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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by SilentStriker@piefed.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

To be clear, there is a difference between someone who is blind at birth versus somebody who once had perfect vision but now ends up permanently blind. As a blind person from birth would not distinguish the difference (as they lived with it since they were born) as opposed to a person who once had perfect vision now ends up blind (before that, they were able to see everything with their own eyes but it’s taken away from them).

Put it like this, a blind person from birth would be accustomed to knowing braille, auditory and sensory cues since they were young versus a person who once had perfect vision (now blind) has to make complete lifestyle changes and adjustments akin to a blind person for the first time and adapting to that for a long term, like knowing how to read braille, paying attention to auditory cues, sensing both touch and smell, etc.

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[-] CuddlyCassowary@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

Anecdotally, a friend went fully blind at 36 in the mid-80s from eye drops tampered with lye. It sucked in ways I could never have imagined. Her whole world fell apart.

However, her learning to navigate the world and getting visually oriented descriptions from others was easier because she had a preexisting frame of reference. We’ve had this discussion numerous times and she was always thankful she had sight for as long as she did.

this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2026
21 points (100.0% liked)

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