An Evening on the Island of the Colorblind

Last night I re-watched The Island of the Colorblind. It follows a neurologist and scientist on a trip to Pingelap, a small island in the South Pacific where almost 10% of the population is born with the eye disease Achromatopsia and 1/3 carry the gene for it. Achromatopsia causes total colorblindness, extreme light sensitivity, and visual acuity around 20/200.

Why would I care about visually impaired men, women, and children living on an island thousands of miles away? I felt drawn to the film because I was born with this disease. Outside the isolated community of Pingelap, Achromatopsia only occurs in about 1-in-33,000 people. It’s recessive so it tends to pop out of nowhere in families, and once it does, parents usually have more than one child with low vision. My sister Sherry has this eye problem while my sister Kristy doesn’t.

After growing up with a disorder so rare that I often find myself explaining it to doctors, the idea of a place where I would have neighbors, friends, and even teachers just like me and wouldn’t stand out as odd fascinates me. What struck me even deeper was their attitude toward the disorder. These visually impaired people get by without the sunglasses, magnifiers, and resources that I rely on, but they also grow up without being labeled disabled. The scientists had to be careful to offer things like sunglasses and magnifiers as cool tools that could make their lives easier without implying that anyone had a problem that needed fixing.

Those who had never seen color didn’t seem to miss it or feel deprived. Instead, they emphasized the patterns, tones, shadows, and textures that they did see. They obviously struggled but it didn’t consume them or hold them back. Many of the night fishermen had Achromatopsia because they see so much better after sunset. The visually impaired seemed perfectly happy and those with 20/20 vision accepted them as normal.

Their outlook got me thinking—wouldn’t it be nice if we could embrace life and others this way? Wouldn’t we all feel a lot freer focusing on what we have instead of what we don’t and noticing strengths before weaknesses? What if we decided to see ourselves and everyone we meet as perfectly normal and treat them accordingly? After all, each of us could turn the television on one day and discover that a place exists where what we thought was weird isn’t considered weird at all.

An Incredible Survival Story

I received an exciting package in the mail the other day—a copy of Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson and Susy Flory. You may have heard of Michael and his Guide Dog Roselle, who survived the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center by descending 78 flights of stairs then narrowly escaping being crushed by Tower Two. Mike and Roselle have appeared on CNN’s Larry King and many other television shows. Thunder Dog portrays their 9/11 experience in powerful detail, while also weaving in key events from Mike’s unique upbringing, raised by parents who refused to treat their blind son as handicapped. Scenes include Mike frightening neighbors by riding his bike around town unattended, driving a car around his college campus, and even accepting an offer to fly an airplane. During his escape from the World Trade Center, we see the tight bond between Guide Dog and handler prove lifesaving, as well as experiencing the faith, courage, and perseverance that kept Mike, Roselle, and many others going on that terrifying day.

Susy Flory (a friend of mine) introduced me to Mike and Roselle several months ago, so I have a special interest in this book. Immediately, I found myself inspired by Mike, not only because of his incredible story, but much more so because of his enthusiastic spirit and his commitment to educating the public about living with blindness. As he puts it, there is very little that the blind and visually impaired can’t do, we simply do things differently. As one who has been visually impaired since birth, his attitude and outlook makes me want to get out there and try more than I have already!

If you are looking for an exciting, inspiring book to wrap up your summer, look for Thunder Dog at your local bookstore or on Amazon. You might even fall in love with Guide Dogs like my youngest son and I did.