How Blind People Are Affected By Pandemics

We can’t go anywhere without being hit with COVID-19 news. It is hard to believe that only four months ago, we could do our standard “phone, wallet, keys” check and walk right out the door and into the world. In the blink of an eye, COVID went from a lighthearted concern that friends warned us about when we talked about upcoming travel plans, to a pandemic that completely remapped the way we navigate the world. 

Notably, the pre-COVID world was not an accessible one for those with visual impairments. Imagine trying to navigate the world as a visually impaired person in the midst of a “shelter-in-place, social distancing, face-covering” mandate. 

With this collaborative blog, we want to highlight ways in which those with disabilities are dealing with unexpected increased lack of accessibility. Learning ways in which a visually impaired person has to navigate daily life tasks often requires more forethought and planning than it does for a sighted person. Adding a global pandemic severely exacerbates the challenge. 

We posed this question to our social media audience: “If you are living with a vision disorder, what sort of unique challenges are you facing due to the pandemic?” Here are a few of the responses we received. 

“It’s really hard to grocery shop for many reasons 1. My mom and I get stares when I come with, because technically it’s safer for one person to go, but because I am 18, and am starting to make my own decisions, my mom believes it’s best to let me grocery shop and pick my own food, but because I cannot drive, I have to go with. Another problem with grocery shopping as a VI during this, is I have to touch everything to look close, or even with magnifiers I look close, and I’ve gotten snarky remarks from people who say I’m not being safe, and it sucks because I just want to be able to shop like everyone else.” -Kenzi 

“I’m heading to college in the fall, and it’s already hard as it is to get all of my disability benefits and accommodations together. but due to COVID, I haven’t gotten to go to any of my appointments for these things and I’m so worried I’ll be heading to school in 2 months with nothing in place. no accommodations, no technology. I’m so scared.” - Alexis 

"Masks fogging up my sunglasses!! Getting stares because my whole face is covered by a mask and sunglasses lol” - Piper 

“With online school, I’ve had trouble seeing the layout of the screen and struggle to read the chat. Staring at screens for too long already strains my eyes, so online school isn’t for me. I also have recently decided that I want to get cane trained and biopic training, but since nothing is happening right now, I feel that people aren’t interested in really helping me take my first steps in the direction of getting the training I desire.” - Kathryn 

“Well, I am back at school now. But I did 5 weeks of online learning and it was the hardest thing ever. Because I had no teacher aid or anyone to help me. My school was very good and understood if I couldn’t do something. I just took many breaks in between school work.” - Jessica 

Now, more than ever, we implore you to find ways to reach out and be a good neighbor to those around you who may be struggling in one way or another. As the situation continues to evolve, patience, kindness, and consideration has a positive ripple effect. We ask that you help us by continuing to be vocal and educating others on the challenges faced by those living with vision disorders, especially during a pandemic.

Watch James Rath’s How Blind People are affected by Pandemics: Click Here