Central Vision Podcast
Central Vision Podcast is a conversation about life through a different perspective.
Hosted by Austin and Charity, the Central Vision Podcast brings together people who are blind, have low vision, and the family members, friends, professionals, and advocates who share the journey. Through honest conversations, humor, personal stories, and practical discussions, we explore what it really means to navigate work, relationships, technology, travel, accessibility, independence, and everything in between.
Some episodes feature inspiring guests with unique experiences. Others dive into everyday challenges, awkward moments, helpful tips, or the conversations that don't happen often enough. We believe that sharing real experiences builds confidence, creates understanding, and reminds people they're not alone.
Whether you're living with vision loss, supporting someone who is, or simply want to see the world from a different perspective, there's a seat at the table.
New episodes every week.
Central Vision Podcast
“I Help You See Better, Even Though I Cannot” | A Legally Blind Optician
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Episode 8 — “I Help You See Better, Even Though I Cannot” | A Legally Blind Optician
“I help you see better, even though I cannot.”
Adam has Stargardt disease, an inherited retinal disease that affects his central vision.
He’s also a licensed optician who owns his own optical shop.In this episode, Austin and Charity are joined by Adam for a conversation about growing up visually impaired, building independence without ever being able to drive, navigating the world with central vision loss — and ultimately choosing a career centered around the very thing he struggles with himself: vision.
Adam was born with Stargardt disease and grew up at a time when many of the accommodations available to blind and visually impaired students today simply weren’t there. His parents fought for him to attend school alongside his sighted peers, while Adam dealt with inaccessible materials, photosensitivity, stereotypes and the assumption that because his eyes worked differently, his brain somehow did too.
But one of the most interesting parts of Adam’s story came later.
At 32, after a frustrating experience getting his own glasses adjusted, Adam decided he could do a better job himself.
So he went back to school to become an optician.
He completed his education, fought for accommodations during his licensing exams and became what he says is the first legally blind licensed optician in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Then came another obstacle.
Despite being licensed and qualified — and despite clients responding positively to working with a visually impaired optician — Adam says he repeatedly encountered employers who were uncomfortable with his disability.
Eventually, he stopped trying to fit into someone else’s workplace.
He opened his own.Today, Adam owns Perception Optical in Arlington, Massachusetts, where his experience with vision loss has become one of his greatest tools for understanding the people sitting across from him.
Rather than simply asking what prescription someone needs, Adam asks a different question:
What do you want your eyes to be able to do?
That might mean helping someone read. Use a computer. See at a particular distance. Or, in the case of one client with macular degeneration, finding a way for her to see her playing cards well enough to participate with friends again.
You’ll hear about:
• What Stargardt disease looks like through Adam’s eyes
• Growing up visually impaired before many modern accommodations existed
• Being the only disabled student in his school
• Never experiencing the independence of driving
• The difference between being born with vision loss and losing vision later in life
• Photosensitivity, central vision loss and navigating everyday environments
• Why asking strangers for help can feel vulnerable
• Using an identification cane while traveling
• Why Adam chose not to use a guide dog
• Going back to school at 32 to become an optician
• Fighting for accommodations during professional licensing exams
• Becoming a legally blind licensed optician
• Experiencing disability bias in the workplace
• Why Adam ultimately opened his own optical shop
• How having vision loss changes the way he works with visually impaired clients
• The young client who traveled from New York to see him — and later wrote that she could see better than she ever had before
• Why properly fitting glasses is about much more than a prescription
• Taking his first solo international trip as a visually impaired traveler
• Accessibility at airports in the United States and Europe
• Using a phone camera to zoom in on signs, train schedules and other information
• Learning when to ask for help — and leaving the shame behind
• Why disability can change the path without eliminating the destination
Adam also talks about something many people with disabilities experience in the workplace: the difference between making a mistake and having that mistake attributed to your disability.
For Adam, those experiences eventually became motivation.
He says he opened his business partly out of “spite and survival.”
But the spite wasn’t about getting even.
“The spite was to be better.”
Today, that means slowing down, listening to his clients and understanding that for someone with limited remaining vision, making the most of that vision can have an enormous impact on everyday life.
And when asked what he would tell someone with Stargardt disease — or anyone questioning whether they should pursue school, a career, a business or something else that feels difficult because of disability — his answer is simple:
Try.
You don’t know whether something is possible until you give yourself the opportunity to find out.
Vision loss may change how you get there.
It doesn’t mean you stop going.
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That's one of the things, that's one of my taglines is I help you see better, even though I cannot.
SPEAKER_00Oh, awesome.
SPEAKER_04Some people come in because of that. They're like, I saw your story. It's amazing. They're like, wow, that's incredible. So you actually know what you're talking about. That's my favorite line that people say. It's like, you have you know what you're talking about. And it's like, yes, I do. Thank you.
SPEAKER_05Hey everyone, I'm Charity.
SPEAKER_01And I'm Austin. Welcome to the Central Vision Podcast.
SPEAKER_05We're two hosts living with vision loss, sharing honest conversations about life through the lens of blindness and low vision. From relationships and travel to careers and technology, from family and confidence to accessibility and everything in between.
SPEAKER_01We'll share our experiences, ask the questions people are already thinking, laugh through the awkward moments, and explore what it really means to live with vision loss.
SPEAKER_05So whether you're living with vision loss yourself, love, support, or know someone who is, or you're simply curious, looking for a different perspective, you're in the right place.
SPEAKER_01I am back here with my amazing co-host Charity Roach. And today we have a guest from outside the Retinized Pigmentosa uh diagnosis. Now, as a reminder to everyone, we are not strictly a retinitis pigmentosa podcast. I know sometimes it can seem like that because we're only talking about our experiences that come from retinitis pigmentosa or the things that we hear across our groups. But today we have a guest that has a disease or a diagnosis called Stargards. Now, since I'm not super familiar with it, I'm gonna let our guest Adam explain it and tell us a little bit about himself, and then we'll get into his story. So, Adam, tell us about yourself and tell us what Stargards actually is, and if you could put it in terms that is easy to understand for listeners that have nothing to do with the unsighted world.
SPEAKER_04Oh, okay. So with my condition, uh, I was born with it, so it's primarily a genetic disorder. So it's it's passed on through a gene. Usually it's a dormant gene. For the unsighted, it's what's tricky, is that it's as if you have a scar, a physical scar on the f on the back of your eye along the retina. And my scar just happens to be right exactly on the phobia, which is where the light from the outside world comes back and pierces back at the sides of the phobia and hits the optic nerve, which then in turn turns light into electrical impulses, and then of course turns electrical impulses into information that goes to the brain and then circles back around to create an image. The underlying conditions that I have is Sturgard's is the top tier of it. And then one step below it is what I have is called macular dystrophy. And that part of the macular dystrophy is extreme photosensitivity to bright light, uh, colorblindness, nystagmus, where the eye cannot focus on a single point. And so what it can't understand, it has to, you know, pun intended, just kind of make a shot in the dark and see what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_05So do people who have star guards, like do all people who have star guards have the underlying conditions that you do, the um macular dystrophy and the nystagmus? Or is that just something special?
SPEAKER_04Generally they do because it's just like any other uh condition, it's a broad spectrum.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Like some people, like I have wide field vision, thankfully. I can see in a wider field. I don't have any obstructions in any corners of my eye, whereas some people do. So there are generalizations of having it, like photosensitivity, uh not so great central vision, or if not worsening central vision, um stagnus where the eye won't stop moving. Some of those things are like, okay, there's a 90% chance you have this, there's a 99% chance you're gonna have this. So the photosensitivity is a big one. That's almost a guarantee that if you have this, you're gonna have photosensitivity.
SPEAKER_01Now, Stargards is as well, um, one, it's considered an IRD, an inherited retinal disease, correct? Yes. In that family. Okay. Um, now is it from what I understood, which you know, my my amount of knowledge in Stargards is a little bit limited here, but does that scar, that center point there, is that ever expanding? So far, it's shown no movement. With some, it can. Okay.
SPEAKER_05So with your vision impairment since birth, how did you handle um school, like your education and up to and including college?
SPEAKER_04So I it's kind of a two, a two-part on this one. It's kind of split down the split. One of the things was is that I had a great family. So that made things smooth on that part of having a stable family, having a loving, safe family. So you had an I had an anchoring point. At the time, I was the only disabled person in my school. And my parents fought very hard, because this was before the ADA in 1991, I believe. So in early, in the little mid in the mid 80s and everything, my parents fought very hard for me to go to a regular school because they felt I had the right like everybody else.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And what was exceedingly difficult with that was the resources were limited to non-existent. So it came to a point where the grades suffered because the tools weren't available. And you get into the stereotype was, which you still deal with stereotypes to this day, is well, his eyes doesn't work, so obviously his brain doesn't work. I mean, those stereotypes are still around. I mean they are. This may be the tw the mid the early 21st century, but it's it's those things are hard to shake. And like elementary was difficult, high school was difficult. I mean, my grades were not were not good, but I was I love to learn. And history was my favorite subject, and being photosensitive to bright light was difficult. Also, amongst your peers, where you're the only handicapped person, and as with everybody, like when you turn 16, everyone gets to drive. I couldn't drive.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So that was that that to me was the great was the bigger gut punch of anything. Yeah. Uh-huh. Was the fact that I could never drive. So you've never driven? I have never driven. I can never drive a car. I can I used wild.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I can never never drive a car. And it's it was at now at at 46, it's it's like uh whatever. I live in boss, I live in the Boston area. I got public transportation. Um I'm married, my wife can drive me around, it's fine. But it's it's at that time, yes. It was pretty, because that's what you know, it was a sense of freedom, it was a sense of independence.
SPEAKER_05I often wonder, because I did drive for about 10 years. I often wonder if it's easier having never driven, or if it's easier like just to have had that experience, but then you have to give it up. I don't know.
SPEAKER_01The grass is always greener.
SPEAKER_05It is always greener.
SPEAKER_04Having joined other groups online, low vision groups and such, it sounds like to me that having experience experienced it is better than having to have experienced it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And then and then get rid of that.
SPEAKER_04Mm-hmm. Yeah. So my reading, that was the hardest part. Was a lot of them were like, I went to the I had to give up my keys today, and there was a lot of sympathy going around, and it's just like I still gave sympathy, but also too, it's like, I don't know what that's like. Or the people who feel sorry for me because I'm disabled, like, oh, you'll never know when it's like. I I I have no reference of that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I don't know. I have more sympathy for people who were able then became disabled than people who were disabled from birth because we don't have a frame of reference to compare it to. This is just the world we know. So for those who have to experience it, oh my God, you have my sympathies. It's it's that's not easy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, absolutely. What uh explain to people listening and to myself just what you know, we talk about our experiences all the time and kind of what life can look like for us through our lens, but what are some like everyday things, maybe with school, maybe with just daily living, whatever it might be, what does how does Star Guards show up in your life? What are some things that you could explain?
SPEAKER_04One of the hardest things for me is the photosensitivity to bright light. Okay. That is the hardest for me because some days are better than others. Even with uh sunglasses, it's still difficult. And then because the glare can be terrible, even with the darkest lenses I have, having to navigate a world where the world doesn't seem to want to pay attention to you, right? So then I have to pay attention to them, but I'm the one with the vision loss. So I have to work twice as hard just to literally go up the street to you know a Walgreens or CVS just to get something, and with that perspective, and also with regards to reading, like street signs and having to find the bus, is the ha the ability to show vulnerability to ask a question to someone that can become very scary because to them they don't know you have a disability.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_04They assume they when with this day and age of paranoia, and you know you're not supposed to trust anybody, they may see you as like it says right there, it's the 77. What's wrong with you by asking, you know, what bus is this? Or is this bus going to X? It's like, well, duh, of course this bus is going downtown. Why are you here?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's like it's it's so weird too, as if we're pranking them. Uh what a fun joke to ask the simple question. Hey, what's that say? Aha, gotcha.
SPEAKER_04Exactly. Like, yeah, that my life's work is complete, sir. I am I will go home victorious. That was my whole life, was just to prank you of which way the bus was going. Well done, sir.
SPEAKER_05Do you travel with a cane or a guide dog?
SPEAKER_04I did have, I do have the right to a dog. I turned it down because, and this was my own for my own reasons, was that I felt personally that me having a dog was taken away from someone else who truly needed the dog, who needed the dog more than I did. Even though it's like, yes, dogs or dime a dozen, but it's like, no, no, no. That's ethical on my end. I I travel with a pencil cane. I got it at the Carroll Center for the Blind here in Massachusetts, which is a great institution, by the way.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_04Because I was talking to them, and that's where I learned the various canes. And the guy was like, here's a pencil cane for you. The pencil cane is not a guide cane, it is a marker cane to let people know that you have a visual impairment.
SPEAKER_05An identification cane. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Exactly. So I use the pencil cane when I travel, um, when I travel all over the place. Uh, it was great in New York City because people will get out of your way. It is like Moses parting the sea. It is just awesome.
SPEAKER_05I told that to my daughter when I first started using my cane. She's like, You should bring your cane because people just get out of our way. They don't do that for a dog. They congregate around a dog, but they part in their way for the cane.
SPEAKER_04Yep. In New York City, it's great. I mean, you can cut through Times Square, just bang, right through. Uh, I use the cane when I went overseas. I use the cane like any place else that's not the Boston, because the Boston already had been here 20 something years, so it's like it's literally down now, down to memory.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But the cane, like the cane at the airport, oh my goodness, that is like it it can be busy in an airport. Sure. And it helps so much. But yeah, I use a cane when I travel, and I decided not against the dog because I figured there there is someone who is in greater need of a canine than I am.
SPEAKER_05I have my own feelings about that, but everybody gets their own opinion about whether or not they want or need a dog, as long as you qualify. But I would I would just say that you are no less deserving than anybody else who qualifies for a dog. That's just my tooth. That's just my opinion, though.
SPEAKER_04I feel less deserving. Uh that ego thing is on other topic, other subjects that make me nuts. But with regards to the dog, I'm I'm I'm good with that. I really made peace with that. I think it's it's like if I could have a C and I, I love I love all animals, but it's like I'm more of a cat person, so if there was a C and I cat, that would be that'd be awesome. But that ain't never gonna happen. But no, they're too small. I don't know how useful that'd be. Exactly. That's like no way, but no, I my I feel like my situation is unique because I didn't really go through any programs. It was literally like trial by fire with my life, with a few certain things, like um extra time for tests and enlarged print for reading and such, so which was very grateful. Uh books on tape, which were literally on cassette tapes at the time. Good old time. And I've that's the part I love now is that everybody, the whole world now can enjoy books on tape that are professionally recorded, whereas I like listen to them like someone literally into a tape recorder reading the book.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the audio quality was just a total redness, and now it's like ebooks are perfect. And to me, that's like, yay, everybody can enjoy it now. And then I could have like a professional celebrity reading my book for me as I'm listening to it. Love that.
SPEAKER_01So switching into uh I what's really interesting to me now, you are an optician currently, and if if I just understood right that you have your own um office or practice or I have my own optical shop. Own optical shop. That's uh that's very wild because it's almost uh oxymoron in itself. Yeah, you you know, uh so that's really interesting to me. So I'm wondering, like, let's start to open up that. When when did you decide that this is what I want to do? Because it seems like something that that you would almost tell yourself you can't do, but you definitely defied the odds, apparently.
SPEAKER_04I was lucky on that because my mother was an optician when I was younger. And uh growing up in Ohio, literally the optical shop, it was called Harris Opticians, literally like a block over from my elementary school. So I would always go over to see my mom and after school, and I'd always play around with things, and I had a rudimentary understanding, and through high school, that was like, you know, your under-the-table high school job was just to help out. And having grown up at a small town optical shop, seeing the dedication of people and my own mother, of how people were treated, of how things can be customized and done the very personable way. And then having to leave and move on and then move to Boston, because in the early parts, I would go back to my mother to help me with the glasses to get fitted and everything of what I wanted. And it was the overwhelming love and frustration of my wife. She worded it better, but basically she was like, you know, you can't always go to your mommy for, you know, your glasses. You're gonna have to start doing it yourself. And she made a great point. So it was, it was, I do remember it because it's a good story to tell. It was the early spring, late winter of 2013. And I decided to just go into any, I went to various optical shops, but I went into one specifically, and they just didn't care. I needed an adjustment to my physical glasses, and they just did not. I mean, I could use more colorful terms, but I'm not going to, but they didn't care. Sure. I said, Can I throw you in a I walked in, they didn't even say hello or even look up from their desks.
SPEAKER_05Nice.
SPEAKER_04And then the guy goes, Yeah. And I'm like, Yeah, what time is it? You know why I'm in here, why I walk through the door. It's an optical shop. So he swings up, I mean, with a great big sigh, because clearly I was wasting his time. And I said, My glasses need to be adjusted, and you know, they're fairly uncomfortable. Can you please help me? Very kind. I'm always kind when I come in. And he looks at me straight ahead, he goes, Well, they look fine to me. And it's like, I was like, I know they may look fine, but it's like they're a little askew, and you know, he like reluctantly took them off. I mean, I would could have given them to him, but he reluctantly like pulled them off my head. So, I mean, he is just earning brownie points left and right. And long story short, he fixed them somewhat. So went out, left, just completely defeated. And right then and there, at that moment, I was like, you know what? I can do one hell of a job better than him. And so I decided right there on that spot to go back to school to be a licensed optician. And what age was that? I was 32. 32. And I was 32 when I decided to go back to school to be an optician. And the first half of that, my wife helped me out. We went to uh we looked it up. There was an opticianary program called the Benjamin uh at the Ben Franklin School of Technology. They called it BFIT, Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology was in the south end of Austin. And that fall, I registered to be an optician. It's a two-year program. And they were surprised even themselves that someone with the visual impairment would want to be an optician. And but on their side, they thought that was amazing. They didn't see it as a negative. They're like, that's great, you're gonna have a total leg up. It's like, why not? And what's difficult is that I'm sure as this is with all the professions, is that they're taught, like in the optical field and the medical field itself, is like, you're not supposed to be visually impaired, we're supposed to help you, we're supposed to cure you. And it's like, no, this is permanent. And I can take what I have and you know helps out a little bit, but not by too much. It's like understanding the stigma of someone who's very out of shape going to a gym and everyone's in perfect shape. Yeah. They're like, I have to help you, you're in pain. You're it's like, no, I'm not. I'm fine. I just I just want to be generally healthy. I don't need to be perfect. I know I'm not perfect. Because one of the things that hit me with wanting to be an optician was to help people and to be with people and to actually get it when people walked in.
SPEAKER_05I I don't know exactly what the job of an optician entails. Can you tell us a little bit about what it what an optician does?
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. The job of the optician, think of it this way, it's like the pharmacist of the eyes.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_04The doctor gives the prescription. And it is up to me to determine with prescription what exactly entails that the patient needs. Because something can be as simple as reading glasses or distance glasses, but it can be something in the middle. With technology now, uh visual requirements have changed. We can do everything from specific driving to computer to a specific distance. Um, one of the things I enjoy about being a legally blind optician is I get a lot of seniors who come in with macular degeneration and they understand that they only have a limited field of vision, if not any. But then I asked them the key questions that nobody else asked them. It's like, what do you want your eyes to do? And how can I facilitate that? And I one of my patients that came in, she was like, I want to be able to play cards at the table in my senior center and participate with the groups. So what I did was I have a trial lens set, which usually doctors have, and it's where they put the lenses over your eyes, you're like number one or number two.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And it's a portable one. So I filled the prescription ahead of time in those glasses to see if it would actually work or not. And from there, I manipulated the reading portion of her prescription to see, can you see the cards yet? Yes or no. That's really cool. I was able to manipulate what was already given to an extent to say, okay, the distance we know is not going to work, but you want reading, so we can add things on to make it reading to just see enough. And I had a deck of playing cards and put it at the table to see exactly at the pinpoint she needed. A lot of places will not have that dedication to take their time because it's like what little vision they have, that's what you need to live.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04To carry out every day. A lot of People take their vision for granted. I think it's about 80 per 80 to 88 percent of our daily life is through vision. And when you're losing it, that goes out the window.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's that's so cool. That is such a unique and phenomenal way to you know work with a customer, client, a patient. What do you call them?
SPEAKER_04I call them clients. I split them up the middle.
SPEAKER_01Okay. We're gonna I like I like client a lot. That's that's just that's phenomenal. That's more people should approach it like that. And I mean, unfortunately, in this day and age, some people just don't even seem to care about customers in general, clients in general. They just the lack of caring about the experience for them is just plummeted for some reason. That's really amazing. That's super interesting. So, do you tell, do they know? Do your clients know about you? Because I I just kind of wonder what the they do. Do you do you openly tell them? Are you just like, yeah, that guy who can't see but lets us see? Like just run on the round the blood.
SPEAKER_04That's one of my tag lines is I help you see better, even though I cannot.
SPEAKER_00And how awesome.
SPEAKER_04I tell people that, and it's also on my website when they come in. Some people come in because of that. They're like, I saw your story, it's amazing. And they're like, Wow, that's incredible. So you actually know what you're talking about. That's my favorite line that people say is like you have you know what you're talking about. And it's like, yes, I do. Thank you. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_05So in 2013, you opened your own shop. Do you want to tell us a little bit about oh, I'm sorry. That's when you went to school.
SPEAKER_04I went to school in 2013. Let me go in then in order because it's it's a it's it's a long story, but I know we have a limited amount of time. 2013, I went to school, uh, busted my butt very hard. Uh I had to take uh national exams. You have to take uh American Board of Opticianary exam, national contact lens examiner exam, have to graduate, and then you have to take a practical exam for depending on your state.
SPEAKER_05Were you given accommodations for those exams as well?
SPEAKER_04I had to fight for those.
SPEAKER_05Really?
SPEAKER_04I had to go before the state boards and request it. So I had to put the suit on, step before the board and say, hey guys. And oh yeah. So they it took some time, but it's like that's also not that's not abnormal of my life where I have to get before somebody and explain myself if I need this to live.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_04And I passed, my wife cried, I got emotional, it was great because I I did. That was the last step. Press that pack passed all those exams. It's like I graduated, passed certification tests, passed the practical. I got my license. I'm the first legally blind optician, licensed opticians in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the United States don't know, world, no idea, but at least for Massachusetts, I know I'm the only one.
SPEAKER_05That's that's awesome. Yeah, that is awesome.
SPEAKER_01And what is it called? Just so people do know what your place is called. I I don't want people to be sitting here going, like, what is it called though? I want to go there. Just so people are.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I want people to come in. I want people to, I want to be able to talk with them and help. It's Perception Optical in Arlington, Massachusetts.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_04And sometimes we have people that come in and just ask a zillion questions. And I'm like, ask a zillion questions. I've had people just had a voicemail guy wanted another price quote for a different lens, and I was like, Of course, I'll give it to you. I might an arm twister. I worked in those areas where it was arm twisting, and I hated it because it went against my ethics as a disabled person. Not to get too much into that, but it's like they truly did not want me working for them. They did not want a visually impaired optician working in their environment. And it was very hurtful.
SPEAKER_01I mean, you can prove that you know how to do it, right? I mean, that's uh did did they just judge right off the bat, or did they say, like, okay, well, first of all, let's see your process.
SPEAKER_04What's hard is that humans make mistakes. It happens. That's how we learn and evolve and grow and such. But when a nor when a quote unquote normal person makes a mistake, eh, these things happen, whatever. But when I make a mistake, but when I make a mistake, or you or Austin make a mistake, it's because you have your disability.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And you're gonna make that mistake again because of your disability. So now there's a bias ingrained in their head. Yep. Through their fault and not their fault. Not their fault is that that's how society put it as. It is their fault because they have the choice to acknowledge or not acknowledge that bias and make the accommodations, but they're not gonna make the accommodations because that just takes too much time. So I opened the store, which is funny because I kept getting let go from so many different jobs, and it was becoming very frustrating because I'm like, I'm licensed, I'm certified, I'm all these things that you need, but the disabled part you don't feel comfortable with. And I've had friends and family tell me, they're like, I have work with this person. They're like, he is horrible, and they just cannot fire him. But it's like you have a clean record in everything, and they're just like, Oh, you're not a good fit. That's the that's the reason I always got was you're not a good fit. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Is it like do you know if it's maybe because of and maybe they wouldn't tell you that was it them thinking that, or did some of the clients come in and go, I'm really uncomfortable with that? Am I getting the best service?
SPEAKER_04Clients, this is the crazy part. Clients loved it. Every place I've ever worked, no lie. Yeah. The clients loved a visually impaired because they were again, they're like, Wow, that's amazing. You know what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_05Well, yeah, you understand. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Business side of it, the business and medical side of it didn't like it. Even the medical side of opticiery didn't like it because it it went against the grain of what they were taught is that we're supposed to cure people, we're supposed to treat, you're not curable, you're not treatable, you're making me uncomfortable. And so that's that's your problem. So I started the business, I opened my own optical shop, and people say, you know, I shouldn't say that. It's true. Out of spite and out of survival.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. I do a lot of things out of spite.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, the spite was to be better. The spite was to be better. Yeah, it was not like, oh, I'll just I'll just open up just like no, no, no, no. I have to be better than everybody else. Yeah because I have no choice. I have to keep my business afloat to survive because I know what the other side is going to bring. It's gonna bring constant layoffs. Because so it's like this is at a pure survival. So to get more people to come in and understand what it is that I do and what it is that I care about is all the better. And it's too, it's like the transition also from people just tired of the corporate grind and wanting to go to an actual, you know, mom and pop, me and my wife run this place. Yeah. And to actually sit down and talk to someone and just I just sit there and I do the best part. I listen.
SPEAKER_01I love that. I just do you have any of your clients that come in since you do openly talk about your IRD with Stargardts? Do you have anyone that comes in that also has an IRD?
SPEAKER_04I have had some that have come in. Uh, I had, and this was very heartwoman. I had a um, this is when I knew that I was on the right course. I had a young lady, I'm sure she's older now, but uh, she was a little girl at the time. She drove all the way from Albany, New York to see me.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_04How many places, how many normal people you know it's like, oh, I'm gonna drive six hours to go to Lenscrafters because I really want no. This person drove from Albany, or that's probably about a three to Boston, that's probably about a three, three and a half hour drive with traffic. Took my time, fitted her. She wrote me a letter that she could see better than she ever could before. That made my day, it made my week, it made my career. That I that I was able to help someone with similar, if not exact, experiences. I may not be able to improve the vision, but I could take what vision there is and give that the priority. And all it takes is just to listen.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's all it takes. And a lot of people just can't do that because there is literally a corporate hand behind them slapping them, which I got as well, was that I kept getting yelled, not yelled at, but informed every week that my numbers weren't good enough.
SPEAKER_05Move them along, get them in and out. Move them along.
SPEAKER_04And what made me what made me want I'll say the number out loud. What finally had it was, and this was just before the pandemic hit, me personally, I busted my butt. I made $10,000 in sales that day by myself. I got like eight out of 10, 8 out of 10 clients that saw the doctor. And the regional manager was in, and I was like, all right, got eight out of ten, not bad. 10 grand. I was like, that sounds pretty good. And the manager said, Well, you missed the two. So do better tomorrow. And that was the moment there that I was like, you know, trust me, again, I'm keeping it PG on this thing. But I was just like, you know what? I am done working for the corporate side because it's just like, no matter how hard you work, it's not going to be good enough for them.
SPEAKER_01Yep. So that's not okay. That's it. It's and that's people don't walk away because they came, they got the product they wanted. That they don't go and talk about here, look at my new glasses. It's I had an amazing experience today. Go here, go to this place because this person I dealt with, I think his name was Adam or whatever it was, that that's what they'll say. Like he is amazing. Send your kids to him. Send suddenly their doors are opening, and clients are walking in going, Hi, are they working today? I want to see them.
SPEAKER_04Exactly. I was told this long ago, and it was great. You do a great job, they're gonna tell 10 people. Yep. You do a bad job, they're gonna tell a hundred people. It's true. Mm-hmm. Yes, for sure. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01That's that's that's pretty crazy. Exactly. So do you um do you don't have a ton of people that come? That's crazy because honestly, next time I need some glasses or something, I'll book a flight, I'll make a trip out of it, I'll go do some historical tours. That would be incredible. That would be such a cool experience.
SPEAKER_05I feel like fitting glasses and like making those adjustments to give a person the best. My own personal experience is I am difficult to fit. I'm difficult to fit for glasses, for contacts, for everything in the whole world.
SPEAKER_04I love a challenge.
SPEAKER_05I can imagine it's an art. So if I'm disappointed, like if they didn't get it just right the first time, I'm not gonna go in there angry and be like, give me my money back, slapping the glasses on the table. Because I understand that there's a lot that goes into it. And it is an art. I can imagine it's an art to get the right glasses for the right people at just the right settings to optimize what they do have left, especially for people like us who have very limited vision to begin with.
SPEAKER_04If it doesn't fit right, you can't see right.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Because even with high prescriptions, if it's jostling around as you're walking, that makes you dizzy. It can be vertigo-inducing. It's it has to sit on your head, not hold on to your head, sit on your head, trust in gravity. Sit on your head, and my ability, this is the part where it makes people a little uncomfortable and they understand. I have to look closer to see your facial features. Really close. And I tell them beforehand. So, because I want to make sure it fits. You're not leaving until it's comfortable. And the fact that I'm patient with them with that, with that when it comes to like, I'm so sorry. I'm like, don't be sorry. We just gotta fit it. Oh no, I love a challenge. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_05I don't know if we can if we can um touch a little bit on your recent solo trip abroad. I'd love to if that's okay.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely, absolutely. I took my first solo trip to Europe. I've been to Europe before, I've been to Ireland and I've been to England, but I was traveling with my wife. But this was my first time to continental Europe and my first time by myself as a disabled traveler. And it was it was a very, very good experience.
SPEAKER_05That's awesome. We just had our travel episode, so I'm interested to hear how it went from you from the in I mean, traversing airports to I know, and you're a lot of parts in Europe, there's the train system as or the bus system as opposed to just getting in a taxi. Um, how did you find all of that?
SPEAKER_04We know here in the United States, uh, usually when you get to the airport, it's the airline that helps you to the gate. They usually have a rep, and then the airline helps you board, and then the flight attendants, you know, help you to your seat.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So getting there, getting there to the Netherlands, it's airport staff, not the airline. The Schiphol Airport has a dedicated disability staff and waiting area. That's how important it is to them.
SPEAKER_05Nice.
SPEAKER_04So when I got off the flight, they were waiting in the jetway. What they did was their their protocol is everybody else leaves the airplane. I'm the last one off.
SPEAKER_05Yep.
SPEAKER_04And then the flight attendant walks me to the door, step off the airplane. I'm now officially on the jetway, so now I'm on, you know, Dutch soil. And they wear like a very uh, it's like an orange in navy jacket. It's got the big handicap sticker, you know, placard on the back. And they're just like, hello, Adam, I'm gonna help you through um passport control, go through customs. And they just I didn't check any bags. I don't like to check bags because I just like to keep it on me. Not for the whole lost baggage thing, it's just that's a vision thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04If I'm traveling with someone who can see, then we'll check bags because then you can look for it. They helped me all the way through, and in the Netherlands, the train station is connected to the airport. So literally right at the line where the airport ends and the train station begins was the help the entire way. And they were like, okay, they're like, here's the ticket office. I leave you be, but they're like, they'll help you if it needs everything's also in English as well, which is nice. About 98% of the Netherlands speaks English. That made that easier as well. Coming back was even more incredible because I switched hands about three or four times. I went to the help desk, help desk to the disabled center. Someone was assigned to you to escort you all the way through security to the gate. Then you had a new person assigned to you to help you board the aircraft. I mean, it wasn't just like some random, like, oh yeah, let me let me get you some help one second. No, no, no, no, no. This was their department. They're like, we created this for you. You're not the inconvenience. This department is to assist you. Because I had once I got going home, I had no idea how to navigate the airport. So I really needed help. Yeah. Because one of the things that arts do is like the the arrival, departure signs, the terminal numbers, those are way up there. Those are too far away for me to see. And I'm like 20 feet in the sky, and it's like, I can't see that. Right. So they helped me all the way through, and it was great.
SPEAKER_01That's very cool. Do you find yourself using because I, you know, for you it's getting closer to people. Well, two things about that. When when you're so it's it's the center that's kind of harder, you can't see through. That's what Stargards is, that's scarring and whatnot. Do you do you look off to the side a little bit so you can use that peripheral? Is that kind of how you deal with every day a little bit?
SPEAKER_04A little bit, yeah. It's it's like the central vision, there's not as much foggy in the central vision, but I can't pinpoint. So it's common throughout my whole life to sort of naturally want to look down or look up. Sure. And kind of scan that way to kind of get as much of the periphery in as I can. Yeah. Because people always used to ask me that, even my own wife would be like, What are you looking at? I'm like, I'm not looking at anything.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Nope. I understand that. You know, it's weird for me about nice pigmentosa is, and I don't know if it's normal, but all the way on the far outer ridges, I do have my peripheral still. It's it's this big center block. So I'll be able to look over here and see a light or something and know like a door just opened all the way over here. Like, how did you see that? Like, dude, listen, I'm I I I don't know, honestly. Ask the questions, it's fine. So, um, with so I would imagine, do you use your phone a lot because of you needing to get closer to zoom in to like, you know, to use your video camera and zoom in a lot to things around you?
SPEAKER_04Yep. I had to do that when I got to the Netherlands to see the board on the for the trains. That's what I was saying.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04I had to break out my phone, turn on the camera, zoom in to see which train I needed to get to because I wasn't staying in Amsterdam, I was staying with a friend in Eindhoven. So I had to look for the different names to make sure I had the right one. And they have an app, it's a national transit app, which was also great because you could also make it large print. That helps a lot too. And when worse comes to worse, I asked a question. I asked someone a question and they returned it in English. They're like, Yes. Like getting back, I was like, is this the train to the airport? And he looked up and he responded, yes, this is the train to the airport. That's all I needed to know.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Asking that question can be hard. You know, that I said it in our last episode about traveling and whatnot, is to leave your shame at the door. Just ask the questions. If you need help, just ask for assistance. Nothing's gonna change in your life. It's just, I know it can feel a little bit vulnerable, but it gets easy.
SPEAKER_04It gets scary because it's what I don't like is it makes it even harder, is we are easy targets because we are disabled. Yeah. And so we watch all the YouTube videos and everything, is they're like beware of pit pockets, beware people taking advantage of you. Like nine out of ten people are gonna you're gonna hurt you. And it's like, that's not true, but you should still be a little bit vigilant and also trust your instincts.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04And it's like went to London, didn't get my my I didn't get pickpocketed or anything. Was in the Netherlands, didn't get pickpocketed or anything.
SPEAKER_01That's cool. Uh we are getting closer on time, but I would like to know how your experience was because charity has been overseas, I have been overseas, and what what was your experience with do you do how they all received it? Do you think there was any difference between being in the States, being, you know, as far as a disability goes vision, was that you know, some place I had a hard time explaining that I I can't see what you're saying, what you're doing, what you're trying to explain to me. I don't understand what you're doing.
SPEAKER_04I think, weird as this sounds, I think they didn't care in the good way. I like that. They the airport was amazingly helpful, irregardless of your situation. Like, yeah, I'm gonna help you. The public, the Dutch public seem to just not care in the good way. Like, that's who you are, that's what you need to do to get through your life. I have my life, and that's the way it's gonna be. And if you need something, I'm just ask me a question, I'll help you out as best I can. But it wasn't seen as like I you make me uncomfortable because I have this premise like the United States seems to be a little bit more that way. That it's like don't get me wrong, there's some j there are some beautiful people in this world who will help out. Like I was in Atlanta trying to get to Atlanta airport, and there were a lot of good people helping me out. So they do exist.
SPEAKER_05I travel through Atlanta all the time, and it's a massive an airport, but the support there is fantastic.
SPEAKER_04And this wasn't just the airline, this was just complete public. Like I'm trying to get on the subway to get to the next, the next concourse, and people were just like, the escalator's to your left and a couple feet. And I didn't even ask them, and I was like, and I just said out loud, thank you. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01That's very cool, dude. I I don't find I've I think I've had one friend that just I mean, when I was in Greece, she out of nowhere went eight, like eight, nine. Like, what are we doing here? And she said, No, there's eight stairs coming up in front of you. Like, I didn't even know that you knew my vision was like this. And she said, No, like I've heard things and I just I figured that that would be easier for you to know that. But thank you so much. That's very cool. And it's it, I'm glad you're you you see it like that and whatnot, because it's not like our vision, obviously, our vision impacts what we do, but it's so easy to say no to life. I'm glad you're out there and you're getting it done, you're doing it. You started a business, ironically, in the thing that we have an issue with. That's insane. It's like it'd be the same thing if we got a job fixing cars and we can't even drive them.
SPEAKER_04It just means you respect it even more. Sure. Yeah, it's not something lottie-doty you. It's like, no, it's like I really need this to live, so therefore, I'm gonna make sure that you're okay when you put these glasses on. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Well, we are coming up to being out of time. It's been a great conversation. It's very cool to talk to someone outside the retinized pigmentosa uh community, and what you've done is pretty awesome. To it's not easy to to go through vision loss and to still have that motivation, that fortitude to keep going despite it, and to push yourself through with that gumption to just keep going. So that's I'm commending you here. That's amazing to do that. And I I hope that people out there that are listening. Even if you're sighted when you're going through something, if Adam right here is proof that you can do it despite the challenges we go through, things can be harder. We always say this it's harder, it looks different. There's always still a path towards what you want to do in life. Even if it's a little even if it's a little goofy, if it's a little clown shoes, it's okay. Yeah. Um, Adam, I like to always kind of sign off these with giving people the option to, you know, whether it be ourselves or you, like what would you say to someone who is maybe has starguards themselves that is questioning going to school or going after life or starting a business, whatever it may be, that maybe something you wish you would have told yourself or anything like that?
SPEAKER_04That it's okay to try, and you're not gonna know unless you try. Assuming it's not going to happen or assuming that you can't do it is honestly not the best policy. It doesn't matter. Learn a language, play an instrument, try something. Even if it didn't work, even if it stopped, it didn't mean that you failed it. It means that you tried to do the best of your ability and you still took in that knowledge that you tried. You can still love the field and still be a part of it, but just not necessarily in that specific way. There is absolutely no shame in trying to live, trying to explore, trying to just take in everything that life has itself has to offer. No matter what anybody says, just try it. And you may like it, you may not like it. You don't know unless you don't know what the future brings unless you try it.
SPEAKER_01That's right. That's absolutely right. It's just just don't tell just don't discount yourself before you give it a go. Yeah, exactly. Awesome. I love that. Uh well, once again, everyone, this is Adam, who has defied the odds with Stargards and inherited retinal disease, and not only went through school, went through life, he also opened up his own optical shop. And it is called Perception Optical in Arlington, Massachusetts. For anyone that's around there, or if you want to make a drive, he clearly cares very much about his clients. I think I might book a flight there and kind of feel my way around Arlington a little bit.
SPEAKER_04It's not far from Boston. We're just two towns over. Yeah. As a celebration, just go to my website, perceptionoptical.com. You can learn about my story. You can you can ask me, you can email me a question. I I ship glasses to people all the time. I've shipped, I've shipped to my brother-in-law out in California and my parents in Texas. I've even shipped overseas to the Netherlands to my friend.
SPEAKER_01I love it. That's awesome. Yeah. I love it. Well, that's all we got for today, guys. Once again, we are Central Vision Podcast. Thank you so much for stopping by. Remember to like, share, and follow because it helps put us in front of the people that may need to hear the messages that we put out there and to see the guests that we have on, such as Adam today. And we'd love to hear in the comments uh maybe what your experience is, maybe if you have some questions that we can answer, or we can tag Adam that he could maybe answer something if you wonder about going to you know an optic optician school, optician training. I'd be more than happy to answer questions. Perfect, perfect. So thanks again, guys. Once again, we are on Facebook, TikTok, and we are on Instagram, and that's at Central Vision Podcast. We are on Central Vision Podcast.com, and we are also on YouTube for those of you that are listening. Thank you for being here. We'll see you next Tuesday.
