"It gave me hope that I could do this"

Hadley

It gave me hope that I could do this

Presented by Douglas Walker

Jeffrey: Really not being able to do much was very difficult at first. You feel out of control. You you're not in control of your life anymore and you're helpless. And you really depend on other people and that's that is you can be humiliating, really.

Douglas: Hello, and welcome to Hadley’s Insights and Sound Bites podcast, where people facing vision loss share insights about what has helped them cope and adjust.

Jeffrey: My name is Jeffrey Richter and I am from Scottsdale, AZ.

I was a professor of psychology for 26 years, at a college here in Scottsdale.

I began to lose my vision in 2017 after a series of surgeries, including cornea transplants, those along with glaucoma, took my sight. Within a few years, I went from fully sighted to totally blind within about four years.

Really not being able to do much was very difficult at first. I was at home and living alone. I couldn't use my phone. I couldn't watch television. I couldn't the clean my house. I couldn't do anything. There's about a six month period there where I was just a limbo. And so that was that was very hard.

You feel out of control. You you're not in control of your life anymore and you're helpless. And you really depend on other people and that's that is you can be humiliating, really. Just a loss of dignity.

I began to get the vocational rehabilitation to learn skills. I had to learn how many new skills. It was like returning the 1st grade.

I had to switch of course, the computer going from using vision about to click on things with the mouse to using screen readers and keyboard commands to navigate was very difficult.

So being able to start doing things on my own, even though it was a long haul was very empowering.

Feeling that you are able to do what you want to do, that you are in control of your life. And also seeing people who have been blind and seeing that they could successfully live their lives, they could function every day and their lives.

All of that help gave me hope that I would be able to do this.

Douglas: Was there something that someone said to you or something that happened along the way that made all the difference in the world in helping you adjust to vision loss? If you’d like to share with us, just leave us a message on our Insights & Sound Bites voicemail. By calling, 847-512-4867. Or, you can use your smartphone or computer and email us a recording to [email protected].