This is the third How To video for anyone who has lost vision. The videos are short and there are no ads.
There will often be a link to a post on the same topic. Today there are more details from my book, When You Can’t Believe Your Eyes.
Here’s a section from Chapter 3, Learning to Trust Yourself called Identity Dislocation with a few words from the intro:
It can take a while for anyone losing sight to realize that they are also losing adult power and competence. It’s another big shock…
When you lose sight, your sense of who you are can get dislocated. Sight loss can be a full-frontal attack—so many daily affirmations of your identity have disappeared. Sometimes you can feel split in two. The old operating system—using sight to drive your car and recognize everyone—isn’t at the wheel anymore. Updating to system 2.0 is a big leap. How soon or late you make the jump depends on your resolve, but also on your type of sight loss.
There are fifty ways to lose your sight—partially or severely, swiftly or slowly, from injury or illness. Recovering your identity does depend on how much sight you still have, but much more on how actively you manage your daily life. If you are making your own choices and decisions, you are likely to recover a clear sense of self more easily.
If you lose sight slowly, you have more time to accustom yourself to each decrease in your vision. But making adjustments every few years to how you manage your life and explaining the changes to your boss and your friends can also shake up your identity.
Your sense of self is still there, of course. Gradually you may recognize that the essential parts of you are still present—your courage, compassion, life experience, knowledge, and closest friends. There’s also your own voice, which will play an important role. You may not be ready for vision rehabilitation until a steadier sense of your own value and identity are back in place.
Read more about different kinds of training. States differ widely in what they offer, not always in ways you would expect.
When You Can’t Believe Your Eyes: Vision Loss and Personal Recovery, the first How To guide for people losing sight and their families, published July 2019. Winnder of the Outstanding Service to the Blind Award from BSCB and the Vision Rehab Therapy Publication Award from AER.
It is available on NLS talking books #DBC11619, Amazon in print, and Google Play Books as an accessible eBook, and on Bookshare. Thanks to generous friends and family the eBook is also available free of charge. It can be read in regular or large print or as an audio book. Apply for accessible free copy here.