At age 7, I got in trouble for ‘acting out’ when they gave all the students a basic eye chart test. When it was my turn, they put me on the measured out line and asked me to read the chart.
I asked “What chart?” The teacher pointed at the door. Apparently the chart was on the door, but all I could see was a large white/greyish rectangle from that distance.
Yeah, my vision was that bad. You know that big capital E on the top of the chart? Yep, nothing, I literally couldn’t see the chart. So I didn’t know what else to do but keep asking “What chart?”
They called my dad in and between him, the teacher, and the principal, I got scolded for ‘acting out’.
The next year, age 8, they assigned seats in order based off the first letter of our last names, which happened to put me in the back of the class. I couldn’t see a damn thing on the chalkboard…
So my parents finally had to take me to a proper eye doctor. They found out my vision was like -4.5, which is extremely nearsighted.
So I finally got glasses, and about 2 weeks of apologies from my mom. Every time she apologized, I reminded her that she had absolutely nothing to apologize for, I was just thankful I could finally see!
I never got an apology from my dad, the teacher or the principal though. It’s a bit fucked up that they could have caught it earlier on when the whole reason they gave students the basic eye test was literally to catch obvious vision problems early on…
To be fair, your dad was probably just as scared of your teacher. Same with the principal.
If I hadn’t had a dad who was a school counselor in my district used for all the worst problem kids I think I would have had a different experience. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I was a weird one. As a result I got to see behind the curtain a little and think office politics plays a bigger part of why kids get in trouble than anything else (well, except actual parent involvement and how you raise your kids). Now that you mention this I think I’ll take my youngest to get her eyes examined just to be safe.
Nah, if you knew my dad at the time, he insisted there was nothing wrong with my vision. I actually was already a pretty intelligent kid, mostly from book learning at the time.
Book learning worked great for me, but only because the book was close to my face, which works fine for nearsighted people. So my dad was convinced, my vision was fine.
I was disappointed at my dad for quite a few years, but ultimately had to let my anger go.
A few years later, dad asked me why I didn’t tell them I had bad vision. All I could tell him was “I didn’t know, until I finally got to see good vision.”
Yes, you only know what you’ve experienced. If everything’s blurry, that’s normal.
I know when I got my glasses, the optician said to look across the road with my glasses on. There was a brick wall the other side and I could see it clearly. I was amazed and said as much. I don’t think my sight had always been bad but it must have been bad for long enough for that to be a revelation.
I was amazed that I could see the leaves on trees as we drove home. Apparently that’s an extremely common experience among people who just got glasses.
At age 7, I got in trouble for ‘acting out’ when they gave all the students a basic eye chart test. When it was my turn, they put me on the measured out line and asked me to read the chart.
I asked “What chart?” The teacher pointed at the door. Apparently the chart was on the door, but all I could see was a large white/greyish rectangle from that distance.
Yeah, my vision was that bad. You know that big capital E on the top of the chart? Yep, nothing, I literally couldn’t see the chart. So I didn’t know what else to do but keep asking “What chart?”
They called my dad in and between him, the teacher, and the principal, I got scolded for ‘acting out’.
The next year, age 8, they assigned seats in order based off the first letter of our last names, which happened to put me in the back of the class. I couldn’t see a damn thing on the chalkboard…
So my parents finally had to take me to a proper eye doctor. They found out my vision was like -4.5, which is extremely nearsighted.
So I finally got glasses, and about 2 weeks of apologies from my mom. Every time she apologized, I reminded her that she had absolutely nothing to apologize for, I was just thankful I could finally see!
I never got an apology from my dad, the teacher or the principal though. It’s a bit fucked up that they could have caught it earlier on when the whole reason they gave students the basic eye test was literally to catch obvious vision problems early on…
Ffs they didn’t even have you try closer? That’s like the first thing they are supposed to say if you can’t see the chart.
Nope, they sure didn’t.
I actually thought about that as I typed out my short Ted Talk, it’s really a shame isn’t it?
Thank you for understanding, things might have went differently if I wasn’t afraid of the teacher authority at the time and just walked closer myself.
Please, if anyone happens to see children acting ‘strange’ or whatever, please do have them checked out for the bare basics of vision and hearing.
Some of us weren’t trying to be weird kids, we just perceived the world differently.
To be fair, your dad was probably just as scared of your teacher. Same with the principal.
If I hadn’t had a dad who was a school counselor in my district used for all the worst problem kids I think I would have had a different experience. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I was a weird one. As a result I got to see behind the curtain a little and think office politics plays a bigger part of why kids get in trouble than anything else (well, except actual parent involvement and how you raise your kids). Now that you mention this I think I’ll take my youngest to get her eyes examined just to be safe.
Nah, if you knew my dad at the time, he insisted there was nothing wrong with my vision. I actually was already a pretty intelligent kid, mostly from book learning at the time.
Book learning worked great for me, but only because the book was close to my face, which works fine for nearsighted people. So my dad was convinced, my vision was fine.
I was disappointed at my dad for quite a few years, but ultimately had to let my anger go.
A few years later, dad asked me why I didn’t tell them I had bad vision. All I could tell him was “I didn’t know, until I finally got to see good vision.”
Yes, you only know what you’ve experienced. If everything’s blurry, that’s normal.
I know when I got my glasses, the optician said to look across the road with my glasses on. There was a brick wall the other side and I could see it clearly. I was amazed and said as much. I don’t think my sight had always been bad but it must have been bad for long enough for that to be a revelation.
I was amazed that I could see the leaves on trees as we drove home. Apparently that’s an extremely common experience among people who just got glasses.