Life, and the world are certainly already tough enough to try and navigate one’s way through it, but it can be even more so difficult as someone trying to navigate it with a disability. Whether it be a mental health disorder, a a physical disability, a hearing or visual disability , it can compound the already trying task that much more.
Some, not all, but some people take their health for granted. I am speaking more specifically their sight as this is something I used to do. Today, I’m not so lucky as some to have full sight. Towards the end of 2010 I developed floaters in one eye. Some had grown large enough to completely obscure any vision at all. You can imagine as a meat cutter and sausage maker how important it is to have full vision. A quick trip to an optometrist confirmed I needed surgery as an attempt to repair the damage. Many corrective surgeries later left me legally blind, and as you guessed out of work.
I literally had to learn a new way of living as a visually impaired single father of a pre-teen son. This added pressure to everything else in life was not easy to adjust to. It was like the old Charles Atlas ad in the back of the comics. You know the one, a scrawny man on the beach with a beautiful girl getting sand kicked into his face by a muscle-bound bully who takes the girl from him. Then the man hits the gym, gets all buffed out and takes the girl back. Only this was no muscle-bound bully, this was life. Learning to live like this is akin to hitting the gym, but only there, more weight was added before I was able to handle it. I was determined not to give up or lay down and die. Whatever life threw at me I learned to catch it and make the play. It hasn’t always been easy, but the trick is to keep trying.
Which brings me to the point of this piece. There are a huge amount of aids to assist the blind and visually impaired which I employ in my day to day living and am very grateful for. There are now rules and regulations, and in some cases even laws with us in mind. I know, I used to write parking tickets to those who illegally parked in handicap spaces. Even the internet has gotten in on the assisted technology aspect of functionality.
This whole website was put together by me. Now, before you remind me it is as simple as drag and drop and geared for simple building, may I suggest you completely blindfold one eye, then affix a shot glass with some water in it and then build drag and drop your way through the building. It wasn’t so easy anymore was it?
What’s my point through all of this? My point is simply this; not everyone who has vision loss of any degree has come to terms with it, and there’s a good chance they have a hard time asking for help of ANY kind. This where you, the visually able come in. If you know someone who is blind or visually impaired take the time to ask them HOW you can help them. It might take some repetition, but eventually they will let you know.
For you, there’s a lot to see out there, but for us there’s a whole world to experience.
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