Oy...

[conuly]

I made the mistake of explaining to Deniz about the Braille on signs and the bumps in front of subway platforms (and we so need those gate thingies inside the station!) and how they're for people who can't see.

And now she seems to see me as the expert on all things blind. "Connie? How do people who can't see get on the boat? How do they know where to sit?" Well, that's easy - I explain as much as I can about the logistics of using a cane, a dog, advice from others, or your memory to find a seat and leave it at that. "Connie? How do people who don't use their eyes get food? How do they cook?"

What? I don't know how blind people cook! I don't especially care how blind people cook, frankly, seeing as how I'm not blind.

We spend a lot of time with Deniz. I anticipate more questions of this nature in the future - and, heaven forbid, questions about deafness can't be far behind. Does anybody have any good resources so I can make an attempt at answering her questions? I promised her I'd ask around. She's probably forgotten by now, but I did promise.

I'd also like some simple books for five year olds on this sort of subject - she can read, and she's right into asking questions about everything, so it'd be very good for me to be able to toss her a book and say "Here, find out for yourself". Good for her parents, too.

In similar thoughts, it's occured to me lately that if we lived in a world without glasses, I'd be actually pretty disabled for that. My eyesight is perfect with my glasses on (well, pretty much - my glasses are now royally fucked up, with scratches and superglue all on the lenses, so it's perfect if I ignore that!), but without them on, it's pretty bad. I mean, really bad.

Which isn't so bad, I mean - I always wear my glasses, and it's hardly comprable to having eyesight that *isn't* correctable via the use of carefully chosen lenses hooked onto my nose. But... *shrugs* I hadn't thought of that before, even back when I lost my glasses all the time.

I need to get new glasses.

Comments

[eofs.livejournal.com]

In similar thoughts, it's occured to me lately that if we lived in a world without glasses, I'd be actually pretty disabled for that.

This is something I've had to think about more often than I'd like. I was horrified to discover, when I turned 19, that although as a student in full time education at 18 had entitled me to NHS assistance for my eyes, turning 19 suddenly counted me as an adult who could afford hundreds of pounds every 6 months. And there was no university offered support either.

So despite the fact that without my glasses I would have been completely incapable of completing my degree, there was no support for the fact that I needed them. (I'm as good as blind without them - I can't even read a book. My field of vision is about 3 inches, and that's only if I have one eye closed.)

Then one day at work last year a lens spontaneously popped out of my frames. I realised that unless we could somehow get the lens back in, I would have to go home - my entire job revolved around being able to use the computer screen and I couldn't spend the rest of the day with one eye closed.

I think a lot of people with lesser myopia (or hyperopia) underestimate how much some of us rely on glasses.

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

Seconded! I live in envy of people who can actually forget their glasses. There's a scene in Minority Report where the guy actually manages to get all the way out of the house to his car and partway down the street before returning to get them ... and then has the nerve to say "I forgot my glasses, I'm as blind as a bat without them." No, you're not. If you're capable of walking more than three feet without realizing you've forgotten them, you are not as blind as a bat.

I mean, I can have a moment of panic because they're one foot to the right of where I normally put them and have to call in my husband to look, but I can't be far enough away from them to lose them!

My last job offered "vision coverage" of $35 every two years for an eye exam and $35 every two years for a set of glasses or contacts. I worked out that this came out to about 8% of my total biannual expenditure of a $75 exam every six months, $400 contacts once a year, and $300-400 lenses for my glasses every six months (I can't see as well with the glasses as the contacts, but I also can't not have glasses, since my field of vision is also about 3" and I can only wear my contacts so many hours per day).

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

I'm as good as blind without them - I can't even read a book. My field of vision is about 3 inches, and that's only if I have one eye closed.

Some of us don't even have that much. I have astigmatism in both eyes -- I can't see anything clearly, regardless of how near or far it is. I have hyperopia and presbyopia, so my distance vision would be fine and I would only need glasses for the computer, reading, sewing, and other close work. But I can't see a damn thing at any distance -- it's all blurry. I'd be completely helpless without my glasses.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know people have got it worse than me. Although I just realised I misrepresented mine - I have about an inch of good vision, about 3 inches in front of my face. So it's completely and utterly useless really. I expect that by the time my eyes stop deteriating, I'll have lost even that. I had hoped I'd have settled down by the time I was 21, but it seems not.

(I've got myopia + astigmatism, though my astigmatism is relatively mild, just a couple of diopters in each eye.)

[conuly]

That *is* bad.

My eyes got really bad during my teen years, and I worried that I'd actually have problems even with glasses, but they settled down when I hit 19 or so.

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, mine are about as bad as you get (I believe) without actually having anything exotic wrong. I was 12 when I could no longer read without them (and even at that age I had to hold the book close to my face.) Not long after that I was at the stage I'm at now - I won't even shower without my glasses on. Sleeping is the only thing.

It's depressing when your friend has "really bad eyesight" and you realise his prescription is 'half' yours (of course, I'm fairly sure diopters aren't a linear scale) and that once upon a time you actually had the same level of eyesight. But that was ten years later and his have done nothing since, whilst yours have just kept getting worse.

Glad that at least yours have settled down though.