Expectations

Once on the river, I stood up on my board like everyone else. However, I was then approached by one of the girls in my class who told me “Congratulations, this must be such a big accomplishment for you!” I asked her why she thought it was such a “big accomplishment” for me in particular to which she replied with “you know, because you can’t see well”. I did not think much of it at the time, but much later, when I revisited the conversation in my mind it really annoyed me.  

A theme I seem to be finding more and more often, as I am getting older is that people have different expectations of what it is that I can achieve purely because of my visual impairment. Being visually impaired does not impair what I can achieve; it simply changes how I achieve. I may not read a book with my eyes the same way my peers do, but I will read that same book just as well with my fingers. I may not write my school assignments with pen and paper, but I will write them just as well on my computer. 

I want people to understand I am just as capable and that they should not expect less of me because I am visually impaired. I know my own limitations; if I cannot do something, I will not do it. I do just as much as everyone else does; I simply use slightly different methods to even the playing field.