My name is Jared. I was born blind with no useful vision. Today, I am employed full-time as a Senior Software Engineer – a job I couldn’t do if I hadn’t learned braille. I am also married and a father to two young children, both of whom are sighted. Because I can read braille, I am able to read them bedtime stories and pass along to them my love for the written word. My parents and teachers deserve much of the credit for my being braille-literate today. They insisted that…
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When I was 22, my senses narrowed to four; and really, my sense of smell has never been that great, so, it became more like three senses. And crikey, what’s a girl to do? Several infections slammed my body simultaneously. I was expected to die, but as all my independent ladies can attest to, we tend to be survivors. Sitting among family and friends, I became a brave soul and was often eulogized. With raised brows, I said, “Sure,” and sauntered towards my future. The future was unclear, a bit…
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I’m Giorgio and my family and I run a pizzeria here in Toronto called Frank’s Pizza House. I’m married with six kids – and there’s never a dull moment, I can promise you that. My goal has always been to make pizzas and share my passion for pizza-making until I can retire. Now, in addition to that, I’m looking forward to many new adventures because I’m losing my vision to advanced glaucoma. It’s sounds bad, but it’s not – I was diagnosed with glaucoma in my late teens. Now, at…
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My name is Hilda and I’m the mother of a child born with septo-optic dysplasia. I started an Instagram account to share about what it’s like raising a little boy who is blind – and how amazing he is. I changed the name of the page to @OurBlindSide because I’d like to change the way others see raising a child who is blind. When Ashton was born and I was told he was blind and had septo-optic dysplasia, I was heartbroken thinking about all the challenges and all the things…
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My name is Dave Steele. I’m a singer and poet from the UK who, since being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in 2013, has dedicated my life to raising awareness for visually impaired people worldwide through poetry and music. Following is a poem I wrote for my daughter, Ellie. The Secret It took me years to come to terms with how my eyes declined Through stages of acceptance of slowly going blind But nothing I could ever do would allow me to prepare To tell my little girl the thing I…
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My three children, two sons and a daughter, are typical teenage kiddos. They go to public school. They play sports. They have friends. They often stay up too late, keep their rooms quite messy, and talk back to me every now and again. Yep, pretty typical. But my kiddos also each have a certain, not-so-typical aspect that makes them, well, them. Many people describe my children as extraordinary. But I don’t. High achievers? Yes. Resilient? You bet. But extraordinary? No. However, it is my expectations for them and their expectations…
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Vicky is our four-year-old girl and she is losing her sight due to a rare genetic condition called Leber Congenital Amaurosis. And I would like to take a moment to thank her. I have redrafted this post many times, writing and rewriting all the little things I thank Vicky for. No words seem to capture all emotions and feelings. The truth is simple: I want to thank Vicky for what she’s teaching us. When you hug me strongly and tell me “Mummy, I love you sooooooo much,” you are teaching…
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We all have those definitive moments, those HUGE moments, in life when you just know things will forever be divided into before and after. Meeting our daughter Primrose was one of those moments. Our family of four became a family of five through international adoption in January 2016. We saw a photo and description of our daughter on a Facebook adoption advocacy group and instantly fell in love. The photo showed her as an infant, her eyes the most piercing silver/blue – and the description included her diagnosis, blindness from…
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My daughter is blind. She is also funny, cuddly, silly, a lover of music, and has the cutest laugh. Her blindness isn’t the first thing I think about when I am asked about her. It is a part of her, but not something that defines her. We live in India and tend to stand out wherever we go; the white woman dressed in Indian clothing with the brown 4-year old holding a cane. It frustrates me when people wait until I look to the side, and then rush to snap…
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Being 14 years old already sucks enough or at least I thought it did. Then throw in your mom going blind within a matter of 8 months…it was more than this young teenager wanted to deal with. Adding that into my melting pot of teenage problems, I felt like my life was beginning to unwind. I say problems in a loose fashion because in all reality there weren’t big problems, but to a fourteen year old girl they were. It was the end of the world if I didn’t get…
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