Introducing myself...

I'm going to start off this blog introducing myself to you all.

First and foremost of all, I'm a human being.

I am Deaf and slowly going blind. My deafness is genetic however my blindness is not. Deafness, in my family, is embraced because it is what makes us unique. Deafness has been passed on for six generations. We embrace our deafness as it is our identity. In sociology we learn of id, ego and superego. We don't need to know that deafness defines me. I wear it with pride. I sign with pride.

My blindness creeped up to me slowly. At night, I couldn't see well. I brushed it off. Family members would wave at me at the sides and couldn't get a response from me until they stamped the floor. They'd accuse me of being lazy or tired to reply. Of course, when accused, one defends back. It's second nature. I had a few bad spills the past few years. Going on a trip to see a very close personal friend of mine, I had a bad spill that made me realise the severity of my "eyesight" problem.

I started depending on my husband, telling family members not to move furniture around unless I was present to remember which furniture was where and so on. I'd bump into things and I'd get bruised really easily.

My husband really urged me to see a retinal specialist and this was how they determined the severity of my blindness. They found out I had retinitis pigmentosa. Of course, at first, I was glad to find out the answer to all my concerns and later on, I was overwhelmed with emotions.

"What ifs, what happens, what to dos," and so on.

I can't depend on my husband, he is my husband. He's neither my SSP nor my intervenor. Bless his heart, he tactiles with me.

I've got to meet this person from the CNIB in the New Year come Jan and hope things goes well.

Next post, I'll be typing a lot more.

Tactile smile!
Patty ox