Day 2: Going Blind
Last Tuesday we watched a film about a man whose sight was deteriorating and who was experiencing worsening eye complications. He was extremely nervous about losing his eye sight so he went to talk to a handful of people who had serious vision impairments, each with differing severities and causes. He also inquired about how each of them coped with their current issues. Personally, he seemed like he was assuring himself that he would be okay and will still be able to function when/if he loses sight by talking to all of these people. This video helped us realize a vast array of problems that people experience. Visually impaired patients are not simply blind or not blind. Another, perhaps more important, lesson learned from this video is that these visually impaired patients are normal people just like you and me. Most of them were not born blind but, even if they were, they are not different than any of us. They want to be treated just like everyone else. This is important because one of the patients we’re working with in class is blind. I have never dealt with a visually impaired patient so I admit that I, for no known reason, felt like I had to tip-toe around them and was scared to ask them about their situation. However, after meeting our patient and seeing other visually impaired patients, they do not like people to tip-toe around them or be scared of them. They are highly functional and can live their lives similar to how I do. They just want to be treated like everyone else; they do not want to be seen as different. Working with this patient and watching this film really changed my view of visually impaired individuals in a positive way.
-Jordan
BME Design 