The journey through vision loss is one that millions around the world travel, yet is still a mystery to many. I know that was true for me. I was sighted most of my life, diagnosed with a de-generative eye condition in my late 20s, I lived a normal life until it wasn’t so normal anymore. I needed to learn how to be blind and this site is my way of giving back to the many who helped me take my first steps in my own journey through vision loss.
My hope is that you find your own voice as you navigate these pages.
About me:
I love stories, not fictional stories but the real life stories of everyday people living everyday lives. I like listening to a story and learning what people feel, how they think, where their lives take them and when my life journey begins to connect with theirs.
When I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, my doctor explained there was no cure but they anticipate the sight loss to be gradual with a brief mention that I may eventually be totally blind. Fast forward 15 years I found myself legally blind. I scrambled to find a way to get to work, get my girls to all their activities and train my husband on shopping best practices. I connected to rehabilitation services to continue working where I was met with, “Joyce, you are living in denial. Your condition leads to total blindness.” In those seemingly harsh words were a gentleness bracing me of the physical and societal limitations awaiting me in this next stage of my career.
Gail came over to train me on ZoomText, she also had RP and by now was totally blind. I had so many questions for her, do I need to learn Braille?, do I need to learn all these keyboard shortcuts or can I keep using my remaining vision? What happened when you went totally blind? I could follow the logic with the first couple of questions but the last one really was hard to understand. “I don’t really know when it happened.” She seemed to be processing memories trying to pinpoint the moment she became totally blind. We went back to sharing random stories in between learning tips on how to navigate Excel spreadsheets with my new ZoomText software. As Gail got ready to leave, she had an answer for my question, “I think I was in the middle of teaching a class and realized I didn’t see anything anymore.” Her words throughout that day helped me begin to feel my impending loss. For the first time, I allowed tears carrying both sadness and relief to flow freely from my eyes. I lost touch with Gail shortly after that session but thankfully had many more Gails coming in and out of my life as I too, got to the point where I couldn’t recollect when I became totally blind.
I suspect Gail’s matter of fact re-telling of transition into total blindness came after many years of wrestling through slow vision loss as did mine. I’m thankful for the inspiration Gail unknowingly gave me through sharing stories of her everyday life as a blind professional, wife, mother and friend. For me, As I inched towards legal blindness, I began to worry about how much longer I could drive, how much longer I could hide my problem, how I could give my girls a normal life? Today, that period of my life is far enough behind me to appreciate how the complexity of vision loss introduced a new dimension of what it looks like to live by Faith and not by Sight.
We often hear the end of someone’s blindness success story which although inspirational to some, can also make ours so much more discouraging. You won’t find the latest of anything on this site but you will find authentic voices of navigating vision loss to equip you to embrace your story that somehow connects with ours. It would be a privilege to have our articles read, an honor to impact your learning in some way and a joy to hear how these stories help you write a new chapter in your own life!
Joyce Oshita, Founder WiselyBlind.com
elevating the Voices of the WiselyBlind community
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