Losing one's sight, which sometimes happens with age, is a frightening experience, and people usually don't know what help is available to them, Andrea Schein told a captive audience at the Senior Center Tuesday afternoon.
Those who are blind or suffer vision loss often have to deal with the public's misconceptions and fear as well, said Schein, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind.
"If you tell someone you have a loss of vision, the tendency is (to yell), 'HELLO, HOW ARE YOU TODAY?"' Schein said loudly, prompting a few seniors to laugh so hard they started tearing up.
"Attitudes about blindness are terrible, just terrible. The only things scarier to the public are cancer and AIDS - things you die from," Schein said.
Baffled at this, the audience blurted out, "Why? Why?"
People just don't know how to communicate, she told the seniors, who comprise the newly formed Low Vision Group.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
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