[30Days]: On My Eyes

Well, this post starts out in an interesting manner: jennyclarinet asked me to talk about being legally blind.

TW, if it is needed, for discussion about blindness, eyesight, and related disability.

Here's the background: my eyesight is very, very bad. I've had glasses since I was three years old. My eyes, now, at 28, are reaching the point where they're no longer 100% correctable. Since I've had glasses for so long, I barely even remember the discussions that went on when I was 3, but I do know I am functionally blind without my glasses. I am "severely sight impaired." And, somewhere in those 28 years, I was told this was "legally blind."

So I went to Wikipedia and looked up the borderline for being legally blind, to talk about it a little bit, and I am now confused, because - while I've been told that I qualify on the ground that my eyesight is so poor, I do not qualify according to the line drawn on Wikipedia because my eyes are (mostly) correctable. So, hilariously, which is right? Is it the natural state of my eyes which counts, or the state of my eyes after correction...? Which doctor told me I was legally blind, and was that a state definition, or a doctor somehow projecting on a young patient? Was it right at the time? Is Wikipedia correct in this case? Do I actually qualify as legally blind?

Obviously, these are all questions to ask my NEW optometrist; I am not qualified to answer them. But it made me think a little, and I want to throw these thoughts out there. It made me think, because I don't want to look like that person appropriating labels and intruding on legitimate space for the fellow disabled. I don't want to lie. I am not looking for attention, or for sympathy.

So who gets to decide if I am disabled? And does it matter?

I feel disabled. Am I? Does that count?

Hilarious Edit: I think thewhitemage has clarified my confusion for me: the "legal" definition is what you need to get benefits, which is why correctability matters; to qualify in the medical category, correctability is irrelevant. So... perhaps everything is correct here!
Oncoming rant still stands though. *g*

( Discussion of Disability. )

( And now, more discussion about my eyesight! )

( And my worries about my own eyes. )

It kind of goes along with my strange relationship with my own body; it doesn't work right, and I am not sure I love that. And it goes along with my own struggles with and desires for medical "legitimacy", as if I'm not allowed to claim something unless it's an actual diagnosed medical problem? As if having this awful eyesight isn't enough, it has to be labeled "Legally Blind" or I feel like I should just STFU about it?

Anyway, yup.

I have pretty much decided that I am going in early next year to be evaluated for laser eye surgery. So anyone who has any thoughts on that, they're much appreciated.

This is part of my 30 Days of Posting meme - feel free to check out the schedule of posting! My month is full, but if any of the posts make you want to ask for something else, go ahead and leave a comment anyway! DW || LJ