I think that the use of the word “blind” can throw people off. The word conjures up thoughts of Helen Keller, guide dogs and canes, and stumbling around in the dark when you’ve been blindfolded. In reality, people who qualify as legally blind have a broad spectrum of vision acuity.
Here is the best description that I have found of what it means to be legally blind.
“Someone who is legally blind has a corrected vision of 20/200 in their best seeing eye. You might feel like you’re legally blind if you can’t see beyond a foot in front of you without wearing glasses, but as long as your vision can be corrected to 20/20 with a visual aid, such as glasses, then you are not considered legally blind.
Most government agencies and health care institutions agree that legal blindness is defined as a visual acuity (central vision) of 20/200 or worse in the best seeing eye or a visual field (peripheral vision) that is limited to only 20 degrees. Visual acuity of 20/200 means that what the legally blind person can see at 20 feet, the average person can see clearly at 200 feet. As for visual field, the average person can see 140 degrees without turning his head.”
Personally, I fall on the more sighted end of the spectrum and just barely qualify as legally blind. My vision and the way I have adapted allows me to live an active and independent life. However, the ability to “pass” as a fully sighted person has it’s pros and cons. My friends and family often forget that I am unable to read signs or see the Frisbee they occasionally launch at my head. It also leaves me in something of a no-man’s-land. I have never fit well into the “disabled” community and I definitely don’t fit into the fully sighted world. My ability to blend in means I am invisible to others who are like me, making it difficult to find people who can truly relate to my experience.
What is your eye condition called?
My specific eye condition is a variant of Stationary Cone Dystrophy. It’s a congenital condition (from birth).
I’m guessing that didn’t help you much.
Stationary means it is a stable, non-progressive condition. Basically, my eyesight won’t get worse due to this particular condition.
Cone dystrophy means that the cones in my retina don’t work properly. If you didn’t know, you have two kinds of cells, cones and rods, in your retina. They control different things like light sensitivity, color vision, depth perception, and the ability to see detail. Cones work best in bright light and rods work better in lower light
I am either missing some cones, or the ones I have don’t work well, or both. Frankly, I’ve never had a doctor who was able to give me a very clear understanding of how the disease works in my own eyes.
My symptoms include:
- Decreased color vision
- Extreme light sensitivity
- Totally shit distance vision
I may also have difficulty with depth perception and seeing detail, but I think those are more side effects of the symptoms listed above.
The condition is very rare, the symptoms can differ widely from person to person, and the disease can be passed genetically or through spontaneous gene mutation. There is little research being done on it. The specialist I used to see would always say that they would have something for me in the next 5 or 10 years, but nothing has ever come of it and I’m not holding my breath for a magical cure. I’m happy with my life and I don’t need to be cured to live fully
If you want to read more on it you can check out this link.
I hope this is helpful to you and provides some insight into what I mean when I talk about my eyesight. Please feel free to send me questions. I may not be able to give you a great answer, but I will try.
Thanks for reading!
Rainy Day Rags 