There is more to independence for the blind than being able to carry out everyday tasks unaided.

Imagine waking up one day and not being able to see. Suddenly, you couldn’t read, drive, or find something in the fridge. But as terrifying as your new reality is, the loss of agency over your own life might be the hardest thing to bear. It requires confidence to navigate a world designed for the sighted population. The visually impaired must be adaptable and resilient to deal with the stereotyping and low expectations that often come with having a disability. It means coming to see your lives in terms of possibilities, not limitations.

Mastering the various skills needed for self-sufficiency fosters the self-confidence to move forward. These may include learning to travel with a white cane and navigating using public transportation. Learning technology such as magnifiers, screen readers, and other apps provides access to written content in books, online and in the environment. This makes it possible to read signs, products in stores, restaurant menus and directions to destinations. It also facilitates education and employment. Acquiring non-visual skills around the house allows a person with a visual disability to prepare meals, maintain a home, keep up with mail and bills, and take care of themselves physically.

But even when these skills have become second nature, there will still be occasions when sighted help is needed. A trip to a warehouse store probably isn’t feasible with the bus or paratransit. Getting to the pharmacy for an urgently needed antibiotic will require asking a friend for a ride. Filling out a paper form in a doctor’s office or a bank will have to be done by a family member or staff person.

what then of independence?

In American society, asking for help is often seen as weakness. But none of us are truly independent. We rely on farmers and ranchers to grow our food. Factories across the world produce all manner of goods we use, from smartphones to cars to shoes. Utility workers make sure we have drinking water and electricity. Schools educate us and our children. In short, we are all dependent on others. In this light, those with disabilities are no more or less dependent than those without disabilities.

As John Dunne famously said, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” All of us rely on support networks, whether they be family and friends, social and professional groups, welfare organizations, and so forth. While it may seem counter-intuitive, independence is found in a community that accepts each person as they are and encourages personal growth. Becoming independent means finding one’s own path. Rather than conforming to expectations, a person with a visual disability must be able to make their own choices and craft a life of their own design in the same way a person without a disability does.

For those who are blind or have low vision, there are two hurdles to independence. One is learning new, nonvisual ways of doing things. The other is recognizing the need to ask for help, and then taking the help offered. Key to this is societal acceptance and support. Asking for help should not be stigmatized. Instead, those with disabilities should be valued for their unique contributions to the rich tapestry of an inclusive community.

You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future.

To contact the Missoula chapter of the NFB, email us at missoulachapter@nfbofmt.org .