Understanding Blindness: A Personal Journey

Andrew Leland shares his experience of living with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that results in gradual vision loss. Diagnosed at 19, his journey has been marked by small, haunting changes to his vision over two decades, which poignantly illustrate the emotional consequences of losing one’s sight. He recounts the moment he realized the significance of his white cane, which transformed how others perceived him and how he navigated the world. This shift allowed him to embrace a new identity as a blind person, prompting deeper reflections on what it means to live without sight.