blinded

Even among major belligerents, such as Germany in World War I and the United States in World War II, the blinded veterans organizations contained no more than several thousand men.

Common public attitudes and misconceptions about blindness, when adopted by newly blinded people themselves, can be devastating.

"No," I replied, "I had normal eyesight until I was 21 years old." Then, with totally innocent curiosity, she asked, "How did you get blind?" Not wanting to go into any details, I simply answered, "I was blinded during the Second World War." For the life of me, I could not bring myself to tell that group of young children, whom fate has dealt such a heavy burden with which to cope, that I was beaten blind by two guards in a Nazi concentration camp called Budzyn about 50 years ago - on April 8, 1944, to be exact - and left for dead .

Common reactions of individuals who have been adventitiously blinded might include a need to redefine their self-concepts.

Despite sympathy for veterans blinded in World War I and the first distribution of federal funds for state programs, the understanding of blindness and the potential of people who were blind changed very little.

On the other hand, the adventitiously (non-congenitally visually impaired) blinded assembly worker with no usable sight may require much more than an adaptive device.