Do you think it would be worse to be born blind or lose your sight when you were 20 years of age?

[Panthero80]

In the first scenario, you would never get to see the world, but in the second scenario, you would know what you are missing by having seen the world but then losing the ability to see.

It would be worse to never have sight.

It would be worse to become blind.

[PretzelBeanie]

I think the biggest disadvantage to losing sight as an adult would be the much steeper learning curve and the likely lack of support. As a child, your parents and other adults will be guarding you anyways, so you are safer to learn to live with this disability, and then by the time you are grown you will probably be able to do most things independently! Hopefully you would also have made lots of friends and be able to get a job, and they already are used to your being blind.

But if you grew up sighted, and maybe even already moved out and support yourself, then if you become blind you will lose that independence—at least temporarily. You will need someone to be with you again, to help you while you learn how to live safely on your own again. This could disrupt your career, and your relationships may have adjusting period as well. You may have to move back in with your parents and start over from scratch making your own life again.

However, you will have had a whole youth without that disability, and you would be able to experience many things a blind person could not. You may also have access to a better education and resources to build your start in life, if you live somewhere where accommodation for blind people is not very good. This could give you an advantage even after you lose your sight.

[PretzelBeanie]

I think many disabled people can also feel grief over their disability. It may be more obvious for someone who actually had a fully able body and lost that later in life, but even if they have never experienced it is a "loss" I understand they can still go through the 5 stages, denial, anger, depression, etc. Especially the more things their disability, or lack of accommodations for it, may prevent them from doing. Just because they cannot know first hand what they are missing does not mean they can't understand that they would like the thing they are missing.

[On_cloud_wine]

It would be worse to be born blind. I’m an artist so at least Id get to imagine all the colors of the world when I day dream and create my own images in my mind. It’s stuff like this that I feel truly blessed and not complain about petty stuff

[petitedollbabee]

Worse to become blind. You can’t miss what you never had.

[On_cloud_wine]

That’s how I feel about relationships! But I feel the complete opposite when it comes to this

[WonderingManII]

It would be worse to become blind.