How is Being Blind Characterized?
Written by Fiona Nikolla
The eyes are the window to our ability to openly see everything in our surrounding environments. Whether it be watching a movie in a dimmed theater, or viewing the sun rise upon the horizon at the beach, our eyes grant us the ability to view the wonders of the world. However, for some, this comes as a difficulty for them to do. For those who are sighted, there are many misconceptions that those who cannot see only view complete darkness. This is a major mistaken belief that needs to be reevaluated especially for the understanding of those who lack proper vision or are blind.
Controversy:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.4 million Americans who are forty and older are blind or visually impaired. Another twenty-one million have other vision-related problems and eighty million contain diseases that could result in blindness. Though this may appear as a disability, it just causes those who develop blindness to develop a new sense of life and techniques that will allow them to continue their normal lives. The problem that lies in the concept of blindness is not being blind itself, it is how surrounding populations perceive it. This concept often originates with the presumption that if one cannot see, it affects their skills and overall capabilities. Though this is a perspective that is hard to change amongst the general population, anyone who is open to realize that just as obtaining any new skill, being blind just causes a person to acquire new abilities that make them just as capable as everyone else.
How Does it Occur:
Among the common causes of blindness, some of the main causes can be due to accidents, infections, or other genetic conditions. On the causes, blindness can also be characterized into types: partial blindness is when you still have some sense of vision, complete is when you cannot detect any light, and congenital blindness occurs at birth due to retinal conditions that can be inherited. Color blindness, something not as drastic in original terms, is often categorized as the ability to perceive colors in unusual ways because of damage that occurs in the retina. Furthermore, Achromatopsia is a condition that allows you to see only limited variations of black, grey, and white. In some cases, blindness can also be prevented if people contract a disease that can be treated; however, this sometimes does not occur because some individuals fail to receive proper care. Age-related causes are often the most common amongst the older populations in which the macula reaches a point of degeneration, causing some substantial loss to the central vision.
How to Detect it:
Having regular inspections of your vision is key to determining if vision loss occurs in earlier periods of life. The Snellen test, the most familiar, is the test in which someone asks you to read the lines of letters progressively as the font size decreases. This test focuses on the ability to effectively use your central vision. Visual field testing can further examine all fields of view and aims to observe what is visible from sides above, below, and next to the eye, without having to move it.
Altogether, those who are blind or visually impaired may struggle at first to adapt to a new life-changing factor in their lives. Though a frustrating task at first to become accustomed to, it can be a new skill that can bring out new abilities to effectively adapt accordingly and work in new ways that others will never experience. Being blind is not a disability, rather, it is an ability to work further in their efforts and certainly does not limit or define them.
References
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24446-blindness
Written by Fiona Nikolla from MEDILOQUY