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Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2020 - 01 - 04 - ID#ek5dtx
17
Best countries to move to in terms of blind and visually impaired accessibility and support? (self.Blind)
submitted by theawesomeaquarist
jmosen 7 points 3y ago
This is an interesting question and there are only complex answers. For example, some countries have excellent support for technology, others are better with accessible public transport, others excel in the area of providing compensation for the costs of your blindness even if you’re working.
I live in New Zealand, and the agency I lead provides a fund which will support a blind person and any other disabled person by paying for any disability-related equipment they need when they land a job. This incentivises employers to employ disabled people because they don’t have to meet the costs of technology or other expensive accommodations themselves.
We also have a payment to compensate for the extra costs of your blindness, which, subject to a couple of anomalies, you can get even when you’re working.
Most traffic signals here are accessible.
But on the flip side, Braille in public places is frustratingly scarce, and public transport can be flaky in places with the announcement of stops only just becoming a thing.
Ironically, the US rehab system is heavily Government funded, whereas in commonwealth countries like Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, there’s a lot of reliance on public donations.
It’s hard to go past the US for access to technology and information, but there’s a lot of variation from state to state, and the degree of haves and have nots in the blind community there creates serious disparity. I believe in Missouri, they have a similar system to ours, where you can receive compensation for the costs of your blindness even if you’re working. This is a big deal because living close to public transport, having a little extra space for your technology, is important and that comes at a price. If your costs aren’t compensated for, you can get into that horrible trap where you want to work, but if you get part-time work, you receive just enough to impact your benefits, but not enough to make it worthwhile.
Spain is also a country to check out. ONCE, the Spanish blindness service provider, pronounced Onsay, is a powerful organisation with an incredible funding base thanks to the lottery there.
Generally speaking, Europe is very pro-Braille and there’s plenty of funding available for Braille displays. I’ve met and worked with many Europeans who’ve had Braille displays funded for both home and work.

Then of course we must remember that our blindness is just one characteristic. There may be political, cultural and other lifestyle factors not blindness-related that may make an otherwise attractive place from a blindness perspective seem less so because of those views and preferences which are personal to you.
CloudyBeep 4 points 3y ago
Australia is quite good, and I think that New Zealand is also quite good.
saharacanuck 3 points 3y ago
I’ve lived in Canada and in London. England. London is amazing for public transportation. Toronto, not so much. You can live in a smaller town in England and still get around. Getting around Canada in a small town is a little harder.

What kind of support do you want?
theawesomeaquarist [OP] 1 points 3y ago
O and m training , programs and grants
saharacanuck 1 points 3y ago
In the UK, training was provided by my borough. In Toronto it was centralized.

London has a lot of organized VI sports if that is something you are interested in.

I have albinism and am partially sighted. Each place has different advantages. The local culture is important too.

I can see from your post history that you are going to university. What do you want to study? Where are you from?
theawesomeaquarist [OP] 2 points 3y ago
I'm from UK and I want to study medicine or business
TheBlindBookLover 1 points 3y ago
Have you considered studying public health?
CloudyBeep 1 points 3y ago
It will be very difficult for you to get a degree in medicine with a severe visual impairment. You will need to find ways of doing things that a sighted doctor does with vision, which might be very challenging, at least in this decade. There are not many things a blind person can't do, but medicine might be one of them.
saharacanuck 1 points 3y ago
Talk to other vi people who have studied médecine. There should be some online groups.
OutWestTexas 3 points 3y ago
I’m in the US but I have travelled to Finland and they were very accessible there. Their public transportation can’t be beat.
annibear 1 points 3y ago
Ooh can you say more about Finland's public transportation system? Am in the US but travel frequently.
OutWestTexas 1 points 3y ago
Finland has a very easy to navigate. They have BlindSquare. The buses and trains are all on time and the crosswalks all have audible signals. The people are helpful. You can literally go anywhere in the country using public transit.
razzretina 3 points 3y ago
I don’t know much but my basic understanding is that the US and Canada might be the best places for support.
KillerLag 2 points 3y ago
It really depends on where. Even within individual states/provinces, the services can vary wildly. Even depends on cities even. I work in a major metropolitan city and the service is reasonably good, but just outside the city limits is a suburb, and the waiting list gets a lot longer. Wait time in the city roughly 3-4 weeks, wait time in the suburbs closer to 2 months.

The transit also runs a lot more often in the city, and you have to walk less to get to bus stops.
razzretina 1 points 3y ago
Very true! You really have to look at your needs and what states can best fit them. I spent a horrible many years in the south being trapped in my own home because there weren’t any sidewalks, let alone buses, where I lived and other services were just as hard to come by. I currently live in a rural city that has great public transit and good service programs, but it’s probably not as good as a bigger city. But I don’t want to live in a city or switch states, so I was happy to make a few compromises.
DaaxD 1 points 3y ago
I thought US might be really difficult because cities are desgined and built for cars, not for pedestrians. Also the public transport is barely existent or is very sketchy at the best.

Or that's what I've learned from internet.
razzretina 2 points 3y ago
The thing about the US is that every state and city is wildly different from one another. New York is very pedestrian friendly and has great public transportation but it’s also extremely crowded. Dallas is a nightmare to navigate whether you’re on foot or in a car. Denver is pretty good for pedestrians but sucks for drivers. It’s very different from place to place here. We don’t have a countrywide standard and we’re also really big, especially the farther west you go. In general, the northeast and northwest states are good with public transit. But you’ve also got to consider the culture and attitudes of a country towards blindness; the best public transportation in the world does you no good if you’re not allowed to work or have anything like independence because of your disability. And that’s where I think in general the US/Canada is pretty good for blind people. We’re not seen as cursed or vile. Some people do feel sorry for us but they’re also pretty willing to listen to what we have to say and learn from that.
4247420 2 points 3y ago
I've heard japan is very good. And the people go out of their way to help.
BabyBaphomet_ 1 points 3y ago
I feel pretty supported in California, in the US. I'm hoping to move back to the bay area though when I'm out of school (learning programming and UX design) because that was the best. Trains, Uber pool, lots of people (so it's easy to find groups), very walkable neighborhoods, etc.
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