Blind and Visually Impaired Community
↑
7
↓
Please educate me !! (self.Blind)
submitted by brokenbottleskyline
Hi there :) I am currently studying for my masters in English, and am taking a creative writing module. For my upcoming assessment (worth a large chunk of my grade) we have to write a story, one of my characters is blind/visually impaired, and later becomes a victim of a home invasion while alone in the house, during the late evening. While it is not a nice thing to think about, I do not want to be inaccurate with my story, having never been visually impaired myself - how would you react in this scenario? What sort of things would you think to do that a sighted person may not? As for me, as a sighted person, my first instinct would be to look around, but is there anything else you would do? I really mean no offense by this in any way and i hope it doesn't come across as ignorant and insensitive - I am simply trying to educate myself so that I don't misrepresent this community of brilliant people!!
edit : thank you everyone so far! I'm sure silly writers are a very common annoyance here. to clarify, I was just wondering if there are any additional thoughts/concerns that a visually impaired person may have to consider that I haven't thought about !! I'm not sure about the specifics of my characters' condition, but they have light perception, and can see vague silhouettes - problem is they're in a dark bedroom, which would make it hard for a sighted person to see, and don't have a chance to get up before they're ambushed by the intruder, so a cane would not come into play here. Just wanted some advice on the kind of things that would be more notable to someone who is trying to identify another person without visual aids. The story is about an assault, and the character tries to explain how the perpetrator treated her using the experiences that she has had with other men in her life, building an "image" of the man without describing him physically. I hope this helps to clarify! hope I don's sound like a complete dope! I know there are a lot of misconceptions about blindness/visual impairments and I don't want to be one of the ones perpetuating that !!!
edit : thank you everyone so far! I'm sure silly writers are a very common annoyance here. to clarify, I was just wondering if there are any additional thoughts/concerns that a visually impaired person may have to consider that I haven't thought about !! I'm not sure about the specifics of my characters' condition, but they have light perception, and can see vague silhouettes - problem is they're in a dark bedroom, which would make it hard for a sighted person to see, and don't have a chance to get up before they're ambushed by the intruder, so a cane would not come into play here. Just wanted some advice on the kind of things that would be more notable to someone who is trying to identify another person without visual aids. The story is about an assault, and the character tries to explain how the perpetrator treated her using the experiences that she has had with other men in her life, building an "image" of the man without describing him physically. I hope this helps to clarify! hope I don's sound like a complete dope! I know there are a lot of misconceptions about blindness/visual impairments and I don't want to be one of the ones perpetuating that !!!
BlakeBlues 3 points 2y ago
Yeah, that would be my first thought too. Look around, figure out what's happening. Share more about your character. What is their condition? What can they see? Are they on the cusp of legal blindness? Can they see in the dark? Do they use a cane? Do they know their environment (home/hotel/tent)? Do they have light perception? Do they have no sight? did they lose their sight (when?), or were they born with their condition?
brokenbottleskyline [OP] 2 points 2y ago
I am not 100% certain about a condition as I don't want to be inaccurate, maybe that's something you could advise on? Yes they were born with the condition, the character has light perception and can see figures but no specifics. They are in a very familiar environment (their home) but do not have time to do much as they are attacked, so I just wanted an idea of what a person in this position would THINK to do.
BlakeBlues 2 points 2y ago
Awesome! So far conditions like that, you could look into retinopathy of prematurity or pediatric cataracts. I can help you research more in the next coming days about those if you need. I don't have that low of vision, so I am not a good personal example, but you may have some luck on Facebook too. There are some blind groups.
My guess is that they would be startled get up and try to either get their cane or weapon (Cane will most likely not be in the bedroom, rather near outside door). Or maybe hide..
What do you think your character would do; Confront them or hide? It might help you figure out how to ask your further questions: "how would you confront someone" etc
My guess is that they would be startled get up and try to either get their cane or weapon (Cane will most likely not be in the bedroom, rather near outside door). Or maybe hide..
What do you think your character would do; Confront them or hide? It might help you figure out how to ask your further questions: "how would you confront someone" etc
brokenbottleskyline [OP] 2 points 2y ago
Thank you so much! You are amazing! I've had a look into the kind of things that I am trying to describe and I found a really good video of someone with optic nerve hypoplasia explaining how she sees the world and I think I'm going to go with that. The way that these stories are written means that my reader may not know the name of the exact condition that my character has and it doesn't matter too much for the story, but it helps me as a writer to understand the nature of my character's perspective -if that makes any sense... lol.
That is a brilliant piece of info about the cane being by the door, wouldn't have thought of that but yes that makes lots of sense.
And that's a good question, I will absolutely have a look at that kind of question. Thank you so much !!!
That is a brilliant piece of info about the cane being by the door, wouldn't have thought of that but yes that makes lots of sense.
And that's a good question, I will absolutely have a look at that kind of question. Thank you so much !!!
BlakeBlues 2 points 2y ago
Best of luck! You can reach out if you need. I'm finishing up my semester (in my master's) tomorrow.
ChellVaquita 3 points 2y ago
Visually impaired people can see quite a deal. I’m visually impaired and my first reaction that situation would also be to look around, find a baseball bat or something and then try ambush the invaders.
Early-Time 2 points 2y ago
I’d definitely listen more than look.
I’m blind in one eye so I tend to look with just that eye, causing my head to be slightly turned rather than centered when I’m looking at something. Just a silly detail if it pertains to your character.
Some people, not all, will have vivid spacial memory of where everything is, so finding phone or weapon might be easier.
I’m blind in one eye so I tend to look with just that eye, causing my head to be slightly turned rather than centered when I’m looking at something. Just a silly detail if it pertains to your character.
Some people, not all, will have vivid spacial memory of where everything is, so finding phone or weapon might be easier.
brokenbottleskyline [OP] 2 points 2y ago
That's not a silly detail at all! Little things like that are vital to building a better understanding of the POV of my character!! and yes, the spacial awareness thing has come up quite a lot in my research, I think that will be something I explore in my piece, thank you !!!
Envrin 2 points 2y ago
​
Without question, I would absolutely freak out, and go into a life threatening defense mode. I would be completely petrified to the point I'd grab whatever I could as weapons and attack with no mercy.
​
Simply because I would have no clue what's happening, except I heard that glass window shatter, or that door get kicked in and hear someone else in my house. I wouldn't know if they're holding a weapon, probably wouldn't be able to tell how big they are, wouldn't be able to see in their eyes if they're rage filled or not, wouldn't be ably to instantly tell whether or not they're just on drugs and not a huge threat, etc. I would be so scared with adrenaline pumping so hard, I would probably just attack with full force as much as possible.
​
I've actually thought about this quite a bit before, mainly because it'd most likely result in me having to make several court appearances to defend my actions, as all depending on what happened, there's a decent chance it could easily be argued that self defense to that degree wasn't required and I'm a dangerous and violent maniac.
Without question, I would absolutely freak out, and go into a life threatening defense mode. I would be completely petrified to the point I'd grab whatever I could as weapons and attack with no mercy.
​
Simply because I would have no clue what's happening, except I heard that glass window shatter, or that door get kicked in and hear someone else in my house. I wouldn't know if they're holding a weapon, probably wouldn't be able to tell how big they are, wouldn't be able to see in their eyes if they're rage filled or not, wouldn't be ably to instantly tell whether or not they're just on drugs and not a huge threat, etc. I would be so scared with adrenaline pumping so hard, I would probably just attack with full force as much as possible.
​
I've actually thought about this quite a bit before, mainly because it'd most likely result in me having to make several court appearances to defend my actions, as all depending on what happened, there's a decent chance it could easily be argued that self defense to that degree wasn't required and I'm a dangerous and violent maniac.
brokenbottleskyline [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Wow that's a brilliant description, extremely helpful, thank you!
(also sorry for making you have to think about it again! I cant imagine how terrifying it must be :/)
(also sorry for making you have to think about it again! I cant imagine how terrifying it must be :/)
siriuslylupin6 1 points 2y ago
It depends how blind this person is.
I would probably try to defend myself maybe knife maybe other things and call the police.
I would probably try to defend myself maybe knife maybe other things and call the police.
Winnmark 1 points 2y ago
Yeah, basically like everyone else is telling you, blindness tends to be a spectrum.
I would probably fight, I keep a screwdriver nearby; in the future I might get a handgun.
I don't know if it's been explicitly stated, but a good way to think about this is to first ask yourself "what abilities does the character have and what's the intersection between the ability level and blindness? "
from there, you can draw out logical conclusions.
was he a powerlifter in high school? Are they pretty buff? If so, they might be able to knock out the intruder even though they can't see well, for example.
I would probably fight, I keep a screwdriver nearby; in the future I might get a handgun.
I don't know if it's been explicitly stated, but a good way to think about this is to first ask yourself "what abilities does the character have and what's the intersection between the ability level and blindness? "
from there, you can draw out logical conclusions.
was he a powerlifter in high school? Are they pretty buff? If so, they might be able to knock out the intruder even though they can't see well, for example.
brokenbottleskyline [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Thank you! That's a good way of putting it!!!!
​
and well my character is a petite woman, and she doesn't exactly come out on top but she is okay in the end, lets put it that way!! :)
​
and well my character is a petite woman, and she doesn't exactly come out on top but she is okay in the end, lets put it that way!! :)
noaimpara 1 points 2y ago
Honestly response to that kind of stuff is very individual. I’d probably look around, grab a threatening object, like a lamp, my cane or a kitchen knife, and then just freeze and not move an inch until my natural instincts takes over and I act on robot mode.
Clunny 1 points 2y ago
Since blindness/low vision is a spectrum it’s hard to give one definitive answer to how someone would react
I’d suggest picking a specific condition for the character to have and do more research on the daily lives of people with that condition
I’d suggest picking a specific condition for the character to have and do more research on the daily lives of people with that condition
brokenbottleskyline [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Based on the research that I've done, and a very helpful video that I've found about a woman describing her condition (optic nerve hypoplasia) and it gave me a ton of insight - I will definitely take your advice and have a look at some other people with this condition and see if I can educate myself a little more - thank you so much :)
DrillInstructorJan 1 points 2y ago
How would anyone react. Call the cops! Hide. Smash em around the head, or any part of the body that gets in the way, with a bat if all else fails.
I do judo but that's for fun not self defence!
I do judo but that's for fun not self defence!
[deleted] 1 points 2y ago
[removed]
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.