Welcome

Welcome, and thanks for visiting the Living Blind blog. My plans for this blog is to simply provide information to those who are seeking help. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be posting information that will hopefully help anyone who knows and cares about, someone who is blind, or visually impaired. Chances are, you probably already know someone who is blind or visually impaired. Maybe they are a friend or a relative. Maybe it's a friend of a friend, or a relative of a friend. Either way, blindness and visual impairment affects millions of people in this country (not to mention around the world) every day.

Statistically speaking, there are about 10 million people in the United States who are either blind or visually impaired (according to the American Foundation for the Blind - www.afb.org) . That's a lot of people. My goal, albeit a lofty one, is to help those who want to help the blind and visually impaired. In general, a great way to help is to donate money any of the blind foundations in the United States (I will list some in a later posting). But if you're looking for ways to help a specific person, perhaps a loved one in your life, cope with and manage every day life while being blind or visually impaired, then you've come to the right place.

What makes me an expert? Nothing, really. My only experience with the blind has been my entire 28 (going on 29) years of life, living with 2 blind parents. It by no means makes me an expert, but over the years I have learned a lot about what it means to be blind, and things that have worked for my parents (and the things that didn't), in dealing with every day life.

There's no doubt about it...life without sight can be extremely difficult, and even painful. There are always accidents, things breaking, drinks spilling, things catching on fire, etc. The incidents grow exponentially when sight is lost after years of being able to see. Being the stubborn and proud creatures that we are, it's difficult for someone to admit that they can no longer do the things they used to do when they could see. And while it is excruciatingly painful for the person who has lost their sight, it is often the loved ones on the sidelines that suffer in silence. It's hard not to feel helpless and out of control when dealing with such a loss. If it is a close relative, or perhaps someone that you live with who has lost their sight, the suffering can become unbearable. Life can become unbearable.

But, it doesn't always have to be that way. If you're dealing with a newly diagnosed vision impairment/loss, you might want to seek counseling to help you get through the initial shock and grief. Not many people outside of your family/loved ones will be able to understand what it is like for you. From my personal experience, many people find it too scary to think of what it would be like to lose their sight. Hearing and trying to understand your situation may cause too much fear and pain for them. This is why I suggest counseling for not only you, but also the person who has lost their sight...the emotional turbulance that can be associated with loss of sight can put an unecessary strain on friendships/relationships. It's best to seek professional help and guidance, as they are best qualified to deal with this kind of situation. This is not my area of expertise, so I won't be covering it here, but I thought it would be beneficial to mention at the very least.

At some point, you might feel ready to "do" something to help. And that's where this blog comes into play. If you've been living with someone who is blind/visually impaired for a long time, you may already be accustomed to the suggestions/links I will provide in this blog. And, because everyone is different, I am asking that if anyone has any suggestions/tips/links that they feel might be helpful to someone else out there dealing with a vision loss, that you e-mail me at livingblind@gmail.com. Or if you have any questions for me, please send them as well. I would love to hear from you!

Please keep coming back to Living Blind, as I will be adding updates shortly.