I'm constantly amazed at the amount of people who apologize when they hear that my daughter is blind, "I'm so sorry." People seem to have this impression that being blind is a terrible thing, and maybe that's because they are not sure what it means to be blind. I will admit again that when I first found out I was devastated, and there still are times when I feel a moment of sadness for the things that she may not get to experience as a result of her being blind, but the important thing to remember is that to her this is normal. I have to remember that she will not miss anything, as this will always be her normal. As my Grandmother (who is blind) said when asked about what she sees; "how can I tell you what I see, when what I see is what I've always seen?" Sophia CAN see, that is a fact; she see's light, and objects, but from my understanding it is like looking through a sheet of wax paper when she looks at the world. Normal vision is 20/20, legally blind is 20/200, Sophia's vision is probably hovering around the 20/600 mark at this point, and while that is already better the she was originally diagnosed (20/1000) it probably will never be better then 20/200, or legally blind. That being said, there is no reason to feel sorry for her, she can and will have a very normal life even if her vision never improves. I'm realizing that for the rest of my life I'm going to be educating people, about albinism and blindness; this is only the beginning of it, and I know that how I deal with inquires will directly relate to how she deals with them in the future.The reality is that there will always be people who don't understand, people who feel the need to apologize, and I know that I need to do my best to not be upset by their apologies, and take it as an opportunity to make them more aware. That is easier said then done.
I notice that you keep saying your daughter is blind. Is she truly blind or just have low vision where she may be classified as being "legally blind" but can still see enough?
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy,
ReplyDeleteNo, she's not totally blind in that she cannot see anything, she is what is considered Legally blind yes. Legally blind is defined as any vision worse then 20/200, and Sophia's vision though originally diagnosed as 20/1000, is now about 20/500. When I use the term "blind" it is because medically this is how her vision is described to me and thus I get used to hearing that all the time. I generally introduce my daughter as "visually impaired" however as most people seem to understand that term better.