Losing your sight and maintaining independence is hard work, but it is worth the effort
I do understand why some people just give up the ghost when living with sight loss. It would be so easy to not bother, to sit back and let other people do things for you, to not drag your sorry backside into work and face the frustrations and challenges that life throws at you. I really do understand why such a high majority of visually impaired people are unemployed. It seems like the easier route, but it is not.
The flipside of not participating in the big bad world, and yes it is big and it can certainly be bad, in fact it can be downright nasty, is the loss of independence. And this, I am afraid, leads to loneliness, isolation, lack of purpose, lack of fulfilment, depression, and probably a whole host of other things that I am loath to think of.
I am unwilling to go there. My independence is the one thing that I am going to hold onto for dear life, having had a little glimpse at what life may be like on the other side.
My boys went out to a concert and I decided to stay at home and just veg. I had a couple of audio described chick flicks and I was good to go. But as I was sitting in our front room watching the TV, I heard some noise upstairs. At first, I thought it was just the wind in the loft, but it persisted and the longer it persisted, the more frightened I became. I was pretty certain that someone was in the house. I decided to phone my next-door neighbour, but realised that I did not have his number in my mobile and I didn’t want to move from where I was, as at least I knew there was no one in the front room. The boys were on the tube on their way home. This was not good.
So, I sat and panicked some more, started crying hysterically and called 999. I made them stay on the phone with me until the police arrived. They came en masse, I think there were six of them and they brought a dog to search the house. Thankfully, there was no intruder. Just a blind girl with an active imagination. I apologised profusely, but they insisted that was what they were there for. Six of them? Really? I felt pretty silly.
But what dos this all have to do with independence? Well, after I calmed down, and it did take a couple of days. I had a choice - either I could say to Mark that I cannot be left alone anymore and lose that little bit of independence or we could make adjustments to allow me to keep it. We chose the latter.
So, we made sure that I had contact details for four of our neighbours and let them know that I may be calling sometime, we made some modifications to our security systems and we also agreed that I should probably take advantage of the opportunity to have a girlie night in with some of my friends, all of whom complain that I do not do this enough.
So, adjustments made. Independence intact. The fight continues.
About Sandi
Businesswoman Sandi Wassmer registered blind in 2008. In her blog, she shares with us the 'shenanigans of visual impairment'.
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Comments
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Phew, of course working means you have to have an employer which is willing to work with you, mine could not wait to show me the door. The fact is a lot of employers either do not know about being blind or working with the Blind, and a lot could not give a dam.
Posted by Robert, 22 January 2010 (2 years ago)
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Yes its true some employers dont give a dam and the excuse is always health and safety or the old insurance excuse....but if enough of us got out there and educated others by sharing what abilities we have then attitudes would definately begin to change....small steps to big changes......there is alot of work to be done educating people and employers if that was a main focus lots more blind and visually impaired people would be better supported into employment.....
Posted by Sharon, 24 April 2011 (10 months ago)
