It was a fog. Like a cloud had been draped over the eyes. Everything far away was garbled and fuzzy. With every step forward, it became clearer that nothing was truly clear, but what was being seen was illusory.
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a form of vision loss where the eye becomes elongated and the lens is unable to focus light on the retina properly. How myopia occurs is not fully known but, several theories have been proposed, ranging from genetic to environmental issues (Holden 2015). The condition has no become an increasingly serious visual impairment that has become more widespread globally, now affecting almost 1.5 billion people worldwide, with no signs of slowing down, some estimating that half the world could be victim to nearsightedness (Fredrick 2002).
Tina, a student at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, is a woman that suffers from CVI – cerebral visual impairment – and nystagmus. While she is considered to be on the blindness spectrum, she is still able to see but has problems with focusing on objects, depth perception, and spatial blindness. She was able to simulate her experiences with CVI with visual impairment in a series of photographs (Perkins School for the Blind, 2021). Similarly, in this piece, I will be attempting to depict what it is like to suffer from myopia and how this visual impairment can affect everyday tasks. It has also been inspired by my own experiences, and discussions with my mother, who has a more severe case of myopia than me. The video contains a narration of everyday activities such as walking around the house, outside in the front yard, and even grocery shopping is affected by myopic vision. Additionally, even though it features an audio narration, it is still accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.
Works Cited:
Fredrick, Douglas R. “Myopia.” BMJ: British Medical Journal, vol. 324, no. 7347, 2002, pp. 1195–99, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25228334. Accessed 6 May 2022.
Holden, Brien A, et al. “Myopia: a Growing Global Problem with Sight-Threatening Complications.” Community Eye Health Journal, vol. 28, no. 90, 2015.
Perkins School for the Blind. “Tina’s Art: ‘How I See the World.’” CVI NOW: Perkins School for the Blind, 20 Dec. 2021, https://www.perkins.org/tinas-art-how-i-see-the-world/.
Thumbnail: https://americanrefractivesurgerycouncil.org/what-is-myopia/