#low vision

accessibleaesthetics:

When people ask “what do blind people see,” I often hear things like “literally nothing, they don’t see black because they literally can’t see.” And that’s true…for some blind people. 

However, many legally blind people do have varying degrees of remaining vision. What that looks like depends a lot on why they are blind. For example, when asked to describe her vision in 2012, Christine Hà said it was “like if you take a really hot shower and then you look into the foggy bathroom mirror, where you only see vague shapes and shadows.” Christine was not born with this level of vision; she has Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder, so she progressively lost vision later in life.

There is a wide range of answers to “what do blind people see,” so I wanted to provide just a few resources for people who are curious or want to write a blind character with some remaining vision. While looking up various conditions on medical sites is a good starting point, nothing beats first-hand experience.

Fashioneyestadiscusses some of her experiences with legal blindness related to a combination of Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, Septo-optic dysplasia, and nystagmus.

• What I Can and Can’t See? | Fashioneyesta
• What is Optic Nerve Hypoplasia?: Why I’m Registered Blind | Fashioneyesta
  
• Living with Septo Optic Dysplasia | Fashioneyesta
  
• What is Nystagmus? Why My Eyes Wobble | Fashioneyesta
  
• I’m Visually Impaired and I Don’t Wear Glasses: Here’s Why | Fashioneyesta

Cayla with a C discusses some of her experiences with legal blindness related to Retinitis Pigmentosa.

• What I Can See As A Legally Blind Person
• How Retinitis Pigmentosa Affects My Vision
• Why Do I Wear Glasses If I’m Legally Blind? + What Size Font Can I Read?
  
• How My Vision Has Changed
  
• I’m Finally Too Blind for Glasses
  

Molly Burke discusses some of her experiences with legal blindness related to Retinitis Pigmentosa.

• I’m Blind, This is What I REALLY See!
• Living with Retinitis Pigmentosa: My RP Experience - Molly Burke
  

Steve Saylor discusses some of his experiences with legal blindness related to nystagmus.

• BLIND GAMER - What I see when playing Video Games
• Are you REALLY blind? - BLIND GAMER FAQ

James Rath discusses some of his experiences with legal blindness related to  nystagmus and albinism.

• What I Can and Can’t See as a Legally Blind Person
  
• Describing What I See Legally Blind
  

Casey Greer discusses some of her experiences with legal blindness related to ocular albinism, nystagmus, and Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome.

• Being legally blind (Ocular Albinism)
• I have PHOTOPHOBIA
  
• They Don’t Know I Can’t See
  
• Learning to Accept My Nystagmus
  

Sam discusses some of his experiences with legal blindness related to Stargardt Disease.

• Stargardt Disease / Macular Degeneration - How I See - The Blind Life

Jessica Parsell discusses some of her experiences with legal blindness related to Stargardt Disease.

• Stargardt Disease | Life As I See It

These YouTubers are doing great work. Very helpful for writers.