[CT-NFB] Not blind enough

Mon Jun 9 23:27:03 UTC 2025

It is! One person I knew watched me struggle with math once and went, “I thought you guys were all math whizzes!” “Not all of us. I got the word-nerd part of the package.” People don’t realize that one of the ASD symptoms is an uneven skill set—I’m pretty good at grammar and spelling, horrible at math; and the more abstract the math concepts got as I got older, the more tutoring I needed. Now, abstracts in poetry? Absolutely fine! I am glad that more and more autistic writers are setting down the different faces of autism for the general public. Another thing that needs to be addressed is combined autism and blindness—e.g., people always comment, “Your hearing must be more acute”, attributing that to blindness, when they forget to factor in that the vast majority of blind folk are older, possibly with some age-related hearing loss. Years ago, any blind person’s rocking, hand-flapping, eye-poking and other mannerisms were chalked up to the blindness, when some of it (and the mentioned acute hearing) is attributable to autism. The field of combined blindness and autism is still so in its infancy, and needs a whole lot more attention! Well, another thing is, diagnostic criteria have radically changed re autism (sounds like in the past, where low vision wasn’t included in blindness)/ Someone like me who’s bookish and slightly nerdy would not have made the autism category when I was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, because the diagnostic criteria were very narrow then. I do like the expansion—for those who seek a formal diagnosis, it can enable them to get the supports they need. Anyway, end of soap-box. 

Yeah, I’m a quote collector, and especially like this one, too, for its positivity.

Sandra

One can never consent to creep, when one feels an impulse to soar.

(Helen Keller)

From: CT-NFB <ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Deb Reed via CT-NFB
Sent: Monday, June 9, 2025 6:21 PM
To: ct-nfb at nfbnet.org
Cc: Deb Reed <deb.reed57 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [CT-NFB] Not blind enough

Thank you for sharing Sandra. I’m sure that must be challenging as well to be not autistic enough. Who sets these definitions anyway, makes you wonder. I like the Helen Keller quote in your signature. It is empowering.

Sincerely,

Deb Reed

Central CT Chapter President of the National Federation of the Blind

Deb.reed57 at gmail.com <mailto:Deb.reed57 at gmail.com> 

Cell-860-378-5370

“Bloom where you are. “From mother, Theresa of Calcutta.

On Jun 9, 2025, at 2:20 PM, sandra streeter via CT-NFB <ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Although always a “total”, which worked for me in some ways (no choice BUT to learn Braille)—I’ve heard horror stories from low-vision people that make the content of this piece understandable. Now, though, I have a personal reason to “get it:--I am just on the tippy-end of the spectrum, as autistic as one can be without being non-autistic—people have to spend time with me before 1, they get that that is going on, and 2, they get why I sometimes make social gaffes, look stuck-up because I’m so withdrawn and not talking, etc; I’m not “autistic enough”.

Sandra

One can never consent to creep, when one feels an impulse to soar.

(Helen Keller)

From: CT-NFB <ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org> > On Behalf Of rivalbeth--- via CT-NFB
Sent: Monday, June 9, 2025 9:46 AM
To: 'NFB of Connecticut Mailing List' <ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> >
Cc: rivalbeth at gmail.com <mailto:rivalbeth at gmail.com> 
Subject: Re: [CT-NFB] Not blind enough

I think we can all relate, thanks 

From: CT-NFB <ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org> > On Behalf Of Maryanne Melley via CT-NFB
Sent: Monday, June 09, 2025 8:38 AM
To: ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> 
Cc: Maryanne Melley <maryanne.melley at gmail.com <mailto:maryanne.melley at gmail.com> >; ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> 
Subject: Re: [CT-NFB] Not blind enough

I love this! The words are so true.

Best regards,

Maryanne Melley

President 

National Federation of

the Blind of Connecticut

860-212-5549

maryanne.melley at gmail.com <mailto:maryanne.melley at gmail.com> 

A dream does not become reality through magic: it takes sweat, determination and hard work

On Jun 9, 2025, at 8:18 AM, Mary Silverberg via CT-NFB <ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Allison & Deb,

Thank you for sharing this one.   I love it.  How very true.

Mary

On Mon, Jun 9, 2025 at 8:06 AM Deb Reed via CT-NFB <ct-nfb at nfbnet.org <mailto:ct-nfb at nfbnet.org> > wrote:

Happy Monday!

Recently, one of our affiliate members, Allison Arbuckle, shared this poem with me. It is an experience that many of us with residual site in our journey of blindness have experienced. Here is the poem she shared:

>From Dave Steel, The Blind Poet

“Have you ever felt not blind enough?

Been told that you don’t look blind?

As if the cane you hold’s a prop,

or truth is something they define.

They see the way you turn your head,

how sometimes you still meet a gaze,

and question all the silent wars

you fight inside the dimming haze.

“Your eyes are clear, you’re looking straight,

you smiled before you took your seat—

you joked, you laughed, you found your way…

So blindness? That can’t be complete.”

But they don’t see the constant strain,

the way you memorize each space,

how shadows steal the world you knew,

how fog and fear have blurred each face.

They never feel the stumbles made,

the silent prayers with every street,

the noise that swells without a frame,

the panic dancing in your feet.

They only see the parts that pass

for something they define as “sight,”

not knowing how it shifts and fades

from morning glow to black of night.

And so you’re caught between two truths—

not fully seen, not fully gone—

you wear your courage quietly

while strangers tell you to “stay strong.”

But strength is found in every step

where darkness walks beside your day,

in every time you hold that cane

though pride or doubt gets in the way.

So if you’ve heard, “You don’t look blind,”

or felt like you don’t quite belong,

know that your truth is yours alone,

and living it is being strong.

You don’t owe proof to anyone—

your story’s written in your stride.

There’s more to vision than the eyes,

and more to blindness than what’s spied.

#TheBlindPoet” 

Sincerely,

Deb Reed

Central CT Chapter President of the National Federation of the Blind

Deb.reed57 at gmail.com <mailto:Deb.reed57 at gmail.com> 

Cell-860-378-5370

“Bloom where you are. “From mother, Theresa of Calcutta.

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