You have just learned that you are losing your eyesight. It is difficult to read and you do not feel safe driving your car anymore. Your doctor has not encouraged you to believe your eye condition will improve and you are concerned that it may become worse. You are frightened and confused. You never expected to be blind. You have never thought a great deal about blindness, but when you did, you felt sorry and concerned for blind people. You are not sure whether or not you are really blind or whether you will be in the future.
What can blind people do and what can they not do? Is it as bad to be blind as most people think? Of course, you don't want to be helpless and dependent, but does blindness really mean that?
All of these thoughts and feelings and others (many of which are not pleasant) are normal thoughts and feelings for the thousands of individuals who lose their eyesight each year. Friends and families of those who become blind are also concerned. If blindness occurs suddenly, it is a severe shock. If the loss of eyesight is gradual, the adjustment is just as difficult, and the individuals involved often spend valuable time and energy trying to pretend that blindness is not occurring. Although this is normal, it is also hopeless. It can only result in unhappiness for the blind person and for the family and friends of that person.
It is not necessary for a blind person to be helpless or dependent. With proper training, encouragement, and opportunities, a blind individual can be active, self-sufficient, and productive. When the person who becomes blind is near retirement age or is already retired, the loss of eyesight may be doubly frustrating. Even more important, assistance with the necessary adjustment to blindness is often much more difficult to obtain. Other physical problems may compound the difficulties presented by blindness. What is really needed is a friend of friends who understand the situation confronted and have enough meaningful experience in work with the blind to offer moral support and constructive advice.
MYTH: Blind people need to have a great many things done for them; clothes that match should be selected for them, coffee should be poured for them, cooking would be dangerous, yard work impossible. Blind people must have help and protection. They must be cautioned about stairs, should not be expected to wash the car or hang a picture.
FACT: A blind person is able to do things for himself or herself and for others as sighted people are. Techniques may be somewhat different but equally appropriate and effective.
EXAMPLE: Mr. Williams is 78-years-old and has been a widower for six years. He has been blind for 16 years. When his wife died, his children worried that it was not wise for him to live alone. Mr. Williams owned his house and wished to stay there, so he refused to move. He cooks his own meals, does his own laundry, goes grocery shopping with his daughter, takes great pride in his flower garden which he cares for, and is an active member of the Masons. Mr. Williams' children go to visit him and offer help and he appreciates it, but he enjoys his home and his independence.
Probably only a few of the thousands of older Americans who lose their sight each year receive the kind of help they really need. The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults has decided to put together on the Internet the kinds of information we regularly provide to the many blind senior citizens and their families and friends who phone us or write us with questions about blindness. We believe that this compilation of suggestions, referrals, and general discussion of blindness will provide a much needed resource to blind individuals themselves, senior citizens programs and services, retirement homes, and friends and family of elderly blind individuals.
Blindness need not be the tragic handicap it is so often considered, regardless of whether an individual loses his or her eyesight as a child or a grandparent. These are tools, services, methods, and ideas that are well developed and can help anyone make a good adjustment to blindness. The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults wishes to make it possible for you to find and take advantage of the services you need in order to develop new skills and to continue to do the things you wish to do.