Waves only roll through every so often, but a concrete drainage ditch always has the same shape of a face wave. So, Pete goes in search of a skateboard that will best replicate the experience of surfing and then hits the concrete (literally) all in an effort to get just a little bit better at surfing.


Featured in this video is some big fun on a 5' Fish from @hamboards

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A little more of Pete and Stargadt's Disease:
Pete was diagnosed at the age of 8 with macular degeneration. The disease would later be renamed as Stargadt's because it affected Pete so young and needed to be reclassified. Pete was born with perfect eyesight, but the genetic disorder began to eat away at his eyesight from the moment of his birth rendering him legally blind by the age of 8 and without any "functional" eyesight by his mid-30's.

Q: is Pete's eyesight completely black?
A: No. Pete sees a jumble of light and dark. There are no distinct shapes and this "non-functional" eyesight makes it impossible to process the information his eyes are sending to his brain. There is basically just a jumble of light, dark and colors that swirl about.

Q: why does it look like he's looking at the camera?
A: The camera looks at Pete. He does not look at the camera unless he has been given a "mark" or is following a predetermined and pre-discussed route of the camera. Please refer to the start of this episode for more: [ Ссылка ]

Q: can Pete type?
A: yes. Pete has fingers. Pete can type. Pete also uses the dictate feature on his phone just like millions of Americans who like to dictate faster than they can type.

Q: How is Pete reading these comments?
A: Pete does not read comments. Pete does not "read" anything. Voice to text technology, also known as accessibility tech, makes it so that anything on a computer or phone screen can be read out loud to the person using the technology. for a lot more on this, please enjoy this episode: [ Ссылка ]

Q: is it possible for me to see the way Pete sees?
A: as there is a constant swirling motion involved with the way Pete perceives light, it is very difficult to simulate the way his eyes work (or don't work), but if you go to 6 minutes and 39 seconds of the following episode, you can get a rough idea: [ Ссылка ]

Q: How does Pete get around?
A: Pete gets around with the help of a cane, his guide dog Superdog and his friends. When you see him on camera, many routes have been pre-plotted for the ease of viewing. To see how Pete gets to his spot on the beach, please check out the 48 second mark of this video: [ Ссылка ]

Q: Why does Pete have eyes? A: being blind does not mean that you don't have eyes. It just means that they don't' work

Q: so why is he looking at stuff when he talks?
A: Pete's ears work fine so he can hear where voices are coming from and looks in the direction of those voices.

Q: Why is Pete wearing sunglasses
A: Most blind people wear sunglasses because they make really poor eye contact and it’s a little off-putting to people in the sighted world to be looking at someone who isn’t really looking back. Also, since Pete’s eyes can’t regulate the amount of light coming into his pupils, direct exposure to bright sunlight can cause pretty un-fun headaches so he keeps the shades on to keep the unregulated and indistinct bright light out.

Q: How does Pete edit these videos?
A: at this point in the questions, it might be a good idea to stop and think for a moment. You’ve already asked-
-how does he read comments
-how does the see the camera
…and more
The answer to all of these common questions is pretty constant. Pete does not see. Just like the theme of the channel indicates, Pete “Finds A Way” to do things differently. In the case of editing, Pete is an accomplished audio editor so, each week, he lines up the audio of the episodes and, as a team, the sighted people on the Blind Surfer staff help assemble these beautiful works of art we call Youtube videos.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask in the comments. The Blind Surfer channel is always happy to help spread awareness and information about blindness and how it affects tens of millions of people worldwide.

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