One of my house mates is legally blind. He is not totally blind, but he does not see well enough to avoid obstacles and needs to use the cane. I am legally blind. I am extremely nearsighted. But I wear glasses that correct my vision to better than 20/20. My housemate is obviously not allowed to drive. I am not allowed to drive without glasses (that's actually printed on my license).
While we share the status of legal blindness, I haven't thought of myself having a visual disability. I have worn glasses every day of my life since third grade. I don't normally think about them. Calling myself legally blind when I lived with a legally blind person who is much worse off than me made me feel like an imposter.
My current glasses are due for replacement. The hinges are loose from wear, making the frames loose on my face. Three days ago, I took them off while moving a box because I was sweating and the glasses were falling off when I looked down. After moving the box, I went to put the glasses back on, AND COULDN'T FIND THEM.
I went through the next 2 1/2 days without glasses. There were several tasks I tried, but couldn't do. Even when relaxing, I couldn't watch TV. I couldn't drive either, so my moving around was limited (I don't even live near a public bus route).
It finally hit home that yes, I am indeed visually disabled. There is absolutely no disputing it, and it profoundly affects what I can do. Because I have been relying on an artificial device (eyeglasses) to live my everyday life, I have just been unaware of the impact my legal blindness has.
When I first found I was autistic, I didn't believe it and had to research the heck out of it before being convinced. In the process of that research, of course I read about masking, and realized that masking was how I had gotten by all my life.
Still, reading on the forums how people have described being so much worse off than me, I have felt like an imposter, just as with my blind friend. This experience of losing my glasses sort of made it all click. An "aha moment".
Yes, others are worse off than me. But without the masking techniques I learned way back (cause remember, I'm an old geezer now), I would not have done well at all. The masking became almost as automatic as the eyeglasses. Get out of bed, put on the glasses. Leave the house, put on the mask.
Huh!
BTW, I found the glasses yesterday about 6PM
While we share the status of legal blindness, I haven't thought of myself having a visual disability. I have worn glasses every day of my life since third grade. I don't normally think about them. Calling myself legally blind when I lived with a legally blind person who is much worse off than me made me feel like an imposter.
My current glasses are due for replacement. The hinges are loose from wear, making the frames loose on my face. Three days ago, I took them off while moving a box because I was sweating and the glasses were falling off when I looked down. After moving the box, I went to put the glasses back on, AND COULDN'T FIND THEM.
I went through the next 2 1/2 days without glasses. There were several tasks I tried, but couldn't do. Even when relaxing, I couldn't watch TV. I couldn't drive either, so my moving around was limited (I don't even live near a public bus route).
It finally hit home that yes, I am indeed visually disabled. There is absolutely no disputing it, and it profoundly affects what I can do. Because I have been relying on an artificial device (eyeglasses) to live my everyday life, I have just been unaware of the impact my legal blindness has.
When I first found I was autistic, I didn't believe it and had to research the heck out of it before being convinced. In the process of that research, of course I read about masking, and realized that masking was how I had gotten by all my life.
Still, reading on the forums how people have described being so much worse off than me, I have felt like an imposter, just as with my blind friend. This experience of losing my glasses sort of made it all click. An "aha moment".
Yes, others are worse off than me. But without the masking techniques I learned way back (cause remember, I'm an old geezer now), I would not have done well at all. The masking became almost as automatic as the eyeglasses. Get out of bed, put on the glasses. Leave the house, put on the mask.
Huh!
BTW, I found the glasses yesterday about 6PM