Hello there! I know this is probably a terrifying time for you, but i would like to start off by congratulating you on having a baby.

Yes, your daughter will have many different career options and higher education most certainly will be a possibility.

She’ll likely have to use adaptive techniques and assistive technololgy, but she should be able to go into various areas, especially more white collar jobs where everyone uses computers anyway. It might be best to let her explore her interests and passions and then use trial-and-error to find ways that she can work inthose fields.

Encourage her to learn different adaptive independant living techniques as early as possible. When she’s at the age where sighted kids start to do chores, encourage her to help around the house as well. Maybe check to see if there is a local organization by/of the blind in your area.

Also, see if you can get her orientation and mobility (independant travel/cane usage) training as early as possible. Knowing how to move about safely and independantly is a huge confidence booster.

Are you in the united states? If so, then know that when she starts school (and yes she can go to public school), she’ll need an IEP (individualized education plan) so she can recieve accomodations.

I’m visually impaired, and i’m about to enter my junior year of college. I use my laptop with both a screen reader and magnification software along with a camera that magnifies everything on the boards to complete my work. It hasn’t been the easiest, but i’ve gotten pretty decent grades and i feel pretty connected to the school. I used to work with the career center on campus, and now i currently work as a camous tour guide. Honestly, i feel like my college experience has been just as fulfilling as my sighted peers.

Unfortunately, She’ll probably face some form of discrimination (usually from people underestimating her abilities) at some point in her life.

Sorry, i have the tendency to get rambly

I’m a master’s-level social worker who works full time and has a family and I’m blind. Your daughter will be fine!

I am legally blind and am about to finish a PhD in English. I teach, write, and also do programming.

What your daughter can do depends on her and on you. She will face unique challenges, but with support, work, and some luck, she'll be able to do anything she wants to do, within reason. She might not be a professional baseball player or a pilot, but she can be a teacher, writer, journalist, musician, salesperson, programmer, personal trainer, athlete, lawyer, researcher, mogul, librarian, social worker, government worker, or politician, and that's only mentioning professions that I actually know of blind people currently doing.

For blind people, certain skills are very important. Even if she turns out to have some remaining sight, she should learn braille and you should err on the side of giving her a cane. Don't try to protect her too much, let her explore her environment. Many blind people are socialized into helplessness by fearful or embarrassed parents. Don't be the parent that encourages her to "pass" as sighted when she would be able to do more using the appropriate blind method, whether it's reading with braille or a screen reader or using a cane to navigate.

I'm sorry this happened, as blindness does complicate things in life and she, and you by extension, will face discrimination. But there are worse thigns to have than blindness, like chronic pain and certain cognitive disabilities. Keep your perspective and develop a sense of humor. Read about blind people and what they do and maintain high expectations of her. Give her the resources to develop her own solutions to common issues. If she's losing shoes, ask if she'd like a special shoe rack or if she can come up with other solutions, like using an app. It's critical that, as she grows, she keeps a feeling of control and agency. She'll need to be a technologist and a diplomat just to do what sighted people take for granted, but becoming those things has their own advantages.

Challenges have a knack for bringing out the best in people. I hope this experience will bring out the best in your daughter and in you. Please let us know in here if you have other questions.

> My infant daughter was just diagnosed with optic nerve hypoplasia. I'm a little terrified.

you are terrified in much the same way that a bird would be terrified at the prospect of never being able to fly again or a dolphin never being able to use echo location. these animals would probably look at how we live and pitty us. and yet we do not share their terror because not being able to fly or use echo-location is the only existence we have ever known.

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your daughter will not miss being able to see because she wont know what it means to have good vision. the biggest barriers she will face are from the social stigmas of having a visible disability.


> Will she be able to work?

yes, with the proper training and the proper direction she should be able to do all sorts of things you wouldn't expect. this includes working.

> Will the work be the same as a sighted person, or will she have to choose a job better suited to her abilities?

sadly, she will be limited in the kinds of work she can do but you already knew that. she will never be a professional basketball player. the good news is that technology is getting better and better. **accessibility** is becoming a major concern for people who develop software and other technologies. by the time your daughter is in highschool i suspect most computers will have very robust accessibility software that will allow her to use all sorts of devices without the use of her vision. this will open up a lot of possibilities for her.

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look up some youtube videos on NDVA and JAWS. these are software packages that allow blind people to use a computer. they aren't perfect but they do get better every year. you should learn how to use them so that when your daughter is ready to start using a computer you will know how to teach her. start her young.

> Is it hard to find work in your chosen field, as a blind person?

yes. there is no sugar coating that. the only thing you can do is build a strong strategy that will give her some advantages early.

Is higher education a possibility?

yes. like i said earlier, accessibility is a big issue right now and a lot of major players like microsoft and apple are making a big push for it. i was close friends with a blind woman in university. it was definitely more challenging for her but she managed to finish her diploma.

I’m legally blind and I have an MS in psychology; however, I’m now on the path to become a special education teacher instead of a psychologist (I found out the hard way that my state’s healthcare licensing boards won’t grant a license to anyone with an impairment).

With that being said, your daughter will be just fine. My only recommendation would be to make sure she has access to low vision/blindness services as soon as possible. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

She’ll be fine.

Yes, higher education is a possibility. Yes, she can get a job.

Hi. Your daughter will have an excellent life as a blind person. In terms of higher education, it is entirely possible. I myself am blind and currently in college. The key is early intervention. Even though she is not yet school aged, you should look into getting your child visual impairment (VI) services from your local school district or county education office. What state do you live in or what country? There are many third party services that your child can benefit from. Additionally, I would suggest checking out content by various visually impaired YouTubers as a source of encouragement for yourself and your family. A few examples out of many may include Molly Burke, James Rath, Tommy Edison xp, Joy Ross, Crafty Blind Chick, Skye D, and etc. I would also encourage you to push your child to do great things. Many people assume that blind people are not capable, but with the proper help, a blind person can do just about anything. I hope that this helps.

I've been to job interviews in the IT industry where my boss would have been a totally blind person. During the interview his computer would be reading emails at 1000% speed as they arrive. Unintelligible to me, I can still see well enough that I can handle a computer with the text size increased a few notches.

She will certainly be able to live a full, meaningful productive life. I myself am totally blind and finishing up my final year in college with a degree in elementary education. The job market is a little challenging, but I know many people with visual impairments with full time jobs such as working for Apple, lawyers, judges, etc. :) I’m happy to answer any other questions. I hope this helped

As an adult with a genetic disease that is slowly taking my sight, I’ve gotten a lot of comfort from watching YouTube videos from people like Molly Burke, Lucy Edwards, Derek Daniel, and Sam from “The Blind Side”. These are visually impaired and blind people that lead very normal lives, working, dating, socializing, etc. check them out, it may be a comfort to you as well, seeing blind people living fulfilling lives.

In the US I believe that most states have a Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. This group helps blind people train for work. In my case they paid tuition & books for engineering school, but I think they assist with lots of training & job placement.

I’m sure your fearful right now, but try to relax and just love your baby. It will work out.

You've gotten great info here, I just want to make sure you're aware to search Facebook for support groups too. Search onh and optic nerve hypoplasia and you will find very good support groups :)

Blindness is no big deal if you don’t act like it. I am on another subreddit and I told them and I’ll tell anyone I hate it when blind people or others make blindness out to be something difficult, or a big deal. Or focuses on it. I am on here to help but blindness isn’t really a major thing in life.

I am more independent then most. I lost all my sight at 8 was born with what some people think is scalio-hypoplasia, I think or peter’s anomali. I dont have the mental part of peter’s anomali if I have it. I’ve done a lot in life.

Is higher Education possible. Well I’ve been doing it for 7 years.. Political Science and communications major. So not easy majors. I brought some books to school and these were thick books. Someone said they looked smart. I was once a philosophy major. If I have the time I like some philosophy. I also studied some psychology. I take an interest in that. I was an English major and have an AA degree in English creative writing. Yes! I get usually no lower grades then bs for the exception of a few classes. I am known as the model student, and have been asked to represent disabled students and to give advice. I’ve even ran for ASB and won that in Elementary school I was ASB president. Probably could win in University, I was asked to fulfill senate seat a couple years ago. I was too busy and turned it down. I was mainstreamed all my life. I went to a blind school for 3 weeks in the summer for summer camp and was bored.. I think I went to a half day blind school thing but that was when I was 5. Blind school told my parents we won’t take her. She’s too smart.

No need for blind schools really if you don’t want it, don’t baby her, treat her like any normal child. Adapt some things but she’s nothing special, just a kid with no sight. Not mentally challenged. She can do anything if she puts her mind to it.

Back to school I wasn’t quite top of my class but I was fairly close I think I had a GPA of 3.4 weighted 3.6 or 3.7. No I wasn’t valedictorian for sure, but I wasn’t stupid. I wasn’t actually popular, was sort of a jerk of a kid and like telling others how to do things, where to go, even figuratively. Hahaha! I wrote on the school newspaper. Went to different rooms delivered them, yes, on my own. I actually was this teacher ta/delivery gal in high school. He would send me off with his papers and I delivered them. But back to the newspaper, I was a respected writer on it, and well read. Someone told me I was well read, well-respected, People pointed my articles out to friends, passed my articles around, ETC... No one bothered to tell me, but that was what happened. I found years later. Someone told me semi-recently. I was ignored but found out people remembered me as the smart one, who people envied and wanted to be, teachers liked me. I was known as really intelligent.

Can we get a job. Many blind people have gotten jobs. I haven’t applied but I did a job at one point testing software. I did this as a volunteer a few times. No special job is necessary. May it be harder, but is it possible yes. The more normal, the easier it is.

I’ve lead groups in person and online.

I’ve gone surfing and that I had help with but if I had better balance not much help is required. Iceskated. What impressed most people, is I got on the iceskating rink and never really fell, not often, and the first go I never fell.

I am well traveled I travel around the entirety of LA county and also orange county. I know La much better, but I could figure out orange county if you gave me a few minutes with an app. But You can drop me off at a random place in LA and say okay now go home, Absolutely no problem. I’ve eaten at a lot of places in La County by my self too. I travel independently. People ask me if I can get home or where is my parents or helper, and I don’t need one. Hahaha! I have built a nice four square pages too!

I’ve lived in San Francisco for a bit in a dorm, no roommate, did everything myself. I know the San Francisco city pretty well, but regretably not the bay area. I got out and started exploring a bit late. I absolutely don’t need to be tought a route before I go, I just use my phone and go at it. I love trying new places. I love food. Hahahaha!

I can use most technology, and I am a techy and I love and set up audio equipment. I love social media. It surprises people, but yeah. I am extremely extroverted so I am on all of them. I use about 3 or 4 regularly.



I’ve said all this to say, let nothing stop her. I am blind and I can do these things, so can just about anyone else. Don’t worry about the blindness there needs to be a few small no big deal adjustments but enjoy your kid!

Need more help get in touch.!

At Dreamscape Foundation, we have the power to take action to help individuals with disabilities. We actively work to ensure that anyone who lives with blindness or visual impairment is provided with the accessibility resources and tools needed to meet their educational, employment, and independent living goals. For more details visit us at $1

Feel free to contact us so we can discuss your concerns. We can put you in contact directly with the founder who was diagnosed with LHON and lost his vision in high school. We would love to chat!

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Also, fortunately, you can also take into consideration that actual therapies that may be capable of fully restoring eyesight may be available by the time she becomes an adult as well. Driverless cars will make her life a lot easier as a teenager possibly even as well.

The only things that a blind person **absolutely can not** do in terms of an occupation is anything that involves operating heavy machinery, working as a first responder, or military service. Every other occupation is a potential option for the visually impaired. Some jobs may be more challenging than others, but it all depends on the individual.

As a matter of fact one of my friends has been completely blind since he was two years old, he put himself through the public school system and college and now he works as a police dispatcher.

Several of my friends with various conditions have worked in the corporate world for years.

I'd also invite you to look up Mark Demontis. He's involved in multiple charities for the blind in Canada and he recently ran for a position on the city council in Toronto.

TL:DR

The only thing a blind person shouldn't do is drive or handle firearms.

I worked with a man who was completely blind at a fortune 500 company. He was a data analyst who used dragon naturally speaking on his machine. He was incredibly good at his work, had a nice home and a nice life.

With software these days I can't imagine much a blind person couldn't accomplish in a computer related field. Even Linux terminals have functional screen readers now so system admin jobs are completely possible.

Disclaimer: I'm not blind or visually impaired