In the foot steps of Hear Again and typeing...

Nika said:
Oh I meant the whole going blind twice more in a humorous way. <smile>

Even when I was sighted for the first time at 12 it was really hard for me to interpret visual information and to use my vision because I was just so not used to it.
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what kind of therapy did you receive? did a low vision therapist have to teach you how to use your vision and identify common everyday objects? that's one of the reasons why i don't want to become sighted. there would just be too many things i'd have to learn -- including how to read print (even though i've used the optacon before and am familiar with capital print letters). still, print letters come in a variety of fonts and those could be a little challenging for me to learn.
 
Nika said:
Oh I meant the whole going blind twice more in a humorous way. <smile>

Even when I was sighted for the first time at 12 it was really hard for me to interpret visual information and to use my vision because I was just so not used to it.
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I understand, i can see a little bit, but i cannot describe anything for the life of me, you could ask me what the chocolate orange box i am holding looks like, and i would say "uhh, its orange... " its wierd.
 
Hear Again said:
what kind of therapy did you receive?
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Right. Well I gained my sight gradually so a lot of my learning to interpret stuff visually was on my own. My vision therapist mainly helped with helped me use my eyes more and to fall in the habit of doing things by sight. He also helped me a LOT with reading, differentiating my p's and q's. Ahah and now here I am trying to differentiate my d's and f's in braille. <laugh>

Most of the time I just feel like I was meant to be blind. It's my natural state. I actually get the best of both worlds because I know what things look like so I have a frame of reference in the visual world as well as in my tactile and auditory worlds.
 
Hear Again said:
do doctors think you'll ever get your sight back?
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No--the damage done to the optic nerve by glaucoma is irreversible.

Also a general disclaimer for everyone: Don't worry if it's too personal. If it is, I'll let you know. <smile>
 
Nika said:
Most of the time I just feel like I was meant to be blind. It's my natural state. I actually get the best of both worlds because I know what things look like so I have a frame of reference in the visual world as well as in my tactile and auditory worlds.
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even though i was born totally blind, i know exactly what you mean by this. alot of my friends who are adventitiously blind say the same thing. i feel the same way. despite the fact that i could never see, i'm still a visual learner. my elementary school itinerant teacher thinks this is because of the fact that i used braille since age 4 or 5. i also used braille maps during o&m lessons.

i have another question to ask you. when you visualize a word, how does it appear in your mind? when i see a word in my head, i think of it in grade II braille.
 
Nika said:
Right. Well I gained my sight gradually so a lot of my learning to interpret stuff visually was on my own. My vision therapist mainly helped with helped me use my eyes more and to fall in the habit of doing things by sight. He also helped me a LOT with reading, differentiating my p's and q's. Ahah and now here I am trying to differentiate my d's and f's in braille. <laugh>

Most of the time I just feel like I was meant to be blind. It's my natural state. I actually get the best of both worlds because I know what things look like so I have a frame of reference in the visual world as well as in my tactile and auditory worlds.
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I know how you feel about the meant to be blind part, I graduated from LCB a few months ago, and some family members have issues with the way i do things, and how i modify them for my lack of vision, I have a little, and i am very good at modifying myself so i can see, but doing it tacitly is just so much easier! It almost makes me wish i was totally blind so i could get rid of this huge CCTV, and have an excuse to braille label everything, *my mother would die if i braille labeled the nukerwave now...*
 
Hear Again said:
despite the fact that i could never see, i'm still a visual learner.
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Same. Even before I was sighted I tended to make visual maps in my mind out of tactile/auditory information. I don't know how to describe it really. Plus I have synesthesia ( Synesthesia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ), so auditory stimuli evoke colors in my mind's eye.

Blindness doesn't stop us from being visual! <laughs>
 
Nika said:
No--the damage done to the optic nerve by glaucoma is irreversible.

Also a general disclaimer for everyone: Don't worry if it's too personal. If it is, I'll let you know. <smile>
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of course. i wasn't thinking about the effects of glaucoma. one of my sisters has glaucoma, but it is mild and she doesn't wear glasses because she doesn't need to.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
*my mother would die if i braille labeled the nukerwave now...*
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Same here. I could probably still see the screen on 16 to 20x magnification, but I prefer just having screen reader. Much less bulky, if you ask me.

Is optic hypoplasia progressive or more or less stable (in your case)?
 
Nika said:
Same here. I could probably still see the screen on 16 to 20x magnification, but I prefer just having screen reader. Much less bulky, if you ask me.

Is optic hypoplasia progressive or more or less stable (in your case)?
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I agree, i cant wait to get rid of zoomtext and go back to jaws...

ONH is usually stable, but 5 years ago i had a 20 degree field, now its 5... I dont know if i am going to loose the rest of it.
 
Nika said:
Same. Even before I was sighted I tended to make visual maps in my mind out of tactile/auditory information. I don't know how to describe it really. Plus I have synesthesia ( Synesthesia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ), so auditory stimuli evoke colors in my mind's eye.

Blindness doesn't stop us from being visual! <laughs>
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i read the website you posted and was struck by this sentence:

"In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be "farther away" than 1990), or may have a (three-dimensional) view of a year as a map (clockwise or counterclockwise)."

that describes me perfectly (particulary the description of numbers, months of the year and days of the week eliciting precise locations in space and being "farther away" from each other).
 
Hear Again said:
"In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be "farther away" than 1990), or may have a (three-dimensional) view of a year as a map (clockwise or counterclockwise)."
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I've read in several sources that there is a higher rate of synesthesia among blind and deaf people.

My particular synesthesia is auditory-visual, so that when I hear certain sounds I see specific colors. I can tell the key of any song and exactly which notes are being played by the colors I see in my mind.
 
Nika said:
My particular synesthesia is auditory-visual, so that when I hear certain sounds I see specific colors. I can tell the key of any song and exactly which notes are being played by the colors I see in my mind.
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wow, that's really fascinating! mine tends to be more visual in nature in the way numbers, days of the week and years appear. i've always thought about those things in that respect, but never knew it actually had a name. i learned something new today!
 
I love the way T and OU feel. Kind of like a step. I also get a kick out of reading FOR.

How about you?
 
Hear Again said:
wow, that's really fascinating!
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I also have grapheme-color synesthesia so letters and words appear in different colors, each letter/word having its own color. This applies across alphabets and writing systems for me.

I blogged about my synesthesia. If you're interested, I can link you.

Do you ever apply personality to certain objects or textures?
 
Nika said:
I also have grapheme-color synesthesia so letters and words appear in different colors, each letter/word having its own color. This applies across alphabets and writing systems for me.

I blogged about my synesthesia. If you're interested, I can link you.

Do you ever apply personality to certain objects or textures?
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wow, thats really interesting.
 
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