My son has Stargardts Disease and is losing his central vision. He has an especally hard time adjusting to light changes. He cannot see anything for about 10 minutes, especially when we go from bright light to a dark room.
We went to a restaurant that was fairly dark and he was bumping into people and they were getting angry. I tried to help him but he's 16 and independant. He doesn't 'look blind'. His eyes are clear, no sunglasses or cane and he does quite well most of the time.
How could I let people know that he is visually impaired without ticking my kid off or other people. I don't want a stranger yelling at him because he bumped into them. He tries not to.
Any advice or any other parent out there with a similar problem?
2006-11-22 17:36:12 · 4 answers · asked by sassydontpm 4 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Other - Diseases
As a physician, I advise letting him adjust to himself. It may sound cruel but it is his world and he must adjust. Let him fumble around (in spite of heartaches on your part) but he has a life ahead of him and you won't always be there to be his guide. He may feel frustration and anger at the bad hand that Nature dealt him but only he can put things back together for himself.
2006-11-22 17:44:49 · answer #1 · answered by Frank 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there are going to be smallminded people out there.You said independant so the cane, he might not like but that is the way people will distinguish his vision loss with out words. when that happends you can try to approach the matter with something that will defuse a person that gets furious. Some humor in talking to others have worked for us most people respond to humor" keep thinking of more ways. My husband has bad vison problems from welding we go through it with the same smallminded people.
2006-11-22 18:24:38 · answer #2 · answered by Jennifer T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not to be rude or anything but...give the kid a cane and sunglasses. Those two are the universal signal for "I am blind" People won't get (as) mad if they see those on him.
2006-11-22 17:42:10 · answer #3 · answered by blakefabian2003 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
He could walk with his hands out (like in a circle) to let people know he needs to feel for things. Im sure people will be understanding if he just says excuse me.
2006-11-22 17:38:44 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋