This photo depicts me standing in fron of a stuffed moose on the porch of an old tourist shop.
Recently I’ve had some illustrations of how hard it is for people to be able to understand what I can or can’t see.
I took a road trip with my sister Sue in early June. We drove from Thunder Bay to Sudbury. Sue has taken this drive many times and she knows how beautiful the scenery is. As we drove along and I frequently exclaimed “oh look at that”, she told me that she’d been puzzling for weeks about how she’d be able to describe to me the gorgeous vistas we’d be encountering all along our way. Clearly she didn’t think I’d be able to see them.
Before our trip Sue and I had been in Thunder Bay to attend her daughter Kara’s graduation ceremony at Lakehead University. Our Mom had also attended the event. Having all come from out of town, Mom, Sue, and I all stayed together in a hotel. My Mom brought her tablet with her and was struggling to get it connected to the hotel’s internet. I got out my little magnifying glass and, with considerable difficulty, managed to get her connected. As the evening went along, she’d periodically hand the tablet to me in order for me to do something for her. Clearly she’d forget that I can’t see it very well.
It seems like there were 2 or 3 instances within a few days when my son Sam noticed that I spotted a little tiny wee spec of something on the floor or on a counter. Each time he’d ask in amazement “Mom, how did you see that?”
So if you’re an average sighted person, don’t feel bad if you make an assumption about what someone can’t see and then they point it out to you! And if you’re a person with low vision, be patient with people who forget you can’t see well or who think you can see even less than you can!
P.S. During the northern Ontario road trip, I saw a moose grazing at the side of the road! Yup, they're huge!
