Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Hi there. I wanted to do a blindfolded drawing to see what it must be like for you guys. I found that I got bored pretty quickly... Blind redditors, do you often find yourself bored? How do you cope with it? (youtu.be)
submitted by bu33y0808
Amonwilde 12 points 6y ago
I don't think there's any more reason to be bored as a blind person than as a sighted person. You became bored during your exercise because you had another way of drawing that you could switch back to at any time that you can use without learning a new way of doing things. If you HAD to draw blind, and you wanted to draw, you'd hardly be bored...you'd be too busy figuring out how to do it. Frustrated, maybe, but hopefully that would be a temporary condition.
Seems to me like there are more blind painters than sketch artists...maybe that's what you should try?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_artists
Sculpting is another option.
Seems to me like there are more blind painters than sketch artists...maybe that's what you should try?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_artists
Sculpting is another option.
snow671 4 points 6y ago
Everyone gets bored. Try sculpting if you want to do art blindfolded.
Summer is here and I have been hiking and swimming. Listening to podcasts and baking on the rainy days. Work and family stress takes up the rest of my time.
Summer is here and I have been hiking and swimming. Listening to podcasts and baking on the rainy days. Work and family stress takes up the rest of my time.
bradley22 2 points 6y ago
Hello. Let me start off by saying that you sound like an awesome guy. if I could, I'd by you a drink and food of your choice. You are completely correct when you say that blind people would get bored at art galiries as they are mostly pictures. Oh and yes, the drawing exersize would make you bored as you're use to seeing and looking at what you're drawing. I would get bored with trying to draw in the first five minutes, let alone 45. What do we do as blind people to entertain ourselves? Same as you really, go to restaurants, cinemas, theatre places, amusement parks, meat up with friends, listen to audiobooks, play audio bassed games on the computer. Listen or as I'd say, watch youtube videos, answer questions on reddit, meditate. I'm sure there's quite afew I've forgotten or have not done myself but I hope that helps you and answers your question.
bu33y0808 [OP] 1 points 6y ago
Thanks. Unfortunately, I'm under the legal drinking age so I'll have to wait a few years to claim your offer
bradley22 1 points 6y ago
Haha. what about a smoothy then? :)
Terry_Pie 1 points 6y ago
This month's r/Blind theme is: hobbies!
Seriously, there's a thread everyday on "I'm/someone I know is blind, what do I/they do to keep themselves entertained?"
So, in no particular order:
* Video games (audio or mainstream, both are possible)
* Music (listening to or playing)
* Boardgames
* Tabletop RPGs
* Writing
* Plays, movies, TV shows (audio description may be necessary)
* Sport (or just exercise in general)
* Outdoor activities (e.g. hiking and fishing)
* Cooking (even totally blind people can cook)
* Audio books, podcasts, radio (wireless if you want to sound old school)
* Employment (I am assuming you meant free time, but figured I'd add this anyway)
* Volunteer
That's just a few things and you'll note there's a mix of solo and group activities (including things a sighted person might do solo, but a blind person would probably do with at least one other). So you see, the things blind people can do to keep themselves entertained are no different to those that sighted people might do. You just approach acitivites differently.
Seriously, there's a thread everyday on "I'm/someone I know is blind, what do I/they do to keep themselves entertained?"
So, in no particular order:
* Video games (audio or mainstream, both are possible)
* Music (listening to or playing)
* Boardgames
* Tabletop RPGs
* Writing
* Plays, movies, TV shows (audio description may be necessary)
* Sport (or just exercise in general)
* Outdoor activities (e.g. hiking and fishing)
* Cooking (even totally blind people can cook)
* Audio books, podcasts, radio (wireless if you want to sound old school)
* Employment (I am assuming you meant free time, but figured I'd add this anyway)
* Volunteer
That's just a few things and you'll note there's a mix of solo and group activities (including things a sighted person might do solo, but a blind person would probably do with at least one other). So you see, the things blind people can do to keep themselves entertained are no different to those that sighted people might do. You just approach acitivites differently.
[deleted] 1 points 6y ago
[removed]
bu33y0808 [OP] 2 points 6y ago
Have you tried products such as $1 to read what appears on the screen to you? Is it useful at all?
k00l_m00se 3 points 6y ago
Almost all blind and visually impaired people use a screen reader of some sort. NVDA and JAWS on Windows, and VoiceOver on iOS and Mac
bradley22 1 points 6y ago
Hello. As people have said, we use screen readers to read the screen. I have used JAWS, NVDA, Narator and Voiceover. These are 3 screen readers on windows and 1 on the mac/IDevices.
Vaelian 1 points 6y ago
Of course, otherwise I wouldn't be able to post here. I use VoiceOver instead of JAWS or NVDA because I'm on a Mac.
Amonwilde 1 points 6y ago
I'm sorry to hear that. This might not be what you want to hear, but there is braille sheet music and you should, at least in theory, be able to use any keyboard. But I know that learning completely new ways of doing things can be very demotivating and if you don't have something else in your life to keep you going it can be hard to muster the energy.
Braille seems like it would be a help to you. I'm a coder with some sight left and I'm learning it. In a way, coding is even more useful to the blind than the sighted, since you suddenly need a lot of infrastructure that no one else is building. People like T.V. Raman and the NVDA guys are good examples. In any case, I hope you push through, we need more blind coders and more success stories in general. Please come back here and post if you make any progress...I for one would love to hear it.
Braille seems like it would be a help to you. I'm a coder with some sight left and I'm learning it. In a way, coding is even more useful to the blind than the sighted, since you suddenly need a lot of infrastructure that no one else is building. People like T.V. Raman and the NVDA guys are good examples. In any case, I hope you push through, we need more blind coders and more success stories in general. Please come back here and post if you make any progress...I for one would love to hear it.
Vaelian 1 points 6y ago
I struggle a lot with Braille, reading at about 2 words per minute, and that's when I don't get stuck.
I'm aware of Braille sheet music, but the problem with it is that you can't read and play at the same time, which forces you to memorize everything.
Most keyboards these days come with displays and some even with touch-screens that are totally inaccessible to the blind. I've found exceptions, but they are way too limited in terms of functionality.
It's been 3 years since I went blind, I've gone through a rehabilitation service which included counseling and it has changed nothing. I can code blind, but when a project starts to grow too large to remember every line of code I start having problems because I find it to be extremely difficult to interpret code dictated by a screen-reader.
I'm aware of Braille sheet music, but the problem with it is that you can't read and play at the same time, which forces you to memorize everything.
Most keyboards these days come with displays and some even with touch-screens that are totally inaccessible to the blind. I've found exceptions, but they are way too limited in terms of functionality.
It's been 3 years since I went blind, I've gone through a rehabilitation service which included counseling and it has changed nothing. I can code blind, but when a project starts to grow too large to remember every line of code I start having problems because I find it to be extremely difficult to interpret code dictated by a screen-reader.
Amonwilde 2 points 6y ago
I hear you. But perfect is the enemy of the good. You say you can't use the keyboards you want to use, but what does that even mean? You can't use them, so they might as well not exist for you. Just use keyboards you can use, which exist, and which, I'm sure, are fine. Or buy a drum.
I'm glad (in the context of this conversation, obviously) to hear that you've only been blind for three years. As time goes on, you start to forget what you're missing out on. I haven't read a book for so long, for example, that I've stopped thinking of books as things that can be read. Obviously, intellectually, I know that they're for reading, but my former feelings about them, and the impulse to pick one up and read, are gone. This sounds sad, but it's actually great. Seeing books around and not being able to read them used to make me sad, but I just don't have those associations anymore.
Your comment hit home for me because I'm also a programmer, and I also like music. There's no reason for you not to program, and there's even less reason for you not to play music. There are probably other reasons you feel the way you feel--maybe you feel abandoned by people who valued you more when you had sight, or you have embarrassment or bad associations with being blind and doing things the blind way. You haven't been blind that long, and your feelings will change over time. But I ask you to be open to the idea that your thoughts on your own situation will change, that your capabilities will expand, and that you'll recapture some of the enjoyment you felt before. Try to do a little forgetting--forget how you used to code or play, embrace the shittiness of your new workflows and try to enjoy being the crappy coder and musician you currently are. You might be surprised how good that crappy coder becomes after a few years.
I'm glad (in the context of this conversation, obviously) to hear that you've only been blind for three years. As time goes on, you start to forget what you're missing out on. I haven't read a book for so long, for example, that I've stopped thinking of books as things that can be read. Obviously, intellectually, I know that they're for reading, but my former feelings about them, and the impulse to pick one up and read, are gone. This sounds sad, but it's actually great. Seeing books around and not being able to read them used to make me sad, but I just don't have those associations anymore.
Your comment hit home for me because I'm also a programmer, and I also like music. There's no reason for you not to program, and there's even less reason for you not to play music. There are probably other reasons you feel the way you feel--maybe you feel abandoned by people who valued you more when you had sight, or you have embarrassment or bad associations with being blind and doing things the blind way. You haven't been blind that long, and your feelings will change over time. But I ask you to be open to the idea that your thoughts on your own situation will change, that your capabilities will expand, and that you'll recapture some of the enjoyment you felt before. Try to do a little forgetting--forget how you used to code or play, embrace the shittiness of your new workflows and try to enjoy being the crappy coder and musician you currently are. You might be surprised how good that crappy coder becomes after a few years.
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