* blindness does not necessarily mean absolute darkness. There are varying degrees of sight and sight loss
* Blind folks do not need pity and do not necessarily need aid with everything. There's nothing wrong with politely asking if someone could use assistance but don't assume (seen too many posts and irl people physically touching/pulling visually impaired individuals and treating them like they're some poor waif who can do nothing alone).
* Yes. They probably know about daredevil/Stevie Wonder/Toph/ etc.
* 'watch out', 'over there', 'that thing'- think about these phrases. Most visually impaired folks will understand it rolls off the tongue but it is FAR more useful to say 'on you left', 'twenty feet ahead', 'the basket on the table'.
* A white cane is very useful! However not everyone will use one and not everyone needs one!
* Know someone with a visual impairment and want to help? Ask them if there's something you can do! \[note- salt your damn sidewalks. This helps SO much in winter. Also if they walk around a lot or rely on public transport, maybe keep an eye out for things like broken glass, pot holes, construction/other that could impede or be hazardous to them that they may not detect otherwise and inform them or maybe your local city about the problem\]
* Everybody deserves respect :) Also, many people appreciate humor. I used to assist a blind lady who would crack jokes about her non-sightedness ALL the time. 'guess what I saw? -oh, what...?- NOTHING :D'
* many blind and visually impaired people have very fulfilling lives. They have jobs, are parents and I can guarantee they are in your community somewhere. However some career seekers will have significant struggles in finding work that is accessible, safe, rewarding and non-offensive. My blind lady used to work in a manufacturing/assembly job until they closed down and she was given the option by a collaborative group of either taking a 3 hour public transport across state with two transfers to get to a part time, minimum wage job handing out samples \[wasn't worth the time/money put into the bus pass and she was left with nobody to assist her. Things were often moved to another storage without notice and she was given a LOT of grief\] and a greeter position at wal-mart. She was a greeter for about two years until the company wanted to push her into bagging \[as she couldn't check receipts, detect many of the folks she was meant to greet due to the noise around her\] and she went on disability to pay her rent.
* if you are an employer, consider how you can make jobs accessible to the blind and visually impaired in your locale. Some only need minimal accommodations such as a high contrast and/or magnification program on a computer or a scanner/reader for them.

\[edit- thank you so very much for gold!!! :) <3 I appreciate it and honestly with how stuff has been going its really made my day!\]

That we are mentally impaired or deaf so they often talk louder and slower

That I'm aware of my vision loss in my blind eye. I've been like this since birth, I...just don't see out of that eye.

That I'm somehow "brave" or "inspirational" for just doing regular things.

"But how do you use a computer?"

That we have f*&$!ng superpowers. I cannot hear better because I have sight loss. I also cannot smell better. My sense of touch may be more developed, but that's only because I feel for thing more often. On that note, I'd argue that it's more so my memory with touch is much stronger.

Legallly blind in one eye. They don’t seem to realize that it isn’t always something that happens at birth. Sometimes it can just happen due to a variety of things. And that I can tell that my vision is getting worse.

And I HATE when cashiers at vision centers make comments about my prescription when I am buying contacts/glasses. Like, “Yes. I realize my vision sucks. You don’t need to make comments”. I hear lots of ‘oh my god, this is a horrible prescription! How can you see?’

I created an artwork with similar misconceptions (word based), but it also has positive comments. If you like, I will post what I wrote in the art-

I'm legally blind, but I still have some sight left. People get confused when I am gaming. "How can you even read this?"

I would add that when people see my boyfriend looking for something with his hands or his cane, they assume he’s lost. He’s not - just give him time to find it.

(1) You can't identify visually impaired people by body language and how they look at you.

While some VI people will move their heads around like Stevie Wonder, many will stand and look at you in ways indistinguishable from fully sighted people.


(2) As others tell you here, many "blind" people have some sight.

Notably, in the UK the $1 has changed from "either partially-sighted or blind" to "either visually impaired or severely visually impaired".

but then how did you type this comment

how did watch this video on YouTube

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I'm sighted and a mom to a legally blind son who is becoming progressively more blind. Before he was diagnosed, and didn't understand that so many people who are blind fall more in the legally blind bucket than in the totally blind bucket.

It took me (a blind person) so much time to notice that in the US, being legally blind can mean having up to 10% (?) vision left, so I was always wondering about all the legally blind people walking without a cane. But now I got it! Here in Germany you're legally blind when your vision is <2%

It seems to have changed a bit since I was in grade school about 15 years ago where are people where is started I could use a computer
Now people are less surprised but still unsure about how much we can do on and with technology