I think a lot of us who are visually impaired/legally blind, but still have varying degrees of remaining functioning vision often face personal conflict and sometimes scrutiny by others that we're not "blind enough" to need these aids or services.

I went through some of that myself a while back when I decided to start using a white cane. I can get around most of the time without it, so do I *really* need it? Am I being overly dramatic? I did just fine for 40 years without it, after all.

In the end I decided that no... I'm not just being dramatic. I went without it for 40 years and my perception was that I was doing "just fine" but that's only because I didn't know any different. The reality is that just because I wasn't falling down injuring myself and walking into things all the time, that doesn't mean things couldn't have been better. I was forever looking down. I lacked confidence when walking around in unfamiliar places. I would occasionally cut someone off or bump into someone because I couldn't see them and they'd think I was just being an oblivious jerk, etc. The cane mitigates a lot of that. It lets me feel safe, lets me look up and engage in the world around me a bit more, and lets others know that I can't see well.

This doctor, even if he does know a lot about your disease and its progression (and it sounds like he does not) doesn't really know how you see the world, how you interact with it, how you feel, or what you need to feel safe and confident.

So try not to read too much into it and stop second-guessing yourself. Do what works for you.

Y'know what? Fuck that guy. A medical degree doesn't make you an expert on the lived experiences of your patients. It also doesn't make you a nice person.

Chances are he didn't mean any harm by it but it's still a shitty thing to say. I'd let it slide once but any more comments and I'd make a complaint to the practice manager or whatever you have by way of medical oversight organisations.

Listen, if those things are helping you, keep using them. Keep seeking that help. Losing your sight knocks your confidence so anytime that gets you back on that horse is a good thing. It's possible you've adapted so well that your capability belies the seriousness of your condition, and that's a good thing too.

Some doctors are idiots.

I’m studying blindness and low vision teaching and what’s conical out constantly is that the acuity numbers say nothing about how well someone can use that vision. My retinal specialist doesn’t have any idea how well I do or don’t see. The occupational therapist who did my low vision evaluation was able to give me useful advice. Use doctors for disability service letters and to keep track of your eye health. That’s what they know. They don’t know what blindness and low vision is really like.
Are you in the USA? If so, there’s way more resources you have access to. It sounds like you could use some home and mobility training.

I’m legally blind, and I’ve experienced both extremes of this situation. Doctors think that my vision is much worse than it actulay is, and they alienate me from everyone else around me, and force me to use tools and such that I don’t need. It’s rather humiliating. But on the other side of the spectrum, people I meet in daily life don’t get it at all. I’ll tell I’m legally blind, and they’ll be like, “Oh it’s okay. I wear glasses too” which is so incredibly wrong on so many levels

I'm so sorry this doctor is such an uninformed, uncompassionare human.


I seriously wonder if this doctor is expert enough to be guiding your medical care, and I mean that quite sincerely. Not understanding your visual situation also means that he doesn't have a firm grasp on the mechanics of it.


It would be worth your while to see a rare vision disease specialist. Where do you live?

Hey, sorry to hear about your situation. Dont be too carried away by that doctor's remarks & reaction. Only you know what is best & suitable for you. Prepare yourself with the right assistive & supportive tools. With the proper rehabilitation, I am sure life is still going to be wonderful again! I am one good example. All the best to you.

You deserve care. You deserve not to be miserable. Use any tools you need in order for you to be happy. Shame, guilt or lack of resources should never be part of the experience. I'm sorry it was. Like others are saying on here, go get a second opinion. Also, if you haven't yet connect with online communities around the cool tech you can get.

Frankly, if it seems to be helping you, use it. If your vision is unreliable or expected to get worse, than it's only the smart thing to do to get better at using alternative methods before you get stuck catching up years later.

It sounds almost as if he's taking this as a personal defeat, and clinging to the foolish idea that you can be totally normal despite this huge change.

Well maybe he's fine with staying complacent, but he's not the one going through it, only the one observing it from the outside. Besides, he's not qualified to be making those kinds of calls anyway, he's not a rehabilitation specialist or O&M teacher, and just because he can't handle it or understand it doesn't mean it isn't the truth.

I'd focus on the people who's opinions really matter, your self first, other people who've gone through the same struggles second, and those of so called experts third. That's served me pretty well throughout my life at least...

Eh do what you have to do, honestly not worth getting pissed over, he can say what he wants and it doesn’t have to dictate what you do. 

Report that doctor, get his name somehow and report his ass.