Why We Tend to Hide Our Sight Loss | Life After Sight Loss
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- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- I read an article recently where a gentleman discussed how he would do his best to hide his vision loss. Spoiler alert: It wasn't very effective. But, why do we do this? In today's video, I'll discuss ways we try to hide things and why we feel the need to just "fit in" with everyone else.
LINKS I MENTIONED IN THE VIDEO:
Article I Mentioned: www.theguardian.com/society/2...
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Wow, excellent topic. I really enjoyed this topic because I have lived this experience so many times and what is fascinating is how people change the way they behave when I tell them that I am legally blind or they find out. Usually I do not try to hide the fact that I am visually impaired but I do not tell people right away either.
Hey Derek, I've dealt with my sight loss for over 50 years and to this day I don't tell everybody that I am legaally blind if I can help it. I don't feel the need to most of the time and also because I've had bad experiences in the past people feeling sorry for me. I'm extremely independent minded and I don't want pitty from anybody! I do a lot of research on prices, resturant menus, directions new locations I might go into where I need to find a specitic item.
My family and friends know and they treat me like I'm, "normal" and that's how I want it.
I also wanted to say I always get a lot from others comments. That’s one thing that is really good about your site people feel comfortable to share.
Hi Derek. another great video. Thanks. One way I used to hide my sight loss is to do without something I couldn't easily get. For example, if I was out and having a cup of tea, and the suigar wasn't right in front of me (and ssometimes even if it was), I would just drink my tea without sugar. It wasn't awful, and I was so proud of myself for hiding my sight loss. In retrospect, that was dumb, but I was embarassed to tell people about my sight loss. No longer. I am now a proud white cane user, take it everywhere, and don't care what people think of me. As the old saying goes "What other people think of you is none of your business." :-)
Wow! I had an Epiphany through you’re sharing. Why do I care what other people think.… But, I do! I think sometimes I’m too quick to tell people that I’m visually impaired because I don’t want to look clumsy or ridiculous. And as you have said, it is a process.
And I can remember back when I had pretty good sight I worried about other issues concerning myself. I guess we all have our own insecurities. Thanks Derek for sharing.
Ping in the philippines and living alone mostly as a woman and a blind person i tend to hide it but by not going out so much . I know it might not be healthy but then again if i don't hide it it might be a danger for me . As in it might put me in a threatening situation that i won't be handle on my own . Sorry for all the typos . Speech-to-text ! But i want to say that this has been the most helpful video for a visually impaired person that i have encountered . Thank you so much !
I was born “legally blind” but have sight. I’ve spent my entire life pretending I am not VI. I’m 43 and just now accepting reality as a VIP. Thanks for this video! It really is helping on my journey!
You are most welcome!
I stopped going to stores because too many people must think I'm hitting on them. But I have to watch people around me so I can get around.
Hi Derek, I can’t hide my impairment because of the device mounted in my glasses. I kidding say “I.’am Borg” ( Trekkers will know who the Borg are) Any way it’s interesting trying to read people at times. Figure out their thoughts. People just stare at me sometimes. I live in Richmond, Va. and hardly see any blind people out and about. Life is interesting.😊
I loved this video when I was working and using my white cane I would pretend to see way more than I could now that I one have a guide dog and two don’t work there anymore I generally don’t anymore cause it’s hard to hide Maui but I used to memorize everything to make it appear I was reading
I do all that too with the hand shacking
I’m not so sure I ever hid it once the condition causing it was diagnosed (in the UK) but I certainly struggled like made when my new specs that I’d just bought weren’t brilliant within a few weeks of gietting the and hid the fact I couldn’t see across a road, or clear enough (I believed my optician when they suggested it was age related and I needed separate glasses for reading and distance.
It was almost a relief to find out there was a real reason for how awful/ useless my specs were.
Of course 6.5 years later I’m constantly finding out things the original ophthalmologist didn’t find important to mention so alongside the PIC (Punctate Inner Choroidopathy) and CNV (Choroidal Neovascularisation) I was originally diagnosed with I learned later that the doctor had noted but not mentioned to me optic nerve damage that had been caused by high eye pressure (which I was prescribed drops to treat). I also have cataracts forming now too (totally greedy I seem to be trying for a full set 😉 ).
Of course it took too long between diagnosis and getting me the practical help I needed (9 months) so I’m glad that 6 years ago a friend shared a UA-cam video made by a UK charity with some practical tips which eventually led me to having your videos recommended to me.
Now just watch me striding out with my long white cane, and walking stick, and doing my sewing etc. I write a blog about it.
The only part of my sight loss I hid was the weird, interesting, and sometimes frightening things I saw that I knew couldn’t be real (because they were perfectly in focus) that turned out to be the bonus gift of Charles Bonnet Syndrome which is why I named my blog Was That A Dinosaur?
Here’s a poem I wrote as my last blogpost
wasthatadinosaur.wordpress.com/2023/03/18/walking-in-the-rain-2/
Transitioning from being a fully vision person to be in someone who is blind/VIP it’s been really difficult and sometimes you just want a break. Do you wanna go back to the reality in the normal mess that you had in your life before unfortunately, if that doesn’t work, so you have to learn to embrace the skills that you have embrace debility as you have a living life to the fullest, which is what I’m trying to do every day, I’m still transitioning but I’m getting there and I’m proud that I can do what I can do and I’m not gonna let anything stop me. I wanna continue to learn and do more as I become a fully functional blind person.
That's a really good outlook! Thanks for sharing!
“I don’t see very well” that’s what works for me. But that’s only when I don’t have my cane. Generally, though I let my Hoyt can do the talking.
I think most people have they typical dark black glasses and/or when they take the glasses of the gray and white parts looking different ways as being looking blind.
We look like normal people and not what blind people do in the movies and TV.
You look really great for a blind person. if you were sighted you would look awful lol. Thanks for the giggles.