What I See

What my eyes see
 
What my brain thinks my eyes see

 
What's really there


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Charles Bonnet Syndrome

Of all the wacky myths out there about blind people my favorite is number seven on the Lighthouse's Top 10 Misconceptions about Blind People - "Most blind people are magical or crazy." Total misconception. Magical OR crazy, like we have to pick one. I'm magical AND crazy! Stoopid misconception trying to rob me of my hard earned adjectives! My comfortable tan shoes are next to the bookcase. The grey tennis shoes are to the left of the tan ones. My steel toed boots are in the closet. The shoes I wear to the dance club are to the left of the boots. I wouldn't have known where they were before I went blind. I wouldn't have needed to - I could just look and see where they were. Going blind forced me to get organized. I need to pay attention where I put stuff if I ever want to find it again. I think I surprised my parents on our last road trip by knowing which town we were closest to and which road we were on every step of the way in a place none of us had ever b...
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Going Blind is Hard. Being Blind is Easy

Before I went blind I never imagined people who lose their eyesight grieve their loss. It's tough going through it. There are days I feel jealous of people who take driving for granted like I used to. There are days I feel left out when everybody around me laughs at something I didn't see. There are hard days when I'd sell my soul for just a half hour more of decent eyesight so I could fix the broken oil pan cover flapping under my dad's car or get the hot water in the bathroom shower working again. There are really bad days when I suspect I deserve this and wonder which flaw in my character I'm being punished for. It's hard grieving our lost eyesight. I wish that's all we had to deal with, but there's more coming. What did you want to be when you were growing up? The Apollo missions happened when I was a little kid so all my school mates wanted to be astronauts - after we played for the Dallas Cowboys, of course. We had big dreams back then. All kid...
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How Blind is Blind?

This first part is a response to a question from a Redditor on r/Blind. I've lightly edited it (I know, right?) to conceal details of the Redditor's specific visual limitations. -------------- If the loss of your vision is progressive it's very hard to know when you've reached the point of being blind enough to claim it. When the change is so gradual you don't notice it happening it seems phony to say "Yesterday I wasn't blind but today I am." It feels even more opportunistic to claim it when there's something in it for you. Everyone who's ever gone blind gradually has been there. You're not alone. You're an honest person - otherwise this wouldn't be bothering you. You want to keep it real about your vision. That's understandable. And you don't want a hand out meant for someone really blind. That's good. I respect that. It feels wrong to pick and choose when to claim you're blind based on what you can get f...
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