In class I was learning about visual impairment. Of what I thought was boring became rather interesting, and made me thank God because I felt so blessed. I felt that God has been so kind to me.
My lecturer told us about three visual impairments:
1. Achromatopsia: Person who is diagnosed with this only see dirty shades of grey, in other words they are colour blind. They’re able to tell emotion, read and write properly – But their world has become dull and depressing.
Imagine seeing fruits and vegetables grey, seeing your friends’ faces and everything else in shades of grey. At first, you may think it’s fine – and other people think that it’s ONLY loss of colour; but after a while, it will depress you and you’d find it disgusting – That was what Oliver Sacks said, anyways.
2. Akineptopsia: Person who is diagnosed with this is unable to see movement. They are unable to detect simple movements such as cars on the road moving, or water being poured into a glass. They are able to recognize things when objects are at a standstill, and their writing and reading are fine.
Imagine how difficult your everyday lifestyle would be. From crossing the road, to driving, to even watching people talk or walk. Imagine how frustrating it is.
3. Apperceptive Agnosia: The impairment of shape discrimination. People who have this cannot recognize basic shape items through their eyes (by seeing only), but able to tell what the object is if they are able to touch it. They still have the knowledge of what the word is, however unable to pair it up with the object by seeing.
We saw a video of a woman who had akineptosia, and I felt so overwhelmed. Because I take my vision for granted, my ability to see, my ability to recognize movement and tell what specific shapes are. Because I have not lost these abilities, and I would never want to. I realised that I am blessed by God, that I am able to see normally. Although I wear glasses, and without them I’d have to crawl around and see everything in close up, I am still able to see normally. I can see the different shades of every colour, I can see who is speaking by looking at their mouths and I am able to catch every facial expression of the person that is talking to me.
For that I am grateful. For that I feel so blessed.
Sometimes, we forget the little things that God has given us. For us, things like vision may be a minor thing in our life. But for someone like the woman in the video, it might be everything to them.
Let’s thank God today, for He has been good to us and blessed us.
* Underlined words are links to videos
