To have eyesight or not to have eyesight, is something that I have been pondering for a while, especially lately. As technology and science research advances more and more each day, eyesight restoration becomes more of a reality for people inflicted with blinding eye conditions. In fact, if you have not heard, last month two women, who have different forms of retina pigmantosa, received stem cell injections in their eyes. The stem cell injections proved to be successful by restoring some vision to the patients.
After tweeting this news on twitter, I posed a question to our blind/visually impaired followers regarding whether or not they would want to have eyesight, if given the opportunity. To many, this topic might be a no brainer; of course people who are blind want to see. But despite the contrary belief, many blind people do not want to have eyesight. I was talking to my ophthalmologist about this, and he was saying, one deciding factor for a person may be based on the amount of time they have been blind. He went on to discuss how when compared to someone who has lost their eyesight, If you are born blind, having vision would probably be scary because of the unknown. So, taking the research into consideration, as a person who has been blind for ten years this year, would I want to see again? What were the responses to this subject matter on twitter? Stay tuned for “To Have Sight Or Not To Have Sight Part II.”
This is more complex than a lot of sighted people might suppose. I was born more or less blind, saw a fair bit as a young man and then gradually became more or less blind again. It took a long time to deal with blindness, and it is only realistic to suppose it could be a long way back.
ReplyDeleteSome people with restored sight have not had a good time. Standing at a traffic intersection, trying to make sense of it may not be as easy as it seems.
I would love to have my sight restored. Maybe I could see more of the world before I die, maybe I could become a better photographer, maybe I could even return to work.
But, but..... Would I ever get used to a computer that didn't talk to me? Would I lose my guide dog? Would I have to say goodbye to all those good friends I've made in the blind community? Would they feel less well-inclined to me?
Treatments such as stem cells and gene therapy are on the way, and may be on offer in my life-time, so I may just get the chance of getting my sight back. I'm in my 60s, and younger people than me are quite likely to have the chance of sight restoration, even if I don't. So now is a good time to weigh up what our decisions may be. Just my first thoughts.
Thank you for sharing such great insight! Some of the issues that you mentioned regarding sight restoration, were matters that I have thought about as well. Your perspective, along with some others, will help me with my upcoming blog post. Again, thank you!
ReplyDeleteHello, I am 28 years old and have been blind for around 10 years. I have two little girls and for them I would love to have my eye sight back. I'd love to be able to see my oldest daughter again. I'd love to see my youngest daughters face for the first time. I too wonder if I'd be able to handle life without JAWS the text to speech program on my IPhone and my audio books. I used to love to read. I miss the feel of a book in my hands and the feel of the pages as they turn. But would I miss having the story read to me? Part of me really thinks I would. I have a blog about blindness as well and this has inspired me to write a post on the subject. It's an interesting question. In some ways the decision would be hard.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Nicole! It’s an interesting coincidence that we’re the same age and have been blind for the same duration of time.
ReplyDeleteglad restoration of eye sight is possible now a days! have faith you'll get through this.
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