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Peter Slatin and the
What is the nature of your disability ? I have two eye diseases that combine to make my vision unusable most of the time . Although I was born legally blind with retinitis pigmentosa ( RP ), I did not know that until I was 18 , even though my childhood eye doctor diagnosed me ; he never informed me or my parents . RP destroys night vision and peripheral vision and can completely take away all sight . As a result of not understanding what was happening to me as my sight diminished during my childhood and teens , I could not explain my poor performance at sports , my clumsiness or slow reading speed . Once I learned that there was an organic cause for this , though , I began working to adjust my thinking so I wouldn ’ t blame myself for these lower-than-average behaviors .
I was told there was neither a cure for my condition or a way to predict how much sight I would lose . The arrival of a second condition in my early 40s , macular degeneration , which destroys central vision , made the very small field of vision I had left , unusable . I now see only light and shadow . It turned out that my older brother had RP as well and he adjusted more quickly than I did to blindness – he had more sight than me well into his early 30s but then lost it all much more quickly and was blind by his ealy 40s . I first considered myself to be blind rather than low vision when I reached 48 and could no longer read books to my then 10-year-old daughter .
When did you become interested in helping people with disabilities ? The summer I turned 20 , years after I learned I had RP , I worked at an agency for the blind in Buffalo and met a range of blind people . Some were clients there and were very talented and capable ; others were barely able to speak . Some worked there and helped other blind people , and one woman in particular , who also had RP , impressed me because she was so kind and patient with everyone .
I did not choose to go into social service . In 1997 , I was invited on a trip that changed my life : I went cross-country skiing in Wisconsin for one week with a group of 200 people , half of whom were blind or low vision . We were paired with sighted guides who taught us how to ski or guided those of us who already knew how . I didn ’ t know and it was hard and painful for me to learn , but I loved meeting so many other blind people - and about a dozen wheelchair users - who were brave , confident , smart , accomplished – or just folks . I saw I didn ’ t have to be ashamed of being blind and could continue to grow as a blind person and also just as a person .
Because my guide was patient and nonjudgmental