Some Common Misconceptions About Blindness

My husband, Jeff, is legally blind due to a hereditary disease of the retina called Retinitis Pigmentosa. I had worked in the field of visual impairment for many years before I met Jeff, and so I was a little desensitized to the reality that very few people actually deal first hand with someone who is blind. I remember being surprised by some of the common misconceptions about blindness, but have come to understand that these misconceptions are the natural result of lack of exposure to what is, thankfully, a low incidence disability in this country.

In this article I will attempt to describe some of the misconceptions and misunderstandings about blindness that Jeff and I commonly encounter, and hopefully provide some clarification for people looking for more information.

Common Misconceptions about Blindness #1: Blind People Can’t See Anything

I remember a conversation I had with a co-worker at a CD store many years ago. We had customer who would come in several times a week, lean his white cane against the stacks, and lean over the racks of CDs, periodically picking one up and pressing it against his coke-bottle glasses. He would infuriate my co-worker.

“He’s not blind!” she fumed one day. “He can see the CDs. He shouldn’t have that white cane!”

While I will acknowledge that this particular co-worker was easily irritated by any number of things, and prone to rants, the general misconception she had that all blind people have no usable vision is a fairly common one. People tend to think of blindness in terms of “total darkness” or “some light perception,” etc.

Total blindness is actually far more uncommon than what is called “Legal Blindness.” To qualify as legally blind, a person must meet at least one of two criteria. They must have either significant problems with their visual acuity (sharpness), or they must have restrictions in their visual fields (the amount of the landscape they actually see).