Yup I feel you.


I have RP and my central vision is corrected to 20/40 with a pretty good spot to see in middle. I still use a cane to avoid tripping low and tackling people to the sides as that's basically all gone.



When with sighted people they all are like "you are so brave" when I walk down street by myself without getting hit by a car.....



When with people who have worse vision than me it's "here please fix my phone" or something else like that because they pick up on my central spot being good but also knowing the accessibility apps/settings.



Doesn't quite feel like in either group.



It isn't to same extent but man I have a way better understanding of what my biracial friend from high school meant when he said he feels stuck in middle some days.



Thankfully it isn't an all the time feeling but man having days of feeling like you don't belong but also belong at same time is something else.

I get you; I can't see facial details, especially in the lighting and distances of social settings vs when I'm set up to maximise my vision, I hope that makes sense. I mean, I can do a lot with my remaining vision, but only because my experience lets me optimise despite fuzzy details or the giant holes and distortions from retinal damage. I get frustrated when meeting up with friends who knew me before my vision loss because they think I am joking when I let them know I have no idea who anyone is in a group of folks in a living room. To them, I'm getting around as well as any sighted person would, and not like they expected a visually impaired person would. So I am still working on ways to help meet my needs (smooth introductions to the room, frex) while not making the whole part of interacting with me being aboutt sight problems.

I haven't felt v much social alienation from the other members of my peer support group on Zoom because we're such a mixed bag of experience levels. I think there is more of an awareness of progressive vision loss there, too

A friend of mine is kind of in your world. He also has albinism but I never asked what type. I'm going to ask him to come on here and maybe give you some pointers. Honestly, you will fit anywhere as long as YOU feel comfortable. Don't think you need to have "sepcial circumstances" to fit anywhere.

I'm the same. My vision corrected was 20/70 a couple months ago, but it really depends on the day, some days my eyes are really fatigued and I imagine that number is lower. I'm currently going through my states division of the blind setting up things like O&M training and braille classes the whole nine. But I don't feel like I'm really "blind" enough to be with "actually" blind folks, which I know is silly, and I've been trying to see it as the spectrum that it is. But still. I'll be around people with worse vision than mine soon, and I know I'll likely feel out of place. You're definitely not alone in that aspect.

My vision is 20/80-20/100 depending on the day - central vision in only my right eye. I'm legally blind due to my narrow visual field, but even so, it feels like I don't belong in either world sometimes.

I can see to do my job and do things around the house and I can get around familiar, uncrowded spaces on my own without a cane or other assistance.

If I'm in a dark, unfamiliar, or crowded space, or some place with weird lighting, I take my cane, half for navigation, half for identification purposes.

I can mostly travel independently and rode a Greyhound all over North American in my late teens, but I occasionally need help navigating unfamiliar airports and busy subways.

I play a lot of boardgames, but I can't see a lot of cards or print unless it's large print or I have a magnifier, and a lot of the game playing is made easier because I have an understanding group that points out things I can't see like icons on the board. I don't like playing with strangers for that reason.

It's a weird middle ground.

My vision is very variable from day to day or even minute to minute, but I am noticing enough visual things that navigating by sight can be difficult especially when the lighting is not static. So I can actually see very well in dim light that is consistent, to the point of 20/20, but I am sure many people on this sub know that is far from the majority of situations we find ourselves in. But to get to the point my vision ranges from nearly perfect in dark situations to eyes closed from my light sensitivity and really anything in between dependent on conditions.

To say the least I am far less able to use my sight than my sighted friends but the fact that at times I do have almost full sight(some of my peripheral does seem to be going) so I can't really relate to any of the full time blind or low vision individuals. Especially given that the lack of consistency in my vision is grounds for the resources to deny me access to O&M training which would be incredibly useful for the times when my vision is useless, which had forced me to go the route of training the dog I had independently trained for my other disabilities to be a guide dog as well. I feel like I fall in a truly unique position of terrible luck with my health but a high degree of luck that I have the skills and resources to train my own guide. An extra level of luck belongs to the fact that the laws protect my right to take the route that I was forced to follow.

I have OCA albinism and my vision is 20/600, but I feel this. I don’t seem to struggle as much as some of my other blind peers that I know, and it’s a very confusing thing for me. Sometimes I’m convinced that my eye doctor is wrong because the only thing I seem to struggle with is not being able to drive, and trying to recognize people who are more than 5 feet away from me. While some of my friends who have similar vision to me struggle with reading, bumping into things, and tripping over stuff. Vision is so complex and comes in many different forms. It’s kind of amazing isn’t it?

Don't feel bad. I'm about as blind as it's possible to be and I find I don't fit in at all with most completely blind people. Mostly they've been blind from birth and I don't find I have a lot in common with them.

I think the thing to realise is that you don't have to be the same as the people around you to get on with them, and for everyone to get something out of it. In the end there's only one of you and there will always be differences between you and everyone you meet, and if you take those differences too much to heart you'll never identify with anyone.

Meeting people who aren't the same as you is a good thing, and if you can get to know them to the point where you can share your innermost, well, that's good for everyone.

Absolutely. I'm the most sighted VI person I know, but I'm also not allowed to drive and I do use a cane.


It's a bit like always feeling out of place. I don't like, have any advice or anything, but like, I can relate, you're for sure not alone.

I’m in a very weird spot too. I have 20/20 vision on an eye chart but my ability to functionally process my vision fluctuates a ton. It’s all down to my sensory processing disorder from autism and Irlen syndrome. I have a driver’s license (though I’m currently unable to drive because of an unrelated vertigo issue) but I also have a mobility cane and rely on sighted guide at times. I walk into things because I don’t see them but I can do highly visual tasks like jigsaw puzzles. I wasn’t diagnosed until in my late teens, but I was taken to eye doctors multiple times as a child because I complained about not being able to see things. The verdict was always that my vision was fine.

So I can definitely relate to feeling like I’m in between two different worlds. Like I exist in both and neither at the same time.

Visual impairment is a spectrum, and I don’t know if I’d worry too much about other VI folks gatekeeping you. They’ll likely know this. I get how you may feel you don’t belong, but just try to use any resources available to you when you need them. Life dealt you this bad hand, play it and don’t feel guilty.

I do understand the frustrations of having the “I’m disabled” talk with sighted folks. It’s a weird line to tread, and honestly there is no perfect way to do it. For me, I have tunnel vision and no depth perception. I pass really well until someone throws something at me like “hey catch!” Yeah nope. Because of this when I do have the talk they think I just need glasses or something (nope it’s nerve damage).

It gets easier to navigate these social situations the more you practice. I find that being proactive is best (better to give someone you’re collaborating with a heads up rather than them finding out when you don’t pass or need help).

You don’t have to perfectly align with either group to belong. You can have friendships and relationships with people in both camps. If they’re good people they won’t care that you’re different from them. You’re not alone though, I felt the way you do for a long time when I lost my sight.

Hi. I’m in a similar boat - and have albinism too . It’s a weird position to be. I say I’m partially sighted. I don’t really have much advice. I use an identification cane in unfamiliar places , especially if it’s dark.

Come join the adults with albinism group on Facebook. There’s a nice little community there.

You are definitely not the only person with such experience, mine is similar - although I don't know many blind or visually impaired people as I was always surrounded by sighted people. The biggest problem is that I spend the majority of my time alone as I don't really fit in anywhere.

What I learned over the years is that it is not just how much one can see, but what are their feelings and thoughts about it. I know quite a lot of people who wear glasses for myopia, which is far from being visually impaired, but they completely freak out when they can't find the glasses. And others who have very bad vision and live a very nice life that involves traveling, sports, etc.

It's about using what you have, doing the things you are able to do and avoiding the rest as much as possible. At least this is my "recipe for life of a visually impaired person".

I've had similar experiences. As a child/adolescent with aniridia. I saw way too little to participate meaningfully in things like team sports and was always the kid in class tucked away in a corner behind CCTV, but I didn't feel visually impaired because I could mostly do all the things I cared for and for most things I could just come or hold closer to see. In fact, I don't really crave more than 20/100 vision (it'd be cool but more of a gimmick to me). I used to go to these days for visually impaired kids and I kinda looked forward to them because they were still a lot of fun and the other VIP guys and girls were great, but because I saw so relatively well that aspect of me kind of faded to the background. Now I struggle with vision somewhat (not very badly) after I've lost a lot of sight because of cornea problems and now I kind of regret that. But I really hear you on people assuming you're weak, fragile and can't do anything while you can do most things just fine. It's absolutely infuriating at times. But hey, you learn how to be patient with people and that's a great virtue.

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I feel ya. My state medicaid says i don't qualify for eyeglasses or doctor visits because my vision can be corrected. Yet they thought since I cannot see without glasses that I should be sent a white cane in the mail. The assholes won't pay for new glasses but spent money sending me a white cane.

This is very similar to my situation. I’m definitely blind enough to fit into the community (20/200) but u wasn’t raised blind so I guess I don’t “act blind”. I don’t know what that means exactly but it’s created so much isolation for me. It’s gotten to the point I feel like I have no friends at all. Sometimes I just sit in my room depressed. They say just go out and make friends. It’s not really that simple when you can’t drive and you live in a city with no public transportation. I tried Uber for awhile but I kept having issues with denial of access due to my service dog. It’s stressful and just so lonely.

I’m in the same boat. I’m low vision and have decent vision in one eye when it’s not sunny out. I feel like sighted people reduce me to a disabled person and also I am not allowed to be on a legit goalball team because I have too much remaining vision so I don’t fit in anywhere and I feel really alone

Same here, I feel so in between. I have congenital nystagmus tho