BlindOneLives

Hi everyone! My name is Alisha. I'm legally blind/visually impaired. my goal for this blog is to educate the sighted and blind alike, help out my fellow blind followers, and spread awareness.

[blindonelives]

Moving to my website! This blog is moving to my website! Check it out!

https://blind-one-lives.vision

[blindonelives]

People often ask me, "you have a disability, so why did you choose #freelancewriting, and why can't you just get a normal job?"

Even worse, I've received a nasty email or two from prospects I pitch to.

Here is the deal, people! BLIND DOESN'T MEAN BROKEN!!! 🤛✊️👊🤜

Just because I'm blind does not mean that I can't write fantastic blog posts.

Just because I'm blind does not mean I can't write copy that sells! 🤑💸💲💰

Just because I'm blind does not mean that I can't pitch to your site, send a proposal, apply for a position, meet deadlines, make edits or anything else for that matter! Just because my eyes don't work properly does not make me incapable of meeting standards, doing the job, and doing it damn right.

I'm tired of letting rejection letters hurt me, tired of letting these companies make me feel less than, tired of pitching until my eyes won't open, being proud of it, only to get hate speech in my inbox. I want to advocate that no matter what you do, you can succeed. You can build a portfolio! You can get out and land those clients!

Now, I want to walk away from this keyboard knowing that this random confidence post has inspired people somehow, and to all of you employers, recruiters, and prospects, let this be a lesson!

With my tirade being over, I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend! Thanks so much to my fellow writers, who I know are cheering me on in the comments.

#writers #work #people #job #freelancewriters #blindisnotbroken #blindwriter #inspire #confidence #rant #motivationalthoughts

[blindonelives]

Hello everyone! I have another GoFundMe, but not for my dad this yome (thanks to those who supported him), but for a fellow blind friend of mine Michael Mccutcheon in his journey to success and independence. He is currently located in Canada, but he needs financial support to get him into the Louisianna Center for the Blind. If you can't donate monetarily, please donate your time. Spread the word, share this post, or the link. Thanks. Reblog please!

Help Michael get the learning support he needs, organized by Lara McCutcheon

Hi everyone,   We are the McCutcheon family and have created this … Lara McCutcheon needs your support for Help Michael get the learnin

[blindonelives]

My fellow freelance writers! I don't know about you guys over there, but I kinda have this problem. My fellow freelance writers, reblog this! Even if you're not a freelance writer, but you like to guest post on other blogs, you'll still understand this. Here we go! Here's my freelance writer/guest blogger mistake not to make. Let me know if you want me to do a series of these.

Don't fret over rejections from potential prospects. I've been a freelance writer for 2 years, and I have learned that freaking out because a few people rejected you, or your pitch, just messes up your confidence, and when you apply for the next one, you feel like sh*t, so you pitch like sh*t! This has been BlindOneLives swears at fellow freelance writers about her anger and problems publicly on the internet. Thank you very much.

Ps.

Never use this as a portfolio for future clients... unless you wanna make the mistake again, or they're looking for PG13 comedy.

[actuallyblind]

Small tip to help some of your blind friends: do not put 10,000 emojis in the middle of a text or a post if you continue to put text after the emojis because I will tell you that I will Straight give up if I have to listen to “face with tears of joy, face with tears of joy, face with tears of joy,” 23 times just to hear the rest of your text or post.

[cowthropologist]

Oh my god, that’s what screen readers say when they read out emojis?? I didn’t realize.. I will change how I write my posts now… My bad…

[13faeinapenguinsuit]

This is good to know. Pretend there are twenty three light bulb emojis indicating sudden understanding following this text.

[drackir]

So the clap hands emoji post would be extra annoying since you can’t just speed read it, damn!

[actuallyblind]

YES. That is one of my least favorite emojis because it’s LONG. It also says skin tone on some, and while that’s AWESOME, if you put 30 prayer hands, I have to hear “hands clasped in celebration with medium dark skin tone” 30 times in full. And even if I use a braille display, it still writes it out in full because there’s no real way to represent them any other way yet, so until someone invents a Braille display with like 10 lines that isn’t astronomically expensive, there’s no easy way to skip over them.

Now, at least with some screen readers, punctuation is a little different and if there are multiple of the same thing it’ll say like “17 exclamation points” instead of saying them all individually, and I wish that update would be made to screen readers to speak emojis in multiples that way… That would be a good solution.

[let-the-spectrum-in]

Is it okay to use emojis sparingly? I don’t ever use a million like that, the most I’d put in a row is probably two different emojis, lol. But I do feel the need to use either emojis or ASCII faces in order to get emotion across in my writing. Which is better for you, a traditional ASCII face like :-) or a newfangled emoji like ☺️? Can your screen reader “translate” things like :-) into “smiling face” or do you just hear “colon dash right parentheses”?

[actuallyblind]

Oh yeah, of course! If you only use one or two in a row that’s totally fine! Don’t feel like you have to just stop using them. They are fun and lots of people like them.

As for emoji versus traditional typed out faces, it doesn’t really matter. It can’t translate most of those faces except for a general smiley face, but I know what the symbols put together mean, though this may be difficult for somebody who is not very well versed in print reading. Most blind kids get taught to recognize both though.

[cowthropologist]

There’s so much good info on this post! I didn’t know any of this. Thanks for making it!!

[inner-muse]

[haruhi65]

But how do screen readers translate GIFS? Does the OP know that the above post is a gif of a shooting star with the words “the more you know” riding it?

[actuallyblind]

Nope. All I know is that that is an image. Screen readers cannot interpret with the pixels on an image mean. The only reason it can tell me an emoji is because the developers of those emojis programmed them in some way that included alt text, though I cannot tell you how because I am not a programmer or a coder.

Thankfully, somebody noticed the irony in that addition and reblogged it with a description.

[plutomeetsgenius]

the reason that emojis have text associated with them is because emojis were designed not to act as pictures but as a language keyboard and since every one is a pictograph there needs to be a closely associated definition.

that’s also why apple, samsung, or any other company can’t copyright “face with tears of joy” just the art that their operating systems use to express thos pictographs. The art of a set of emojis used by a phone company is essentially a font used for a language.

[actuallyblind]

#NowYouKnow

Also, y’all, in iOS 11, I think somebody somehow saw our nice little thread here and fucking fixed the problem of many emojis because I can remember three (3) distinct times in the past few days that I have come across something like “5 face with tears of joy” and at first been like “what the fuck?? What did that say?“ and then used the rotor to navigate by individual word and character to realize what it was and I was like “OMG!!! My desires have been realized!”

So like I think someone at Apple saw this and answered our prayers guys

[imonlyadumpling]

That’s actually super interesting to know

[bbcfandomsuniverse-deactivated2]

The unspoken courtesy/ rule with emoji and Screenreaders. Please use them in moderation. See original post for full insight.

😄❤️

[blindonelives]

New blog post is up! Share, reblog, and spread the word!

Questions that sighted people are afraid to ask, but blind people aren’t afraid to answer!

Hello everyone! I’ve come to find that people are scared to ask us things, as to not be offensive. This creates barriers for us and others.

[blindonelives]

Hi everyone! Wanted to let you know that there's a new blog post on the website!

I Just Transferred Colleges.

And I’m both excited and scared about it. I also have some advice for transfers too, so I you to stay to the end. I transferred from my smal

[blindonelives]

Socializing is awkward with you sighted people.

Why is it that you sighted people have such a hard time interacting with people with disabilities? We are human. We're just like you. We don't have anything else different about us. Just approach us as you would normally. There's no reason why you should act any differently around us. People are often under the assumption that we have to be specially treated to make it in this world. Sure, we do things a little bit differently, but that's so we function normally in the society. I honestly understand how it could be, and how you feel. Here are some tips.

1. Don't avoid common terms.

Avoiding common terms like look, watch, read, and see makes conversation weird. Just talk to us normally.

2. Don't avoid visual concepts.

Watching a movie, watching TV, reading, bird/cloud watching, sight seeing, etc.

3. We don't always need help.

Just like you, we can be independent. You dont have to grab our arms, canes, guide dog harness, etc. If we need help, we will ask.

This is a general rule of thumb for blind people. Some people are more okay with one thing than another. Hope this helps. Another thing, you business owners, don't be afraid to employ us. We figure it out. We always do. Everything is a learning curve for everyone. Don't be the reason why such a sad number of disabled people don't have a steady job. Thanks.

[ps-im-blind]

Dear Sighted World,

Yes. I’ve heard of Be My Eyes. No. I don’t use it all the time.

Yes. I’ve heard of LASK procedures…and glasses…and carrots. No. It wouldn’t work on my eyes. No. I would rather not be cured.

Yes. I know what the pinch-to-zoom function is on a phone. No. It does not help much.

Yes. I’ve heard of Molly Burke. No. I don’t know how to ski or surf just like her, nor will I do it just because another blind person did it. No. She’s not the only blind/vi YouTuber out there. Yes, I watch videos made by sighted people.

Yes. I know about guide dog programs. No. they’re not suited for everyone or applicable to every situation. Same with bioptic driving.

Yes. I read braille. No. I don’t use it for everything. In fact, it’s much cost effective and convenient to listen to an audiobook than to try to read a novel in braille.

Yes. I know who Hellen Keller is. No. Blindness, deafness, and deafblindness are not the same thing.

Yes. I know sign language, but not because I’m blind, but because it was offered at my school and I wanted to learn about deaf culture.

Yes. I have other blind friends. Yes. I have friends who are sighted.

Yes. I am open to questions. No. Your question is not offensive or stupid. Assumptions about a world you don’t know are dumb and offensive, but questions? Never. Blindness isn’t what the media makes it out to be, so if you want to get to know us, ask questions and be open to the answers you receive. You might be surprised to find that our world is just like your own.

Sincerely,

A blind girl.

[blindonelives]

This is totally me too! There has never been a time where I haven't felt like a broken record when meeting someone new. I'm here, and I love to educate. I'm very opened about my blindness.

[blindonelives]

Hey guys! I know it's not my usual post day, but I'd like to take the time to alert you of my group chat. Come on fellow blind people. Join, talk, make friends, get or give advice, and just have fun! Go for it! It's waiting for you!

https://www.tumblr.com/chat/m_Q-TarFwGkqLdXgk58WDQ/blind-people-unite

This is a Group Chat on Tumblr that chats about: #life, #advice, #Blindness, #disability, #blind people, #O&M, #blind person, #guide dogs, #

[blindonelives]

I'm going to rant for a minute. Reader beware! (Does contain advice though)

You have been warned. As you guys know, I'm a student in college. I sometimes do writing jobs on the side to make a little spending money. I just love the fact that before COVID-19, I couldn't do any of that. I have been trying to get some sort of online work sense I was 16, and that couldn't even be thought of for me. That wasn't thought of for me for several reasons.

* Because I'm blind

* Because I was still in school

* Because I was young

I think COVID-19 will change people's minds about online work, because during the lockdown, that's all we were left with. That's all we had, so we had to figure it out. I think blind active job seekers should dive at this opportunity. Don't hesitate! Act now! Here's some tips to get you started

1. Don't waste time!

Opportunities are few and far between, so act on them as soon as you stumble on them. This is no joke! Don't wait, because you never know when you're going to miss it.

2. Put yourself out there.

Make yourself stand out from the crowd. This could be things like your education, awards you've acquired in your lifetime, recognition you've recieved, and work you've done for someone else.

3. Consider applying for freelance or one time gigs.

I know this sounds weird, but it's true. Freelancing often scares people away because of the unstable income for fixed price rather than hourly projects, but with freelance opportunities, you decide your workload and in some cases the prices. Plus, for my fellow blindies, it's easier not to disclose your blindness, because you're online. Not saying you shouldn't be honest with your clients because that is important, but you have the right to keep that to yourself. I do freelance writing on this website called upwork.com, and it's really good to do for extra income on the side while I'm in college.

4. Advertise yourself.

For whatever service you're selling, it's also a good idea to show samples of other work you've done. For a writer, that might be something like an essay you've written for class, stories, poems, or speeches you've written, articles you've written for other people, or if you have one, refer them to your blog.

5. Apply apply apply!

Apply for a few and hope one of them says yes. Don't apply for too many, because if multiple say yes, you're either stuck choosing, or possibly declining the wrong client or employer, depending on what you do.

Well, that's my rant for the day. I hope this helps you. It sure would've helped me. Have a good weekend. I'll catch you guys in the next one!

[blindonelives]

So, it's been a long time sense I've posted. I figured I'd come back to blogging. It's something I greatly enjoyed, and I guess I gave it up because of the lack of time spent? i don't know. But I'm here now. I graduated high school in May 29, 2020, but because of the pandemic, my diploma had to be delivered to me by my school's principal and vice principal, along with the Super intendent in September, so that's great. I started my first year of college studying Psychology to become a licensed drug and alcohol abuse counsellor. My dream is to help people and make a difference in this world. I feel like it's my life's purpose. Anyways, let me tell you the real reason I'm here.

My life, quarantine putting stress on me, being an individual with a low immune system, it being my freshmen year in college, it's been dificult at all costs. My mental stability was difficult to keep up during the lock down, I opened my heart up litteraly exactly a year from today, Febuary 6th, 2020, to someone I've known my entire life, he had to put up with my wavering sanity, my step father contracted the ronas just before Thanksgiving, so I spent Thanksgiving in my bedroom eating dinner alone self-quarantined. My mom contracted it just before Christmas, so I thought it was going to end our Christmas plans as well, and we still had our as planned Christmas in 2020, sense we missed just about every other holiday. But all aside, let's not talk about 2020 anymore. It's not a good year for anybody. Everyone experienced their own hell. To new beginnings everyone!

Here are my best tips for blindness in school or college virtually during COVID-19.

1. If you're just getting started in college keep in touch with your Access Center/Disability office/Accessability office.

This is very important! If you don't keep in contact and registered with them, you will struggle. I had a hot mess happen to me. My psychology professor and I had a misunderstanding. I was misinformed. I was never told that I would have to go through an extensive process to register for the access center for my community College, so I ran into a problem. My psychology class was the only class I had to take an in-person test for, so I stayed with my dad in the city, took an uber to campus, was told I was at the wrong campus, was told I needed to make a testing appointment, and that I was, "not in their system." Well, the head of the access center was a very nice lady, and she took time out of her day to proctor my exam, and helped me actually register for their system. You might not be so lucky. Be sure you check and make sure you have followed the appropriate steps, so you don't become like me.

2. Use calander apps, reminder apps, alarms, and other similar tools religiously.

It's more dificult to keep track of your classes and join on time, especially those morning ones, where sense you don't actually have to go anywhere, so it's oh so tempting to lay in bed for that extra couple of minutes. You'll be thinking that until you sleep 10 minutes too long and then miss your classes. I'm talking to you too sighties. 🤣

3. Allow for extra prepare time.

Alright, now, everyone knows how messy Zoom can be, especially sense everybody and their mother is using it right now. Us blind folk also have to deal with screen readers, such as Voice Over, Nerrator, NVDA, TalkBack, Voice Assistant, Jaws, ZoomText, etc. Those mother truckers don't like zoom very much. Allow you at least 5 minutes, so if your screen reader decides not to like you, it won't matter, because you'll still join on time... unless other things contribute at least.

4. Try your best to still be social

Yeah, I know it's weird with COVID and social distancing, but we still have social media. Create a Facebook group and post a link on the chat during class to attract other students,start conversations in break out rooms, you know. Just have fun with it.

5. Keep close contact with professors, instructors, and teachers.

Communication is key,, especially now. With all of these weird circumstances, always keep contact with professors, instructors, and teachers. It just might save your grades. If you don't understand something, ask. If you need more information, ask. If you have a question about assignments, please don't be afraid to ask. Self-advocacy gets you a long way.

I hope you guys found this information helpful. I certainly would've benefited from this when I first started college in August. Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you next Saturday.

[blindonelives]

[rainy-paws]

You can’t pet my dog: unexpected empowerment

Today, a lady on the bus started putting her hands all over my dog without asking. As in, hardcore. Both hands, face-rubbing, dog bliss petting. When I told her to stop, she did - but continued making kissy noises towards us, so I told her to not distract my dog. I included the word please, but I didn’t have to. As she stood up to get off the bus, she then started the petting all over again. No time to correct her, unfortunately. In the majority of cases, people respect what I tell them about my guide dog and when I say to back off.

Today, I realized something as an individual who went through years of trauma and abuse:

I secretly enjoyed getting to tell her “no,” and I enjoyed telling the guy on his bike “no” at the transit station; no, you can’t pet my dog. No, you can’t touch us or talk to us. I can say “no” and have people listen to me. I felt empowered knowing I had the right to say “stop” or “don’t.”

I didn’t know that was missing from my life.

It feels good.

[blindonelives]

Chick from this post and don't pet service dogs are guide dogs guys. If you pet a guide dog while it's working, it can distract the dog, and possibly be unsafe for the blind Handler. Take this to consideration and hold this in the back of your mind.