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Who are "the blind"?

They are not "the blind." They are individuals -- housewives, scientists, artists, business people ... maybe you or me, sometime.

That must be emphasized: our individuality, the individuality of folks dealing with some kind of sight loss.

And most blind people are not blind -- most at one point had all or some of their sight and now they may have low vision, impaired vision, residual vision, partial vision . Some see shapes and only shapes -- shadows, blurs, blobs -- or have "tunnel vision."

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The following images illustrate how a person’s

vision is affected by several vision-related

conditions --

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MyopiaMyopia

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HyperopiaHyperopia

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Macular DegenerationMacular Degeneration

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GlaucomaGlaucoma

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StrabismusStrabismus

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AstigmatismAstigmatism

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CataractCataract

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Retinal DetachmentRetinal Detachment

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Folks who have low vision or no vision and who generally use other senses/capabilities to perceive the world. And they are people with a wide range of

ABILITIES –

blind skiers, blind photographers,blind visual artists,blind bowlers,blind restauranteurs,

And blindness need not rob anyone of his or her sense of humor! Have you heard the one about Stevie Wonder challenging Tiger Woods to a golf game? Or the story of the blind airline pilot? Both told to me by blind friends …

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STEVIE AND TIGER Stevie Wonder and Tiger Woods are in a bar. Woods turns to Wonder and says: "How is the singing career going?"

Stevie Wonder replies: "Not too bad! How's the golf?" Woods replies: "Not too bad, I've had some problems with my swing, but I think I've got that right now."

Stevie Wonder says: "I always find that when my swing goes wrong, I need to stop playing for a while and not think about it. Then, the next time I play, it seems to be all right.”Tiger Woods says: "You play golf?"

Stevie Wonder says: "Oh, yes, I've been playing for years."

“I get my caddy to stand in the middle of the fairway and call to me. I listen for the sound of his voice and play the ball towards him. Then, when I get to where the ball lands, the caddy moves to the green or farther down the fairway and again I play the ball towards his voice.”

Woods, incredulous, says to Stevie: "We've got to play a round sometime. When would you like to play?"

Stevie says, “Pick a night.”

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The Blind Pilot

I was flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles. By the time we took off, there had been a 45 -minute delay and everybody on board was ticked.

Unexpectedly, we stopped in Sacramento on the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be another 45 -minute delay, and if we wanted to get off the aircraft, we would reboard in 30 minutes.Everybody got off the plane except one gentleman who was blind.

I noticed him as I walked by and could tell he had flown before because his Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of him throughout the entire flight. I could also tell he had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached him and, calling him by name, said, "Keith,

Keith replied, "No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs."

Picture this: All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with the Seeing Eye dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses.

we're in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?”

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Now let’s allow a very young Russell Crowe and Hugo Weaving provide a chuckle or two courtesy of the savvy blind character in the Australian film PROOF.

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