the spectrum of experience is based on the spectrum of vision. i think you should consider each individual’s story. there are some people born blind, some gradually lose their sight, some are legally blind but can still use corrective lenses, some are blind in one eye, etc. think of the impact if the onset was sudden after being used to the convenience of 20/20 vision. think of all the ways many jobs require eyesight. think of all the ways individuals are raised and what kind of emotional development is fostered. think of all the systems at play that don’t make education accessible to marginalized populations. and for the other reasons mentioned in comments before mine. i’m curious what your motivation to post this question was.

Your initial sentence suggestions that experience is correlated to level of vision and I have to disagree. With any population you’re going to have a bell curve. A small number if people will be on the high end of the scale, a small number of people will be at the low end. And the majority of people are in the middle. You find the same with people who have vision loss, but it isn’t related to level of vision.

It’s largely perception, but it’s also difficult getting certain opportunities. For example, I was limited to finding an internship that was close to home, so blind people can’t always find the most prestigious internships or necessarily go away to a school that is far from a support network. Additionally, it can be really hard to get your first job even with some experience. You have to constantly confront stereotypes of blindness and the hiring managers perceptions of your abilities. I was lucky to get a good job but it took a whole year of interviewing and applying for me to get it. We also have a tendency to elevate anecdotes over numbers. So, while you might hear about blind lawyers and doctors and coders, they might be in the minority and it probably took them a while to get to that job.

Why are less than half of all blind people unemployed?
People don't want to employ blind workers, simple as that.
Fear of the unknown, they think to themselves "Oh we couldn't hire this blind person, if we did we'd need to spend extra time training them, or hire someone else to help them with things they can't do for themselves!" because they're ignorant of how capable visually impaired people are.
It's a load of bullshit, truth be told. They think just because they can't see as well as someone with 20/20 vision, you'll be less of an asset and more of a anchor weighing them down.

As a sighted person, I don’t have any firsthand experience, just secondary ones so obviously take it with a grain of salt.

From what others have told me, it’s a mix of many factors. Some places won’t hire people who are blind. Couple that with certain jobs that require vision like driving and piloting and it limits the job pool more.

Another factor is the person themselves. Like you said tour mother experiences months of depression when she lost her eyesight. For some they don’t overcome it fully, and it just snowballs.