Being a partial

Category: the Rant Board

Post 1 by C_for_Chaos (Generic Zoner) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 3:43:24

I am realizing that I am slowly losing my vision.
I'm going in for an appointment to check what's up.
That being said, being a partial is so irritating at times.
Every day is different. I have to explain my vision so much and usually same people ask me the same questions over and over. No one accepts a vague answer like "I just can't see as well as you can." There always has to be a how or why included.
Usually the whole "I'm too sighted to be blind, but too blind to be sighted." comment doesn't work.
Oh, and a big SCREW YOU to all of those idiots out there who continue to discriminate against dog guide users. I deal with way too many idiots on a daily basis.

Post 2 by laced-unlaced (Account disabled) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 5:59:15

i think being a partial rocks. i don't really care what i am, race, disability, colour i can't change who i am and you should accept people for who they are.

and i have a life, that's the main thing, right?

Post 3 by rat (star trek rules!) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 10:15:18

I personally would rather be completely blind like i am, i know too many people who try to use the sight they have left, and i know that can cause you problems if you continue losing what you have

Post 4 by C_for_Chaos (Generic Zoner) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 14:59:53

I mean, I'm not trying to complain. I do use the sight that I have.
I'm just saying that sometimes it really sucks to be somewhere in the middle. There is no fine line...
The questions are endless.

Post 5 by Thom3of5 (Do the Doo.) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 15:08:25

I'm in the middle as well. It's just a matter of being who you are and getting through the best you can. Who are you having to explain your sight to? What eye problem is it that you have?

Post 6 by Blue Velvet (I've got the platinum golden silver bronze poster award.) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 15:17:48

I can totally relate. I'm almost totally blind now with just light perception in one eye and nothing in the other. But I was a partial with enough vision to read print and travel without a cane for my growing up years. I can remember having to explain about my sight to people, including my own father. My parents divorced when I was 5, so I was raised by my mother. She totally understood how much I could see, but my dad, who only saw me for two weeks out of every summer, was so afraid I was going to get hurt that he was overly cautious with me. He was always worried when I went to play with my brother and his friends that they would inadvertently forget about my less than perfect vision and be careless, but nothing ever happened.

I attended a school for the blind through the eighth grade. I was one of the most popular kids in a small population of about 200 kids K-12. I was not a bit shy. Then when I transferred to public high school suddenly I was painfully shy. My freshmen class had more than twice the number of kids than the entire school for the blind. Suddenly, instead of feeling lucky that I was one of the few kids at school with high partial vision, I was embarrased about being the only kid in school with a visual impairment. I tried to pass as sighted with some embarrassing results.

Anyway, you're not the only one who struggles with being a partial. So hang in there.

Post 7 by Sword of Sapphire (Whether you agree with my opinion or not, you're still gonna read it!) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 19:44:37

Believe it or not, partials are not the only ones that are always interrogated about their vision and must go through countless explanations. Totally blind people are too asked all sorts of questions and must explain to people countless times how their vision is nonexistent. For some strange reason, people don't seem to understand what it means when I say I have prostetics, which makes possessing any type of vision impossible.

Post 8 by Ok Sure (This site is so "educational") on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 21:21:07

What do you mean by not being able to see because of your prostetics?

You can see with your heart!

Religious exclamation!

Religious exclamation!

Post 9 by Sword of Sapphire (Whether you agree with my opinion or not, you're still gonna read it!) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 21:50:22

lol Wow Alex! Really? You're so funny.

Post 10 by Miss M (move over school!) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 22:08:49

I'm a partial and will probably be for the rest of my life.

The best way I've found to explain my sight to people - and this is solely for me, I don't know what your level is - would be to say "I see you in front of me, I know what color shirt you're wearing, what size your body is, blah blah. But from here, I can't tell you the color of your eyes."

Interestingly enough, this can also be used as a flirting tactic.

But in all seriousness, that might help you a little. Just give someone a very basic reference of something in the area and how you see it.

Post 11 by Thunderstorm (HotIndian!) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 23:55:52

I'm totally blind with some light perception. this is since my birht. and I do feel it'd be difficult if the site goes off at the middle. born blind will get used to it, though.

Raaj.

Post 12 by HauntedReverie (doing the bad mango) on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 10:03:47

I find that partials are more of a curiosity than totals. People understand what totally blind means, but growing up it was like, "how many fingers am I holding up?" which really pissed me off. And it wasn't for me, but watching my grandma I can see how frustrating it is when you try to use your sight and in some cases, can't do it. But be glad you weren't born blind. I can't imagine how difficult it is to learn shapes, learn mobility routs having never seen what a potted plant in the middle of the sidewalk looks like. I hate those damn things. I also find though, that being blind from birth gives people more courage about being indepentend. That's probably just my opinion though. And why would anyone hate on guide dog users? Hell, if I didn't have to clean up after the thing I'd get one. But I'm far too lazy for that.

Post 13 by Reyami (I've broken five thousand! any more awards going?) on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 11:16:18

I've heard changing a diaper's worse than picking up dog turds. sorry for going off-subject.

Post 14 by Miss Gorgeous (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 13:08:34

I think being partial is hard because you don’t know whether to act blind or sighted and you always have to explain to people about your eye condition and how you get around. I don’t have a problem with explaining things; it just gets too redundant sometimes. As far as getting around, I can be mistaken as someone sighted because I look so sighted, but when I start to read that’s how people find out about my eye condition. I think its easier to be either fully sighted or totally blind, but being in between is a bit harder.