[nabs-l] When a loved one goes sighted

Thu Apr 21 04:46:08 UTC 2011

Hi all,

This is a very interesting topic. You may recall that a few years ago,
I disseminated a survey about attitudes toward sight restoration that
I made up for my biology/psychology honors thesis. In the survey, I
asked respondents how interested they would be in taking a "magic
pill" that would confer 20/20 vision instantly, with no risks or side
effects. I also asked respondents how interested they would be in
undergoing various experimental procedures such as retinal prostheses
and gene therapy. The results of the survey were quite interesting.
The majority of respondents (72%) said they would be interested in
taking the "magic pill" but a substantial minority (18%) said they
would not want to take the pill, even if it would give them perfect
sight with no risks or side effects. (The rest were undecided). I also
measured respondents' attitudes toward blindness and the degree to
which they felt being blind was important to their identity. The
people most likely to not want the magic pill were those who both
identified strongly with blindness and who had very positive attitudes
toward being blind. Not surprisingly, those who had been blind from
birth were least interested. Finally, less than half the respondents
said they would be interested in undergoing specific treatments, with
the least invasive treatment (gene therapy) eliciting interest from
about 45% of respondents.
It is apparent that many of us think it would be cool to have sight,
but not all of us are interested in it and certainly many of us are
concerned about the imperfections of the medical technologies
currently being developed. Personally, I think it would be kind of fun
to be able to see (I liken it in my head to being able to time-travel,
or having GPS or a really powerful computer) but I wouldn't want to
undergo any kind of invasive procedure or anything that would put me
out of commission for a while. Much of my hesitation comes from the
fact that I have been fortunate not to have ever had major surgery or
been admitted to the hospital. I do have a bit of medical phobia and
the thought of having any kind of non-essential surgery kind of freaks
me out, but I also feel like going through such an intense procedure
would compromise the health and productivity that I enjoy, at least
temporarily. And, as others have mentioned, I am not optimistic that I
would actually be able to read, drive, and enjoy the other functional
perks of sight without a lot of practice and adjustment. Essentially,
I would have to undergo independence training (learning to read print,
travel using vision, drive, coordinate colors, etc.) all over again.

Arielle

On 4/20/11, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:
> I agree with you completely.  I don't think we should begrudge those who
> choose to regain sight.  I dare say this is patently impossible for most of
> us.  Like the rest of you, I probably wouldn't choose it were I given the
> chance; I suspect the visual centers in my brain are already rewired to do
> other things so there's some question as to whether I could even perceive
> sight.
>
> On the other hand, I think it's over-the-top to insist, as some
> deaf/hard-of-hearing folks do, that those who regain their "lost" faculties
> are killing a culture.  In fact, although I, too, believe that blindness is
> part of who I am, it isn't an *essential* part so I find it somewhat
> uncomfortable when I hear blind persons saying they wouldn't wish to regain
> sight because it would change who they are.  Isn't that just another way of
> imputing to blindness (or sight, for that matter) more than it's just being
> a characteristic?
>
> Having said all this, it's true that any time a loved one changes in some
> way (even if it's for the better), those around him/her have to make
> adjustments and sometimes these adjustments are too hard for family bonds to
> stand.  I've known more than one person who got divorced after attending a
> NFB Center.  It wasn't that the Center caused the break-up; it's just that
> the relationship couldn't stand the strain of one person's having changed.
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Kirt Manwaring
> Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 8:44 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] When a loved one goes sighted
>
> Jorge and Homberto,
>   I feel the same way.  I'm very curious to see what sight is like, I
> wonder about it sometimes.  I'd even go as far as saying I sometimes
> would like to see...but if the option were available, the tedium of
> relearning everything, not to mention the risk of the surgery for
> something I don't really need, more than balance out any wish I have
> to see.  But, should a blind friend choose differently and receive
> sight, I would totally understand, respect and support that decision.
> And it wouldn't change the friendship on my end, although it would
> spark some interesting conversations.
>   Just my thoughts,
> Kirt
>
> On 4/20/11, Jorge Paez <computertechjorgepaez at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hombertu,
>> I agree.
>> I personally wouldn't choose to be sighted for one simple reason.
>> I've learned everything without sight.
>> If I regained sight I'd have to relearn everything.
>> Sure I had sight but lost it when I was so young I can't remember,
>> so really I can say I've been blind all my life,
>> and sight would just make it too difficult.
>>
>> Jorge
>>
>>
>> On Apr 20, 2011, at 8:55 PM, humberto wrote:
>>
>>> First of all, If I was to become sighted, I would not do it. I myself
>>> wouldn't want to become sighted because of 2 reasons:
>>> 1.  since I am blind since birth, I will feel so weird being sighted;
> just
>>> like a sighted person  had been born with sight and feeling weird when
>>> they become blind. The world would be so different and I cannot even
>>> explain how different since I've never ever been sighted, and don't want
>>> to be.
>>> 2.  I am blind, I am the way I am and I still want to be blind since I am
>>> born blind. Blindness is just an ordinary thing for me. Even my mom has
>>> gotten me to pray and get me to ask doctors if one day I will "see" but
>>> that was when I was little, and looking back, I am so * GUILTY * that my
>>> mom did this and told me that I will see soon in a quite convincing way
>>> and now I think, and since coming to the United States and attending NFB
>>> related camps and meetings such as the NFB youth Slam, I see my own
>>> philosophy of blindness, which is that blindness is something ordinary
> and
>>> normal and nothing to be neglected or regretted about.
>>> Just my 20 dollars for what it's worth, and, great question.
>>>
>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: Jamie Principato <blackbyrdfly at gmail.com
>>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> Date sent: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:56:20 -0400
>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] When a loved one goes sighted
>>>
>>>> Hi, all.
>>>
>>>> I was thinking recently about all of those "what to do what a
>>> loved one goes
>>>> blind" articles and pamphlets I've seen, and how often I hear
>>> people talk
>>>> about the reactions of friends and family and their community
>>> when they lost
>>>> their vision. I think there have even been comments on this list
>>> about
>>>> sighted friends for some reason thinking they have to treat us
>>> differently,
>>>> or can't relate to us as well because we're blind.
>>>
>>>> My question is this. How do you think the blind would respond in
>>> similar
>>>> situations, say, if a friend among a netork of fellow blind
>>> students
>>>> suddenly went sighted? As medical technology advances rapidly, it
>>> is
>>>> becoming more and more possible to correct a number of causes of
>>> both
>>>> congenital and later onset blindness. I know there are different
>>> opinions on
>>>> matters like this in other disability groups, and the question
>>> really got me
>>>> thinking.
>>>
>>>> I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts!
>>>
>>>> -Jamie
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-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org