When I was growing up outside of Philadelphia, the Spectrum was an indoor arena where the Sixers and Flyers played. When I was very young it meant Ice Capades and Ringling Brothers Circus. As I got older, it was the venue for many of my first concerts.
Quite a few years ago “spectrum” became associated with autism. You may know very little about the disorder but you are no doubt aware of its connection to the word “spectrum.”
Imagine my surprise to learn only recently that blindness is also a spectrum. Only 10% of the blind community is totally blind. Just because someone is blind doesn’t mean zero vision. TV and movies have historically done a disservice by portraying blind people as having no sight. Most people think a blind person’s lights are completely out, but being blind falls under a broad umbrella, a spectrum of totally blind to legally blind.
What does it mean to be legally blind? The textbook definition: In the better seeing eye, contact lenses and glasses could not possibly correct your vision better than 20/200. If you have 20/20 vision and I have 20/200, what you can see at 200 feet is what I can see at 20 feet. And that doesn’t signify that I’m seeing detail or color. Normal field of vision is 180 degrees, less than 20 degrees in the better seeing eye is legally blind. You could have both of these things going on – the distance and visual field – or just one and be qualified as legally blind. And if you are legally blind you are blind. Cane drop.
I have detailed my acuity and how I see in the post “The 20/20 On My 20/400”, if you are interested.
Finding out the statistics and that blindness is a spectrum has been very helpful to me in how I think about my condition and the way that I present it to the world. After 11 years of a profound visual impairment, I still have an internal cringe when I say, “when I lost my sight” and I ALWAYS say LEGALLY blind or visually impaired, never just blind. I have the perception that because I have a little vision I shouldn’t say I’ve lost it. I have a subconscious fear of appropriating a disability, when, in fact, I do have a disability! Blind or not, it’s terrible how we see ourselves, isn’t it?
I suppose it doesn’t matter how we describe ourselves in the blind community, as in all things we must do what we are comfortable with. In my own experience, saying “legally blind” seems to have more gravitas when communicating with a stranger, especially if I need assistance with something, as opposed to “visually impaired.” The latter has resulted in people offering me their reading glasses, I kid you not. What is important, now that I have been informed, is that I educate others. So here I am:
Blindness is a spectrum.
I am Sister Rain and I am blind.
#SisterRain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindwriter #blindnessisaspectrum #opticneuropathy #visuallyimpaired #blind
