...On coping with my vision impairment, a students' perspective

Hi all,
I recently asked one of my students, Savannah, to share a little bit about coping with a vision impairment. She has low vision and is a large print reader. You can read more about Savannah in the August postings. She has accepted the invite to be a regular contributor to my blog on vision impairment topics, Expanded Core Curriculum and regular teenager thoughts.

I asked her a few questions....here are her thoughts:

Robbin,
Alright lets see if I can summarize.... It (My vision impairment) usually hits me at times such as.... when I am at a sleeping over and my friends want to do something silly like play man hunt in pitch black... I cant see a thing and the flash light can make a glare or make me see halos. Other times might be.... when I read, I read alot but I have to find the perfect position or else there wont be enough light or to much of a glare and my arms get tired because I have to hold so high up and so close to my face so I could see it. Also being 17, alot of my friend are getting their permits and it kind of stinks that I wont be getting mine and cant really talk to them about it. Those are the most common instances.

How do I cope with it.... hmmm... I am very flexible so I hardly ever get frusterated, I find myself constantly making jokes and my family is always supporting me. My 11 and 10 year old cousins already told my that as soon as they get their licences they will drive me anywhere my little heart desires! lol. Then when I get lucky and can see something that my grandma cant see because she doesnt have her glasses... she laughs and says oh yeah the blind one can see it! Either way I am always eating oreos! lol

So today was my eye appointment and lets say... I wasnt nervous at all because I dont ever worry about my vision, then when the eye doctor told me all the numbers and such I just let it roll off my back because I am not worried and I know that I can do this! Afterwards I tried out some equipment and tried out a scope, i was able to read from a far and that was what a person with 20/20 vision would have been able to read.... I was sooo excited and so proud of myself I could hardly stand it!

So as you can tell there are alot of ups and downs to being visually impared.... its not a problem for yours truly, Savannah Simon! lol