Hi, I’m writing a blind character for the first time, and I’ve read your guide on how to write them, and there was a part that mentioned how the “curing blindness” trope isn’t actually the best, but the character I’m writing has the ability to see sometimes (think of it like flipping a switch) he’s fully blind but sometimes he’s able to see, but not perfectly, it’s kind of muddled, and another character could help him see, not “cure” him but could make it easier to see when he flips the switch; would it be offensive or not the best idea to write that? It wouldn’t be curing him completely, it’d just be an aid, like a guide dog or cane.
Night blindness is a fairly common symptom in the blind community. It to is like a switch, sometimes literally. You could choose to go with night blindness instead, or keep with the magical switch option.
Fluctuating vision is sometime I experience daily. I go from 20/100 (on my absolute healthiest days in ideal lighting with my glasses) to almost totally blind.
It did slow me down or prevent me from learning some orientation and mobility skills because I don't need them 100% of the time. I can't read braille, but if I did I could read wherever I want (lounging in the shade on a sunny day on the grass, soft breeze in the air) regardless of if I had a migraine or if my nystagmus was back due to eye fatigue. I never bothered to learn to use screen reader programs because I could usually wait until my vision was better to look at a screen.
My loved ones also regularly forget I have almost zero vision in some settings, so unless I tell them what percentage of my usual vision I have, they don't know to help me.
Apparently my best friend forgets I can see a little at night. Mostly lights and shadows moving. We like to take night drives when we hang out and just talk. I recently asked if a motorcyclist really just stopped in the middle of an intersection at a red light and stayed there and he was like 'I didn't think you could see that'
I mean, in our most recent drive I asked him if he switched to contacts like he said he might or if he was still wearing glasses because I can't see his face and I don't like making eye contact anyway.
Anyway, fluctuating vision is an experience in the blind community. I couldn't give you a number on how much of the community experiences it or how much other people's vision fluctuates. But those are my personal experiences with it.
