Is being Visually Impaired and Legally Blind the Same Thing? | Back to Basics

Close up image of a person’s eye with blue text above “Visually Impaired, Low Vision, Legally Blind - What do they all mean? Back to Basics by World Services for the Blind

Welcome to Back to Basics, a new series on the WSB blog! At WSB, we see people through all walks of life with a myriad of vision conditions. Today we’re going over some basics, what it means to be legally blind versus visually impaired and some common terms in the blindness community. You might be wondering – is being visually impaired and legally blind the same thing? Nope! And we’ll tell you why.

When most people hear the word ‘blind’ they think of someone seeing total darkness. But that actually isn’t the case for the majority of those in the blind and visually impaired community! Blindness and visual impairment is a spectrum. There are so many terms to describe someone’s vision though, so we wanted to go over what they all mean.

What do all these terms even mean?

While different countries have different definitions, we’re focusing on the United States terminology. It will also make more sense if you’re used to the standard eye chart.

Low Vision – Low vision means someone has uncorrectable vision that interferes with their daily life, meaning they cannot complete some tasks due to their vision. 

Visually Impaired – Visually Impaired is another broad term that refers to someone who cannot correct their vision and it impacts their daily life. However, visually impaired is often used before the cut off to legally blind. Those who are visually impaired can still get services through vocational rehabilitation (and World Services for the Blind!).

Legally Blind – Legally blind has a clear cut off when it comes to visual acuity. Someone is legally blind “when a person has central visual acuity (vision that allows a person to see straight ahead of them) of 20/200 or less in his or her better eye with correction. Or if they have a 20 degrees or less visual field”.

Light Perception – Someone who is blind may only have light perception. This means they can detect light or maybe even objects but cannot see them clearly or have detailed information or colors of the light they are seeing. 

No Light Perception – No light perception or NLP is the most severe form of vision loss meaning someone who is NLP cannot detect any form of light.

Are there any terms we didn’t cover? Let us know in the comments!

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HOPE Series with Brian Bushway

Interview with Brian Bushway, a leader in Echolocation

Headshot of Brian against a blue background with text “WSB HOPE INTERview with brian bushway”

Welcome back to another installment of the HOPE (Hanging onto Positive Expectations) Series! There are so many individuals doing great things for the Blind and Visually Impaired Community that we wanted to highlight and share their stories. We hope these stories can also serve as inspiration for those with vision loss and to remind us that there are so many people working towards a common goal of helping those who are blind and visually impaired. This month we are featuring Brian Bushway – a blind athlete, Orientation and Mobility Instructor, and leader in the field of Echolocation. 

One of Brian’s biggest passions, and what has allowed him a lot of opportunities in life, is questioning and learning about the neuroplasticity of the brain and how the senses develop. Through learning and exploring the senses, specifically through echolocation, he has even developed a program for sighted athletes to learn and develop their other senses.

Losing His Vision

Brian has done a lot of extraordinary things in his life from learning to mountain bike without sight to traveling around the world, but his story is not unlike a lot of the clients of World Services for the Blind. As a middle schooler, Brian went from having a lot of functional vision to having no light perception in the span of a few years. A challenge many of our students know well at WSB! Vision loss can happen quickly and suddenly. And for Brian, he had no idea where to turn.

“When it first happened, I couldn’t find my way out of my bedroom”  

When he first lost his light perception, he was paralyzed by fear. Like a lot of us, he didn’t know any other people who were blind or visually impaired. His parents were lost on what to do as well. But what surprised him as being the most confusing part was that his social environment changed as well. As a middle schooler and high schooler now using a white cane, he was not sure how to navigate the social cues around him.

But he knew there was something deeper inside of him. He knew if nothing changed, he would stay afraid and stuck in his house. He was able to become more curious about how other blind and visually impaired people were having full lives. A similar theme to our last HOPE Interview with Joey Stuckey, the blind musician, Brian just started trying and learning O&M, Braille, Assistive Technology, etc. But he still felt like something was missing – “the social, emotional, and psychological factors were the bigger barriers”. He realized he was internalizing everyone else’s anxiety and from that realization, he was able to separate his own thoughts and feelings from the social norms.

“The tragedy was that the people around me didn’t expect the same things from me. So, I had to have high expectations for myself”

He was able to pull himself out of the fear and see a bigger future for himself, something we try to help our students learn every day at WSB.

“The best long-term solution for changing a prejudice is to find creative ways to serve people around you” A similar story to one we hear at WSB, Brian had to really advocate for himself to be able to be independent. He craved the independence and to be the caregiver, not the other way around for people to do everything for him. This attitude can change things for those with disabilities, embracing our independence and realizing what we CAN do.  

brian and a group on mountain bikes smiling in front of mountains

From a Scared Student to a Leader in Echolocation

When Brian was in school, he started to understand passive echolocation. His brain was experiencing the environment through echolocation, but he didn’t have the language to talk about it or understand it. When he started to learn more about echolocation, he was able to understand an active way to use it – the sound reflecting off of objects and how it creates a 3D depiction of what’s around.  

Brian says the way he really learned to utilize echolocation was through just exploring and playing. He had to get out and explore his surroundings. He wanted to keep up with his peers so he “took a risk and threw himself into the mix”.  

During college he was able to study abroad several times where he really learned to develop his skills in new environments. His ultimate goal was he wanted to learn to get around new environments by myself. It was not without mistakes and trials, but they were such a huge learning curve that helped him never make those mistakes again.

From all of his hard work and studies (Brian is a certified Orientation & Mobility Instructor in California) he has been able to travel all over the world working with special needs children teaching them the skills to become independent. From the jungles of Belize to Thailand, he has worked all over the world to develop these skills and help those with disabilities to develop these skills in all different types of environments.

With echolocation, Brian emphasized this is just another way to experience the world. A way to sightsee across the world in a totally different and unique way.  

“There is a world of acoustic beauty.”

Professional athletes started to hear his stories and wanted to learn how to use their other senses. “All of our other senses are adding to experiences, our brains just want to have the quickest way to label it with our vision. A lot of people don’t have a good understanding about how we use our other senses to construct our reality as opposed to just using our vision”. Brian was able to understand there was a huge gap of knowledge and that he could capitalize on that and work with people to highlight their other senses. Now with Acoustic Athletics he works with professional athletes of all kinds to develop their senses and help them learn about the parts of themselves they had no idea they could utilize when they may have previously relied purely on their sight.

We wanted to share Brian’s story on the blog because he exemplifies what you CAN do as a person who is blind and visually impaired. We also love how Brian has thought outside of the box to bring awareness about the blind community to the sighted world.

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Mental Health Tips for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Mental Health Tips for Those Who are Blind or Visually Impaired

peaceful wide angle shot of a beach with white text “Mental Health Tips for the Blind & Visually Impaired” with WSB logo in blue underneath

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. We know that vision loss can cause a lot of grief, which we’ve talked about before on the blog, but what about keeping your mental health in check on a regular basis? Today we’re sharing some tips and tricks so that you can feel your best mentally, even with vision loss and blindness.  

1.     Take Care of Your Physical Body

This can go in a lot of different ways but there are a lot of things you can do to take of your physical body that supports your mental health! From eating healthy to getting enough exercise, taking care of your physical self is so important for mental health, especially if your vision loss is caused by something like diabetes.

2.     Get Outside

There are so many benefits to getting outside from making sure you’re getting enough Vitamin D to the mental health benefits. We know there can be extra challenges that might arise if you are blind or visually impaired (especially if you aren’t confident in your orientation and mobility skills or have not received that training yet) but that doesn’t mean you can’t step outside and get some fresh air!

3.     Talk to a Professional

We can all use some extra support sometimes during life. This can be especially true when dealing with vision loss or disability in general. There is no shame in talking to a professional counselor. You can even find low cost options on Open Path Collective or if you are interested in working with a therapist who specializes in physical disability, you can check out Therapy Den. A therapist can help you work through stressful events in life or even if you just need to check up on your mental health as a person who is blind or visually impaired. There is no wrong time to seek help.

4.     Get Social

Similar to our tip about getting outside, there are so many benefits to getting social! Whether it is through a phone call, a Facebook group, or meeting up with a friend – they are all a great option to feel less isolated and alone.

5.     Prioritize Sleep

Sleep is essential for not only our mental health but also just our health in general! It is especially important to get on a regular sleep schedule if you struggle with something like non 24 sleep wake disorder. Melatonin is a great natural option if you’re struggling to sleep but be sure to check with your doctor before giving it a try!

6.     Keep a gratitude journal

This tip comes from our very own Social Worker (we offer a wide range of social work services to our on-campus clients!) but keeping a gratitude journal can be a simple step to changing your mindset and helping your mental health. A gratitude journal can be as simple as writing three things you are grateful for each day no matter how small!

7.     Self-Care

Another tip from our social worker, schedule 2 hours of self-care a week. Self-care can mean a lot of different things but as our social worker, David, puts it “self-care is anything a person wants to do for themselves that is not work or school. This can include a walk in the park, yoga, reading a book, watching a movie, etc. The point is to avoid stressful situations and do something you enjoy”.

How do you prioritize your mental health? Let us know in the comments!

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Tips for College for Students who are Blind & Visually Impaired

Front Facing shot of a college library on a sunny day with white text “College Tips for students who are blind & visually impaired”

Tips for College for Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired

 With college decision time coming up, we know this can be an exciting and anxiety inducing time in teen’s lives! Today on the blog we’re sharing some tips on going to college as a blind or visually impaired student. There are a lot of ways to ease some stress in going to college from gaining accommodations to even trying out a summer program before college!

Get Set Up with the Accessibility Office  

The biggest tip is to get set up with your university accessibility/accommodation office. There are so many great accommodations for those who are blind and visually impaired students in college from accessible textbooks to extended time on tests. They are there to help you have the easiest transition to college so make sure you get to know your accessibility office.

Introduce Yourself to Professors

When you register with the accommodations office you will get a letter sent out to your instructors about the accommodations needed for each class. If you are in person, it is helpful the first week of class to introduce yourself to your instructors and make sure they received your accommodations request. If you are taking classes online, you might want to send an email to set up a time to talk with your instructors about your accommodations.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

We’ve brought up this tip for a lot of our previous blog posts (traveling tips here), but it is also especially important when going to college! You might feel embarrassed or uncomfortable asking for help, especially in class or elsewhere at first, but it does get easier over time.

Bring a Spare Cane

You never know what could happen to your cane and it might be difficult to get a replacement quickly on-campus. Making sure you have a spare cane is a great way to make sure you can stay safe on campus if something happens to your every day cane or even your guide dog!

Learn the Routes to Class Early

Whether you are working with an Orientation and Mobility Instructor or just grabbing a friend to help, it is important to figure out the routes to class before the first day! It can be helpful to go to campus a few days before classes when it is emptier and you’re able to learn the routes easily.

Don’t be Afraid to try new things  

Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you can’t have a great and exciting college experience! Don’t be afraid to try new things. Join a club. Study Abroad. Explore all of your interests!

Try a Summer Program Before College

If you want to gain a real college experience before heading off to college, be sure to try out the WSB PASS program! With the college prep track, you can take a real college course at UALR so you gain real experience gaining accommodations and being in class with likeminded peers.

You can learn more about the PASS program here.

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Dating with a Disability

Dating with a Disability Tips

Dating can be challenging in general but add in a disability like being blind or visually impaired and it can cause a lot of other stressors! We wanted to share some tips on how to navigate dating as a blind or visually impaired person in today’s world. Whether you use dating apps or prefer not to we’ve got tips for you!  

How to Meet People

There a plenty of ways to meet people these days! From using dating apps to meeting people organically, it can still happen with a disability. We interviewed several clients and staff for this blog post, and they had mixed reviews of dating apps. A lot of them are not very accessible for the blind and visually impaired. One client finds he has luck using Facebook dating, using Facebook’s dating services but also joining groups and interacting with people on there. When it comes to using groups or Facebook dating, the client noted it was important to not expect to get a response right away.

Another way to meet people who might be going through something similar, especially if you are new to vision loss, is to get involved with the blind community! Whether that is coming to WSB for one of our vocational training programs or getting involved in your local community, it is great to find people who are going through something similar. We have more tips on getting involved in the community in our blog post about grief and vision loss here.

To Disclose or Not  

This really comes down to personal preference. Some people like to disclose right off the bat, and some people might not. It might also help if you meet someone organically who already knows about your disability. One client at WSB mentioned they liked to disclose right away so that their date may know what is difficult for them or what they might need help with. They also like to disclose early on so they know if it will be an issue or not.

And remember, if someone isn’t perceptive because of your disability, it has nothing to do with you! They are not the right person for you.

Have an open mind

While you might be familiar with your own disability, it is important to have an open mind to others with different disabilities. They might be even more understanding.

Plan Ahead

We all know as people who are visually impaired or blind we have to plan ahead and coordinate how you are going to get somewhere. Making sure you have a ride setup takes a lot of stress out of the date.

Stay safe 

It is extremely important, especially as people who blind and visually impaired, to stay safe when going on dates! Make sure to let someone know where you are going and how long you might be gone. Keep your cellphone charged in case you need to call someone to come pick you up or need to call an Uber. Another great safety tip is to meet your date instead of them picking you up especially if you have never met them before.

Be Comfortable

One client mentioned they are more cautious with dating after their vision loss so it is vital to be as comfortable as possible! For a date try and go somewhere you feel comfortable so that you know how to navigate it, know the menu, etc. For example, you might not want to pick a really dark bar for a first date if you have trouble seeing at night.

Do you have any dating tips with a disability? Let us know in the comments!

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