So I met a friend a couple of months ago that I recently found out had Optic Nerve Atrophy, and was in the process of going blind. I had no idea; she's still in the relatively early stages of it. She gets around ok unless it's dark and she can't drive. This is actually the only reason we ever talked about it. I made the assumption that she had a suspended license due to DWI (we met in AA, so that was a pretty fair assumption. Lots of people need rides to and from meetings for that reason and she certainly isn't the only one I give rides to).

Anyway, she corrected my assumption and told me that she was losing her vision and would eventually be completely blind. And I'm just wondering how to best support her. I often deflect uncomfortable situations with humor and now we have inside jokes about learning echo location. But obviously, laughing about it is a coping mechanism for me. And she says it is for her too, but I also just wanna hear from someone who's been through this or is going through this. I just wanna be as supportive as possible and respond in a way that centers her feelings rather than my own. I have asked her directly of course. But I've also noticed that she has a tendency to minimize her own feelings for the sake of not making anyone else uncomfortable. I wanna know some basic Do's and Don'ts, obviously with the understanding that everyone is different.