16/11/2025
Droit et devoirs… Nous avons des Droit, et c’est un devoir d’utiliser nos droits… Tout comme il est primordial, d’accéder au moyen accessible et aux outils qui nous sont adaptées 
What I would tell my younger self…
I was diagnosed legally blind with Progressive Cone Dystrophy in 1992.
Back then, I did everything I could to blend in. I walked through a sighted world pretending I could see. I didn’t want to identify as someone with a disability because of all the stigmas, judgments and attitudes, towards disability. I didn’t not use a white cane, as I didn’t want people staring at me. I didn’t want them asking questions or accusing me of faking it because I still had some vision. I thought using a cane would signal me out as, less than.
All that hiding didn’t make life easier for me, It just made it lonelier, scarier, and more exhausting.
Everything changed in 2015, when I met two women who were both blind and completely confident. That was the beginning of my acceptance journey.
In 2016, I attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind, a full-time, nine-month rehab program where I trained under learning shades “blindfold” for 40 hours a week. That may sound extreme, but it changed my life, in more ways words could ever express.
I didn’t just learn non-visual techniques; I learned how to live fully, independently, and proudly.
Once I started using a cane, everything shifted. I wasn’t staring down at the sidewalk anymore, scanning every crack and curb. My cane did the work, detecting obstacles, reading the world around me, while I held my head up high.
You know what?
People started moving out of the way so I wasn’t always playing the guessing game as to which way others would move and Traveling became easier and I started going more places. The best part was I stopped worrying about what others thought of me.
Why did I care so much that strangers were staring at me? When I can’t see them anyway.
If I could go back and speak to my younger self, I’d say this:
Don’t worry about what others think. Do what makes your life easier. Try the tools available, they’re what give you freedom.
Learning blindness techniques gave me my life back. I cannot do things the way sighted people do things but, I can do them only differently.
To anyone who’s resisting the tools that could help:
Please don’t wait as long as I did.
It’s not weakness.
It’s wisdom.
“Having a disability does not change who we are, it changes our interactions with the world,” Gina Martin
Diverse Abilities Programs helps educate society about disability and disability related topics. Our programs break through barriers that prevent many of us from, full participation. Our programs teach practical and easy to implement strategies that treat everyone with respect. To learn more about our programs, and read our client reviews, please Visit our website www.DiverseAbilities.ca
Photo description
Gina is sitting on a bench in a park. Her long hair is draping over her shoulders. She is wearing a red shall and smiling.