The Victorians viewed sight as the ‘sovereign’ of the senses and considered its loss highly disabling. From the late eighteenth century onwards charitable institutions provided education and training for blind children. Wealthy philanthropists such as Richard Glynn Vivian supported blind people’s charities, but from the middle of the nineteenth century blind people became increasingly critical of charity and the attitudes of pity that underpinned it. This talk explores these arguments and their relevance to disability activism today. Glynn Vivian’s own sight declined in later life, and the talk also examines the experiences of people with visual impairments.