Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Reevaluating my travel choices (rambling/rant post) (self.Blind)
submitted by ReflectionsYay
Had an experience today that kind of spooked me. I made a dumb move that landed me in a precarious situation.
For context, I’ve been living with vision loss for about 7 years (I’m in my early 20s now). I’m partially blind (definitely more in the high partial range). I use a cane most of the time but i could probably get around okay-ish without it. I’ve had limited O&M training. Since I didnt start losing my vision till halfway through high school, i didn’t have much time to learn. I also rely quite a bit on my remaining sight.
Even though I felt pretty confident in my skills pre-covid, the last year stuck mostly indoors definitely made me question my independence skills. I’ve barely gone out by myself for quite some time now.
Recently, i’ve been trying to go on short outings by myself. Today, i took a bus to a shopping center by myself. It started out alright, no issues. I actually felt pretty good about myself.
Then i decided to cross to get to another shop across the street. That’s when i fucked up. It was a pretty big street (6-7 lanes) close to a freeway on ramp. I’d done that crossing several times in the past so i figured “no big deal.” I found the button, listened for my nearside parallel traffic, and went.
Well, i didn’t realize that there was construction on the street corner that i intended to cross to until I had made my way across the street. No sidewalk anywhere, just concrete barricades. I was basically stuck there with no where to go until the next light cycle passed.
It was a horrible mix of terrifying and embarrassing.
I feel like I need to reexamine how I go about traveling on my own. Maybe I should’ve done more research on the route before throwing caution to the wind. Maybe I should’ve asked someone standing nearby if anything was up with the street.
I’m embarrassed, but part of me is considering reaching out to brush up on my O&M
Sorry for the long post, this has just been on my mind
For context, I’ve been living with vision loss for about 7 years (I’m in my early 20s now). I’m partially blind (definitely more in the high partial range). I use a cane most of the time but i could probably get around okay-ish without it. I’ve had limited O&M training. Since I didnt start losing my vision till halfway through high school, i didn’t have much time to learn. I also rely quite a bit on my remaining sight.
Even though I felt pretty confident in my skills pre-covid, the last year stuck mostly indoors definitely made me question my independence skills. I’ve barely gone out by myself for quite some time now.
Recently, i’ve been trying to go on short outings by myself. Today, i took a bus to a shopping center by myself. It started out alright, no issues. I actually felt pretty good about myself.
Then i decided to cross to get to another shop across the street. That’s when i fucked up. It was a pretty big street (6-7 lanes) close to a freeway on ramp. I’d done that crossing several times in the past so i figured “no big deal.” I found the button, listened for my nearside parallel traffic, and went.
Well, i didn’t realize that there was construction on the street corner that i intended to cross to until I had made my way across the street. No sidewalk anywhere, just concrete barricades. I was basically stuck there with no where to go until the next light cycle passed.
It was a horrible mix of terrifying and embarrassing.
I feel like I need to reexamine how I go about traveling on my own. Maybe I should’ve done more research on the route before throwing caution to the wind. Maybe I should’ve asked someone standing nearby if anything was up with the street.
I’m embarrassed, but part of me is considering reaching out to brush up on my O&M
Sorry for the long post, this has just been on my mind
snimminycricket 2 points 2y ago
Honestly that seems like the kind of thing that could happen to a fully sighted person too, so I would hate for it discourage you from getting out on your own. I think it's likely that many people don't make sure to check that the opposite corner is free of obstacles before they embark on a big crossing of a many-laned street. (Also, it might be worth trying to contact your city's public works department to let them know that this is a hazard without any warning on the other corner, especially on a street that big. My city is pretty bad about advance warning of roadwork, and even around here they put a sign on the corner you can cross from to alert pedestrians that the sidewalk is closed across the street.)
But it sounds like brushing up on your O&M skills would be a good idea regardless of this incident, so maybe (because you didn't get hurt) you could see this event as a positive in that it inspired you to reacquaint yourself with O&M training.
But it sounds like brushing up on your O&M skills would be a good idea regardless of this incident, so maybe (because you didn't get hurt) you could see this event as a positive in that it inspired you to reacquaint yourself with O&M training.
niamhweking 2 points 2y ago
While I get your feelings. I wouldn't give up and you can't ask someobe everytime you cross a road if there are any obstacles, firstly they may not know what would be of concern to you, secondly there may not always be someone there to ask, and thirdly if you specify it to asking about roadworks they may say no roadworks but fail to tell you about the broken down car on the crossing or something like that
You've been doing great for 7 years, don't let 1 bad experience ruin that for you.
I'm fully sighted however I hate turning on wide junctions like you said. I'm so afraid I'll count them wrong and go the wrong way up a lane. I almost panic each time. Once I've done it, once in 15 years of driving. I have to keep reminding myself it was one error in 10000+ journeys
You've been doing great for 7 years, don't let 1 bad experience ruin that for you.
I'm fully sighted however I hate turning on wide junctions like you said. I'm so afraid I'll count them wrong and go the wrong way up a lane. I almost panic each time. Once I've done it, once in 15 years of driving. I have to keep reminding myself it was one error in 10000+ journeys
Superfreq2 1 points 2y ago
Frankly there just isn't allot you can do about that aside from reading more local news or possibly being more in touch with the local blind community and hearing about things like that.
Even then it doesn't always work out... I've been in similar situations and it just plain sucks.
Some improved training might help you deal with that resulting situation a bit more confidently, and certainly the more you travel the easier it will get to let things like this slide off of you or notice significant changes in commonly traveled areas that can give you a hint that something has changed, but even the most experienced travelers would have some trouble with that.
Even then it doesn't always work out... I've been in similar situations and it just plain sucks.
Some improved training might help you deal with that resulting situation a bit more confidently, and certainly the more you travel the easier it will get to let things like this slide off of you or notice significant changes in commonly traveled areas that can give you a hint that something has changed, but even the most experienced travelers would have some trouble with that.
BenandGracie 1 points 2y ago
I have been totally blind my entire life, and I still make mistakes when crossing a street. No one is perfect all of the time. My mobility instructor once told me everyone makes mistakes, and recovering from those mistakes is the hardest part. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
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