Coping with vision loss : understanding the psychological, social, and spiritual effects

191 Pages·2011·1.117 MB·English

by  Cheri Colby Langdell, Tim Langdell

Coping with Vision Loss
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Coping with
Vision Loss
Understanding the Psychological,
Social, and Spiritual Eff ects
Cheri Colby Langdell, PhD and
Tim Langdell, PhD
Copyright 2011 by Cheri Colby Langdell, PhD and Tim Langdell, PhD
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in
a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Langdell, Cheri Colby.
Coping with vision loss : understanding the psychological, social, and spiritual effects /
Cheri Colby Langdell and Tim Langdell.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-34664-4 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-34665-1 (eISBN)
1. Vision disorders—Psychological aspects. 2. Blindness. 3. Medicine in
literature. I. Langdell, Tim. II. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Blindness—psychology. 2. Adaptation, Psychological. 3. Medicine in
Literature. 4. Spirituality. WW 276]
RE91.L35 2011
617.7—dc22 2010041475
ISBN: 978-0-313-34664-4
EISBN: 978-0-313-34665-1
15 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook.
Visit www.abc-clio.com for details.
Praeger
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
ABC-CLIO, LLC
130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
F or Sybil, Melissa, and Alene; Sebastian and Anna; and all our
family, together with Eva and Kathy, who greatly inspired and
assisted us, and for other friends and colleagues who contrib-
uted to this book.
Dedicated to the blind community and to the memory of Mary,
Ed, Rudy, and Ted, with love.
“We see by means of something which illumines us,
which we do not see.”
–Antonia Porchia, Voices
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Introduction 1
2 A Brief History of Blindness in World Literature 23
3 Original Fiction by the Blind 69
4 The Blind Writing about Blindness 93
5 The Spiritual Dimensions of Blindness 129
6 Current Insights into Visual Impairment and Vision
Loss or Change 151
7 Conclusion 163
Appendix: List of Useful Links and Resources 165
Works Cited and Consulted 169
Index 175
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Acknowledgments
For their help and support while we wrote this book, we wish to thank
Fernanda and Paul Schmitt and the staff and children of the Blind Chil-
dren’s Center in Los Angeles. We also thank the Reverends Melissa
Langdell and Alene Campbell for their interest, assistance, and encour-
agement while we were writing it. And we thank Annina Arthur for her
always brilliant, pertinent suggestions as well as Rahima Nizic-Bonner
for her spiritual and moral support. We also thank Kathy McCloskey,
Dr. Evangelina de Mirande, and Cecelia Moore, who came to the
rescue.
M any thanks, too, to Drs. Ibrahim Jaffe, John Laird, and Randy Nur
Hrabko, to Nura and Bill Mansfi eld, Rahima Wear, Amina Stader-Chan,
and other members of the faculty, staff, and student body of the U.S.H.S.,
particularly to Saida, Hamda, Halima, Rahim, Rahima, Lourdes, and
other members of the second year class of 2010–11.
W e thank the faculty of National University for their help and brain-
storming, and the English Department faculty at the University of Cali-
fornia, Riverside, for their intelligent, invaluable suggestions, and for the
best literary works on blindness, in particular Professors Steven Axelrod
for his help with every aspect of the book and bright ideas, and John
Ganim, for his constructive ideas and positive attitude. Gracious thanks,
too, to Dr. Diana Glyer of Azusa Pacifi c University for setting an inspir-
ing example. Warmest thanks go to Diane Williams, Diane Webb, Karen