I have lived as a partially sighted person for my whole life. But that partial
vision diminished over the years. Still, up until perhaps three years ago, I
could see where people and objects were, see them move, distinguish colors,
and read and write with my closed circuit TV reading machine. I say three years
ago, but who knows? Maybe it was four years ago, maybe two years ago. But a fog
has been thickening over the portion of my right eye that still had vision. The
retina is deteriorating, probably because I've always had glaucoma and because
the eye has had other issues as well. I was always very efficient at using the
small bit of vision that I had, but there comes a time when that skill no
longer works. Of course, my situation is complicated by continuing spinal
issues which means that balance and walking are severely compromised and I've
also lost a good deal of hearing. And even if I didn't have these additional
difficulties plus some other medical issues that I won't go into, there are not
now any meaningful rehab services for people my age. There were such services
about 40 years ago. But I have braille and the computer, and I no longer live
alone. That being said, and I know this is not an acceptable statement to make
within the blind community, I very much miss being able to see the way I did,
even ten years ago. I had a tiny bit of vision, and in the opinion of sighted
people, I was a blind person, but I loved to be able to see color, to see trees
and flowers and pictures. I am grateful that I now live in a place where the
sun shines into the windows, and that I can still see the sunshine. My
apartment faced north so that the sun shone into it for about three summer
months in the early evenings. Sight is precious and there is tremendous pain
when one loses it. The blind community tends to engage in a kind of public
denial about this loss. I've known people who have been totally blind since
birth, for whom living without sight is the norm. If one has never experienced
sight, even just partial sight, one can't possibly imagine its loss. People
assume that if they can do most of the things that sighted people do, there's
no big issue. But there is a very big issue with many complexities.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2018 2:29 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; 3044374556@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Anniversary
Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the last time I saw a human being well
enough to tell what they looked like.
