Nick lost his vision as he was starting high school. This is how he adapted to his new life.

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I was fully sighted for the first fourteen years of my life. Today, when people ask me what I can see, I empathize with them because I understand what it is like to be on the other side of the fence. Although some blind people may be offended when someone asks what they see or if someone asks a lot of questions about their vision, those who ask are just curious and do not intend on asking in an offensive way. I have come to this conclusion based on my experiences.

When I am asked what I can see, I describe my vision. I say that my central vision is blurry and that I can see objects generally. If I am looking at someone, I cannot tell if they are smiling at me or giving me a dirty look. My description of my vision changes depending on who I am talking to. For example, one day, a four-year old asked me why I didn’t see him from far away. I decided to say to him, “The reason why I did not know if it was you is because I cannot see things from far away.” His response was “Oh, I didn’t know that.” It was interesting how he stopped asking me about the situation just because I gave him a basic explanation that he could understand. If I am talking to someone who has more technical knowledge such as a doctor, someone who is training to become a teacher for the visually impaired, or an individual who is also visually impaired, then I may include the name of my condition and explain the reasoning behind my vision loss by citing more specific details.

I started off ninth grade with no accommodations since my vision loss began the summer before school started. I told myself that I had to be uncomfortable in order to be comfortable. The first thing I did when I walked into the door of each of my classes was introduce myself to the teacher and explain that I was experiencing a significant and progressive amount of vision loss. I also stated that I do not know exactly why I am experiencing my vision loss, but I am going to the eye doctor and working with the school in getting an IEP so I can have the proper accommodations. Finally, I told the teacher that until I get an IEP, I needed to sit in the front of the classroom and be able to use my iPad from home to magnify the board and any handouts. My vision continued to decrease throughout most of my ninth grade school year. I learned how to type on my laptop keyboard, how to use a screen reader called JAWS, how to read and create tactile graphics, and how to read braille.

My vision for myself was to graduate high school in four years even though I had lots to learn in terms of how to live my new life. I was able to achieve this goal and now I currently am an undergraduate student at Penn State University studying Project and Supply Chain Management.

Nick, Pennsylvania

Sophomore in college