STACEY SAMUEL-O'BRIEN

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS has rendered me physically disabled. Over the past 19 years, as the disease progressed, I regressed from walking normally, to walking with a limp, to using a cane, to currently using a walker and a mobility scooter. While I can stand and walk in short bursts, I have to use my scooter to get around safely and comfortably.

Along with the numerous challenges of any disability, disabled people must also deal with overcoming public scrutiny and managing social interactions. I have never felt self-conscious about using my mobility aides in public and most of my interactions with other people in TT have been positive and straightforward; no one has ever said anything “outta timing” to me. Unfortunately, there are other disabilities that make navigating social interactions more complicated.

I’d like to talk about Liselle. Liselle is a visually impaired woman living in Trinidad. Twenty years ago, at age 35, Liselle woke up and all she could see out of her left eye was a circle of red. To her family, the eye looked completely normal, but all she could see was the red circle – she was literally seeing red! Naturally, it alarmed her, but she had to continue with her day. Later, however, a friend noticed that she was squinting quite a bit and they suggested she go to an optician right away.

At the optician’s office, she was referred to an ophthalmologist who diagnosed her with a destroyed retina. As years passed, Liselle had to endure numerous surgeries and, eventually, she completely lost sight in her left eye.

A year later, in 2005, she looked at her husband and his head suddenly appeared distorted and looked the size of an exercise ball. She knew right away that she had to go back to her ophthalmologist. This time, the retina in her right eye had detached and she needed immediate surgery – the first of many. Currently, her vision fluctuates between complete blackness and bright white.

Looking at Liselle, you would never guess that she is visually impaired though her right eye is slightly smaller.

Over the years, after each surgery, Liselle’s vision would improve for a while but then regress as time went on. During one of those times with some vision, she was squinting at something in a store trying to read. Someone walked past her and joked, “like yuh need to test yuh eyes and get some glasses” as they continued on their way. Ordinarily, this statement may not have mattered, but given everything that Liselle had been through, she was understandably rattled.

Another time, an acquaintance of hers (who knew of her situation) approached Liselle and said, “Girl, who dress you? If was me, I woulda kill myself!” I recognise that, at times, it’s the Trinbagonian thing to be brutal with our jokes and picong, but there’s really nothing funny about this statement, especially given Liselle’s situation as a visually impaired person.

The first incident involved a stranger who meant no harm, and had no idea that the statement would hit so close to home. In the second, the person