This is true. A lot of eye doctors consider light perception totally blind. I can see some colors but it had to be up close and I don't see the colors the same way others do so it's useless to me.
The "DeafBlind" Definition
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This is true. A lot of eye doctors consider light perception totally blind. I can see some colors but it had to be up close and I don't see the colors the same way others do so it's useless to me.
Exactly, and lighting can make a huge difference for a lot of people. I have a friend who sees 20/200 in daylight but is totally blind at night. With someone like that, when someone asks how well they can see, what should they go by? The conditions they see best in, the conditions they see worst in, the average of the two?
I don't think it should be as complecated. Just that like in the deaf community they like to have blind with a little sight, I mean any sight at all not using braille or other blind skills.
I think a blind or deafblind person could go far with both these things so it's a shame.
Being Totally deafblind most of the time and having a tiny amount of sight some of the time makes me apreciate the sight I do have, although I may loss it at some stage and of course I would just have to cope with that.
Souggy: as someone with low vision what exactly do you see?
somedeafdudefromPNW
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I hate that question... Because I got nothing to compare it to. Okay, I do have depth perception, however it's out of the question when it's a uniform colour-- part of the reason why I moved to Victoria. I got tired of mistaking a 2" high snowbank for a 3' deep one even with a cane. I have even fallen into the pool once because I couldn't tell the difference between the deck and the water. Don't recall any other incidents like that.... other than I walk into door screens a lot when I was living with my parents; never happened again since I left 5 years ago.
I do see colour, but I tend to pick neutral ones like grey, tan/brown or blue because then any stains would have to be obvious in order for me to see them. I am having a bit of a hard time with black clothes at the moment because my ferret got white fur; opposite colours attract.
Um, I don't use a screen mangnifer because I haven't found a program that I like... I tried a lot of them including the coveted ZoomText and OpenBook, so I just ended up using a programming ruler that an engineer friend used and got for me.
I prefer natural light or daylight bulbs, but I find florescent light to be annoying.
Trying to think of other coping methods to explain what I can and can't see.
I usually just hold things about 8"-14" away from my face to be able to read things. Hope that help?
Woah woah WOAH there.
Who on earth put you up on a throne and gave you the right to judge what people choose to self identify as? BLIND is defined as anyone with vision 20/200 or worse or with a significant visual field restriction. DEAF is a self-applied term for people who have a significant hearing loss or are culturally Deaf. Deafblind or DeafBlind people have a combination of the above.
You're right, I am nothing like Helen Keller.
I did not require extensive support to acquire language. My first words were not met with media coverage.
The day I finished highschool was greeted with the cheers of only a few family members- and the same reception was offered for my undergrad and postgrad.
I, unlike Keller, do not believe that 'defective' newborn children should be barred from treatment. I do not support eugenics in any form.
I, unlike Keller, have earned every penny in my pocket, paid for my own medical expenses, and paid for my own education. I have the reasoning skills and the ABILITY to respect myself and as such I am not a socialist. Unlike Keller.
I, unlike Keller, do not support oralists who think that as a signing person I am inferior and unable to integrate into society. I do not believe that I must speak to be competent, to be literate, or to be heard.
I don't know what your standards for being "Like Keller" are but I will tell you right here and now that if there's one thing I'm proud of it is that DeafBlind people have progressed past the UGLY stain Keller left on deafblind history. I do not hold a woman with views most of us now find disturbing and outright repugnant as the model of "what a deafblind person is."
This does not stop me from being "really" deafblind. It is my truth, my identity, and a point of nothing but pride.
Next time, before you speak, I suggest you take up thinking.
Lighthouse77
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I think those who can not see or hear without technologies are DB. Even if they are a candidate for CI
I can not hear without my hearing aids. If hearing aids did not exist, I would have been labeled as deaf.
I can not hear without my hearing aids. If hearing aids did not exist, I would have been labeled as deaf.
Lighthouse77
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Keller was a signer before she learned to speak. I've always admired her because people felt it was no hope for someone who is db to be able to communicate (signing or spoken). People felt her signing was a accomplishment enough, but I think she push herself further and learn to speak. but she proved the world wrong for both the deaf and the blind and showed we are functional as the next person beside us.
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Until I joined AD, I looked at Helen Keller as a hero but the more I learned about her especially her views on deafness and the Deaf community, I no longer hold her on that pedestal.
Sorry to ask that question Souggy, but thanks for answering anyway.
It's not Helen Keller's fault that she turned out the way she did. She was very bright, and she did achieve a lot in her life, but the media, and influences from people like Graham Bell didn't do her too much good.
As to her less savory views, there are other deaf and Deafblind people with views I disagree with too. I don't think any less of them because of those views. So I won't feel like that towards Helen Keller either.
I don't admire Helen Keller. She was only human like the rest of us so capable of being misguided by those around her, and no, I am not like Helen Keller either.
somedeafdudefromPNW
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Got nothing to do with you or anything, so don't say sorry.
. All I can do is just post the results of the tests and explain some of the mess-ups I have gotten into. It's... like... asking a Deaf person what it is like to hear. Thankfully someone gave me an answer:"What is it like to have a third arm?"
Got nothing to do with you or anything, so don't say sorry.
"What is it like to have a third arm?"
I must have phrased my question really badly to have you misunderstand me in that way. I only meant how much you could see as in wether you needed a long cane, could you read regular print or needed large print etc etc.
I don't need to know what it's like to have low vision since I was like that too remember but unlike blind people with no light perceptions their is such a variety of low vision that I wanted to know what yours was.
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Likewise. And ever since people started asking me why I don't use the Tadoma method like Helen Keller, I definitely don't put her on a pedestal. Tadoma puts all the work on the deafblind person. Why would I want to use that method? I wouldn't. I respect her views but I get sick of being likened to Helen Keller over and over again.
There is a new book about Helen Keller called 'Blind rage'. It shows the real person.
You can read an extract from it here:
Blind Rage
And their an interesting blog about it here: The Gimp Parade: Blind Rage and the legacy of Helen Keller
As for me, I neither hate or idolise Helen Keller. She was only human.
You can read an extract from it here:
Blind Rage
And their an interesting blog about it here: The Gimp Parade: Blind Rage and the legacy of Helen Keller
As for me, I neither hate or idolise Helen Keller. She was only human.
I understand your sensitivity on this particular issue, but if you would take a minute to go back to the first post in this thread you would realize that it was asking what the definitition of "deafblind" is exactly, as I did not know, and therefore I asked. You perceived my post as thinking that all deafblind people had to be exactly like Helen Keller, but that was not my intention... I was using it as a comparison. I did not realize how deaf or how blind you had to be, which is why I asked.
However, you chose to be defensive... which I can understand to a certain degree, but you must understand that I was asking a question, not stating an opinion. How could I have an opinion on a subject I have no knowledge on?
As for your comment about my "throne", that was uncalled for.
Again, look at the post a little more clearly before you go ahead and argue against something that was not meant to be argued about. If you look at the rest of the posts in this thread, you will see that people have politely stated their opinions on the definition of "deafblindness", except you.The last comment you made was not only uncalled for, it was also irrelevent. I did not state an opinion. I asked a question.
You may now apologize and state what you feel the definition of deafblindness is, like every other rational person who posted in this thread.
Most of them are, or they were born hearing sighted and lost both senses later on. Very few deafblind grew up that way.
Most deafblind also have usesful sight and or hearing.
With modern advances this is becoming even more common now then it was in the past.
I just added this book to my list of requests through the NLS. I'll be sure to let you know when I've read it so we can discuss it.
I don't have any percentages but I think a good chunk of deafblind people are born deaf and later become blind since Usher's is a main cause of deafblindness and presents itself as congenital deafness and blindness later on.
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