Mark and I were chatting about the various aspects of blindness, when he looked at me and said, “You know, if I didn’t know that you couldn’t see, I wouldn’t know that you couldn’t see.”
This outward appearance of being sighted even when the opposite is true, is one of the more interesting aspects of blindness. It is also likely one of the more confusing aspects that confront people who themselves are able to see. If my eyes look the same on the outside, how can it be that I can’t see from the inside looking out?
When Mark made the above comment, we had been talking together for a little bit already. We were sitting in comfortable chairs with no need to move about. My white cane wasn’t visible. There wasn’t anything that I needed to read or have read to me. There wasn’t any outward sign of my sight challenges. We were just two people having a chat.
As is my usual practice, I had been trying to “look” at Mark as he spoke. I remember another completely blind friend telling me that this is what he tried to do. He couldn’t see, but if it made the other person more comfortable in the conversation he would try to focus on the direction of the voice. To me this made sense and generally speaking I try to do just that.
I think that is what had Mark fooled. I wasn’t trying to hide my vision loss, but there was no need to show it either. Mark’s observation led to another interesting topic. What does it look like to be blind? Do you have a picture in your head of what a blind person “looks like”? Perhaps this is a topic I can explore in another post.In the meantime – Here’s Looking At You!
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