I very much relate to this. I've been legally blind for a little over a year now due to diabetes. I can no longer drive and its been a huge adjustment. Dealing with depression and loss of my independence has been difficult to say the least. I also continue to struggle with saying I'm blind or not.

I rely on my family a lot out in public and don't use a cane. I have had the occasion where I needed to advocate for myself and just said sorry I'm legally blind. Most people do seem to think when you say "blind" that you only see darkness when the majority of those that are blind can see varying degrees of light or shapes.

Sorry to ramble but I believe you should label it whatever makes you most comfortable. I am probably not explaining well but I get that you may be feeling guilty for calling yourself blind when you can see better than some but that doesn't make your situation any less.

Like so many other things, blindness is a spectrum. Everyone is different. Some blind people can't see at all. Other blind people might only need minimal navigation AIDS. It's up to you if you want to apply that label to yourself, but it sounds like we both have about the same amount division, and I would definitely call myself blind. By the way, a good response to the "how many fingers am I holding up" question is to ask it to them while holding up your middle finger. It's a bit rude, but hey they started it.

I completely understand, people seem to think that blindness is all or nothing. You can use whatever term you feel most comfortable with, I use partially sighted when dealing with acquaintances and legally blind when I'm actually engaging someone. You dont have an obligation to their questions, just tell them right off the bat where your boundries are, if they dont respect them, dont talk to them.

I recently read a post about this. That person could also see about what you describe and they said that many “blind people” aren’t totally blind. I never really thought about that before, so it sounds like many people just like you consider themselves to be blind. I just was not well informed on the subject. Now I know there is a range.

My wife uses "visually impaired" in most situations, it seems to have reduced confusion a bit.

You can if you want, it's not a club, nobody's checking ID at the door. I don't know, though. Have you tried something like saying "I have really bad eyesight, like really bad, I can't see my own hand in front of my face" or something conversational? Takes the sting out of it a bit. I tend to say things like that and I'm as blind as anyone.

Your choice. We don't do entrance tests, here. It's the sighted folks who do that mess.

Yes, just say that you're blind. I've been blind since birth suffering from atrophy on the optic nerves, and all that I can see is basically light and vague outlines of objects. Whenever someone asks I just say that I am blind.

I can relate to this a lot, my whole life. I'm about to be 52. Of course you can just say you are blind. Being "legally blind" IS being blind... What people don't understand is that there are many levels of blindness. It's not you either can see, or you can't. Some blind people like us have 'some' vision, but not enough to see well. Some people suffering with progressive eye diseases like RP or glaucoma have areas in their field of vision that they just cannot see through. I happen to have ROP. So yes, if it makes things easier for you, just tell them you are blind.
And when people hold up their fingers and ask how many, I want to tell them to shove those fingers up their ass!

There are lots of terms for visual impairment used all over the world. I think most of the community doesn’t mind if you mix and match them. If I were you I would tailor your response for your audience. If you’re asking the bus driver to let you know when you get to a particular stop, it might be easiest to just say you’re blind and leave it at that. If you’re asking for assistance shopping, maybe you say you’re legally blind, or that you’re blind but you can still see some.
You don’t owe it to anyone to tell your life story as soon as you meet them, so give the answer that gets you what you need out of a particular situation.

I am totally blind, and I still get the how many fingers thing on occation. I sometimes come across people who don't believe I'm blind. I kind of like when they don't believe me, but I get annoyed when they start holding up fingers.

Hey, you can use whatever term you feel comfortable with. You don't have to feel guilty for it :)

I have no freaken idea. My eyes are - 17, the other is -16, i know im severely nearsighted. Been trying to figure out if id be considered legaly blind. No one else seems to be able to know either. If someone knows pls tell me..

Anyways sorry i couldnt help 😐.

Ohh, speaking of being totally blind, one guy who waa making my glasses suggested i get a walking cane even tho im technically not blind yet!! 😣

Seems pretty official that thats how it is with the total blind, they see light and shadow but not much else. Its just a light \ shadow blob to them. So looks like you might be correct.