jesterswilde

I feel I'm a mediocre blind developer and it does suck, mostly just the blind part though. I do my best not to let my coworkers know I'm blind (I work remotely.) Mostly to avoid either 'cripple porn' or being disregarded. Either way, it's easier.

Oh snap, I forgot about Tom. Good to see he's still 30 and hanging out in Santa Monica.

I am highly suspicious of new tech coming in the guise of 'accessibility'. As someone goin blind, a lot of things toted as good for me are cumbersome and bad.

Maybe this will be different, and that'd be neat. Though I just think more expressions of code is neat. I also know the accessibility you're talkin about isn't for blindness.

That being said I can talk about code decently well, but if you've never heard code come out of text-to-speech, well, it's painful.

I bring up the text-to-speech because if speech is input, it would make sense for speech to also be the output. Selfishly, getting a lot of developers to spend time coding through voice might end up with some novel and well thought out solutions.

I've been seeing a steady parade of research talking about restoring sight. Gene therapy, electrical signals on the optic nerve, various chemical treatments. Some of these even get mildly positive results in human clinical trials. But then it's silence from it. Anyone more educated on the subject matter than myself have any thoughts on the matter?

On the other side of it, I recently decided to let go of the idea of structure. I spent a large portion of my life trying to be one of those structured productive people with habits and such. I have a wide array of skills and none of them were gained from habits and structure, they were gained from following a passion.

I'm happier now, my spirals are smaller, I forgive myself easier. I also think I am more productive.

Not saying one shouldn't seek structure and try to make it for themselves. If that's your path, go for it. But for me, I think that ideal was harmful and hindered a lot.

Fantastic. You may not be the Chosen One, but you're what we've got. And that's enough.

(This made my day.)

The problem I see with this implementation is that it only gives. How will it also receive input? Do I need a watcher who transcribes it?

I would like to see an added device that I can write chess moves into in a similar fashion to how I'm reading. Then I'm a one man cheating machine.

I am also a developer going blind. Mine is more of a slow descent than what it sounds like your friend is going through (Legally blind, will probably lose the rest in the next couple years.) Anyways, just wanted throw out my appreciation to all the other blind folks who took the time to relay resources. Also kinda nice to interact with other people on this particular road.

RFC 1149 is old, I'd suggest RFC 2549 (an updated version to 1149). The updated quality controls are worthwhile if you're going this route. Though this method is only viable if you're ok with high latency.

I'm blind (not fully, but definitely well past the legal definition.) Obviously not the same as deaf, but it's a broken input nonetheless.

One guy on here went with,"Why did cripple guy not understand the world as I would, I pretended I was him and it's not a problem." There is a lot missing without one of the inputs. Humans communicate on a spectrum of bands. Missing one causes confusion and miscommunication.

I've had a handful of encounters with police. I've been stopped for being drunk (I wasn't, just blind and hadn't been willing to use the stick yet.) I could tell he, the cop, was uncomfortable with me. I dropped my ID, told him I couldn't see and asked for help. No idea his response, but he was silent as I crawled around on my hands and knees looking for my ID he was demanding.

I don't know how far this was, or the other cops were, from violence when they stopped and interacted with me. But I could feel the mistrust. I'm confident they were thinking about it. Because I don't behave like everyone else.

This is entirely predictable, and I imagine, common. It's also a thing I fear whenever I'm aware I'm near a cop.

I've found that behavior varies and almost seems independent of me informing them I'm blind. -They will park far away or across the street and wait for me to come to them. But I have a hard time understanding that they are there or there for me. -They will ask me things like,"Is this the place." to which the only thing I can say is,"I have no idea." or lie and say,"Yes, this is fine." Then get out and try to understand where I am. I've actually ended up further away than I started before somehow. -I've had people be very short with me for my inability to locate them and leave (Or other forms of being upset with me for not being able to function in this relatively simple contract.)

I also feel this kind of shit fairly intensely and it heavily dissuades me. I don't know if the tech will get there, but a self driving car would be a complete game changer.

For me, definitely. Things that work off my input alone (blind stick, public transit, apps with no other person involved) really help me feel independent and I'm much more likely to use it.

I am glad that this (and ride share) are workin for other blind folk though.

There are some useful one off things here for sure. Personally, I always feel awkward asking for help from strangers, even if I have my stick out. For me, these sorts of things have never delivered on the hope. Rideshare apps are quite the disaster, and I tend to just not go places instead of using them.

I know this off topic, but what I've found most helpful is good public transit, regular patterns I can grock, and of course friends (I fear getting hit every time I cross a road, unless I'm with someone). I tend to be more free and independent in places like Japan or China than the US (I only speak English, and am American)

(I'm legally blind)