Through Our Eyes: What Independence Means to Us

Every morning, I wake up in my home.

Not a family member’s home. Not a friend’s home. Mine.

I choose what I want to wear from clothes I picked out and paid for myself. I make breakfast while music plays in the background. Then I grab my bag, my coffee, and head to work.

When the day is over, I have choices. Maybe I’ll meet friends for dinner. Maybe I’ll catch a baseball game or a movie. Maybe I’ll spend time with my children. Maybe I’ll hop on a plane to visit family across the country. Or maybe I’ll simply head home, make dinner, and enjoy a good book.

I can do any of these things because, while I am blind, I am also independent.

I am free.

And I’m not the only one.

“Being blind doesn’t mean I’m not capable,” Tiffany says. “I have choices, and I get to live life on my own terms.”

Independence Means Love

“Independence is just another way for me to love my family,” says Brad. “I can take care of my family using my abilities rather than relying on them because of my disability. Knowing they don’t have to worry about me is another way of showing them I love them.”

Independence Means Choice

“Independence is my ability to fulfill my wants and needs,” says Mitchell, an Alphapointe client. “It means I can decide when to ask for help instead of depending on it.”

For Caleb, who works in Alphapointe’s sewing department, independence is about balance.

“Asking for help is my choice,” he says. “Part of independence is knowing when to rely on others and allowing others to rely on you.”

Independence Means Confidence

“Independence means confidence,” says Tracie, an Alphapointe client. “It’s having the skills, resources, and knowledge I need to succeed, and the confidence that comes with them.”

“My independence means I’m free to do what I want,” says Robin from Alphapointe’s sewing department. “I can take care of my home, choose my clothes, cook my meals, and go where I want. It means freedom.”

Independence Means Freedom

“My independence means I’m free to do what I want,” says Robin from Alphapointe’s sewing department. “I can take care of my home, choose my clothes, cook my meals, and go where I want. It means freedom.”

Tiffany shares a similar perspective.

“Being blind doesn’t mean I’m not capable,” she says. “I have choices, and I get to live life on my own terms.”

For these members of the blind and low vision community, independence means far more than doing things alone.

It means building careers, supporting families, traveling the world, pursuing passions, and creating lives filled with purpose. It means turning barriers into opportunities and challenges into possibilities.

Most of all, independence means having the freedom to choose how your story unfolds.