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Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2018 - 11 - 03 - ID#9ts46e
6
How do I explain what I see? (self.Blind)
submitted by Wafflez13
So first of I know that i don't have to explain what I see as someone who is vision impaired.i know that if someone asks me I can choose to not answer.but I don't have any vision impaired friends only friends with 20/20 vision.and they are great friends that cant understand my challenges but they listen when i talk about it and are great friends.but recently my friend asked me what i see?and shes not a stranger she is a close friend so its not a unreasonable question, i want to answer but I don't know how to explain it.All i have so far is like since i have alot of astigmatism that numbers and letters are very blurry like even close up they can be hard to see.because the are all just blurry like an b can like like a d , o , e .usually an c and u just look like an o.but other than that component i don't know how to explain it?so if you are vision impaired how do you explain what you see?
oddphilosophy 6 points 4y ago
My friend best described her vision difficulties like this:


"Ok so imagine you are reading a book. First, squint a bit until the words get a bit fuzzy. Next, cross your eyes and shake your head back and forth. That makes it hard to focus on the story a bit, right? Good. Now, hold a piece of wax paper in front of your face. Finally, just go ahead and shut off all the lights in the room."


It was after a long day and she was pretty frustrated, but it always stuck with me as a perfectly hyperbolic way of walking someone through the idea. It really breaks down the expectations and gives them a few examples of the difficulties that arise at different stages between "20/20" and "entirely blind". The thought experiment should still work if you personalize it as well. Just substitute any of the middle examples as you see fit, and have the final part be more tailored to your own vision levels or peraonal experience.
Laser_Lens_4 3 points 4y ago
I like this is well. I was mostly giving up on telling people what my vision is like. I'll usually tell them that that's very difficult to describe because I don't have any other frame of reference to compare my vision too.
This though, I like this.
LiadanCroft 2 points 4y ago
Not vision impaired, just a visitor very interested and self educating on blindness and vision impaired experiences. This description is the best most honestly helpful Ive seen to date, and matches with a few vision impaired people Ive met and the vague ways they've attempted at explaining it. I can tell it varies sometimes greatly from person to person but this really helps put it into perspective for someone that can see well from birth.

Can I use this as a basic explanation for my very ignorant friends and family members in the future? Ive been trying to help educate the general public on very basic details seeing as I work for a big telemarket service and Ive been shocked at the number of employees that tell a blind or visually impaired customer that they can only use a flip phone! I dont want to talk about an experience im not entirely familiar with but this is downright upsetting seeing as i once had a man who could barely see who was extremely saddened by the fact that he could only have a flip phone and not one of the new thechy devices everyone raved about. I had to tell him that basically all smartphones have a good amount of features such as voice over and tactile feedback and explain to him and his brother how to accsess the features and they were so happy.

Ever since then I talk about those features to all of my coworkers and a lot of them are very ignorant and scoff or dont care but its honestly way harder from what I've seen for a visually impaired person to use a flip phone than a smartphone. Correct me if im wrong feel free to do so if im missing something or overstepping or misinforming in ignorance.
Wafflez13 [OP] 2 points 4y ago
Thank you! This really helped! :)
VicDumb 2 points 4y ago
I tell people it’s like trying to watch your favorite TV show on a very staticy black and wite TV.
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