoulder for any straggling late left turners at the end or when my oncoming parallel traffic is sparse or peters out. To this day, I hyper focus in case I can hear a car doing something that isn't ordinary. I might can hear it and avoid it until it has cleared the area. It was four years before I tried to cross a divided highway intersection with yield lanes. I still am nervous every time but it helps me stay alert, and aware, a segment at a time. I'm very excited and proud of you❣️ Very excited that Corey could watch and tape as well. I had a very good friend that was like Corey, absorbing the nuances as we went along so that over time what seemed like a puzzle to explain became easier for her to intuitively pick up on for informational purposes or so I could tell her where I found what seemed to be a sudden empty swimming pool (that thank goodness I found with my cane) in the pavement near a service station after a difficult underpass crossing, and she could look at it and help me explore it again later from a different vantage point. Confirming my findings, and adding more stuff I might want to know, but never stopping me from venturing out. ❤️ 🥳🎉💞
Hi! Thank you so much for your very nice words. Thank you for sharing your stories and experiences as well, I always enjoy listening to the information that you have to share because I learned so much from you since you are an experienced Kane traveler. I like how you stand back at intersections and assess the situation before approaching a crossing. I like how you hang out and engage the flow of traffic as well as get an understanding of what is going on especially if it is a new intersection for you. I think that is very smart. Thank you for the tips and tricks, it is always nice to have a host of different options when approaching one of these situations. Thank you once again for the very nice words, I sincerely appreciate it! Matt
As you were talking about crossing the street and listening to the engines roar, it's really taking a leap of faith. My other thought was cars don't roar like the muscle cars of my youth. Any more, the roar comes from the sound systems (a car that went behind the house one time shook the house so much one of the family pictures fell off of the wall!). I still have some vision, enough to know the drivers around here are 90% of the time are in la la land. Parking lots scare me, too. I've loved watching you learn and your sharing gives me courage to try new things. I got the call from VERC yesterday. lol, Lord help me, the new lady wants to do a home visit and evaluation, because she doesn't know if she'll work with me or if she'll pawn me off on someone else. sigh... And she gets off at noon on Fridays. We'll see what happens next Friday. You keep learning and growing. I'm proud of your willingness to get out of your comfort zone and share your experiences.
Hi! As always, thank you for watching this video! Oh yes, we need to use the roar of the engines to help us out with our navigation. Especially in situations like this, it is sometimes our only indication of when it is time to go. But I completely agree with you, crossing intersections and parking lots can definitely be scary. You are welcome, I’m happy to be able to share my experiences and come out of my car comfort zone to help other people go through the transition and make the leap into going forward with this training. It sounds like your experience with the agency handling your training is similar to mine, it took forever and of the run around it with everybody passing everything off. LOL, that is what you get with government agencies. But oh well, it will eventually all work out as everything always does, it may just take a while. I hope you find someone that works well with you, you seem like a great person and I’m sure he would be very easy to work with :-) hope you’re having a great evening, MATT
@@jordanmahonytheblindworld8483 Behind my house is an entrance ramp to a highway. I hear all kinds of engines! Some just make me think of a whiny baby. My husband loved the 60s muscle cars. A lot of our dating and early marriage revolved around cars and car shows. There is a big difference in the rumble of one of those powerful motors and anything newer on the road these days. I do have access to the local bus system here. They come to my door to pick me up and walk me to the door of where I'm going. They also have an uber like service for a little more, still door to door service.
The first video I watched of yours was a "how to use a white cane" video, and you even mention in that video that you have never had O&M training, so it is truly awesome to be able to watch you go through it. You should be proud of yourself and the fact that you are encouraging a lot of people to take that step (no pun intended!)
Hi! Thank you so much for watching this video. That is interesting my very first video that you saw was talking about how to use the cane. It is probably very interesting for you to see the transformation. Back then I have no idea how to even use it, but just demonstrated how I used it even though it was improper. I have definitely learned a lot over the last few sessions that I have had it with my instructor, it has been amazing and I learned so much as well as increased my freedom and independence which is my goal. Thanks so much for being such a great and loyal friend! It truly means so much to me! I’m glad that I can be offering this content and give me the support and encouragement to others to go through with the training :-) have a great day and thank you once again
This video is so phenomenal Matt. Not only can you describe exactly what you are doing and all of the different skills and techniques you are using, but you also have a great clips showing you putting your words into actions. You have made so much progress I think you are on the advanced track and I would not have any clue what to do if I encountered snow? That is the reason I avoided training in New Jersey during the winter months. I think there must be not only an art to walking in the snow but probably a science as well. Your auditory skills are so, so well developed for someone who has only been in mobility for a few sessions. You are just doing outstanding and I am so proud of you and very proud to call you my friend Love, Beverly
Hi Beverly! Wow, once again, and amazing comment! There’s so much that I want to say in reply response to you. Yes, there is definitely an art and a science when navigating in the snow with the cane. As I like to say it to Corey and my trainer, when navigating through the snow there’s so much unnecessary feedback I am getting from the cane. We are navigating through a clear sidewalk when there is no snow, any feedback I am getting is from some type of obstacle I would like to avoid. However, we are navigating through the snow there are obstacles as well as clumps of snow which give me false signals. I hope that makes sense. LOL.I can’t believe how much I have learned and advanced in just a few sessions I have had with my trainer, it is absolutely incredible and amazing! Just a couple short months ago I never even would’ve thought about walking to the mailbox, now it is not even a thought, I would just grab my cane and go do it with no problem at all. I would have no problem navigating around the mall, around the neighborhood, or even going into an area as shown in this video and crossing a few streets to find a store. It’s just amazing, I never would’ve done there’s just a couple months ago. Even thought about it would have freakedI’m not sure if you saw my video from the other day, but I am bringing back the self promotional project for this year. The video is titled something along the lines of, 2020 self-promotional project. I would love to have you participate again if you are interested, I would love to feature you and your channel once again! Thanks again Beverly, we are so happy and grateful to know you and have you as a friend as well!
Blind to Billionaire hi Matt, yes I did see the video about the promotional clips and I do plan to send something within the parameters, if I can get it in by the deadline. I absolutely love reading through all of your comments from other blind individuals with varying degrees of mobility proficiencies. You have definitely made such great advances and it is very interesting to me, to hear and understand how you navigate through snow. I have had absolutely no training with the cane and snow but on an unexpected trip to the north east, early last February, it snowed the entire time we were there and Gretchen had obviously had training and did an excellent job of guiding me in unfamiliar surroundings. You are just being such an awesome example by showing this community, what is possible. You are so brave and I’m know that you can feel that emotion, after postponing mobility training for so long and now, finally experiencing the independence. And I might be your most excited viewer and cheerleader because, deep down inside, I knew you would do it! You are just doing fantastic!
Hi Beverly! Happy Friday :-) thank you for all of your very kind words, it truly means so much to me! It is very exciting to be learning the skills, I never realized how much it would change my life, but it certainly has it just like the iPhone! Navigating with snow definitely creates a brand new set of challenges, but if we can do it in the winter, it just makes it that much easier when there is no snow on the ground. Thank you for being so supportive, it truly does mean a lot to me! I am happy you will submit a video, I’m excited to promote you and your channel once again! I think you have so much valuable inch for Maisch and to share with the people in this community. I am happy to have this channel and put myself out there to show other people what is possible and to give them the encouragement to go through with the training or anything else they desire in life. Have a nice afternoon and weekend, see you again very soon :-) Matt
Good stuff here Matt on crossing busy intersections using a white cane. As I watched your tutorial, I remember one particular orientation and mobility session with my instructor while attending Hines blind center. While using a blindfold to practice navigating extremely busy enter city intersection. Feeling the openness of the intersection, sounds or the traffic. Crossing traffic, traffic coming to a stop, traffic accelerating through the intersection, etc. As I heard the crossing traffic stop, a voice tells me to walk. I presented my white cane as I had been instructed to do on several occasions. As a way of notifying others my intention of entering the intersection before attempting to cross the intersection. Much to my bewilderment a driver decided to make a right turn and hit the tip of my white cane. After sharing a few colorful superlatives with the inattentive driver that just hit my blind person cane. At which time my O.M. instructor found it prudent to review with me, drivers often are not paying attention and it's my responsibility to maintain my composure.
Hi! It is so interesting hearing about your experiences with crossing busy intersections when navigating with your cane. Thanks for watching this video, it is nice to hear the perspective of somebody else who is also going through the same situations. Yes we definitely need to pay attention at all times as we are only relying on our hearing to cross the street safely and we need to assume that the other people are possibly not paying attention. That is scary, but I’m glad they just hit your cane versus you. Thanks so much for watching, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. Matt
Wow! You are doing so great! I still get nervous crossing streets even with my dog. Thank you for posting your video it was so good to see how you are doing.
Hi! Thank you so much for watching the video and for all of the encouragement. Crossing streets can definitely be a stressful time as we are only relying on our ears and the other people to see us in order to cross safely. I’m glad that you enjoyed the video, this was a fun one! Thanks so much for your continued friendship and support :-) Matt
Hey Ryan, that is amazing that you were also learning the same thing with your instructor! That is so cool, we are like blind brothers! LOL. By the way, I am responding to this so quickly this is basically a live chat ;-) LOL hope all is well :-) Matt
Awesome, Matt! Intersections are really scary, aren't they? No matter how skilled we get at crossing, I think we always have to be on high alert. Speaking of which, I almost crossed the street today when it was not my turn to cross. Good thing I caught myself in time and backed up. Scary! Mariko
Hi! Thank you so much for watching the video. Yes, crossing some intersections can definitely be scary. Considering we are only relying on our ears to engage the flow of traffic and across safely. It can definitely be scary situation. I’m so glad that you were able to back up when you recognized you were about to cross when it was not your turn. Stay safe! Thanks for being such an amazing friend :-) Matt
Matt, since the time I have become apart of your channel, you have blossom into a butterfly! You have accomplished so much and you are crushing goals one day at a time. You are such an inspiration!!! I too need to get motivated for 2020 as well!!! 🥳🥳🥳
Thank you, that is so incredibly nice and thoughtful of you to say! It is exciting! Although the training can be tough, it is fun to continue learning new skills each session :-) have a wonderful day and thanks for being such an amazing friend. Matt
I gotta say, I thoroughly enjoyed that! You gotta have Corey film and narrate more outings! Please! It really helps me to be aware of what a vip person might need or do. Just the sweeping of the cane. I never thought about that. I will be more aware if a person has a cane. They need space respectfully. Moved onto my next guide dog in training. Hoping to launch instagram on Valentines with lots of guide dog pups to post about! Thank you Corey and Matt! Well done. 80 degrees, here!😉
Hi! As always, thank you so much for watching this video. I appreciate the feedback and suggestions about future videos. We would love to do more in field videos like this rather than always sitting at the table like TV anchors. LOL. I appreciate your feedback so much! Wow, 80° there? We need to come down and visit, I think the high temperature today was 4°. It is cold and miserable here. We are supposed to get a bunch of snow tomorrow, we will be trapped here for the weekend. We may get out to the gym tomorrow morning, but that is about it. We will definitely do more videos because this one is producing a lot of positive feedback and we want to do as much as we can to help in anyway. Thank you once again, enjoy the weather, I am incredibly jealous! :-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire For me it was great to have a better understanding from your perspective. All of us who are sighted could say in love that we all would have some form of fear. You are the brave ones. Not us. I would have the hardest time blindfolded for a day even in my home, but God would have a great laugh. Worked out today. Push muscles tomorrow. Not in any snow temps, though. Thanks again Matt! Thanks for freezing your fingers off Corey and recording the video. Two frozen thumbs up!
Thank you, I really appreciate the feedback. It helps a lot to give us an idea of what type of content you enjoy so we can do more. That’s great you got in a nice workout today! Good work, we also went to the gym which was nice. We will be thinking of you and the weather while we are stuck inside the house all day tomorrow. Enjoy the warmth and sunshine for us!
Go you! I know how good it feels to cross your first huge intersection like that, you did it! By the way, I have no idea why but those little things that are rough that are near the curb or called truncated dome‘s. I have no clue who came up with that but it is a really weird name. Also, glad you have the extra tall cane, because that will clear more as you are crossing such streets. You did a really good job of explaining things.
Thank you! That means a lot to me coming from you. You were one of the people that was encouraging me for so many months to go through with the training and promising that it would give me so much freedom and independence, you were absolutely correct! Thank you for all the encouragement. It truly means so much to me! It was scary, but applying the skills that I learned from my trainer helped a lot and allows me to build confidence. Thank you once again :-) Matt
Hi Matt. The techniques you talked about sound like the techniques I learned in mobility. It’s always a good idea to be constantly aware when you’re out crossing streets so you don’t miss anything, especially when you can’t see it and you’re by yourself. As you get more used to it, you’ll be able to toon out the background noise and toon into the traffic. It sounds weird but it gets easier. I actually prefer when the traffic is on my left side instead of the right. It’s mostly because I can hear out of my left ear a little better and I tend to veer to the right when I cross streets. It might be because I’m left-handed but I don’t know for sure.
Hey Tiffany! Thank you for watching the video. It is nice to hear that what I was talking about in this video is consistent with what you were learning during your training. I agree with you, for some reason I really like when the traffic is on my left side versus my right, not sure why that is but I just feel so much more comfortable. I agree with you, the flow of traffic is definitely instrumental in safely crossing the street, you would think that unless travel the road would be easier, but not necessarily. Thanks again for watching, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend :-) Matt
Great job explaining how you do this. You are reaching goals and doing such a good job. Busy intersections scare the crap out of me lol. My anxiety goes through the roof
Good morning David! I agree with you, intersections like this can definitely be very scary. We just need to remember to implement the skills that we have learned to safely cross the street. But yes, they can definitely be very intimidating. Thanks for your very nice words, have a wonderful Friday! Matt
great vid .. one added thing i do is point with my free hand untill im around half way across ... just some added visual for the drivers to notice me at busy intersections.. also shared
Hi Neil! That is a great strategy. I apologize for my ignorance, can you please elaborate what you pointed out when you were walking across the intersection? Do you point at your cane, the cars, or the curb you are walking to? Again, I apologize for my ignorance I’m just curious what your point is so I have an idea so I can possibly implement this as well to gain more attention. Thanks :-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire Basically just stick my free arm straight out ahead of me, and point that direction I find it just makes me more noticeable to drivers ( again some people don't see the cane) that way and they have a little more patience
Good morning Neil, that makes sense. Thank you for elaborating! It is nice to hear the strategies you use since you are a seasoned and proficient cane user. Thanks again for the tips! Matt
Hi, that makes sense. It definitely can be a little bit concerning at times when we are just relying on our hearing to make sure it is safe to crossing intersection. Thanks so much for watching. Matt
Hello Jordan. Thank you so much for your kind words. This is the very first time that I have read all of the comments. Hopefully, I will be able to keep it up. However, I will be looking for your name. Thank you again, for your response. :-)
Good morning! That was very nice of you to reach out to Jordan, he has been a great friend here on the channel for quite a while. Thank you! Have a wonderful Sunday. Matt
Hey bud, Fantastic description of you crossing streets. Over the many years, I have had several canes broken because of someone turning right into me but running over my cane. This all happened in Los Angeles when I lived there and one time I actuall plowed into a brand new Mercedes 560 SL at the intersection of Westwood blvd. and Wilshire blvd in the West L.A. area near UCLA where I attended university. I ended up putting a huge dent into the drivers door bcs he was all the way in the cross walk and someone later told me that the car still had dealer plates on it so the car had just recently been purchased. :) This is a very wealthy part of L.A. and the guy in the Mercedes got out of his can and was very apologetic to me and noticed that my cane had snapped in half because it went under his door panel and my momentum snapped the cane as I plowed into his door. He pulled out some money and handed it to me and just kept on apologizing and asked if I was okay. By now, this intersection had come to a total stop because of this. When I got home I asked my college roommate how much money this guy gave me and it was a thousand bucks. Dude, this was 1982, that was a lot of money. :) Anyway, thought I would share this story with you and your subs. Keep up the awesome videos, your content has much value. Cheers!
Good morning! Wow, thank you so much for sharing that story! So I think the moral of the story is, if I ever anticipated there is a Mercedes in front of me, walk full speed right into the drivers door. LOL, is that what you were trying to tell me? LOL. A fistful of cash sounds great to me!. LOL, I love the story, thank you for actually somewhat of a funny but similar story, yesterday Corey and I went to the gym to work out, I walked into the locker room and hit a guy with my cane almost right away, he stepped aside and basically just stood there apologizing over and over, I was just thinking, I actually hit you with my cane. LOL. I always feel bad when I come in contact with somebody, but it is funny how they are the ones apologizing. Thanks so much for the very encouraging words, that means a lot to me! Have a nice Friday! Talk soon :-) MATT
Blind to Billionaire Yeah, runninginto people with your cane is going to happen a lot. By far, the most embarrasing times is when you go into a public bathroom and are looking for a urnal and your cane touches someone already standing at the urnal. :) Their back is turned to you so they are thinking, what the heck so I always try to lighten the awkwardness by saying, sorry man, I'm blind but now you can go home and tell your friends and family that you were attack in a bathroom by a blind guy. :) I'm a 53 year old blind expert and still get embarrassed when I bump into someone or something awkward happens with my cane... It's just part of the blind life and just remember that 1. You can see their disgust or horror or embarrassment and 2. You'll never see them again.
That is so true! LOL, I actually had that conversation with my trainer at one point when he was teaching me public restrooms. I said to him, how do I know that there is not someone standing there already, he basically just told me, he will figure it out, if somebody is there he will feel them. LOL. That is awkward but just like you said, it is part of being a blind or visually impaired. From my experience, everybody is very respectful and apologetic and situations when I accidentally hit them with the cane. LOL. In many situations it actually leads to a funny story just like you said. Thanks again for the great comment, I’ve enjoyed your stories :-) Matt
Being blind for 53 years I have tons of stories and that is part of what I want to share when I ever get my TH-cam channel started. The human interest of it all and just maybe, like you, sharing our day to day and life's experiences as a blind person can help somebody else. I meant to say before, again, how proud I am of you and how far you have come in such a short time with your orientation and mobility training. If you go back to your Thursday video, you were actually offering advise on a couple of occasions; oh how far you have come from the guy who nly 6 weeks or less was not sure you even wanted to do this cane training stuff and look at you now, teaching others about how to cross busy intersections safely. Maybe it is corney that I say I am proud of you but being 25 years older then you I feel like I have the right to be corny. Seriously though, I called you a rock star early on, if you recall, and you are proving me to be correct in that early assessment. I hope Corey is telling you how proud she is and I know that you now understand how important it is to have your own independence. Two thumbs my friend.Blind to Billionaire
Hey! Happy Saturday, thank you! You truly are an amazing friend. I truly do appreciate all of the encouragement, inspiration, and supportive words. I can’t even believe it, just a few weeks ago I was nervous to start the training and now look at me go. LOL. I have learned so much from my trainer, every time we meet I learn something so new and valuable. I feel like I’m getting so much independence every time we have a new session together. It’s amazing! I’ve only had about 14 or 15 session so far and this is how much I have learned. It’s so amazing! I’m excited for you to start your channel, I agree with you, even just one video if it changes one life or helps one person, it is totally worth it to me! Thanks once again, you truly are a very special friend! Hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday. Matt
Hi, thank you! The training has been going very well, I can’t believe how much I have learned and how much I have expanded my independence and freedom since I started the training two months ago. It is very exciting. Thank you so much for sharing this video, hopefully others will find it to be helpful! Have a nice Friday and see you again soon :-) Matt
Great job Matt! Just a little tip to help you out Matt, it is best to only cross a busy intersection when the parallel traffic is on your left. That way you can avoid the cars turning right in front of you. I usually figure ahead to which way would be best to navigate the streets to where I need to go
Made a little boo boo in that comment. I meant to say cross with the parallel Street on your right rather than you left. sounds like you've already got this down but I'm sorry
Great job Matt. I just started to learn echo location. Has your instructor introduced you to false surges. Roads with turning lanes scare me. My instructor told me he’s gonna scare the poop out of me next week. I may need therapy. Lol. Keep up the great work. Can definitely tell O and M is paying off for you and I.
Hey my friend! Thanks for watching the video. I agree with you, these intersections can be somewhat scary. I am not sure what false searches are, I have not been introduced to that yet. Echolocation is certainly something that is very helpful when navigating with the cane. I hope your instructor teaches you rather than scaring you. I feel like it is the instructors responsibility to teach you potentially all of the hazards rather than intentionally scaring you. Let me know how that goes, I would be interested to hear more about the session. Thanks again my friend, hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday :-) Matt
Blind to Billionaire yes he definitely teaches me. He’s a great instructor. He said that because I’ve told him crossing busy streets are scary to me. He has me wear blacked out glasses so I have to use my senses to travel. I trust him with my life.
thanks again for the video. This is the kind of content I thought I would make for my channel, but because I am self-taught, I was afraid that my approach may not be acceptable to the community. It is reassuring to me that the approaches I use are very similar to the ones you were taught.
Hi, thank you for watching this video. I’m glad that the strategies out implemented and discussed in this video are similar to what you were taught yourself. That is very cool! Also, thank you for the video submission for the self-promotional project, it is great! I really enjoyed watching it. Thanks again for your support, have a nice Friday and see you soon. Matt
Hi Matt how are you? I think crossing the street is one of the hardest things you can do has a person with vision lose. I’m I always aware of the risk that I or a driver could make a mistake. One that I find scary is crossing a street With construction. I use some of the same skills that you do when crossing the street I find that they are very helpful. Hope you have a great day!
Hey my friend! I am doing well, how about you? It is so nice to hear from you again, I hope all is well! I completely agree, crossing the street is definitely somewhat difficult and nerve racking! Strictly based and relying on my hearing to cross the street can definitely be a difficult situation as I just need to assume that the cars will see me and stop. I can’t even imagine trying to cross the street with construction, that is definitely not something that I want to do. Especially if it is allowed in an area, I find that can also be difficult to because there are so many distractions and we rely on our hearing so much. Thanks again for watching this, I always enjoy hearing from you! Hope all is well, your friend, Matt
I’m so happy you are gaining confidence in your cane travel ability! I grew up using a cane and I still have anxiety about crossing the street. I agree with safety in crossing in a group. I also have great anxiety about Koda (my guide) dog getting hit. I’ve had more than one nightmare about it. I just hope I can handle it if something were to ever happen. A growing problem though are the amount of electric and hybrid vehicles. These do not give off much sound. It’s hard to tell if they are there. I hope a solution can be found soon to relieve this problem.
Hi! Thank you for the very nice words. I agree, that would be very scary with the guy dog if something were to ever happen. That would be awful. I also agree with you about the highbred and electric vehicles, they are virtually soundless when moving very slowly. They need to be moving at somewhat of a quick pace in order to give us any sound from the road. It is definitely a problem, hopefully that there can be a solution at some point. Thanks again for watching this, I hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday and staying all warm! :-) MATT
Hey my friend, yes I am definitely more confident now that I am learning the necessary skills. It has been really exciting to see the progression. Also, I am doing the self promotional project once again, if you would like to submit a video to promote your channel, I would love to see from you! Thanks my friend, Matt
Hi Matt! I’m so happy your O&M training is going well, you look like a pro. I’ve been in the process of moving and had to catch up on a few of your videos. Hope you have a great weekend😁😁
britni gallina hey Brittany! Thank you, the orientation and mobility training is going very well! I cannot believe how much I have learned in the last 14 or fish 15 sessions that I have had. It has been absolutely life-changing and transformative! I’m so glad that I have gone through with the training even though it was incredibly stressful for the first few sessions. I am growing and expanding so much, it is nice. Not only that I amateur in my experience is here on this channel and inspiring and motivating other people to go through with the training. I perfectly understand you have been moving and not able to watch the videos right away, no worries at all, I am just happy to hear from you when I do! Thanks for watching and have a wonderful Saturday! Talk to you again soon :-) huge hugs, MATT
Hey new subscriber here! Great video! I like the way you explain things. I have traveled on streets with audible pedestrian signals that’s what the beeping ones are called and I have traveled through intersections that do not. With the ones that do you have the audible signal that doesn’t really help in the way that you might think, just because cars can still turn even though the walk sign is up. Traffic will always be your best and most reliable source of information. They are definitely helpful for sure but they’re not to be relied on.
Hi! Thank you so much for watching this video and for subscribing, welcome to the channel and thank you so much for being here! I’m glad you enjoy this video and reached out with your perspective. I actually completely agree with you, the best source of information is the traffic, because at the end of the day as we both know, the traffic is what we are trying to avoid, not the stationary blinking light. So you are absolutely correct, monitoring and assessing the floor traffic is going to keep us safe rather than just going off of the signals from the signs. So happy you enjoyed this, I appreciated reading your message and learning from you. Thanks again for watching, see you on Thursday in the next
Hi! Thank you so much for watching this video and for the very nice comment. I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the video and to have you as part of this community! Thank you for the nice words, I’m glad that you like my wife and me :-) thank you once again for being here, your friendship and support it means a lot to me! Have a nice day and I hope to hear from you soon :-)
@@BlindtoBillionaire One thing that I noticed in one your other videos was that you said that you pay a lot of attention to the financial world. I am a CNBC junkie lol! I would love to talk about the stock market with you some day! I trade stocks on my computer fairly actively.
Hey! That would be amazing, I would love to talk about the markets with you as well! For about four years I actively day treated the markets, I absolutely loved it but I cannot do it anymore due to my vision loss. We should definitely talk about it, that would be fun! Matt
Hey Matt, I feel you on the fear of crossing a street relying only on your hearing. I have a 55% hearing loss in my left ear that I actually recently had surgery on. Heading back to the doctor this next week to see how much hearing I’ve gotten back. But that has always been a hindrance since I was 18 years old for obvious reasons. We have to rely so much on our hearing with vision loss.
Good morning Cindy! I agree with you, we rely on our hearing so much, it is a little bit scary to only rely on our hearing when crossing busy intersections like this. But that is where the skills come into play, we just need to use the skills that we have learned in our training to do it properly and safely. I hope all goes well at your doctors appointment to test your hearing once again. I wish you the absolute best! Have a nice day and see you soon :-) we are supposed to get a bunch of snow today here in Minnesota, you will probably get it tomorrow! :-) Stay warm, Matt
Good morning Molly! I am doing well, it is so nice to hear from you as always! Have a wonderful Monday, hope to see you in today’s video :-) hugs, Matt
WOW well done mate I am very proud of you well done keep it up and rock out with your white cane long cane and next will be shopping on your own and you can anything when you put your mind to it mate stay positive and I wish you the upmost best of luck mate 👏👏🤗
Thank you Richard! That is so nice of you to say. I hope all is going well with you, it is so nice to hear from you once again, you have been such an amazing friend and we have known you for so long! This is definitely a huge step for me, I know that you have been navigating with your white cane for a very long time and you have given me so much inspiration and support to go through with the training. I’m glad that I have because I have learned so much from my trainer in just the last couple months, it is absolutely amazing. I have gained so much independence at and freedom as a result! Thanks again for being such a great friend. Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire you are most welcome and it make me so happy and proud but I have been an inspiration to other people who have lost their eyesight for them to regain their freedom and they are independent and I hope you keep up the great work mate and soon you I can imagine you are logging on your own walking with your white cane long cane and keep up the amazing work and I have uploaded a couple of new videos mate I wish you the best of luck mate
Thank you Richard! You have definitely been a huge inspiration to me and giving me so much hope for the freedom and independence I can expect to obtain as a result of getting the training. Thanks for being such a supportive friend for so long! Have a nice Friday, thanks again. Matt
Thanks for posting this video I'm visually impaired but did not need to use a cane until now. Crossing streets in Atlanta terrifies me because drivers don't pay attention to people who can see as they're walking on the sidewalk let alone someone useing a cane.
Hi! Thank you so much for watching this video and for the comment. You are very welcome, I’m glad to hear that this video was helpful to you. I’m glad to hear that you are using a cane to help navigate. It is nice to help navigation as well as identify with other people that you are low vision. Anytime you’re crossing a street, it is imperative to pay attention to the flow of traffic and always be aware that people may not see you, so be on high alert. Thanks so much for being here, your support means a lot to me! Have a wonderful day, I look forward to talking with you again soon. MATT
I’m curious how the curb cuts are aligned where you are. Out here in Seattle and vicinity, they’re lined up to point you right in the middle of the intersection. 😱 Some of the audible intersections here sound like a drive by is going on. Crossing the street is a huge stressor when I’m out. Just last week, some impatient driver nearly ran me over because they couldn’t wait for me to clear the crosswalk.
Hi! It depends on the intersection, some of the curb cuts lead you directly out into the middle of the intersection while others shoot you straight across. It totally depends on the intersection. I am not a fan of those that send a person out into the middle of the intersection. That is frustrating and scary with the person that was impatient the other day. I have a quick question for you, how close are you to the Seattle airport? Reason being, we will be there and have a layover in a couple months from now. If you are close to the airport, it would be awesome to meet you! :-) Matt
Blind to Billionaire I live almost in the center of the city, but the light rail here goes directly to the airport, which is roughly a half hour trip. Not that far at all. However, if your trip is in April, I will be out of town for most of the month.
I May have to speak to you over the phone or email sometime. my mobility instructor didn’t teach me something that’s kind of important and she told my counselor that I don’t need any more training. ever since I lost my vision completely seven months ago, whenever I am walking on the sidewalk, I can’t seem to walk in a straight line anymore. I tend to veer off to the left, or right, as I’m walking, and I haven’t figured out how to fix that problem yet. I tend to instead of walking a straight line I tend to veer off towards the street so before I know it I walk right into the middle of traffic. I didn’t used to do that when I was a partial, but now being completely blind, it’s like I can’t walk in a straight line on the sidewalk anymore. it’s especially difficult when I come up to a house that has a driveway where you don’t have the grass on the left side anymore to go by. my traffic skills have been pretty good crossing streets, but I can’t seem to walk in a straight line when I’m walking on the sidewalk. And I don’t know why this is. so I may have to talk to you about what you do so you can tell you’re walking in a straight line and not veering off to the right or left. When I lost my vision entirely, my mobility instructor told me to use constant contact technique, and maybe that’s part of the problem I don’t know. When I was a partial I did the tapping left and right technique along with all the other cane techniques they teach you, but she told me when I lost my vision completely I should use constant contact all the time. Well a problem with that is I’m hearing off to the right or left usually right out in the middle of traffic. So I don’t know what to do about that. when I lost my vision entirely, my mobility instructor told me to use constant contact technique, and maybe that’s part of the problem I don’t know. When I was a partial I did the tapping left and right technique along with all the other cane techniques they teach you, but she told me when I lost my vision completely I should use constant contact all the time. Well the problem with that is I’m hearing off to the right or left usually right out in the middle of traffic. So I don’t know what to do about that. it’s a little frustrating that my mobility instructor has told me that I don’t need anymore mobility training when I am doing that on a daily basis. it’s like OK do you want me to walk out in the middle of traffic every time I’m walking on the sidewalk?
Hey Tom, I just want to ensure you that you are definitely not alone by not being able to walk in a straight line. I also fear to one angle, however sometimes I do walk pretty straight right down the middle of the sidewalk. Where I am currently training with my orientation and mobility instructor the sidewalks are typically surrounded by a fence on one side and light poles and trees on the other with the street. If I walk too far to one side I either walk right into a light pole, tree, or out into the street, or if I walk in the other direction I walked right into a fence which does not feel good. I would say sometimes it is pretty difficult to walk in a straight line, I would just be very aware of the curb leading down onto the street, once you feel that curb be sure to go back the opposite direction so you’re not ending up out in the street.I don’t know if there’s an actual good solution to this, but it could be a conversation that I can have with my orientation and mobility instructor. I hope you’re doing well Tom, thanks so much for the comments :-)
Hi Matt Hi Corey how are you So Wonderful Video I'm so happy the training going Well with you and be more independent keeping going with the training you so good in it always WIsh you the Best and always more Success ❤❤
Thank you! The training is going well, it is exciting to see how much I have grown and the skills I have learned just in the last couple months since I started the training. Thank you for all your continued support and the amazing friendship, we wish you so much happiness and love from us! Huge hugs from Corey and me and thank you once again for the amazing and very special Christmas card, I just looked at it again today and love it! It is so sweet of you to think of us :-) have a wonderful day, lots of love from Corey and me. Matt
What’s up my BFF? What a great and informative video! I do have one question. When you are walking down the sidewalk, are you up against the building or in the middle of the sidewalk? Just curious. I actually learned a few things from you in this video. I feel inspired to do some training. I think I’m going to talk to my o NM trainer and talk to her about getting some training on crossing intersections. Man! Look at you You are really doing it! I can only imagine the freedom that you have now, oh Em Gee! I hope all is well with you. Tell Corey I said hello. And I’ll see you in the next video. I’m getting ready to look through all of these comments.
Hey my BFF! Wow, it is so great to hear from you again! Before I get into it, Corey says hi! She’s actually sitting here right next to me right now as I am responding to some comments and I told her you say hi, she says hi to you too! As for your question about walking down the sidewalk, I believe I am walking right down the middle, I am not hitting the building on my right or falling off the curb to my left, so I will just assume I am down the middle. LOL. The nice thing about walking next to a building is the reverberation of the tapping of the cane gives excellent echo location so I can parallel the building without hitting it. I’m glad that you learned something from this video and will be talking to your instructor about learning how to safely cross intersections, I definitely think you should go forward with it. Just think, a few weeks ago I was scared to embark on the training and even do the most simple navigation independently, I can’t believe how much I have grown and learned in just the last few weeks since I started the training. I’m excited to see how much more my skills will improve and how much more independence I will gain as a result. Let me know how your conversation goes with your counselor, I would love to hear more about it. I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend, thanks again for watching this and for reaching out, I always enjoy reading your comments! Matt
Hey Josh! It is great to hear from you, you are welcome. I’m glad that you enjoyed the video! It can definitely be scary, but with the necessary skills we can definitely accomplish it. I’m not sure if you saw my video from a few days ago, but I am doing a self-promotional project where if you send me a video clip, I will promote you and your channel. If you would like to participate, I would love to see a video from you. Check out that video from a few days ago it is titled something along the lines of, 2020 self-promotional project. Thanks Josh! Matt
Hi Matt 💪 that's cool bud, I know with me being visually impaired crossing intersections I have to really look hard left to make sure I'm not getting hit by cars. I found the medical name of my blindness it's called heminopsia . You handled that like a boss my baby faced friend. Take care guys
Hi friend! Yes crossing streets can be a little bit tough as someone who is visually impaired, but we just need to utilize the skills that we have learned to do it safely. I’m glad that you enjoyed the video and that you think I handled it like a boss. LOL :-) I hope your baby face is staying nice and soft with how cold it is! LOL, by the way, nice bicep! ;-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire lol yeah I hear ya, yeah I use my shave butter from DSC ensuring my baby face is as soft as a babies bottom lmao. Yeah your too cool Matt hope your staying warm too although it's been a mild winter here one snowfall and the rest rain noooo! Lol
LOL, you are so funny! Glad that you are staying warm and the winter is going well for you. Ours was pretty nice up until recently, it has become very cold. My baby face is all prickly now. LOL flex by seven
@@BlindtoBillionaire LOL I'm still awaiting to see how prickly your face can actually be LMAO. Me and my big mouth now we have four to six inches of snow coming Saturday💪🤪
One of these days I’m going to grow a huge nasty beard and then you’ll see my video and think, what happened to Matt, there is a lumberjack on his video! LOL ;-). We are supposed to get 6 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow, so you will probably be getting the same storm as us on Saturday! Poor baby face. LOL
Tech of The Blind Wonder why it was named as such. Truncated dome? They are called Tenji Blocks in Japan. Literally meaning Braille Blocks. So grateful for them! Mariko
Hello! That is a great good question, I wondered the same thing myself. That is interesting the name for them in Japan. I never understood the value until recently, now I love those bumps! LOL :-)
Ricky Zoom 357 congratulations! That is very exciting. It definitely is scary, but I am excited for you and the accomplishments you were making. I have only done it a couple times and it is definitely scary. Good job! Thank you for sharing your successes :-) Matt
Excellent video for your first time crossing intersections you seem like you’ve been doing it for quite a a while already. LOL are you sure you’ve never done Cain travel before. Thanks for the shout out much appreciated always here if you need advice or to vent frustration
Hey my friend! Thanks for watching, glad you checked it out! LOL, no, I have never done the intersection crossings before. This is literally my first time training with intersections! I’m glad you gave me the approval and think that I did well. LOL. You’re welcome for the shout out, it has been a long time coming expert! Sounds great, I will keep it in mind anytime I want to vent or cry on someone’s shoulder. LOL ;-) have a great night, thanks again for being such an awesome friend. MATT
I could be wrong but i think people are trained slightly different depending on what is best suited for that individual, also depending on wich cane they preffer? I have a trifold cane but never had any training
Hi! Thank you very much for watching this video and for the comment. I completely agree with you, I think the training is individualized to some extent as well as a little bit different depending on the trainer. So yes, I think you are absolutely correct in saying that it is a little bit different for everybody based on multiple different factors. I appreciate you watching this video and reaching out to me, your support and friendship on this channel means so much! Thank you again, I look forward to hearing from you again sometime soon. Matt
@@jordanmahonytheblindworld8483 i thought it would be different for each person as i guess it all depends on how the individual would feel more comfortable in how they use their stick & negotiate their surroundinds etc... there are probably some certain guidelines to stay within but everybody has their own way of doing things :-) thanks for your reply
Hello! A big hello to you too! LOL, you can be nervous but do not bite your nails off. LOL ;-) hope you’re having a great day! It is so cold here :-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire Good morning! It's cold my way as well. I believe it's 28 degrees here. Don't worry, I won't bite my nails off!! 🤣 Hope you you're having a great day as well! 🙂👍
Hi, yes, we did onefour-way stop the last session I had. I would say it was relatively easy because there was not very much traffic and as I approach the intersection I was able to assess what type of intersection it was. I hope that answers your question. Thanks again :-) Matt
Hi, thank you so much for watching this video. I think it’s great you were looking for someone to teach you orientation and mobility. I would highly recommend going through with the training and getting the skills, I think you’ll find it to be life-changing. Thanks again for watching him for reaching out to me. If you have any additional questions, you were always welcome to contact me. Thanks again for being here, your support means a lot to me. MATT
I m just legally blind and everything to me is like a camera out of focus and am terrified to use a cane , I would feel better getting a seeing eye dog , I am still trying to adjust to do things outdoors but hopefully will get there eventually , Thank you for giving me hope that I can have a normal life for the most part without normal vision 😁👍✌
Hi, thank you so much for watching this video. Yes you can definitely live a mostly normal life even without vision. It may take a little while to adapt and learn all of the skills and techniques, but you can absolutely still do it. Either way, I’m still here for you if you ever need to reach out and talk about anything, that is why I have this channel to connect with people going through vision loss. I think so much, I hope you’re doing well :-) Matt
Matt are you always with someone like Corey? Or do you go out your yourself sometimes? If so please be careful because there are people who will take advantage of you or even hurt you!! Please be careful I don’t want you to get hurt by criminals. You are too nice!!!
Great job my friend, great job!!!
When crossing streets, always be cautious but never be afraid because sometimes fear will take over and then you are more apt to making mistakes. I'm like you man, sometimes I will wait a few cycles and cross a street with traffic and you are absolutely right Matt, the bigger the intersection the easier to cross due to more traffic. You have come a long ways my dear friend and as you continue on this incredible journey of independence know that we are all proud of you!
Hey dog, I could not agree with you more! Sometimes it is smart to just stand back and let a few cycles go through the light to get a better understanding of the flow of traffic before crossing. We just need to rely on our skills and go for it when the time is right. When there is opportunity, execute! Thank you, I cannot believe how far I have, and just the last couple of months, it is incredible. Thanks again David, I could not have done all this without all of the support from amazing people like you. Thanks for being my friend :-) Matt
Hey Sweetcheeks - haha. Terry here. Loved your video. Matt, the time you have been O&M training has simply flown by. I remember, not so long ago, you struggled so much to go by yourself to the mailbox - look at you now! I am super chuffed for you and so proud too.
here in the UK, what you call curb cuts we call down curbs and up kerbs. I agree, the tactile paving by a crossing is massively helpful, its amazing how I rely on them since sight loss, whereas before, I paid them no attention at all. At our crossing, the vast majority of them have , like a little spinner - you know where you hot the button , and you would wait for the walk sign, and the audio walk, walk, walk. Here, the light turns green, and we have beeping - BUT, at the bottom of the box, there is a plastic cone shaped thing that when the lights turn green, the spinner spins around, so, we put two fingers on the spinner, then when it spins, we know its good to cross - so helpful.
A problem we have here at crossings is that many pedestrians dont wait for the green light, they see a small gap, and they go for it, before the lights change, so, I dont trust people beside me to pace me across the road lol. I think people are better behaved in your part of The World haha.
Do you have the same concerns that a lot of us do about electric cars, as they are silent - they are passing law now that they have to have an artificial noise generated at low speeds, so, it gives us a better chance at hearing them
Anyway, great, as always to see you, and love to you and the lovely Corey x x
Hey buttercup! LOL :-) thank you, I’m so happy that you enjoyed the video! I always enjoy hearing from you, each each time we release a video, I always anticipate your comment! We just love talking with you so much!I agree with you, prior to the training, I never paid all that much attention to the bumps at the curb cuts, but now that I have been paying attention with the training, I find them to be very helpful. I love the beeping on the stop lights and the sign that says walk, walk, walk. That is very helpful although they were not present in the city that I was training. I have never heard of the spinning cone on the light, but I love that concept, that is so smart! I told Corey about it and she thinks it is such a cool idea also. I think we should move it to the UK! Do you have any room, can we live with you? Move over and snuggle bug. LOL ;-) I agree with you about electric cars, and very low speed‘s they make almost 0 noise, they need to be moving out somewhat of a quick pace in order to make some road noise. I think it would be smart to have some type of noise maker on the car at lower speeds. Thanks again for watching and for the very nice words, huge virtual hug‘s and tons of love to you from Corey and me :-) MATT
@@BlindtoBillionaire Hahaha - my little barm cake, there is always room here for you two lol. I rather think there is so much more going on and to look forward to at your part of the world than here in the uk though lol
Have a fabulous weekend my two little snuggle bugs lol x
Hi dad! :-) LOL. I am not sure why I just called your dad, but it sounded fun :-) LOL. It would be so much fun to meet you and to visit you! We would have way too much fun together, you are such an awesome and fun person! I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend, I was just thinking of you and wanted to respond to your last comment! I’m not sure if I mentioned this to you already, but if you are interested, I am doing the self promotional project once again this year, if you would like to submit a video, I would love to feature you and your channel! I think you have so much to offer and you’re an amazing person. Have a nice day and see you soon :-) huge hugs, Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire hahaha - OMG... Dad! lol ( mind you, I am old enough to be hahahaha )
I have meeting you and Corey on my bucket list my little poppet :-). It would be awesome for sure - I think my cheeks will ache from laughing so much.
Oh, thanks for the reminder Matt, I will try get a short promo done in the next few days - thats very good of you.
I am attempting to get my home a little smarter starting from tomorrow - I have bought lots of different things like lights, alarms, sensors etc - so, I will have fun seeing what I can achieve - as well as a lot of frustration no doubt getting everything set up. I was always one of those boring people who loved to read all of the product manuals that come with them, and I thought that was no longer possible for me, BUT, course, you can get most product manuals online now too - so, my screen reader takes care of that for me. My son always used to laugh at me, saying, Dad, just plug it in and play with it, instead of reading every word from cover to cover ha
Anyway my lovelies - Have a wonderful Sunday, and I catch ya later x
Hi! That sounds like a lot of fun making your house a smart house with all of the fun technology. LOL, yeah you definitely don’t need to read all of the manuals anymore, I agree with your son, just plug it in and start using it, I feel like that is the best way to learn a new piece of technology. Perfect, I look forward to your promotional video! We also think it would be so much fun to meet you, I’m sure that will happen at some point! Have a nice day, I hope all goes well for you and as always, I look forward to hearing from you again :-) Matt
Thank you Matt for sharing your experiences. Sometimes I use the white cane, especially if I go to a new place or a place with a lot of stairs. Sometimes drivers react to a person using a white cane but sometimes there is people out there that do not stop or stop the car in front of us blocking our way. I think that videos like this are beneficial not only for people with visual limitations but for sighted people too, to educate them about the challenges we go through. Thanks again my friend.
Hey Raphael! Thank you, I always enjoy reading your comments. I’m glad to hear that you use a white cane sometimes especially when going to a new location or one with a lot of stairs. I completely agree, videos like this are not only helpful to people in the blind and visually impaired community, but also for sighted people to be more aware. I agree, some people definitely do not pay attention, but that again is one of the reasons why we have the white cane and put that out into the road first, hopefully people will see it or worst-case scenario they will hit the cane versus us. Either way, we definitely need to educate more people about the blind and visually impaired. Thanks again my friend :-) Matt
Yep! It's true. I am sighted and I'm enjoying the learning process of how blind people get around independently and how they live independently as well. You guys are fascinating 😊
You're amazing Matt and Corey for caring so much about others! May God richly bless you!!
Matt, I am so proud of you! I am sharing this on my Facebook page.
Hi Kim! Thank you, that is so incredibly nice of you to say! Also, thank you for sharing this video :-) have a wonderful day, it’s always so nice to hear from you! Matt
Hello math and good morning ! Another 3:00 a.m. for me and i am very happy i waited . Thank you for this very interesting and detailed post . I really hate myself now for not thinking about sharing your channel and all your videos to my local organization . I am sure they will be able to share it to the people who needs to see them the most . Especially my low vision specialist . Thank you so much again and hugs and kisses from manila philippines
Hi my amazing friend! Thank you so much for watching this video and for staying up to watch it! That is so incredibly thoughtful and sweet of you to do! I really enjoy hearing from you :-) I think you can still share the video with your group over there, I think they would absolutely love it. Thank you so much for sharing, I think they would find a lot of these videos and this channel to be helpful. Thanks for being such an amazing friend, have a wonderful day and thank you once again for staying awake to watch this video! Huge hugs and kisses, Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire i am more grateful to you mad . If not for you and this channel i feel so terribly alone . I said literally am but now at least every time you post a video and i read the comment it makes me feel like i have people who are going through the same thing like i am . It really helped me a lot . And i'm sure it will help more when i share this with my local organization . No worries about that it is my honor to be able to introduce them to your channel .
Thank you, that is such a special comment! You are definitely not alone, I am here for you anytime you need me! I’m so happy that you found this community and that you are part of it, it makes me so happy to know that you enjoy the content and the connections that you have here :-) just know that you’re never alone, I’m always here for you :-) Matt
Great job Matt
Thank you! It is scary to cross a busy intersection like that strictly based on what I hear, but that is also where the skills come into play. Thanks for watching :-)
Matt, I am a sighted driver and your cane is very hard to miss. Just as it's your job to avoid getting hit, it's also the driver's job to stay alert for anyone blind crossing the road or street. And it is a crime if a driver was to hit you. It goes both ways. Just some info for you. I'm glad you're doing well.😊❤
Hi Matt Great video x You are doing a great job x 🙂
Thank you Tony! It is exciting to continue learning new skills and expanding on my skill level! Thank you so much for watching and for the very kind words as always! :-) Matt
Well done! Big smiley!! True the busier the easier at controlled traffic lights. Also sometimes there will be aggressive right turn on red light people in your parallel flow. They can fool you sometimes at less busy intersections or just non stop prevent you getting enough parallel flow to cross during high traffic times, when the parallel flow is up close to you. At times like these, sometimes I have changed my strategy and gone the other way to triple cross my way completely around the intersection to used the oncoming other parallel traffic to block those right on red turners for me. It just means I have to stay hyper focused for three consecutive crossings and not the jump the gun, or be too slow either. It's a strategy that can help though. Two nights ago I had to keep waiting through three complete light cycles to get a good enough flow of traffic to tell what was happening and that there was enough time left on the light. Some of left hand turn traffic was missing from the orchestration just long enough to make it too hard to tell. I always stay back and listen to unfamiliar intersections for a long time, gathering information. I like make sure I can know if it is a one way traffic situation at any of the points like downtown will sometimes have, or two way traffic as usual. Some intersections can be a little skewed like an X instead of a plus sign at right angles. I try to hear my line of parallel traffic whether it is coming towards me or going along with me. I feel like the ones coming towards me can see me, better, than those coming along with from behind my shoulders. So I keep listening over my shoulder for any straggling late left turners at the end or when my oncoming parallel traffic is sparse or peters out. To this day, I hyper focus in case I can hear a car doing something that isn't ordinary. I might can hear it and avoid it until it has cleared the area. It was four years before I tried to cross a divided highway intersection with yield lanes. I still am nervous every time but it helps me stay alert, and aware, a segment at a time. I'm very excited and proud of you❣️ Very excited that Corey could watch and tape as well. I had a very good friend that was like Corey, absorbing the nuances as we went along so that over time what seemed like a puzzle to explain became easier for her to intuitively pick up on for informational purposes or so I could tell her where I found what seemed to be a sudden empty swimming pool (that thank goodness I found with my cane) in the pavement near a service station after a difficult underpass crossing, and she could look at it and help me explore it again later from a different vantage point. Confirming my findings, and adding more stuff I might want to know, but never stopping me from venturing out. ❤️ 🥳🎉💞
Hi! Thank you so much for your very nice words. Thank you for sharing your stories and experiences as well, I always enjoy listening to the information that you have to share because I learned so much from you since you are an experienced Kane traveler. I like how you stand back at intersections and assess the situation before approaching a crossing. I like how you hang out and engage the flow of traffic as well as get an understanding of what is going on especially if it is a new intersection for you. I think that is very smart. Thank you for the tips and tricks, it is always nice to have a host of different options when approaching one of these situations. Thank you once again for the very nice words, I sincerely appreciate it! Matt
As you were talking about crossing the street and listening to the engines roar, it's really taking a leap of faith. My other thought was cars don't roar like the muscle cars of my youth. Any more, the roar comes from the sound systems (a car that went behind the house one time shook the house so much one of the family pictures fell off of the wall!).
I still have some vision, enough to know the drivers around here are 90% of the time are in la la land. Parking lots scare me, too. I've loved watching you learn and your sharing gives me courage to try new things.
I got the call from VERC yesterday. lol, Lord help me, the new lady wants to do a home visit and evaluation, because she doesn't know if she'll work with me or if she'll pawn me off on someone else. sigh... And she gets off at noon on Fridays. We'll see what happens next Friday.
You keep learning and growing. I'm proud of your willingness to get out of your comfort zone and share your experiences.
Hi! As always, thank you for watching this video! Oh yes, we need to use the roar of the engines to help us out with our navigation. Especially in situations like this, it is sometimes our only indication of when it is time to go. But I completely agree with you, crossing intersections and parking lots can definitely be scary. You are welcome, I’m happy to be able to share my experiences and come out of my car comfort zone to help other people go through the transition and make the leap into going forward with this training. It sounds like your experience with the agency handling your training is similar to mine, it took forever and of the run around it with everybody passing everything off. LOL, that is what you get with government agencies. But oh well, it will eventually all work out as everything always does, it may just take a while. I hope you find someone that works well with you, you seem like a great person and I’m sure he would be very easy to work with :-) hope you’re having a great evening, MATT
@@jordanmahonytheblindworld8483 Behind my house is an entrance ramp to a highway. I hear all kinds of engines! Some just make me think of a whiny baby. My husband loved the 60s muscle cars. A lot of our dating and early marriage revolved around cars and car shows. There is a big difference in the rumble of one of those powerful motors and anything newer on the road these days.
I do have access to the local bus system here. They come to my door to pick me up and walk me to the door of where I'm going. They also have an uber like service for a little more, still door to door service.
The first video I watched of yours was a "how to use a white cane" video, and you even mention in that video that you have never had O&M training, so it is truly awesome to be able to watch you go through it. You should be proud of yourself and the fact that you are encouraging a lot of people to take that step (no pun intended!)
Hi! Thank you so much for watching this video. That is interesting my very first video that you saw was talking about how to use the cane. It is probably very interesting for you to see the transformation. Back then I have no idea how to even use it, but just demonstrated how I used it even though it was improper. I have definitely learned a lot over the last few sessions that I have had it with my instructor, it has been amazing and I learned so much as well as increased my freedom and independence which is my goal. Thanks so much for being such a great and loyal friend! It truly means so much to me! I’m glad that I can be offering this content and give me the support and encouragement to others to go through with the training :-) have a great day and thank you once again
This video is so phenomenal Matt. Not only can you describe exactly what you are doing and all of the different skills and techniques you are using, but you also have a great clips showing you putting your words into actions. You have made so much progress I think you are on the advanced track and I would not have any clue what to do if I encountered snow? That is the reason I avoided training in New Jersey during the winter months. I think there must be not only an art to walking in the snow but probably a science as well. Your auditory skills are so, so well developed for someone who has only been in mobility for a few sessions. You are just doing outstanding and I am so proud of you and very proud to call you my friend Love, Beverly
Hi Beverly! Wow, once again, and amazing comment! There’s so much that I want to say in reply response to you. Yes, there is definitely an art and a science when navigating in the snow with the cane. As I like to say it to Corey and my trainer, when navigating through the snow there’s so much unnecessary feedback I am getting from the cane. We are navigating through a clear sidewalk when there is no snow, any feedback I am getting is from some type of obstacle I would like to avoid. However, we are navigating through the snow there are obstacles as well as clumps of snow which give me false signals. I hope that makes sense. LOL.I can’t believe how much I have learned and advanced in just a few sessions I have had with my trainer, it is absolutely incredible and amazing! Just a couple short months ago I never even would’ve thought about walking to the mailbox, now it is not even a thought, I would just grab my cane and go do it with no problem at all. I would have no problem navigating around the mall, around the neighborhood, or even going into an area as shown in this video and crossing a few streets to find a store. It’s just amazing, I never would’ve done there’s just a couple months ago. Even thought about it would have freakedI’m not sure if you saw my video from the other day, but I am bringing back the self promotional project for this year. The video is titled something along the lines of, 2020 self-promotional project. I would love to have you participate again if you are interested, I would love to feature you and your channel once again! Thanks again Beverly, we are so happy and grateful to know you and have you as a friend as well!
Blind to Billionaire hi Matt, yes I did see the video about the promotional clips and I do plan to send something within the parameters, if I can get it in by the deadline. I absolutely love reading through all of your comments from other blind individuals with varying degrees of mobility proficiencies. You have definitely made such great advances and it is very interesting to me, to hear and understand how you navigate through snow. I have had absolutely no training with the cane and snow but on an unexpected trip to the north east, early last February, it snowed the entire time we were there and Gretchen had obviously had training and did an excellent job of guiding me in unfamiliar surroundings. You are just being such an awesome example by showing this community, what is possible. You are so brave and I’m know that you can feel that emotion, after postponing mobility training for so long and now, finally experiencing the independence. And I might be your most excited viewer and cheerleader because, deep down inside, I knew you would do it! You are just doing fantastic!
Hi Beverly! Happy Friday :-) thank you for all of your very kind words, it truly means so much to me! It is very exciting to be learning the skills, I never realized how much it would change my life, but it certainly has it just like the iPhone! Navigating with snow definitely creates a brand new set of challenges, but if we can do it in the winter, it just makes it that much easier when there is no snow on the ground. Thank you for being so supportive, it truly does mean a lot to me! I am happy you will submit a video, I’m excited to promote you and your channel once again! I think you have so much valuable inch for Maisch and to share with the people in this community. I am happy to have this channel and put myself out there to show other people what is possible and to give them the encouragement to go through with the training or anything else they desire in life. Have a nice afternoon and weekend, see you again very soon :-) Matt
Good stuff here Matt on crossing busy intersections using a white cane. As I watched your tutorial, I remember one particular orientation and mobility session with my instructor while attending Hines blind center.
While using a blindfold to practice navigating extremely busy enter city intersection. Feeling the openness of the intersection, sounds or the traffic. Crossing traffic, traffic coming to a stop, traffic accelerating through the intersection, etc. As I heard the crossing traffic stop, a voice tells me to walk. I presented my white cane as I had been instructed to do on several occasions. As a way of notifying others my intention of entering the intersection before attempting to cross the intersection. Much to my bewilderment a driver decided to make a right turn and hit the tip of my white cane. After sharing a few colorful superlatives with the inattentive driver that just hit my blind person cane. At which time my O.M. instructor found it prudent to review with me, drivers often are not paying attention and it's my responsibility to maintain my composure.
Hi! It is so interesting hearing about your experiences with crossing busy intersections when navigating with your cane. Thanks for watching this video, it is nice to hear the perspective of somebody else who is also going through the same situations. Yes we definitely need to pay attention at all times as we are only relying on our hearing to cross the street safely and we need to assume that the other people are possibly not paying attention. That is scary, but I’m glad they just hit your cane versus you. Thanks so much for watching, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. Matt
Wow! You are doing so great! I still get nervous crossing streets even with my dog. Thank you for posting your video it was so good to see how you are doing.
Hi! Thank you so much for watching the video and for all of the encouragement. Crossing streets can definitely be a stressful time as we are only relying on our ears and the other people to see us in order to cross safely. I’m glad that you enjoyed the video, this was a fun one! Thanks so much for your continued friendship and support :-) Matt
Matt, many things that you are describing with your training are the same ways that my orientation and mobility instructor is teaching me!
Hey Ryan, that is amazing that you were also learning the same thing with your instructor! That is so cool, we are like blind brothers! LOL. By the way, I am responding to this so quickly this is basically a live chat ;-) LOL hope all is well :-) Matt
Awesome, Matt! Intersections are really scary, aren't they? No matter how skilled we get at crossing, I think we always have to be on high alert. Speaking of which, I almost crossed the street today when it was not my turn to cross. Good thing I caught myself in time and backed up. Scary! Mariko
Hi! Thank you so much for watching the video. Yes, crossing some intersections can definitely be scary. Considering we are only relying on our ears to engage the flow of traffic and across safely. It can definitely be scary situation. I’m so glad that you were able to back up when you recognized you were about to cross when it was not your turn. Stay safe! Thanks for being such an amazing friend :-) Matt
Matt, since the time I have become apart of your channel, you have blossom into a butterfly! You have accomplished so much and you are crushing goals one day at a time. You are such an inspiration!!!
I too need to get motivated for 2020 as well!!! 🥳🥳🥳
Thank you, that is so incredibly nice and thoughtful of you to say! It is exciting! Although the training can be tough, it is fun to continue learning new skills each session :-) have a wonderful day and thanks for being such an amazing friend. Matt
I gotta say, I thoroughly enjoyed that! You gotta have Corey film and narrate more outings! Please! It really helps me to be aware of what a vip person might need or do. Just the sweeping of the cane. I never thought about that. I will be more aware if a person has a cane. They need space respectfully.
Moved onto my next guide dog in training. Hoping to launch instagram on Valentines with lots of guide dog pups to post about!
Thank you Corey and Matt! Well done. 80 degrees, here!😉
Hi! As always, thank you so much for watching this video. I appreciate the feedback and suggestions about future videos. We would love to do more in field videos like this rather than always sitting at the table like TV anchors. LOL. I appreciate your feedback so much! Wow, 80° there? We need to come down and visit, I think the high temperature today was 4°. It is cold and miserable here. We are supposed to get a bunch of snow tomorrow, we will be trapped here for the weekend. We may get out to the gym tomorrow morning, but that is about it. We will definitely do more videos because this one is producing a lot of positive feedback and we want to do as much as we can to help in anyway. Thank you once again, enjoy the weather, I am incredibly jealous! :-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire For me it was great to have a better understanding from your perspective. All of us who are sighted could say in love that we all would have some form of fear. You are the brave ones. Not us. I would have the hardest time blindfolded for a day even in my home, but God would have a great laugh.
Worked out today. Push muscles tomorrow. Not in any snow temps, though. Thanks again Matt! Thanks for freezing your fingers off Corey and recording the video. Two frozen thumbs up!
Thank you, I really appreciate the feedback. It helps a lot to give us an idea of what type of content you enjoy so we can do more. That’s great you got in a nice workout today! Good work, we also went to the gym which was nice. We will be thinking of you and the weather while we are stuck inside the house all day tomorrow. Enjoy the warmth and sunshine for us!
Go you! I know how good it feels to cross your first huge intersection like that, you did it! By the way, I have no idea why but those little things that are rough that are near the curb or called truncated dome‘s. I have no clue who came up with that but it is a really weird name. Also, glad you have the extra tall cane, because that will clear more as you are crossing such streets. You did a really good job of explaining things.
Thank you! That means a lot to me coming from you. You were one of the people that was encouraging me for so many months to go through with the training and promising that it would give me so much freedom and independence, you were absolutely correct! Thank you for all the encouragement. It truly means so much to me! It was scary, but applying the skills that I learned from my trainer helped a lot and allows me to build confidence. Thank you once again :-) Matt
Hi Matt. The techniques you talked about sound like the techniques I learned in mobility. It’s always a good idea to be constantly aware when you’re out crossing streets so you don’t miss anything, especially when you can’t see it and you’re by yourself. As you get more used to it, you’ll be able to toon out the background noise and toon into the traffic. It sounds weird but it gets easier. I actually prefer when the traffic is on my left side instead of the right. It’s mostly because I can hear out of my left ear a little better and I tend to veer to the right when I cross streets. It might be because I’m left-handed but I don’t know for sure.
Hey Tiffany! Thank you for watching the video. It is nice to hear that what I was talking about in this video is consistent with what you were learning during your training. I agree with you, for some reason I really like when the traffic is on my left side versus my right, not sure why that is but I just feel so much more comfortable. I agree with you, the flow of traffic is definitely instrumental in safely crossing the street, you would think that unless travel the road would be easier, but not necessarily. Thanks again for watching, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend :-) Matt
Great job explaining how you do this. You are reaching goals and doing such a good job. Busy intersections scare the crap out of me lol. My anxiety goes through the roof
Good morning David! I agree with you, intersections like this can definitely be very scary. We just need to remember to implement the skills that we have learned to safely cross the street. But yes, they can definitely be very intimidating. Thanks for your very nice words, have a wonderful Friday! Matt
great vid .. one added thing i do is point with my free hand untill im around half way across ... just some added visual for the drivers to notice me at busy intersections.. also shared
Hi Neil! That is a great strategy. I apologize for my ignorance, can you please elaborate what you pointed out when you were walking across the intersection? Do you point at your cane, the cars, or the curb you are walking to? Again, I apologize for my ignorance I’m just curious what your point is so I have an idea so I can possibly implement this as well to gain more attention. Thanks :-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire Basically just stick my free arm straight out ahead of me, and point that direction I find it just makes me more noticeable to drivers ( again some people don't see the cane) that way and they have a little more patience
Good morning Neil, that makes sense. Thank you for elaborating! It is nice to hear the strategies you use since you are a seasoned and proficient cane user. Thanks again for the tips! Matt
Even though I have some vision I use to hesitate with the parallel traffic and miss the timing.
Hi, that makes sense. It definitely can be a little bit concerning at times when we are just relying on our hearing to make sure it is safe to crossing intersection. Thanks so much for watching. Matt
Hello Jordan. Thank you so much for your kind words. This is the very first time that I have read all of the comments. Hopefully, I will be able to keep it up. However, I will be looking for your name. Thank you again, for your response. :-)
Good morning! That was very nice of you to reach out to Jordan, he has been a great friend here on the channel for quite a while. Thank you! Have a wonderful Sunday. Matt
Hey bud, Fantastic description of you crossing streets. Over the many years, I have had several canes broken because of someone turning right into me but running over my cane. This all happened in Los Angeles when I lived there and one time I actuall plowed into a brand new Mercedes 560 SL at the intersection of Westwood blvd. and Wilshire blvd in the West L.A. area near UCLA where I attended university. I ended up putting a huge dent into the drivers door bcs he was all the way in the cross walk and someone later told me that the car still had dealer plates on it so the car had just recently been purchased. :) This is a very wealthy part of L.A. and the guy in the Mercedes got out of his can and was very apologetic to me and noticed that my cane had snapped in half because it went under his door panel and my momentum snapped the cane as I plowed into his door. He pulled out some money and handed it to me and just kept on apologizing and asked if I was okay. By now, this intersection had come to a total stop because of this. When I got home I asked my college roommate how much money this guy gave me and it was a thousand bucks. Dude, this was 1982, that was a lot of money. :) Anyway, thought I would share this story with you and your subs. Keep up the awesome videos, your content has much value. Cheers!
Good morning! Wow, thank you so much for sharing that story! So I think the moral of the story is, if I ever anticipated there is a Mercedes in front of me, walk full speed right into the drivers door. LOL, is that what you were trying to tell me? LOL. A fistful of cash sounds great to me!. LOL, I love the story, thank you for actually somewhat of a funny but similar story, yesterday Corey and I went to the gym to work out, I walked into the locker room and hit a guy with my cane almost right away, he stepped aside and basically just stood there apologizing over and over, I was just thinking, I actually hit you with my cane. LOL. I always feel bad when I come in contact with somebody, but it is funny how they are the ones apologizing. Thanks so much for the very encouraging words, that means a lot to me! Have a nice Friday! Talk soon :-) MATT
Blind to Billionaire Yeah, runninginto people with your cane is going to happen a lot. By far, the most embarrasing times is when you go into a public bathroom and are looking for a urnal and your cane touches someone already standing at the urnal. :) Their back is turned to you so they are thinking, what the heck so I always try to lighten the awkwardness by saying, sorry man, I'm blind but now you can go home and tell your friends and family that you were attack in a bathroom by a blind guy. :) I'm a 53 year old blind expert and still get embarrassed when I bump into someone or something awkward happens with my cane... It's just part of the blind life and just remember that 1. You can see their disgust or horror or embarrassment and 2. You'll never see them again.
That is so true! LOL, I actually had that conversation with my trainer at one point when he was teaching me public restrooms. I said to him, how do I know that there is not someone standing there already, he basically just told me, he will figure it out, if somebody is there he will feel them. LOL. That is awkward but just like you said, it is part of being a blind or visually impaired. From my experience, everybody is very respectful and apologetic and situations when I accidentally hit them with the cane. LOL. In many situations it actually leads to a funny story just like you said. Thanks again for the great comment, I’ve enjoyed your stories :-) Matt
Being blind for 53 years I have tons of stories and that is part of what I want to share when I ever get my TH-cam channel started. The human interest of it all and just maybe, like you, sharing our day to day and life's experiences as a blind person can help somebody else. I meant to say before, again, how proud I am of you and how far you have come in such a short time with your orientation and mobility training. If you go back to your Thursday video, you were actually offering advise on a couple of occasions; oh how far you have come from the guy who nly 6 weeks or less was not sure you even wanted to do this cane training stuff and look at you now, teaching others about how to cross busy intersections safely. Maybe it is corney that I say I am proud of you but being 25 years older then you I feel like I have the right to be corny. Seriously though, I called you a rock star early on, if you recall, and you are proving me to be correct in that early assessment. I hope Corey is telling you how proud she is and I know that you now understand how important it is to have your own independence. Two thumbs my friend.Blind to Billionaire
Hey! Happy Saturday, thank you! You truly are an amazing friend. I truly do appreciate all of the encouragement, inspiration, and supportive words. I can’t even believe it, just a few weeks ago I was nervous to start the training and now look at me go. LOL. I have learned so much from my trainer, every time we meet I learn something so new and valuable. I feel like I’m getting so much independence every time we have a new session together. It’s amazing! I’ve only had about 14 or 15 session so far and this is how much I have learned. It’s so amazing! I’m excited for you to start your channel, I agree with you, even just one video if it changes one life or helps one person, it is totally worth it to me! Thanks once again, you truly are a very special friend! Hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday. Matt
Congrats Matt! Liked and shared the video hope you continue to having such a great time I’m still too nervous to give it a go myself
Hi, thank you! The training has been going very well, I can’t believe how much I have learned and how much I have expanded my independence and freedom since I started the training two months ago. It is very exciting. Thank you so much for sharing this video, hopefully others will find it to be helpful! Have a nice Friday and see you again soon :-) Matt
Great job Matt!
Just a little tip to help you out Matt, it is best to only cross a busy intersection when the parallel traffic is on your left. That way you can avoid the cars turning right in front of you. I usually figure ahead to which way would be best to navigate the streets to where I need to go
Made a little boo boo in that comment. I meant to say cross with the parallel Street on your right rather than you left. sounds like you've already got this down but I'm sorry
Great job Matt. I just started to learn echo location. Has your instructor introduced you to false surges. Roads with turning lanes scare me. My instructor told me he’s gonna scare the poop out of me next week. I may need therapy. Lol. Keep up the great work. Can definitely tell O and M is paying off for you and I.
Hey my friend! Thanks for watching the video. I agree with you, these intersections can be somewhat scary. I am not sure what false searches are, I have not been introduced to that yet. Echolocation is certainly something that is very helpful when navigating with the cane. I hope your instructor teaches you rather than scaring you. I feel like it is the instructors responsibility to teach you potentially all of the hazards rather than intentionally scaring you. Let me know how that goes, I would be interested to hear more about the session. Thanks again my friend, hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday :-) Matt
Blind to Billionaire yes he definitely teaches me. He’s a great instructor. He said that because I’ve told him crossing busy streets are scary to me. He has me wear blacked out glasses so I have to use my senses to travel. I trust him with my life.
Crossing busy streets can definitely be scary. I am glad that you trust him, I also trust my instructor. That is great
thanks again for the video. This is the kind of content I thought I would make for my channel, but because I am self-taught, I was afraid that my approach may not be acceptable to the community. It is reassuring to me that the approaches I use are very similar to the ones you were taught.
Hi, thank you for watching this video. I’m glad that the strategies out implemented and discussed in this video are similar to what you were taught yourself. That is very cool! Also, thank you for the video submission for the self-promotional project, it is great! I really enjoyed watching it. Thanks again for your support, have a nice Friday and see you soon. Matt
Hi Matt how are you?
I think crossing the street is one of the hardest things you can do has a person with vision lose. I’m I always aware of the risk that I or a driver could make a mistake.
One that I find scary is crossing a street With construction.
I use some of the same skills that you do when crossing the street I find that they are very helpful.
Hope you have a great day!
Hey my friend! I am doing well, how about you? It is so nice to hear from you again, I hope all is well! I completely agree, crossing the street is definitely somewhat difficult and nerve racking! Strictly based and relying on my hearing to cross the street can definitely be a difficult situation as I just need to assume that the cars will see me and stop. I can’t even imagine trying to cross the street with construction, that is definitely not something that I want to do. Especially if it is allowed in an area, I find that can also be difficult to because there are so many distractions and we rely on our hearing so much. Thanks again for watching this, I always enjoy hearing from you! Hope all is well, your friend, Matt
I’m so happy you are gaining confidence in your cane travel ability! I grew up using a cane and I still have anxiety about crossing the street.
I agree with safety in crossing in a group.
I also have great anxiety about Koda (my guide) dog getting hit. I’ve had more than one nightmare about it. I just hope I can handle it if something were to ever happen.
A growing problem though are the amount of electric and hybrid vehicles. These do not give off much sound. It’s hard to tell if they are there. I hope a solution can be found soon to relieve this problem.
Hi! Thank you for the very nice words. I agree, that would be very scary with the guy dog if something were to ever happen. That would be awful. I also agree with you about the highbred and electric vehicles, they are virtually soundless when moving very slowly. They need to be moving at somewhat of a quick pace in order to give us any sound from the road. It is definitely a problem, hopefully that there can be a solution at some point. Thanks again for watching this, I hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday and staying all warm! :-) MATT
You sound a lot more confident now you’ve done a few sessions buzzing for you mate big hugs take care
Hey my friend, yes I am definitely more confident now that I am learning the necessary skills. It has been really exciting to see the progression. Also, I am doing the self promotional project once again, if you would like to submit a video to promote your channel, I would love to see from you! Thanks my friend, Matt
Blind to Billionaire i said to my p.a on wed to do promo vid to you will sort mon now my friend buzzing for you awesom work buddy
Thanks my friend :-)
Hi Matt! I’m so happy your O&M training is going well, you look like a pro. I’ve been in the process of moving and had to catch up on a few of your videos. Hope you have a great weekend😁😁
britni gallina hey Brittany! Thank you, the orientation and mobility training is going very well! I cannot believe how much I have learned in the last 14 or fish 15 sessions that I have had. It has been absolutely life-changing and transformative! I’m so glad that I have gone through with the training even though it was incredibly stressful for the first few sessions. I am growing and expanding so much, it is nice. Not only that I amateur in my experience is here on this channel and inspiring and motivating other people to go through with the training. I perfectly understand you have been moving and not able to watch the videos right away, no worries at all, I am just happy to hear from you when I do! Thanks for watching and have a wonderful Saturday! Talk to you again soon :-) huge hugs, MATT
Hey new subscriber here! Great video! I like the way you explain things.
I have traveled on streets with audible pedestrian signals that’s what the beeping ones are called and I have traveled through intersections that do not. With the ones that do you have the audible signal that doesn’t really help in the way that you might think, just because cars can still turn even though the walk sign is up. Traffic will always be your best and most reliable source of information. They are definitely helpful for sure but they’re not to be relied on.
Hi! Thank you so much for watching this video and for subscribing, welcome to the channel and thank you so much for being here! I’m glad you enjoy this video and reached out with your perspective. I actually completely agree with you, the best source of information is the traffic, because at the end of the day as we both know, the traffic is what we are trying to avoid, not the stationary blinking light. So you are absolutely correct, monitoring and assessing the floor traffic is going to keep us safe rather than just going off of the signals from the signs. So happy you enjoyed this, I appreciated reading your message and learning from you. Thanks again for watching, see you on Thursday in the next
Hey bro it a good thing that you stay alert is very important skills
Well done my friend! I am a new subscriber who also is visually impaired. You, your wife, and your channel are awesome! Keep up the great work guys!!
Hi! Thank you so much for watching this video and for the very nice comment. I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the video and to have you as part of this community! Thank you for the nice words, I’m glad that you like my wife and me :-) thank you once again for being here, your friendship and support it means a lot to me! Have a nice day and I hope to hear from you soon :-)
@@BlindtoBillionaire One thing that I noticed in one your other videos was that you said that you pay a lot of attention to the financial world. I am a CNBC junkie lol! I would love to talk about the stock market with you some day! I trade stocks on my computer fairly actively.
Hey! That would be amazing, I would love to talk about the markets with you as well! For about four years I actively day treated the markets, I absolutely loved it but I cannot do it anymore due to my vision loss. We should definitely talk about it, that would be fun! Matt
Hey Matt, I feel you on the fear of crossing a street relying only on your hearing. I have a 55% hearing loss in my left ear that I actually recently had surgery on. Heading back to the doctor this next week to see how much hearing I’ve gotten back. But that has always been a hindrance since I was 18 years old for obvious reasons. We have to rely so much on our hearing with vision loss.
Good morning Cindy! I agree with you, we rely on our hearing so much, it is a little bit scary to only rely on our hearing when crossing busy intersections like this. But that is where the skills come into play, we just need to use the skills that we have learned in our training to do it properly and safely. I hope all goes well at your doctors appointment to test your hearing once again. I wish you the absolute best! Have a nice day and see you soon :-) we are supposed to get a bunch of snow today here in Minnesota, you will probably get it tomorrow! :-) Stay warm, Matt
Blind to Billionaire yep getting it tonight and into tomorrow as well.
It is just starting to snow here. Enjoy the weekend, and stay safe!
Blind to Billionaire thanks, you too. It’s not snowing here yet but it is like frozen tundra cold out.
Stay warm! It has been like that here too. We need to head south!
great video matt ☺️
Thank you Molly! I’m so happy you enjoyed the video. I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend :-) Matt
hi ☺️ i am well. how are you?
i think you are doing great ☺️
Good morning Molly! I am doing well, it is so nice to hear from you as always! Have a wonderful Monday, hope to see you in today’s video :-) hugs, Matt
WOW well done mate I am very proud of you well done keep it up and rock out with your white cane long cane and next will be shopping on your own and you can anything when you put your mind to it mate stay positive and I wish you the upmost best of luck mate 👏👏🤗
Thank you Richard! That is so nice of you to say. I hope all is going well with you, it is so nice to hear from you once again, you have been such an amazing friend and we have known you for so long! This is definitely a huge step for me, I know that you have been navigating with your white cane for a very long time and you have given me so much inspiration and support to go through with the training. I’m glad that I have because I have learned so much from my trainer in just the last couple months, it is absolutely amazing. I have gained so much independence at and freedom as a result! Thanks again for being such a great friend. Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire you are most welcome and it make me so happy and proud but I have been an inspiration to other people who have lost their eyesight for them to regain their freedom and they are independent and I hope you keep up the great work mate and soon you I can imagine you are logging on your own walking with your white cane long cane and keep up the amazing work and I have uploaded a couple of new videos mate I wish you the best of luck mate
Thank you Richard! You have definitely been a huge inspiration to me and giving me so much hope for the freedom and independence I can expect to obtain as a result of getting the training. Thanks for being such a supportive friend for so long! Have a nice Friday, thanks again. Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire you are most welcome mate kindest mr BLINDEXPLORER2226
hi Mat good vid a gd lot better
Hey my friend, thank you for watching! It is so great to hear from you, I hope all is well :-) Matt
Nice man
Thank you, that means a lot to me! It was scary but I’m glad I was able to do it :-)
Thanks for posting this video I'm visually impaired but did not need to use a cane until now. Crossing streets in Atlanta terrifies me because drivers don't pay attention to people who can see as they're walking on the sidewalk let alone someone useing a cane.
Hi! Thank you so much for watching this video and for the comment. You are very welcome, I’m glad to hear that this video was helpful to you. I’m glad to hear that you are using a cane to help navigate. It is nice to help navigation as well as identify with other people that you are low vision. Anytime you’re crossing a street, it is imperative to pay attention to the flow of traffic and always be aware that people may not see you, so be on high alert. Thanks so much for being here, your support means a lot to me! Have a wonderful day, I look forward to talking with you again soon. MATT
I’m curious how the curb cuts are aligned where you are. Out here in Seattle and vicinity, they’re lined up to point you right in the middle of the intersection. 😱
Some of the audible intersections here sound like a drive by is going on. Crossing the street is a huge stressor when I’m out. Just last week, some impatient driver nearly ran me over because they couldn’t wait for me to clear the crosswalk.
Hi! It depends on the intersection, some of the curb cuts lead you directly out into the middle of the intersection while others shoot you straight across. It totally depends on the intersection. I am not a fan of those that send a person out into the middle of the intersection. That is frustrating and scary with the person that was impatient the other day. I have a quick question for you, how close are you to the Seattle airport? Reason being, we will be there and have a layover in a couple months from now. If you are close to the airport, it would be awesome to meet you! :-) Matt
Blind to Billionaire I live almost in the center of the city, but the light rail here goes directly to the airport, which is roughly a half hour trip. Not that far at all. However, if your trip is in April, I will be out of town for most of the month.
I May have to speak to you over the phone or email sometime. my mobility instructor didn’t teach me something that’s kind of important and she told my counselor that I don’t need any more training. ever since I lost my vision completely seven months ago, whenever I am walking on the sidewalk, I can’t seem to walk in a straight line anymore. I tend to veer off to the left, or right, as I’m walking, and I haven’t figured out how to fix that problem yet. I tend to instead of walking a straight line I tend to veer off towards the street so before I know it I walk right into the middle of traffic. I didn’t used to do that when I was a partial, but now being completely blind, it’s like I can’t walk in a straight line on the sidewalk anymore. it’s especially difficult when I come up to a house that has a driveway where you don’t have the grass on the left side anymore to go by. my traffic skills have been pretty good crossing streets, but I can’t seem to walk in a straight line when I’m walking on the sidewalk. And I don’t know why this is. so I may have to talk to you about what you do so you can tell you’re walking in a straight line and not veering off to the right or left. When I lost my vision entirely, my mobility instructor told me to use constant contact technique, and maybe that’s part of the problem I don’t know. When I was a partial I did the tapping left and right technique along with all the other cane techniques they teach you, but she told me when I lost my vision completely I should use constant contact all the time. Well a problem with that is I’m hearing off to the right or left usually right out in the middle of traffic. So I don’t know what to do about that. when I lost my vision entirely, my mobility instructor told me to use constant contact technique, and maybe that’s part of the problem I don’t know. When I was a partial I did the tapping left and right technique along with all the other cane techniques they teach you, but she told me when I lost my vision completely I should use constant contact all the time. Well the problem with that is I’m hearing off to the right or left usually right out in the middle of traffic. So I don’t know what to do about that. it’s a little frustrating that my mobility instructor has told me that I don’t need anymore mobility training when I am doing that on a daily basis. it’s like OK do you want me to walk out in the middle of traffic every time I’m walking on the sidewalk?
Hey Tom, I just want to ensure you that you are definitely not alone by not being able to walk in a straight line. I also fear to one angle, however sometimes I do walk pretty straight right down the middle of the sidewalk. Where I am currently training with my orientation and mobility instructor the sidewalks are typically surrounded by a fence on one side and light poles and trees on the other with the street. If I walk too far to one side I either walk right into a light pole, tree, or out into the street, or if I walk in the other direction I walked right into a fence which does not feel good. I would say sometimes it is pretty difficult to walk in a straight line, I would just be very aware of the curb leading down onto the street, once you feel that curb be sure to go back the opposite direction so you’re not ending up out in the street.I don’t know if there’s an actual good solution to this, but it could be a conversation that I can have with my orientation and mobility instructor. I hope you’re doing well Tom, thanks so much for the comments :-)
Hi Matt Hi Corey how are you So Wonderful Video I'm so happy the training going Well with you and be more independent keeping going with the training you so good in it always WIsh you the Best and always more Success ❤❤
Thank you! The training is going well, it is exciting to see how much I have grown and the skills I have learned just in the last couple months since I started the training. Thank you for all your continued support and the amazing friendship, we wish you so much happiness and love from us! Huge hugs from Corey and me and thank you once again for the amazing and very special Christmas card, I just looked at it again today and love it! It is so sweet of you to think of us :-) have a wonderful day, lots of love from Corey and me. Matt
What’s up my BFF? What a great and informative video! I do have one question. When you are walking down the sidewalk, are you up against the building or in the middle of the sidewalk? Just curious. I actually learned a few things from you in this video. I feel inspired to do some training. I think I’m going to talk to my o NM trainer and talk to her about getting some training on crossing intersections. Man! Look at you You are really doing it! I can only imagine the freedom that you have now, oh Em Gee! I hope all is well with you. Tell Corey I said hello. And I’ll see you in the next video. I’m getting ready to look through all of these comments.
Hey my BFF! Wow, it is so great to hear from you again! Before I get into it, Corey says hi! She’s actually sitting here right next to me right now as I am responding to some comments and I told her you say hi, she says hi to you too! As for your question about walking down the sidewalk, I believe I am walking right down the middle, I am not hitting the building on my right or falling off the curb to my left, so I will just assume I am down the middle. LOL. The nice thing about walking next to a building is the reverberation of the tapping of the cane gives excellent echo location so I can parallel the building without hitting it. I’m glad that you learned something from this video and will be talking to your instructor about learning how to safely cross intersections, I definitely think you should go forward with it. Just think, a few weeks ago I was scared to embark on the training and even do the most simple navigation independently, I can’t believe how much I have grown and learned in just the last few weeks since I started the training. I’m excited to see how much more my skills will improve and how much more independence I will gain as a result. Let me know how your conversation goes with your counselor, I would love to hear more about it. I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend, thanks again for watching this and for reaching out, I always enjoy reading your comments! Matt
Hey Matt how’s everything going good job on explaining how to cross the street
Hey Josh! It is great to hear from you, you are welcome. I’m glad that you enjoyed the video! It can definitely be scary, but with the necessary skills we can definitely accomplish it. I’m not sure if you saw my video from a few days ago, but I am doing a self-promotional project where if you send me a video clip, I will promote you and your channel. If you would like to participate, I would love to see a video from you. Check out that video from a few days ago it is titled something along the lines of, 2020 self-promotional project. Thanks Josh! Matt
I did I will definitely send a self promotion I also have a open coming video of the ark
Hey Josh, that is great! Thank you :-) have a nice Friday, see you soon. Matt
Hi Matt 💪 that's cool bud, I know with me being visually impaired crossing intersections I have to really look hard left to make sure I'm not getting hit by cars. I found the medical name of my blindness it's called heminopsia . You handled that like a boss my baby faced friend. Take care guys
Hi friend! Yes crossing streets can be a little bit tough as someone who is visually impaired, but we just need to utilize the skills that we have learned to do it safely. I’m glad that you enjoyed the video and that you think I handled it like a boss. LOL :-) I hope your baby face is staying nice and soft with how cold it is! LOL, by the way, nice bicep! ;-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire lol yeah I hear ya, yeah I use my shave butter from DSC ensuring my baby face is as soft as a babies bottom lmao. Yeah your too cool Matt hope your staying warm too although it's been a mild winter here one snowfall and the rest rain noooo! Lol
LOL, you are so funny! Glad that you are staying warm and the winter is going well for you. Ours was pretty nice up until recently, it has become very cold. My baby face is all prickly now. LOL flex by seven
@@BlindtoBillionaire LOL I'm still awaiting to see how prickly your face can actually be LMAO. Me and my big mouth now we have four to six inches of snow coming Saturday💪🤪
One of these days I’m going to grow a huge nasty beard and then you’ll see my video and think, what happened to Matt, there is a lumberjack on his video! LOL ;-). We are supposed to get 6 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow, so you will probably be getting the same storm as us on Saturday! Poor baby face. LOL
Those numbs are also known as truncated dome
Hi, thank you for clarifying! That helps a lot, I wasn’t sure of the official name for those. LOL thank you. Matt
Tech of The Blind
Wonder why it was named as such. Truncated dome? They are called Tenji Blocks in Japan. Literally meaning Braille Blocks. So grateful for them! Mariko
Hello! That is a great good question, I wondered the same thing myself. That is interesting the name for them in Japan. I never understood the value until recently, now I love those bumps! LOL :-)
I did it today. Scary!
Ricky Zoom 357 congratulations! That is very exciting. It definitely is scary, but I am excited for you and the accomplishments you were making. I have only done it a couple times and it is definitely scary. Good job! Thank you for sharing your successes :-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire thanks,Matt!
Excellent video for your first time crossing intersections you seem like you’ve been doing it for quite a a while already. LOL are you sure you’ve never done Cain travel before. Thanks for the shout out much appreciated always here if you need advice or to vent frustration
Hey my friend! Thanks for watching, glad you checked it out! LOL, no, I have never done the intersection crossings before. This is literally my first time training with intersections! I’m glad you gave me the approval and think that I did well. LOL. You’re welcome for the shout out, it has been a long time coming expert! Sounds great, I will keep it in mind anytime I want to vent or cry on someone’s shoulder. LOL ;-) have a great night, thanks again for being such an awesome friend. MATT
I could be wrong but i think people are trained slightly different depending on what is best suited for that individual, also depending on wich cane they preffer? I have a trifold cane but never had any training
Hi! Thank you very much for watching this video and for the comment. I completely agree with you, I think the training is individualized to some extent as well as a little bit different depending on the trainer. So yes, I think you are absolutely correct in saying that it is a little bit different for everybody based on multiple different factors. I appreciate you watching this video and reaching out to me, your support and friendship on this channel means so much! Thank you again, I look forward to hearing from you again sometime soon. Matt
@@jordanmahonytheblindworld8483 i thought it would be different for each person as i guess it all depends on how the individual would feel more comfortable in how they use their stick & negotiate their surroundinds etc... there are probably some certain guidelines to stay within but everybody has their own way of doing things :-) thanks for your reply
Hey Dan, very well said! I agree with you :-) there are many ways that all of us are taught and many ways to accomplish the same goal :-)
A Big Hello, Matt!
I am biting my nails and crossing my fingers for you!!! You can do !!! 👨🦯🥳
Hello! A big hello to you too! LOL, you can be nervous but do not bite your nails off. LOL ;-) hope you’re having a great day! It is so cold here :-) Matt
@@BlindtoBillionaire
Good morning!
It's cold my way as well. I believe it's 28 degrees here.
Don't worry, I won't bite my nails off!! 🤣
Hope you you're having a great day as well! 🙂👍
Have you done any 4 way stops
Hi, yes, we did onefour-way stop the last session I had. I would say it was relatively easy because there was not very much traffic and as I approach the intersection I was able to assess what type of intersection it was. I hope that answers your question. Thanks again :-) Matt
hi there just saw your video it was awesome im looking for an O and M myself but do have to say im a little scared! thank you for shareing
Hi, thank you so much for watching this video. I think it’s great you were looking for someone to teach you orientation and mobility. I would highly recommend going through with the training and getting the skills, I think you’ll find it to be life-changing. Thanks again for watching him for reaching out to me. If you have any additional questions, you were always welcome to contact me. Thanks again for being here, your support means a lot to me. MATT
thank you so much!
You’re welcome, and thank you!
I m just legally blind and everything to me is like a camera out of focus and am terrified to use a cane , I would feel better getting a seeing eye dog , I am still trying to adjust to do things outdoors but hopefully will get there eventually , Thank you for giving me hope that I can have a normal life for the most part without normal vision 😁👍✌
Hi, thank you so much for watching this video. Yes you can definitely live a mostly normal life even without vision. It may take a little while to adapt and learn all of the skills and techniques, but you can absolutely still do it. Either way, I’m still here for you if you ever need to reach out and talk about anything, that is why I have this channel to connect with people going through vision loss. I think so much, I hope you’re doing well :-) Matt
Matt are you always with someone like Corey? Or do you go out your yourself sometimes? If so please be careful because there are people who will take advantage of you or even hurt you!! Please be careful I don’t want you to get hurt by criminals. You are too nice!!!