Apprently Stevie Wonder's Not Blind After All

[JSngry]

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/stevie-wonder-is-not-blind-the-evidence-1641795715

[mjazzg]

I know that this shouldn't annoy me as much as it does but this is just offensive rubbish of the highest order.

I am in contact blind and partially sighted people on a daily basis and hear enough of their stories whereby sighted people question their ability to do whatever they do in whatever way they do it. I'd suggest that the amount of distress, frustration , anger and hurt this causes should never be underestimated by those without a disability.

The nonsense in this article will only fuel such prejudice.

[Scott Dolan]

I know that this shouldn't annoy me as much as it does but this is just offensive rubbish of the highest order.

I am in contact blind and partially sighted people on a daily basis and hear enough of their stories whereby sighted people question their ability to do whatever they do in whatever way they do it. I'd suggest that the amount of distress, frustration , anger and hurt this causes should never be underestimated by those without a disability.

The nonsense in this article will only fuel such prejudice.

Easy, tiger.

(full disclosure: I worked as an Ophthalmic Technician for years)

I'm not sure what the threshold is for legal blindness in the UK, but here in the States it's a corrected V/A (visual acuity) of 20/200, or worse. For those uninitiated with the Snellen Chart and what it implies, if all you can read (corrected) is the huge E at the top of the chart, that means you can only see at 20ft what the average person can see at 200ft. That means that you are "blind" by legal definition. From there you move into the territory of 20/400 and then into simply LP (light perception).

Now, I have no idea where Mr. Wonder falls into that range, but even at the lowest end of LP there's no reason to believe he wouldn't have seen Mr. McCartney's huge-ass noggin knock into the mic stand which sent it falling. That doesn't mean he isn't blind, by even the loosest standards. People often confuse dark glasses with meaning the cat wearing them can't see a thing. That couldn't be further from the truth. Unlike Ray Charles, who had his eyes surgically removed, Mr. Wonder may still have his eyeballs and be incredibly light sensitive, which is why he'd wear dark glasses.

Now that we have the technical garbage out of the way...

While Jim and I don't always…often…maybe once in a blue moon (even though it isn't actually blue in color)…see eye-to-eye on a subject (absolutely NO pun intended), I will venture out and nervously say that I think he started this thread as a tongue-in-cheek shot at the "truther" movement at large. I will allow him to speak for himself in his patented and insufferably long-winded fashion, but while I also worked with people who had either lost their sight, or were scared to death that they were going to lose theirs (glaucoma patients were my own "specialty", as I did tons of visual fields testing as a tech), I took no offense to what was posted.

I just found it as silly as I'm assuming Jim did.

[mjazzg]

I don't have any argument with JSngry posting the link for whatever motivation

I do take argument with the content of the article and its "hey, look at the blind person who can do 'ordinary' things....shock, horror....laugh" approach.

It's not really for me to take offence on behalf of anyone and I'm not claiming to. I found it unpalatable. Silly maybe, but still left a very nasty taste.Maybe I need to have a lie down

btw. the technical stuff seems broadly similar but my knowledge isn't in a technical field. Field tests - taken enough of them in my time.....always want a 'maybe' button

[JSngry]

While Jim and I don't always…often…maybe once in a blue moon (even though it isn't actually blue in color)…see eye-to-eye on a subject (absolutely NO pun intended), I will venture out and nervously say that I think he started this thread as a tongue-in-cheek shot at the "truther" movement at large. I will allow him to speak for himself in his patented and insufferably long-winded fashion, but while I also worked with people who had either lost their sight, or were scared to death that they were going to lose theirs (glaucoma patients were my own "specialty", as I did tons of visual fields testing as a tech), I took no offense to what was posted.

I just found it as silly as I'm assuming Jim did.

Correct. 100%

[Scott Dolan]

I don't have any argument with JSngry posting the link for whatever motivation

I do take argument with the content of the article and its "hey, look at the blind person who can do 'ordinary' things....shock, horror....laugh" approach.

It's not really for me to take offence on behalf of anyone and I'm not claiming to. I found it unpalatable. Silly maybe, but still left a very nasty taste.Maybe I need to have a lie down

btw. the technical stuff seems broadly similar but my knowledge isn't in a technical field. Field tests - taken enough of them in my time.....always want a 'maybe' button

Understood.

All of it.

I obviously wasn't clear enough when I mentioned visual fields testing. That test is designed specifically for patients that are at risk for glaucoma. Glaucoma is the destruction of photoreceptors on the retina from the outside in. So glaucoma patients start losing their peripheral vision, to the point where it's like they are looking through a straw (stage 4). So unfortunately, there is no "maybe" button. Their vision is mapped out on a circular graph which shows what they can, and cannot, see.

A great example of what I'm talking about came from this one cat I tested. He told me that sometimes his wife would leave upper cabinet doors open in the kitchen, and he'd just fucking bonk right into them, because he couldn't see them.

Rule of unfortunate thumb: Macular degeneration works from the inside out, glaucoma works from the outside in...

[uli]

Fred Hopkins once told me that he was playing in a Club in NYC and Stevie Wonder walked in listended a bit and said is that you Fred? He told me that with reference to Wonders ears not eyes.

Last time I had my eyes checked the doctor told me that I have a beginning case of glaucoma. Can I get medical marijuana for that and is it cool to ask the doctor that?

[Scott Dolan]

The medical marijuana angle is something I have absolutely no insight on, uli. But, you should never be afraid to ask your physician anything.

Ever.

Even if your physician is 100% opposed to medicinal marijuana (which I don't think is legal in your state at this time), you are protected by HIPAA. So any conversation you have is confidential.

Edited February 10, 2015 by Scott Dolan

[uli]

Medical marijuana is in the process of becoming legal in Illinois.The governor has recently approved the licenses for a number of dispensaries,One is within walking distance from where i live. That's why it's quite tempting for me. I am old enough that I am sure a good doctor would have no problem to find an ailing that it;s good for but I believe that I once read it;s good for glaucoma patients.

Edited February 10, 2015 by uli

[mjazzg]

I don't have any argument with JSngry posting the link for whatever motivation

I do take argument with the content of the article and its "hey, look at the blind person who can do 'ordinary' things....shock, horror....laugh" approach.

It's not really for me to take offence on behalf of anyone and I'm not claiming to. I found it unpalatable. Silly maybe, but still left a very nasty taste.Maybe I need to have a lie down

btw. the technical stuff seems broadly similar but my knowledge isn't in a technical field. Field tests - taken enough of them in my time.....always want a 'maybe' button

Understood.

All of it.

I obviously wasn't clear enough when I mentioned visual fields testing. That test is designed specifically for patients that are at risk for glaucoma. Glaucoma is the destruction of photoreceptors on the retina from the outside in. So glaucoma patients start losing their peripheral vision, to the point where it's like they are looking through a straw (stage 4). So unfortunately, there is no "maybe" button. Their vision is mapped out on a circular graph which shows what they can, and cannot, see.

A great example of what I'm talking about came from this one cat I tested. He told me that sometimes his wife would leave upper cabinet doors open in the kitchen, and he'd just fucking bonk right into them, because he couldn't see them.

Rule of unfortunate thumb: Macular degeneration works from the inside out, glaucoma works from the outside in...

You were crystal clear regarding visual field testing. I fall in the category that requires regular testing hence my experience of them

[JSngry]

If anybody is still offended by the original posting due to personal experiences, I do apologize. I thought the whole notion was beyond absurd, and yet there it is. Meant entirely as a giant and/or fuquitous WTF? to all this pinball-on-speed paranoia that's passing for "yeah, uh-huh, SEE" today. People done lost their minds.