Re: The Blind Comunity
1. relationships between the blind I think are lacking. Most of the blind men and women do not actively engage in relationships with each other. Most of the blind men I have seen are very lonely and most of the blind women I have seen don't want to even give them the time of day.
Judging from my own experience, and from all the different topics on the forum on dating, it isn't so much women who are blind don't want men who are blind as it is exactly what Dark says, the culture of the men needing to be the ones asking the women. This is somewhat less true regarding blind couples because there isn't that nonverbal communication gap, and I know plenty of blind couples who make it work just fine.
2. College is the answer for all. I have noticed that in the blind world that they push College as the answer to all the blind a one size fits all solution for employment wile failing to ignore the fact that the ADA has been passed for years and there has been no drop in unemployment for the blind. Also the amount of blind women vs men in college among the blind or disabled. Wile I have not been able to find data on this it seams that in my findings that the blind women are leaving the men in the dust.
College helps definitely as a blind person. Since most entry level jobs are inaccessible, having the degree is helpful when looking for meaningful employment. The issue with college is, you really need the right degree to get into the right field. Education, which was my major, is very difficult to break through prejudice in the hiring process. People who are blind and successful, seem to be in insurance, computer science, or law. Yes the ADA has helped, but the ADA does not change people's minds just like there are still people who are racist, there are people who don't think blind people are capable, and some law passed in the nineties isn't going to make them think otherwise, it just makes them hide their prejudice behind, "hiring someone with more experience." Your last point about women leaving men behind in higher education though, that is true across the board, not just in the blind community.
3. Focusing on small petty issues. By small I mean the fact that said person did not allow your dog to ride in a car that seams trivial to the A. I. some day replacing workers like the blind in areas of production and manufacturing.
As someone who just had this issue with Uber yesterday, I'm not sure your reasoning behind why a driver not allowing my service animal is not a huge issue? I rely on Uber to get me to work. How do you think employers would feel if several times a month you showed up late because, "I had access issues with my Uber driver," before they get sick of it and fire you? Or especially in my field of massage therapy, my clients expect me to be there on time for their appointment. this goes back to people's attitudes toward the disabled.
Seeing as how the people who are blind in manufacturing, unless you're working for the Washington Lighthouse for the Blind, in my experience are generally in sweat shops, working for not much more than minimum wage if they're even making minimum wage at all, I'm not sure where you're getting this the AI are going to take over their jobs. There is so much potential in so many other fields, it's just a matter of breaking down the barriers to getting hired, and making the one or two things in those fields that are not accessible accessible.
Honestly, most blind people I know are either unemployed because they make more on their benefits than they can at the jobs they are offered, work in call centers, are social workers, lawyers, or working with computers. I know one person in insurance, and plenty of massage therapists as well. Oh, and I know one person who got into education, but they ended up teaching at a braille jail, so despite their success, that's not where most people in education will end up, or want to end up.
All of this boils down into blindness being a minor issue, and society being the largest contributing factor to the lack of success among the visually disabled.
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