January 13 - Partial sight

Not so long ago, a friend asked if I had central or peripheral vision. I had to ponder this before I could answer. While the question was absolute, the answer was not so clear-cut. I tried to explain this to my friend but partial sight isn’t easy to define.

Sight is difficult to explain. How could I tell my friend that while I might see well enough to pick out a shiny piece of paper on the floor, yet I might not see the side of a truck parked across my pathway. I suppose that for the most part I don’t have central vision. I can’t see the print on a page or the expression on someone’s face, but this doesn’t mean that my peripheral vision is clear either. I see differently from each eye and differently again from each part of the eye. I think that I see more clearly from the lower part of my eyes because I find that wearing a face mask cuts down on that part of what I see. Having said that, often I don’t see small objects – fire hydrants, dogs, little children – when they are right in front of me.

I see better, or at least think that I do, in familiar surroundings. Perhaps my brain is just telling me that I can actually see what I know to be there. I don’t see as well if I am tired or unwell. I see bright contrasting colors more easily than muted tones. I see better in bright lights but am often confused by shadows. I wonder if what I see is a flat image or actually a solid shape.  Lyle is often startled when I jump at shadows.

I think that the range of terms we use to describe partial sight is another indicator of the difficulty in defining vision. We use terms like limited sight, visually challenged, partial blindness, partial sight, legal blindness, low vision, vision impairment, and sometimes, just blindness.

Recently I read a book where the author had completely lost her sight due to an injury. However, after a prostheses was inserted into the one eye she regained light perception in the other. She was able to distinguish between light and dark. She could tell if the lights in the room were turned on and could see whether it was night or day. How would you describe her sight? Because she could see something, was she blind or could she see? Would partial sight adequately describe her condition? If so, could we use that same term of partial sight to describe what I can see which is far more than light perception?

It is a conundrum! The vagaries of sight are definitely individual. Vision can be measured by the tools in the office of an optometrist or ophthalmologist, but the lived experience of partial sight is obscure to be sure.  Partial sight can only be measured on an individual basis and is also measured by how that individual deals with the uniqueness of his/her partial vision.