The joys of being blind and actually wanting to do anything

Me :
Litterally every one : so brave i could never

Most people only see things from their own perspective. All they're really saying is, "I'd be scared as heck, and I'm not very brave.!" LOL

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What are the best comebacks?

Oh yes lol, Am always told how brave I am for taking the bus to the mall or to my classes *insert an eye roll here*

I work in the adult mental health support area, and omg. I'm also legally blind.

If there's one thing I've learned, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE HUMANS. We are _NOT_ excluded from being Independent! We can be mean, nice, rude, best person on the planet. The disability itself, whatever it may be, does not 110% define a person. Of course, personality disorders are kind of "aside", and even then, man.

One show I actually appreciate (at least sometimes) is South Park. Jimmy, Timmy, Nathan and Mimsy ALL HAVE PERSONALITIES! Man, first show to depict a fourth grader with cerebral palsy as a total dick sometimes, and a fourth grader with down syndrome as an evil little fucker.

This shit drives me bonkers. So many stereotypes.

I think the answer to “why are you travelling alone?” Should be “so that you have a job”.

I’ve never had that level of unprofessionalism (most of the lack of professionalism I’ve faced was in terms of punctuality when getting off a plane and having to wait for a pick up).

I travel alone and airports are needlessly stressful. In London I got sent to "disability jail" until one my brother's flight arrived. Only England has ever treated me this way. On a related note, my family never understands why I'm so exhausted after I've run the airport gauntlet. It's just stressful. I feel the pressure to conform to other's expectations or I'm never left alone. Being visually impaired doesn't mean I can't get around. I've been assigned handlers that were so old/frail that I had to help them get around.

TL:DR; people are annoyed when you're not helpless

For me, I've kinda just gotten used to the thing when someone says "You're so brave" but doesn't make any other comments, because while it's unintentionally saying "I'm scared of thinking about living like you do," it's at least recognizing it's not impossible.

But when someone not only says "You're so brave," and then follows it up with "I could never survive" or worse, "I'd rather die/kill myself than live that way." (which I have definitely gotten before,) then I get really pissed. It's one thing to acknowledge disabilities, it's another to act like they're a fate worse than death. I'd rather be blind any day of the week than have dementia and literally incapable of safely living without supervision. But sure, stranger, me running the mild risk of buying the wrong flavor of coke because I can't quite tell which box says "Caffeine free" on it is a real harrowing adventure worthy of song.

My partner told me that someone actually tried to pull over and get out of the car to "help" them cross the street! And did not heed, "no, no, no." My partner ended up having to literally *run away.*

My other half traveled to Alaska on her own and she kept getting that shit. As her sighted other half i keep getting crap like good thing she has you to help her get around. Hell she knows were she is more then i ever will.

>It's like these people aren't trained on how to assist (or even talk to) someone with a disability.

That is the case. The most anyone will ever get is possibly sensitivity training which consists of a video produced in the 90s for an hour when they are first hired.

Yeah. I get that all the time here. No additional comments required. It’s something that people will always say.

I am afraid I have never had the misfortune of such an experience. I travel quite a bit, globally, and those assigned to assist me have done an exemplary job. Only Delta Airlines has come close, and I refuse to fly with them any more. I am sorry you had such an experience. I know it happens. There is no way around it, except perhaps to ignore the stupid. They, like taxes, are with us forever.

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There are certainly people who say stupid things. I'm a sometime traveling comedian so I encounter it a fair bit. Responses range anywhere from an awkward pause and pointed change of subject to a "You think this is brave? You ever tried climbing through your mom's window when it's raining?"
depending on my mood at the time.

I strongly disagree with the idea of training someone on how to talk to blind people, when someone says something dumb I just kinda give it back. We're all different, there's no universal method to address all of us. Better just to engage as people.

I’ve had this a few times. I’m just not bothered by it and talk about how amazing it is at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro the ask which mountains they’ve climbed normally shuts them up.

Most people have never seen a blind or low vision person. They are just thinking how can you do it not knowing you been doing it for a while now. Educate them next time it happens.

I think it's good to be open minded and realise not everyone has been around or even met someone who is blind or partially sighted.

Take the opportunity to teach them so they are not forever ignorant :)

I've often been lucky and gotten into good conversations with whoever is assisting me.