TOMMY: This guy's legally blind. Does that make me illegally blind?
I guess I've got to be careful. I might get "sighted."
[swoosh / music plays]
TOMMY: Today's video we have a special guest. It's our friend James Rath.
Now James is a legally blind YouTuber. James, how are you?
Tell me a little about yourself. JAMES: I make movies about
accessibility, about blindness, about technology
and I was born legally blind with
ablinism and nystagmus which was triggered by from the albinism.
My eyes constantly see vertigo
and are constantly moving involuntarily back and forth.
TOMMY: Today we're going to explore the difference between someone who's
blind since birth like myself or somebody who's legally blind like James.
Now we could sit here and tell you definitions - you know, what each one is like
but we thought it would be more fun to illustrate the differences
by daily scenarios that we both have to deal with.
The great Ben Churchill who records, produces,
directs, and edits all these video is going to be asking us a bunch of questions.
Alright, James? JAMES: Alright. Sounds great.
TOMMY: Ben, take it away.
BEN: One of the complaints about American money is that people who are blind
can't tell the difference between one bill and another.
Can you tell me the denomination of that bill in front of you?
JAMES: Yes... Five dollar bill.
BEN: How can you tell?
JAMES: Sight.
The print is pretty big. Even though
it's blurry, because it's something that's familiar
I deal with on a daily basis
I'm still able to distinguish it between other bills
pretty often. Sometimes it will be like a one dollar bill and ten dollar bill
and I'll only really see the one
and kind of get confused with that sometimes.
BEN: Tommy, can you tell me the denomination of the bill that's in front of you?
TOMMY: No.
Because I can't see it. It's the same size as any other piece of American currency.
And I don't know. I have no idea at what this is.
BEN: Want to take a guess? TOMMY: I'll guess. I'll say...
it's seems pretty crinkly. I will say this is a five dollar bill.
BEN: No, it's a twenty. TOMMY: That's a twenty. That's a beat up twenty.
You've got a crappy ATM don't you?
BEN: Next is a coin.
Can you tell me the year written on the coin in front you?
JAMES: Okay, so it's definitely a quarter.
And the year... Can I use my phone?
BEN: Go for it. JAMES: So... the iPhone
and IOS 10 has magnify which basically acts as like a
portable magnify glass or a CCTV.
And allows me to use the camera
to lock focus and change the filter
to be more comfortable with my eyes. Um...
Oh! I think I may have found it.
2006?
BEN: You're correct. TOMMY: Holy mackerel!
JAMES: Wow. BEN: Tommy, can you tell me the year written on the coin in front of you?
TOMMY: Nope.
BEN: What method
do you use to read a book?
JAMES: If ever, try to do audio books or if it's
available on like a computer
or a tablet, I can try and have that read it to me.
I cannot read book. I've never really been able to get through
a whole chapter on my own because my eyes get so tired
after 2 paragraphs of trying to read because
everything is just a constant blur.
All the words are just, in my field of view,
meshing together. I do wish
I learned Braille growing up. I think it's because
I passed to much at sighted for my visual specialist.
It was never offered to me? TOMMY: I use audio books
as well but I can ready Braille if I had to,
but I prefer an audio book or of course the iPhone
in the bookstore can read me a book too. So those are the methods I use.
BEN: Can you drive a car legally?
JAMES: No.
Do you want to see me try? Got to be somewhere remote though.
Otherwise, someone is going to lose a limb.
TOMMY: Negative. No. I'm not allowed to
legally, but I do know how to drive a car. I can even drive standard.
I learned in college. The kids took me out
3 o'clock in the morning driving up Main St.
out of Bridgeport toward Trumbull if you know that area.
I've driven on Northern Bloulevard in Queens. We even drove in a video.
BEN: How do you walk around the neighborhood alone?
JAMES: During the day, I can kind of get around. I often times will
rely on my ears a little bit more so
when I get up to the edge of a sidewalk I listen for which way
the traffic's going. Sometimes I'll just use my phone to
zoom into the crosswalk signal.
And that's one way I can sort of make that out.
But I still got to rely on my eyes because L.A. drivers are pretty
unpredictable to say. I've almost been hit
quite a few times. And then at night I use a cane
to navigate and feel my way around.
TOMMY: I'm a cane traveler, so I use my cane all the time.
And I walk down the sidewalk and I can sort of feel those
sort of bumps where the crosswalk is. I'll reach my cane
back and see if there's a pole. And that means I have to push
the button to cross. So that's how I do it. But I use a cane all the time.
BEN: How do you cook food alone?
JAMES: I usually don't cook. I lived in an apartment but didn't have a kitchen
for like the last year. So I just got a kitchen.
I'm excited to start cooking. But before that
I did cook a little bit at home. BEN: Are there any specific products
that you use to help cook? JAMES: Ah, no.
Are there some that could help? TOMMY: I use the George Foreman Grill.
I love that thing. It is amazing because I'm afraid
to flip things. I'm afraid to flip a burger. I'm afraid to flip
a piece of chicken or whatever.
So the George Foreman Grill is fantastic because it does both sides at once.
And I use a toaster oven too. Like, if I want to make fries or something like that as a side.
So that's how I cook.
So that's how I cook. JAMES: I need a George Foreman Grill.
TOMMY: Dude, it's amazing. It's incredible.
JAMES: I'll do that, yeah. TOMMY: James, this was awesome.
Thank you so much. And please don't forget to check out James' channel.
He's got some short films that he's made. And we've also done a collab video together,
me and James. It's all about Audio Description. So, you can find the link
right there on screen or in the description below.
Of course, you might recognize James from our Pokemon video we did
and James actually played a sighted person. Nice acting there, pal.
JAMES: Hey, thank you. My mom, she was very proud of me.
BEN: Was she? TOMMY: Good boy!
JAMES: I was the sighted son she never had!
[music credits]
TOMMY: I also drove on interstate 91. I drove from
New Haven up into North Haven from
exit 2 to exit 12... because my brother-in-law was drunk and he thought it
would be a better idea if I was in the driver's seat and he'd help me out with the wheel
and I work the pedals. BEN: And you got home safely?
TOMMY: Got home perfect. I'm still here!