Changing Perceptions on Sight Loss in Style
These are five of the most common questions I get asked as a visually impaired person.
Today we’re going a bit old school with today’s topic, but in the hay days of Fashioneyesta, some of my OG readers may recall me talking about life with sight loss.
Well I thought I’d bring it back and I’m going to be sharing some of the most commonly asked questions I get as a visually impaired person.
I get asked this frequently, and the answer is quite simple – they don’t help.
So why would I wear something that doesn’t benefit me?
Not every eye condition can be improved with glasses, many, like mine, simply cannot be improved through glasses, contact lenses or laser eye surgery.
This is another I get asked, not always in the most polite manner, when people see me out with Rosie my guide dog and I’m texting on my phone.
Much of the technology including phones, tablets and laptops are made with a lot of useful access features that can do things like read out what’s on-screen (screen readers) or enlarge the print so it’s easier to see.
If you’re ever curious simply head over to your device’s Accessibility features which you can usually find under settings (particularly on an iPhone) to see all the access features your device has.
Often people will ask me if my disability can be cured, I think this often comes from a place of kindness in that people feel saddened by my disability.
But I think that the media has often perpetuated this idea that disability is the end game and that life after being disabled is just not worth living.
So the only thing people can think of is this idea of finding a “cure.”
But being disabled doesn’t mean you can’t still thrive, have a career and a social life and generally be happy.
So whist people may feel that people who are disabled would want a cure that’s often not the case.
To add a little context to this question, this is usually asked after someone has seen my looking at a tube map or reading something on my phone.
It’s rather funny because sometimes it’s like they’ve caught me out on some big charade, but in actual fact I have never claimed to be fully blind.
I have some useful vision in my left eye that allows me to see things close up, but all to often people just see my guide dog or cane and assume I’m totally blind which is just not the case.
A lot of people assume people who can’t see wouldn’t have a job, but we can it’s just that often employers don’t think we can.
In the UK only one in four blind and partially sighted people are in work according to statistics from RNIB, I consider myself lucky to be someone in employment.
But make no mistake the job I have now as a journalist is one I got through hard work just like any sighted person.
So yes I can work as can many other visually impaired people, it’s just often hard to find it.
This is not one I am even going to grace with a detailed response and not one anyone should even ask.
Did any of these questions surprise you?
