Personal Perspectives on Vision Loss with Dawn McAvoy
My guest today is Dawn McAvoy. Dawn lives with Stargardt’s Disease, which happens to be the same inherited retinal condition that I have. Unlike myself, though, Dawn was diagnosed much late in life, leading to a very different kind of adjustment process then mine. Let’s get right into my conversation with her.
Finding Clarity in the Darkness: Dawn McAvoy's Journey with Stargardt Disease
This blog post accompanies Episode [X] of Insight Out, featuring my conversation with Dawn McAvoy. I encourage you to listen to the full episode to hear Dawn's compelling story in her own words.
Sometimes the most powerful stories come from unexpected places. When I first heard about Dawn McAvoy's experience with vision loss, I knew immediately that our podcast audience needed to hear her story. Dawn lives with Stargardt Disease – the same inherited retinal condition that I have – but her journey has been remarkably different from my own.
A Different Kind of Diagnosis
Unlike many of us who receive our vision loss diagnoses in childhood or early adulthood, Dawn was 46 when she first noticed something was wrong during a routine eye exam. What followed was an eight-year odyssey of medical appointments, conflicting information, and growing symptoms that didn't quite fit the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) diagnosis she initially received.
Dawn's story highlights something I see far too often in our community: the challenge of navigating a healthcare system that isn't always equipped to provide clear answers about rare conditions. After years of uncertainty, Dawn took matters into her own hands, using AI to analyze her genetic test results. When she finally sat down with her retinal specialist and said, "I think I have Stargardt Disease," the doctor's response was refreshingly direct: "You're right. You do."
The Power of Self-Advocacy
What strikes me most about Dawn's experience is her approach to self-advocacy. Rather than passively waiting for answers, she dove deep into research, connected with communities, and ultimately diagnosed herself. Her immediate reaction to receiving confirmation? "Woo-hoo, I'm right!" It's a moment that perfectly captures Dawn's pragmatic, solution-focused personality.
But Dawn also demonstrates something crucial that I try to emphasize in my practice: the importance of allowing yourself to grieve while simultaneously taking action. She describes what she calls "giving into the suck" – deliberately setting aside time to feel the difficult emotions while also dedicating energy to learning and adapting.
Community and Connection
One of the most powerful parts of our conversation centered on Dawn's experience at a Stargardt Disease conference in Boston. It was there that she met Shane, a farmer who had lived with the condition since age seven. Their friendship illustrates something beautiful about our community – how we can support each other across different stages of vision loss and life experience.
Dawn also shared candid insights about how her diagnosis affected her relationships. While some professional colleagues seemed to fade away, her true friends stepped up in meaningful ways. As she put it, vision loss has a way of showing you "people for who they are and relationships for what they are."
Embracing the Tools
Perhaps my favorite part of our conversation was Dawn's relationship with her white cane, which she's lovingly named "Rick Stickfield" after 80s heartthrob Rick Springfield. Her mobility instructor, Natasha, helped her discover something profound: with the cane, she could look up while walking instead of constantly watching her feet.
"I felt so strong," Dawn told me about that first experience. "I felt free. I was looking up and taking everything in."
This transformation from reluctant user to enthusiastic advocate speaks to something I see often in my work – how the right assistive tools don't just help us navigate the world differently, they can actually restore confidence and independence we didn't even realize we'd lost.
The Both/And Approach
What I find most instructive about Dawn's story is her "both/and" approach to living with vision loss. She fully acknowledges the grief and difficulty while simultaneously finding humor, solutions, and community. She doesn't minimize the challenges, but she also refuses to let them define her entire experience.
"Would I want it? No, absolutely not," she says about Stargardt Disease. "But there are things that I wouldn't give up that I've learned along the way."
This perspective – holding space for both the losses and the gifts – is something I try to help my clients develop. It's not about toxic positivity or pretending everything is fine. It's about recognizing that our experiences can be complex and multifaceted.
Practical Wisdom
Throughout our conversation, Dawn shared practical insights that I know will resonate with many listeners:
The importance of being upfront with employers about accommodation needs
How disclosure can actually reduce the energy it takes to hide your condition
The value of connecting with others who share your experience
The freedom that comes from not being ashamed of using assistive devices
A Message of Hope
If you're newly diagnosed with vision loss, or if you're supporting someone who is, Dawn's story offers a roadmap for moving forward. It's not always easy, and it's certainly not linear, but it is possible to build a rich, satisfying life with vision loss.
Dawn's journey reminds us that adjustment to disability isn't about returning to who we were before – it's about discovering who we can become. Sometimes that discovery leads us to places we never expected, and sometimes, if we're open to it, those places can be pretty wonderful.
Listen to the full episode with Dawn McAvoy on inSight Out podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd like to share your own story or suggest future topics, visit us at speakpipe.com/insightoutpod.
inSight Out is produced by Integral Mental Health Services. For more information about psychotherapy services for vision loss adjustment, visit integralmhs.com.
-
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
We hear Dawn McAvoy’s personal perspective on vision loss. Dawn’s diagnosis came later in life after a great deal of confusion around what condition she was facing. While maintaining her career in marketing, Dawn uses humor, connection with community, research, and an honest embrace of her feelings to learn about herself and thrive with low vision.
ABOUT THE PODCAST
inSight Out is your podcast home for living well with vision loss. Host Matthew Reeves (LPC CRC NCC) is a legally-blind psychotherapist and rehabilitation counselor specializing in helping people thrive while living with disability. Matthew is licensed in Georgia and is a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor.
Please be sure to subscribe to catch every episode. And remember to share the show with others in the blind and low-vision community!
CONNECT WITH US
Podcast Home: https://insightoutpod.com
Talk to Us: https://speakpipe.com/insightoutpod
Email: mailto:insightoutpod@integralmhs.com
Watch on YouTube (with transcripts): youtube.com/@insightoutpod
Feed: https://www.insightoutpod.com/feed.xml
Reddit Community: https://www.reddit.com/r/inSightOut/
Social Media Handle: @insightoutpod
©Integral Mental Health Services, LLC
-
The following transcript is AI generated and likely contains errors.
[00:00:00]
Dawn McAvoy: But, um, when I went in to see her. I sat right down and she said, "how are you doing?" I said, I said, I'm struggling a little bit. I said, and I don't think I have AMD. And she said, "you don't?" She said, "what do you think you have?" I said, I think I have Stargardts. Don't get mad, but I plugged it into AI."
'Cause you know, the medical people hate that. And she just, she just chuckled. And she's like, "You're right. You do. Have a seat." And it was one of these that when the, the second that she confirmed it for me, my immediate reaction, my immediate reaction was, "woo-hoo. I'm right!" Because I do love being right, and I was relieved.
Matthew Reeves: You're listening to Insight Out a podcast about living well with low vision. Maybe you're feeling confused, scared, isolated, [00:01:00] or disheartened about a recent vision loss diagnosis, or maybe you've been managing your vision loss for a while and now you want to hear from others about how to continue growing and thriving. Insight Out is your supportive space to find healthy and impactful tools to build and maintain a truly rich and gratifying life with low or no vision.
I'm Matthew Reeves. I'm a legally blind psychotherapist and rehabilitation counselor. I specialize in helping people adjust to disability through my practice, integral Mental Health Services in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm really glad you're listening.
Please subscribe so you don't miss an episode, and let others in the low vision community know about the podcast so the word can spread to those who might find it helpful. And now on with today's discussion.
Matthew Reeves: My guest today is Dawn McAvoy. Dawn lives with Stargardt's Disease, which happens to be the same inherited retinal condition that I. Have, unlike myself though, [00:02:00] Dawn was diagnosed much later in life leading to a very different kind of adjustment process than mine. Let's get right into my conversation with her.
Matthew Reeves: All right, Dawn, thanks so much for being here today. Uh, when I heard your story, uh, I thought it was really compelling and I thought this audience might get a lot out of hearing it. Uh, that story from that initial diagnosis and symptoms, uh, up through. A career transition and education and, uh, just all the adjustments you've made to live well with Low Vision.
So thanks for being here. Thanks for sharing your story, and I'll let you just launch right into it. What, what, what does your story sound like? I.
Dawn McAvoy: Yeah, so thanks for having me. And I will say that everyone that everyone that I've to who has low vision or some sort of, um, oh, I hate the word handicap, but something that they've had to overcome to deal with, like. Just a thousand compelling stories out there. So, and something to learn from every single one.
[00:03:00] For me, macular degeneration has run in my mother's side of the family. It's been a known thing. Um, my great-grandmother was. Blind but not really blind. So we kind of thought of her as the scary old lady who would grab your arm when you were a little kid and pull you close and
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Dawn McAvoy: like this out of the side of her eye, hi.
And we just thought it was very strange 'cause we were young kids and I honestly think she had star guards like fla flash
Matthew Reeves: Ah.
Dawn McAvoy: I genuinely believe that she had star So with this history, at 46, I went to an optometrist for just regular vision. I need, I have a prescription for distance and I needed to upgrade it.
And my poor optometrist, he was young, early in his career and he kind of freaked out a little bit and. asked, he was like, oh, I can't believe I'm seeing this. I can't believe I'm seeing this. I was like, okay, well talk to me. What are you seeing? And he said, I, I see these, I see these drops. I see [00:04:00] what's called drusen.
And I was like, okay, well what does that mean? And he, and he asked, he said, did you said you have a history of MD in your family? He said, I do. And he's like, well, he said, it doesn't make any sense 'cause you're only 46. He said, but that's what I'm seeing. But that
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: that triggered the path to. Me really kind of diving in and I was fortunate enough to be working at the time with a woman who had a good friend who worked in the low vision center at the University of Toronto and she said, let me connect you with my friend.
And that started what turned out to be an eight year journey of figuring out exactly what was wrong with me. And I'm gonna
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: in error quotations for the audio Because there was nothing wrong with me. I'm just a little different. Um, long story short.
Matthew Reeves: But for clarity, for clarity, for 46 years, you had no symptoms every other than typical like optical nearsightedness or farsightedness, that sort of thing.
Dawn McAvoy: [00:05:00] things that didn't make sense at the time, but weren't big enough for me to really think about. So
Matthew Reeves: Gotcha.
Dawn McAvoy: for example, in my mid twenties,
Matthew Reeves: I.
Dawn McAvoy: bought a new house. I flew in, I was living in at the time. Flew in late at night and drove with them out to Eastern North Carolina, which is very dark and very rural and never had a problem driving at night and all of a sudden started seeing cross like double vision.
And the oncoming lights were really bothersome to the extent that I had to pull over and ask my mother to drive.
Matthew Reeves: Wow.
Dawn McAvoy: thought about, just thought that it was an anomaly, and then I think I just adjusted and got to the point where it's like, okay, well I'll just be really careful when night.
Um. Didn't really look into
Matthew Reeves: How? How'd that go?
Dawn McAvoy: You know, it at night. I just made sure that
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: had my distance prescription, which And I was just careful. Um, lived in the middle of nowhere at the school, [00:06:00] and so it was just, you just kinda rolled with it and you didn't really think much of it.
I think you just adjust. I think you
Matthew Reeves: Right, right.
Dawn McAvoy: You adjust
Matthew Reeves: You were rolling with something you didn't, you weren't even aware of at the time.
Dawn McAvoy: that's not
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: And that's another part of
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: flash forward you know, I of a MD and I'm like, okay, this is ridiculous. Um, ridiculous in that much younger than anyone else in my family.
And also, you know, starting on the AREDS and the protocols and all of this and just becoming very, very hyper aware of things. And I remember saying to my mother when I first got my diagnosis. That the minute I lost my driver's license, I was going to get a dog. And my mother
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Dawn McAvoy: has a MD said, you're gonna be just You're not gonna, you're not gonna lose your vision. You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be like me. You're gonna be like your grandma. not my great-grandmother, my grandma who fine
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Dawn McAvoy: but was fine. [00:07:00] And I I think I just always kind of knew in the back of my mind that maybe this was a little different and I started having.
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: that I didn't think too much of, when I got to the point and all the while. So I'm in Canada and the healthcare system here is a little different, so of T, university of Toronto, their low vision center connected me to a low vision specialist who ended up, up finally getting in touch with a retinologist and I would go in for annual screenings to see.
Everything's fine, everything's fine, everything's fine till it's not fine. And I started noticing that I needed cheaters. I never had a vision, so I had a problem with distance, but I never had a problem with up close with screens or reading my iPhone or anything like that. And all of a sudden it got like one day, it was like a switch where I really couldn't
Matthew Reeves: Wow.
Dawn McAvoy: and I started using cheaters was just getting old.
Matthew Reeves: Cheaters, meaning reading glasses. Just
Dawn McAvoy: exactly.
Matthew Reeves: [00:08:00] Okay. Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: getting know so many people who are like, oh, you know, we're, we're, I'm 55 now. Um, so I was in my late forties, early fifties, and I was like, oh yeah, this is just what happens. Um, meanwhile, I continue to go for, it was every two then it was every year, and I called for an emergency appointment one day.
Because I had what I call fireworks, I
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Dawn McAvoy: like just shooting stars. It was like, but also terrifying. Um, and I, it was a Sunday and I called the, I called the doctor's office, the retinologist department for an emergency consult because I was afraid that if I had a MD, which is what I thought I had, I was afraid I had breakthrough bleeding and that I needed to get it
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: and.
Went and it was an intern. She was lovely. Uh, I got authorized for an emergency appointment. She ran the scans and she said she didn't [00:09:00] see any bleeding. And I was like, well, obviously something is wrong. you know, this was big enough for me to go, oh wait, that's not right.
Matthew Reeves: Right,
Dawn McAvoy: it
Matthew Reeves: right.
Dawn McAvoy: you know, the flashing and then what a little bit of the glitter, where you get the sparkles.
Um. And I called for an appointment and again, it, the healthcare system's a little differently, so she got me in as quickly as she could, but it was a few weeks that's when in the meantime, I had been sent for genetic testing. The government, the ministry here approved me for genetic testing, but it takes a long time to get those results back.
Matthew Reeves: Okay. Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: during this time I'm on the phone, I back and I meet with the genetic counselor who's walking me through the results. I have a pathogenic gene, which she says, oh, but don't worry 'cause it's only on one side. I was like, okay, great. I'm good. Whatever's going on, we're gonna get it sorted out.
And my doctor, um, [00:10:00] so it's a little confusing, but the appointment. So during the appointment where my genetic results came back, I met with her, the emergency situation. I had a meeting with her before those results came back and she even, she was like, okay, something is going on. I'm not sure, but let's, you know, let's wait for the results.
They'll be coming through soon, yada, yada, yada. So called again for another emergency appointment. Like it got to the point where this was this, and I'm talking to my mother and I'm explaining what's going on, and she's like, that's so weird. I don't have that. you don't have that. You, I love my mother dearly, but she's like, that's, that's not
Matthew Reeves: It's.
Dawn McAvoy: It's like this. And I was like, no, no, no. Mine is like Colors were starting to bother me. Um, I'm in marketing, so color's very important and I was starting to lose the differentiation more in shades than actual colors. And then
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Dawn McAvoy: I call the glitter eyes started like now it's just I have glitter all the time.
And I call it [00:11:00] glitter eyes because I refuse to give it a name that is scientific or medical or something that is not lovely. And glitter, glitter sounds rather rather lovely
Matthew Reeves: Litter Sounds lovely. Yeah. Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: when the actual diagnosis at this point, like I've been making adjustments at work, um, but privately and adjustments, meaning now I need everything on the big monitor, not the small monitor, and I'm not quite sure why.
And I am carrying 17 different pairs of cheaters in various prescriptions in case I don't, in case I lose one. Started carrying a mag, uh, magnifying glass. Um. And like, I'm muddling along. but I know I fundamentally know something is off and
Matthew Reeves: been told at this point that there is, you've got genetic data that says something's wrong, but it's not clear what.
Dawn McAvoy: with said, oh, but it's, it's only on one side. [00:12:00] So.
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: it's, you know, it's nothing. It's nothing to worry you see, when you see a report that says something, one of your genes is pathogenic, of course
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: that's
Matthew Reeves: I.
Dawn McAvoy: So in between all of this, I just get super curious and I plug, I plug my results into Claude ai. I
Matthew Reeves: Oh, right.
Dawn McAvoy: the pathogenic gene, two and one unknown. So four different strings of information that I just plug.
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: pull up my whole report up there 'cause that feels very private.
But I pull out those pieces and plug it into AI and say, okay, what could this be? And it spit out four or five different things that it could be. And one of them was Stargardt. And I literally went down the list of things that it could be and started researching. And then I asked ai, I said, okay, for, for this one, what are the symptoms for this one?
What are the symptoms? And when I ran the ones for Stargardt with the symptoms, I was like, that's it. what I [00:13:00] have.
Matthew Reeves: So you, you had the. Experience where at least two medical professionals are expressing awe or dismay or like, like the, the, the people who are supposed to know what's going on and support you and give you the information that's not happening. To the extent that you turned to AI to get answers, that's what was that like for you to, to be kind of on your own in that way?
Dawn McAvoy: is and I, and I don't mean it as awful as it sounds, but I was just kind of like, yeah, okay. Like, yeah, sort of like the first guy, I think the first guy, the first optometrist I explained it away is, oh, he's so young. Like he's. But to be fair, he's the one that like flagged it and actually got me doing something about it.
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: retinologist, I don't wanna say anything her lovely. I [00:14:00] also think she's incredibly overworked. She's got a huge practice. Um,
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: I know that because when I've called to say, you. Like, they'll get me in as quickly as they can, but as quickly as they can,
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: week.
So.
Matthew Reeves: a theme I'm noticing when I talk to, to folks is that it's, it's rarely the, when we encounter problems with services, it's rarely the, in the, the, the people we're working with. Aren't aren't talented or caring or compassionate or skilled, it's usually that they're working within a system that is strained.
Um, So.
yeah, that sounds like that's the case here too.
Dawn McAvoy: but she's compassionate in her own way. She is very matter of fact, very matter of fact. And I have to say, I respond well to that. Um, I know that not everyone does. I, I just like, I think probably given my background business wise and dealing with [00:15:00] private equity investors and people like that, you just learn that, you know, that's how some people are.
But, um, when I went in to see her. I sat right down and she said, "how are you doing?" I said, I said, I'm struggling a little bit. I said, and I don't think I have AMD. And she said, "you don't?" She said, "what do you think you have?" I said, I think I have Stargardts. Don't get mad, but I plugged it into AI."
'Cause you know, the medical people hate that. And she just, she just chuckled. And she's like, "You're right. You do. Have a seat." And it was one of these that when the, the second that she confirmed it for me, my immediate reaction, my immediate reaction was, "woo-hoo. I'm right!" Because I do love being right, and I was relieved.
Matthew Reeves: that kind of counterbalance, the life-changing diagnosis. It was like, at least I get to be right.
Dawn McAvoy: sink it didn't sink in. That came later. Um, I
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Dawn McAvoy: I was happy that I was right and I was finally have an [00:16:00] answer and to
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: okay, this is an a MD, all of this going through. It makes perfect sense.
I'm not crazy. was, it was that, and it wasn't until, oh, also in this appointment, she said, I'm really sorry, but I have to write a letter to the Ministry of Transportation. Basically, we're, we're suspending your license.
Matthew Reeves: right.
Dawn McAvoy: And
Matthew Reeves: I.
Dawn McAvoy: that, I had gotten to the was uncomfortable and painful, and I am somebody I loved to drive.
I love the independence. I love the freedom. I would hop in the car. I live in Canada, my parents are in North Carolina. I would hop in the car and drive down to North Carolina two, three times a year and not think
Matthew Reeves: Wow.
Dawn McAvoy: But the
Matthew Reeves: I.
Dawn McAvoy: trip I was so white stressed out. That I was like, no, I, I, when she said that, I was like, I don't even care.
Like okay, I live in a city, I
Matthew Reeves: It sounds like it was almost a relief to have to have it taken away so that it's not your to [00:17:00] call anymore.
Dawn McAvoy: of any self-imposed, self-imposed, I recognize it, self-imposed pressure drive home whenever I felt needed.
Matthew Reeves: right.
Dawn McAvoy: was, almost like a, So came
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: called My Parents. 'cause of course they're very worried, they wanna know what's going on.
And so I'm 50. I was 54 when all of this. I'm 55 now. I was 54 when this happened. Um, and I had to explain to them that I had joined the Rare Disease Club wasn't really sure what it meant, what was gonna learn everything that I could and know I love you very much, but please don't come here. Because I need to sit with this for a little while and I need to figure it out.
Matthew Reeves: Uh, so that gets me intrigued given what I do for a living. What was that like for you, that process of that processing time that you needed? What, where [00:18:00] were you and where were you getting to? What was that about?
Dawn McAvoy: personality, my psyche, whatever my natural tendency with anything is. To dive in and learn everything I can
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: to be really cognizant of, had to allow myself to go through the emotional pain. is a grieving process with any kind of loss. I have lost, I have lost people very, very close to me, so I've been through that before.
This felt different, but very similar, and I call it, I call it giving into the suck. Where there, especially at first, like I would allow myself like, okay, today's just gonna be one of those days. I have to give into it. I have to allow myself to feel these feelings, and then I have to pull myself up and figure it out.
So I would allow myself, I would time box it and say, okay, you can feel sorry for yourself for [00:19:00] two hours today, two hours whenever you choose it. And then other than that, you're gonna start learning what you need to learn. And that's
Matthew Reeves: So you with, so you discovered that grief is this thing, uh, is almost a tangible thing that you can engage with and then disengage with to, to one degree or another at will. Now, I know sometimes it's, feels like there's not will.
Dawn McAvoy: compartmentalize,
Matthew Reeves: Gotcha.
Dawn McAvoy: I think. I'm pretty
Matthew Reeves: Gotcha.
Dawn McAvoy: and it's just a defense mechanism and a survival tactic and.
Matthew Reeves: Absolutely. Yeah. I like to say that you can, you can choose to, to temporarily put your shelf, put your grief on the shelf for a little while, and then return to it. And, and it's a, it's a place of honor. Uh, but, but it doesn't have to be something you're holding constantly. No. you can't leave it there.
Dawn McAvoy: put it in the top shelf of the closet and think it's gonna [00:20:00] go away. 'cause it'll
Matthew Reeves: Right,
Dawn McAvoy: back in all kinds of awful ways.
Matthew Reeves: Agreed.
Dawn McAvoy: So, yeah. So then I got to the my, routine became okay in the morning, I'm going to do my thing.
I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna make my coffee, I'm gonna go out for a walk. I'm gonna think about this a little bit. Maybe I'm crying on my walk. Maybe I hold it until
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: And then I get in the shower, um, when I get frustrated and I cry. 'cause I, I cry when I get frustrated. I cry in the shower and just get it out and then move on.
So I threw myself into the educational side of it. I have been very, very fortunate. Um, I was diagnosed in a January and February. There was the second annual ever Stargardt's conference hosted by the Carol Institute for the Blind in Boston.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: went to that, it was like, I'm gonna go, I'm this.
I'm gonna go meet other people. Um. [00:21:00] Wonderful, wonderful people, and it was a great experience and I learned a lot. I
Matthew Reeves: What did you get from that experience?
Dawn McAvoy: um, I on me on a regular basis and vice versa. got, um, was a very powerful speaker who opened the session for us and talked about her journey and kind of how she's navigated it and what she's doing now.
Like she's, she's got bios and she's driving, and for me that was like, oh. Like, I'm not sure I wanna drive again, but if I do, there may be an option to do that. Um, and just seeing how other people navigate. it was also really eye-opening. A I'm very lucky. I have family's very supportive. A cousin went with me she's medical professional and she was, was so funny because we were in this amphitheater that was very steep a lot of stairs going down.
And I would say. Were you there by any chance? Did you go?
Matthew Reeves: No, [00:22:00] I wasn't. I, I saw it online, but I wasn't there.
Dawn McAvoy: of the people there that had star guards had canes, and
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: cousin was freaking out about them walking the with the canes and I just started laughing. I was like, this is what they do. they have learned how to do this.
When it's my turn, I'm gonna learn how to do this and I'm gonna go down the stairs with the cane and it's gonna be fine. And so that was my first glimpse into the, okay, there are gonna be other issues to deal with in respect to
Matthew Reeves: Like this is a, this is a process that I'm not done with. Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: whole managing family piece of it too.
And when I say managing family, I mean that in a very kind way. Um.
Matthew Reeves: Sure.
Dawn McAvoy: What else did I get out of it? a lovely gentleman by the name of Shane. So I went to this conference never having, I didn't know anything about Stargardt other than what I'd started researching. Thought I had never met anybody with Stargardt until I thought about my [00:23:00] great-grandmother, and I said, Matilda, Matilda had it.
Um. And I walked into, they had a reception for those of us that came in from out of town the night before. And I walked into the lounge not knowing what to expect. And I see this guy kind of, and I tell him he knows this story, so I don't feel bad about sharing it. He's standing off to the side, he's got on a tweak cap and, and overalls, and he's got his hands in.
His overalls is Farmer. Come to find out he is a farmer. And he just had that blank stare, know that blank. Blind, low vision person, stare. And I just looked at him and I went, oh Like, oh crap, this is what I'm in for. And I went and introduced myself to him and he is the most wonderful person he was diagnosed with this at, with this when he was seven.
This is the first time he's ever come to an event. he wanted to get out of it was understanding technology and learning new tools to help him. I wanted to get out of it is, what am I dealing with? So now we [00:24:00] are, we are text buddies and I help him out with the text side and he helps me out with the, Hey, what's going on?
This is new to me. What
Matthew Reeves: So,
Dawn McAvoy: normal? And then,
Matthew Reeves: so you interpreted that blank stare as some sort of fate that you were awaiting, but that wasn't the case at all. He was, he was grabbing the opportunity to grow and, and learn too. But yeah.
it's, it was a different, a different, it was a little bit of a surprise there it sounds like.
Dawn McAvoy: it they had medical panelists that talked a lot about the studies and the things that are going on. And it's interesting because when you live with something that there is no treatment for, but you know, there's a lot of work going on around it. It feels like you're in, it feels like you could easily be stuck in this limbo world of, I'm just gonna hope for a cure.
I'm just gonna hope for a cure. for me and where I am in my life, I mean, I'm 55 years old, would I, I would absolutely love a cure. [00:25:00] I don't really think it's gonna happen in time to help me. think it will happen in time to help other people. So I don't live with that sense of hope in the same way that young people do or parents of young children do.
Um, so I stay, I stay tapped into that community, but. I get a little, personally, I get a little stressed out when people onto that. Like, to be fair, like everybody has to deal with this in their
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: But, but for me, like would not be beneficial to Um, I'm very pragmatic when it comes to that kind of thing.
Like, nope, what can I do today? What can I do now? Um, not that I don't think there's hope, because I do think there is, and there's so much going on, and every time I go to the doctor, they all say the same thing. If you have to have this, this is the best time to have it because there's so much happening and it's true.
Matthew Reeves: Right, right. At the same time, I, since you and I have the same condition we have, we're plugged into the same [00:26:00] community and, and not everybody who's listening to this has star guards, all sorts of different kinds of vision loss. But in this world, my entire life, it's been, well, we're 10 to 15 years away, 10 to 15 years away.
It's always 10 to 15 years away. Uh, so I, I really appreciate what you're saying about how it's, it's easy to, to. Hang on to that hope of, of a cure or progress in such a way that it prevents us from doing the grieving work and the adjustment work that's necessary. Um, and So.
finding a balance for that, I think is a really healthy thing.
So I'm so glad, so glad you brought that up. That's, I think that's an important topic.
Dawn McAvoy: for multiple 10 to 15 years,
Matthew Reeves: Yeah, I've, I've, I equate it to when I was, uh, young, the school bus driver would always say we're 10 minutes away from the field trip destination. No matter how far away we were was, we're always 10 minutes away just to get [00:27:00] the kids to stop asking.
Dawn McAvoy: Um, but it was
Matthew Reeves: So, so you,
Dawn McAvoy: sorry. I was gonna say.
Matthew Reeves: I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go ahead.
Dawn McAvoy: because and you know, the inevitable question of how close are we to a cure? And they're asking the panelists, the gentleman sitting next to me was actually a representative from a pharmaceutical company, and when they said, I, I, you know, I was sitting right next to him.
I watched him when they said, oh, five years. He just shook his head like this, like, no.
Matthew Reeves: Mm.
Dawn McAvoy: So
Matthew Reeves: Nope. Not happening. Yeah, it, even if we had something today, it'd be five years before it hit the market. I'm sure. So yeah.
it is. It's an incredibly slow moving process and there are reasons for that. Uh, I'm not an expert in that. I hope to have somebody on the podcast. You can talk about why this process is so slow and what, how clinical trials work and function, but, uh, that's not my area of expertise, so I'll stay in my lane.
But I do understand that there are reasons why it's so slow. It's not just. You know, random. [00:28:00] Um, so, so that's kind of your story of, of getting connected to the community and understanding your diagnosis. And that seems like, and it all happened really quickly, like for most people with our particular condition, it's a much slower, more drawn out process.
Starting at a much younger age for you is much more, Um, I guess consolidated, uh, into a shorter period of time. How did this impact other aspects of your life?
Dawn McAvoy: Um, it impacts every part of your life. When, when you start to lose your visual acuity, which are the things you need to read and to see any like faces? I can see faces, but they're very, they're glittery. you're very
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: now. Um. was, I think, the hardest part with learning to navigate.
So I did an intake with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. I reached out to them, so as part of the same appointment where my [00:29:00] license got suspended, she said, I'm also gonna put you in for services at CNIB. Like, you'll, you'll get registered there and I'm gonna connect you to a counselor. Um, she's a psychiatrist.
She's like, I'm gonna go ahead and, and just know it's gonna take a while before she has availability, but you're on the list, so you'll get in to see her. And I think those were the, those, oh, and the low vision optometrist, which I already had. So I reached back out to them, but I reached, I reached out to the CNIB.
They already had me in their system, and they had me in their system because I had volunteered with them. When I first got diagnosed with A MD, I reached out to CNIB because again, this little spidey sense where I was like, okay, I know that this is something, like something's weird about this. Um, I had reached out to CNIB in an effort to say, all right, let's start leaning into this.
Let's learn everything we can. I got hooked up as a vision mate an elderly woman who completely blind, like dark every once in a while, could see like shadows. But [00:30:00] that, that was it. Um, and I worked with Janet for seven years, eight years, and learned her world from her perspective. So when I reached out to the CNAB, they're like, oh, we already have you in the system, but wait, you're a volunteer.
And I was like, oh, now I'm on the other side. And my paperwork hadn't come through yet, but they went ahead and fast tracked me and got me in. And I found, and I probably shouldn't share this, so you may have to cut it, but they shared with me, they start asking you questions during your intake the questions, have you cut yourself?
Have you burned yourself? Have you fallen? I can't remember the other one. But then the one question that I say was the magic keys to the kingdom and opening up all of the services because everyone warned me, it's gonna be a while before things start kicking in. Was the, are you at risk of losing your job?
I had started a new job. had just started a new job. I was [00:31:00] very candid with them, upfront with them. Look, I just got this diagnosis. I thought I was dealing with something where I was gonna get shots and it was gonna be unpleasant, but it was gonna be fine. But that's not what I'm dealing with. I'm dealing with something that has a lot of unknowns.
What do you wanna do about this? And, and I realize that that's not everybody is in a situation where they can do that. Not everybody is that forthright, um, for very practical reasons. they, they said, well, let's, let's just see how this goes. And so they've been, they've been. RA rather accommodating and like, okay, for example, I can't do spreadsheets anymore because the lines are just like, it just does my head in.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: outsource that, like any kind that that I can't do, I outsource. Um, so there was a big, big adjustment at work and trying to navigate. There was a big adjustment [00:32:00] with friends, but not real friends, more acquaintance friends.
Matthew Reeves: Okay.
Dawn McAvoy: When I shared, so I was a bit of a workaholic, very type a very, had a big job, um, ran marketing for software companies, for ed tech companies.
So, um, almost a bit of a professional persona that was still very akin to me. Like I'm me, I'm genuine and authentic, but professional versus like a little bit separate. So I have a lot of professional colleagues who. Friends, we call them friends. And it was interesting the reactions that I got from them.
There are some people who I initially told and have not heard from since. Almost like
Matthew Reeves: You got ghosted.
Dawn McAvoy: kind of, kind
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: Almost my interpretation, which you have, I have no idea if this is, this is right, but my interpretation was, oh. You are no [00:33:00] longer a value to me because you are less than. I'm sure that's not it.
Um, but that's what it feels like. I suspect. I suspect a lot of people don't know how to deal with it and get very uncomfortable and don't know what to say, so it's easier not to say anything. And
Matthew Reeves: How did you deal with, with feeling that way though? I mean that, that sense of that other feeling that other people have devalued you, even that you know, that you're recognizing as a part of you that recognizes that may not be the case, but you still felt like it. How did you process that?
Dawn McAvoy: Um, I cried in the shower and talked to the people that actually had very different reactions I talked to the people. So in this world of professional colleagues, you have the people that eventually become friends. And then you have the people that you think are your friends, but they're not.
They're really just professional colleagues. [00:34:00] So honestly, this kinda weeded a lot of that out. And I came
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: like, oh, are genuine. And it's not that the other people aren't genuine friends, but it was just more of a transactional relationship. Um, the,
Matthew Reeves: So it, so losing your vision actually provided a bit of clarity on like this, this relationship is actually based on this thing and that other relationship is different, and it's okay that the,
different relationships are different.
Dawn McAvoy: gifts with all of this is that you kind of see people for who they are and relationships for what they are. It is a different
Matthew Reeves: Hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: and incredibly grateful for it. I don't wish any ill will. To, you know, the people that have decided that this is not something that they wanna talk about or that they wanna deal with, or that they even acknowledge, you know, the people that ghost me, I have no ill will against them.[00:35:00]
you,
Matthew Reeves: that experience gave you, something.
Dawn McAvoy: it did. you something thing,
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: experience gives you something. And I have found that. You can feel sorry for yourself and focus on the negative, or you can focus on the, what am I gaining from this? And I think for me it's very much that abundant, like I'm wired this way anyway.
I think, and I have only become more so this way where it's the, my first question when I get really frustrated because I can't do something is what am I meant to learn from this? What's the lesson here? For me, honestly, I think I've learned a lot of lay lessons about patience. I've learned a lot of lessons about being vulnerable, which I suck at.
I am terrible at being vulnerable. I have learned a lot of lessons about being [00:36:00] humble and. If I take a step back, like I would say Stargardt's Disease, zero stars do not recommend. However, there are some absolute gifts that have come from it. Um, if I had to do it all over, would I want it? No, absolutely not.
Um, but there are things that I wouldn't give up that I've learned along the way, which sounds corny, but it's true.
Matthew Reeves: Just 'cause it's corny doesn't mean it's not true. That's right. Cliches are cliches for a reason. Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: like, I had to learn. I totally over any kind of, um, qualms about pulling out a magnifying glass in the grocery store. I don't care. don't care. I don't care that I
Matthew Reeves: But, but initially you did tell, tell me that. Tell me that journey. What, how did that start? [00:37:00]
Dawn McAvoy: looking at me. I didn't want people. Ugh. The worst is when people, okay, this happened the other day and it freaked me out a little bit. Um, now when I go out, I've got the hat, I've got the, the wraparound glasses, like I'm fully protected from the UV light, which we have to be very careful of.
Um, and I'm armed with, I wear this all the time. I have a magnifier that I wear. I have one in my pocket. have my reader, like my, I use my iPhone as a reader. Um, and I have my cane. Now I have my, and I'll talk about my cane a little bit. And I have my cane and I'm walking down the sidewalk and I can still see, and this is what it's really hard to explain to people.
I can still see all of the big things. I can, I can see you, I can see my computer screen. I just can't read, I can't read the words. Your face is a little
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: face is a little fuzzy. My brain fills it in
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: like. Um. So I'm tap, tap, tapping down the sidewalk that goes on.
I carry the cane [00:38:00] because my vision is very differentiated and so depth perception is a challenge for me I, I move a lot faster with the cane and I feel more comfortable and sometimes in special lighting situations I really need, and a woman walking past me yells out. God bless you. And I look around like, who is she talking to?
And then I'm like, oh crap. She meant me. meant me. And it freaked me out because it was like, I don't need that. But then on the other hand, like it's kind of nice, it's kind of lovely, but she wasn't saying it to other people.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: And I don't need pity, I special, I need accommodation. I don't need special favors or, so I had a hard time with that one.
I'm still processing through.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. Yeah. There's a big difference [00:39:00] between pity and empathy and, and the, it sounds like walking in that moment on the sidewalk, you weren't entirely sure which one you were getting. Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: is. I don't fine. I can do all of the things. I just do them differently. So
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: one, that one
Matthew Reeves: Yeah.
Dawn McAvoy: The tough was tough.
Matthew Reeves: about your story.
Dawn McAvoy: Yeah. So one of the
Matthew Reeves: I.
Dawn McAvoy: was, um, mobility. She asked if I wanted mobility training and I said, no, I didn't need it.
It. And we got on talking about other, like they, they're really good. They ask you like, what do you wanna maintain? What do you, so I have a reader because one of the things I wanted to maintain was reading my newspaper, really old fashioned that way, and I told her I wanted to get a dog. One of the things that I wanted to learn eventually was the process for getting a dog.
Because remember back to the story about the minute I can't [00:40:00] have my driver's license. I'm getting a dog.
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: she explains to me that the very first step to is you have to do the mobility training because the dog replaces the cane. And I just went, oh, okay. Let's do it. Sign me up. so the next week here comes Natasha, um, my mobility coach.
And she's amazing. She's feisty and fierce and just an amazing woman. And she shows up at my house and. We go out for a walk and she, she pulls out a cane and she said, okay. And I was like, I don't know about this Natasha. And she's like, Dawn, do you realize that when you walk, you look down, you look, you watch your feet the whole time?
Do you realize that I didn't, I didn't realize that. She said, just
Matthew Reeves: You weren't aware.
Dawn McAvoy: Just try it. Just she pulled out the cane and I start using it and I'm looking up. And I'm not worried about looking down 'cause I [00:41:00] am feeling what's in front of me. And I moved so much faster I was like, oh, this is, this is a gift.
is an absolute gift. Um, oh,
Matthew Reeves: Tell me about that expe. Tell me what it was. The difference emotionally, not just practically, but emotionally of looking. Straight out as you're walking. I'm really fascinated by that.
Dawn McAvoy: I've, I felt so strong. I didn't feel, I felt less like just maintaining and getting from point A to point B. And I didn't sub, like, I wasn't aware of the fact that I didn't did it until I knew. And now that I know, I know. Um. But just that I felt free. I felt, I felt I was looking up and taking everything in.
And then of course you realize that everybody's staring at you, but you know, that's their deal, not [00:42:00] mine. Um, and just the speed with which I could walk, like I felt, I, I a little empowered. I, now, I'm at the point where I love my cane, so I'm a child of the eighties. I loved Rick Springfield. I have named my Cane Rick stick field.
I call it Rick the stick. Um,
Matthew Reeves: That's great. That's great.
Dawn McAvoy: freak out a little like take you're going through security, like
Matthew Reeves: I
Dawn McAvoy: a little, I get a little like, to me as soon as you can. So,
Matthew Reeves: I feel that way when, when I can't have my magnifier on me. It's the a similar, yeah. What, what has it been like as a cane user? Uh, you mentioned like other people are looking at you, but that's their deal. But the cane is an announcement to the world. It, it is a, it is a form of disclosure and in some ways that's very, very valuable and helpful [00:43:00] and in other ways that can be really difficult.
How, what's your relationship with that disclosure of the cane?
Dawn McAvoy: actually really helped me with this. And given it was so early in all of this for me, I'm incredibly lucky. They were people. People were very open and they like, of course it was a community around this, so of course let's not celebrate this, but let's be very open about it.
But they separated us at one point, and you probably didn't see this when you called in. At one point, they separated us into groups where family members went and talked. Adult Stargardt people were in a room and the kid people, the kids with Stargardt were in a room and we all just talked with each other.
And one of the things they asked us to share was, what's your best life hack? And someone, and, and this stuck with me very vividly. Someone shared his life hack was very much owning this, like being open about it because it takes some of the burden [00:44:00] off of having to hide. Or having to be self-conscious.
Like if you just allow yourself to get to the point where you're like, yeah, this is what I like, this is what I'm dealing with. And like now I'll tell anybody that listens like, oh, you wanna know what I have, let's talk about it. Um, I found that very liberating and very empowering
Matthew Reeves: Yeah, I,
Dawn McAvoy: it takes that burden off.
Matthew Reeves: I, and I've never thought about that as a burden before, and so I'm really grateful that you shared it in that way, that when we feel compelled for whatever reason, and there are plenty of reasons to keep it private and to keep it to ourselves, like that's a choice. Everybody's perfectly free to make that choice.
And I don't judge that at all. But there is any energy it takes to do that. It is, it is, it does not come for free. Um, like anytime you're holding something and keeping something that is true out from getting out that there, like creating that barrier, [00:45:00] creating that boundary, take some energy. Uh, and so for you it was worth it to free up that boundary.
And, and just let it be and let it go wherever it needs to go out into the world. and and that felt better for you?
Dawn McAvoy: and I think this was part of her getting her head wrapped around it. honestly, I can't imagine what it's like for parents their kids have an inherited retinal disease. Like that's gotta be a thing for them.
Matthew Reeves: Mm-hmm.
Dawn McAvoy: but she's asked several times, I'm like, she's finally good with it.
But what does the cane do for you? What is it? Help me understand what is it that the cane does for you? And I finally like trying to explain it multiple times. I finally got to the point where, here's the shortcut. It alerts everyone that I am different. So if I stop in the middle of the thing or start looking funny at something, like nobody's gonna question it, There's just peace in that. Like I'm not gonna trip anybody up. I mean, I might 'cause they get in my way, [00:46:00] but plus it makes people get outta my way. I love that. I love it. I
Matthew Reeves: Right, right. people will part like the Red Sea when they see a cane.
Dawn McAvoy: hates in Toronto. She loves riding the subway with me because she's like, it's amazing.
Um, but those are, those are absolutely the things that it, it does for me. Like yeah, it is, it's very much a symbol of I'm different, I do things differently. Um, and I'm okay with that.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. Wow. That's great.
Dawn McAvoy: with me. Edinborough, um, he's not one who likes to call attention to himself, and he, he got a little freaked out at first.
He was like, everyone is staring at you. And I was like, mm-hmm. They are. I can see them. Ha ha ha.
Matthew Reeves: They don't even know that I can see them.
Dawn McAvoy: And that's half the game, turn it into a game. And he finally, [00:47:00] he finally got it. He finally, like, after a couple days, he saw, 'cause he, he knows me without it. Like he, he's like, oh yeah, you like boogie. I'm like, mm-hmm. I do. Mm-hmm.
Matthew Reeves: That cane is liberating in,
Dawn McAvoy: It is.
Matthew Reeves: in, in many different ways. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's exciting.
Dawn McAvoy: and immigration is fabulous.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. I absolutely will pre-board a plane and we'll take that advantage in a heartbeat. 'cause I never have to, never have to gate check my bag.
Dawn McAvoy: So
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. yeah, In fact, we, we'll
Dawn McAvoy: oh, go ahead.
Matthew Reeves: even call the airline and, uh, even if we didn't pay for seat selection, we'll get seat selection as part of the disability accommodation. Why not?
Dawn McAvoy: at the airport, if they see they're like, oh, oh, miss McAvoy let's, you know, let's move you up closer. I'm like, Okay.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. Yeah. Several [00:48:00] times I've gotten upgraded seats because of disability accommodations. Uh, it's, they don't, they don't advertise it, but it has happened on, on more than one occasions.
Dawn McAvoy: if this is just a or not, but the support traveler. So apparently in Canada, I'm not quite there yet, but apparently if your vision is, is bad enough or you are low vision enough and your doctor signs off on some form, when you travel, you have a, if you're traveling with a person, they can try fly for free.
Their
Matthew Reeves: Wow. I've never heard about that in the us, but it's worth looking into. It might be Yeah. That's, wait. No. No guarantees to the listeners of this podcast
Dawn McAvoy: the airline. Ask
Matthew Reeves: ask
Dawn McAvoy: for
Matthew Reeves: never hurts to ask,
Dawn McAvoy: assistive, the assistive
Matthew Reeves: right?
Dawn McAvoy: Or
Matthew Reeves: Yeah,
Dawn McAvoy: discounted. I don't know.
Matthew Reeves: Right, right. That's a good tip. We'll have to look into that. Maybe [00:49:00] we'll do a whole episode on traveling with low vision. That'd be a good, good topic. Yeah. So before we, um, wrap up, let me ask if there's any other areas of your life that, uh, you wanted to talk about or anything we haven't covered that that, or messages you want to give to other people.
Dawn McAvoy: the sharing that disclosure really worked for me. I don't imagine that it, you know, everybody has to make their own choice and everybody navigates things differently, but. Like, don't be ashamed. Like there's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. There's absolutely nothing to be self-conscious of, um, for me, right?
This is, this is, this is my perspective on it, and I
Matthew Reeves: Right,
Dawn McAvoy: ask questions and ask for be vulnerable. I'm still working on that one. I hate it.
[00:50:00] Um, trying to remember some of the other things
Matthew Reeves: but.
Dawn McAvoy: that I was thinking about. It just ex like, there's a, there's a bit of acceptance that goes into this, right? It's the, you can fight it as much as you want, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. And so my, my 2 cents for what they're worth, lean in, learn the things, talk to people about it.
Um, ask. Ask for help. Ask for help.
Matthew Reeves: Yeah. You know the thing that strikes me. About all the stories you've told is how you have found a way to both and the the scenario you, you have both acknowledged and embrace and don't re and you don't recoil from the grief and the difficulty. And like you, you are fully in touch with [00:51:00] that and. You find humor in it and you find solutions and you find practical hacks and you find community and you find silver linings and one does not counteract the other.
It's, it is both happening at the same time. It is both A and B, not A or B. Um, so I think the, all the stories you shared today really illustrate that, the importance of that and how that's how possible that is. Uh, that we don't have to discount our, the, the difficulty and the grief that's part of it. in order to find and craft And invent a really satisfying life, like both can happen at the same time.
I think that's a, that's a great lesson. So thank you for sharing that with us.
Dawn McAvoy: all of it. And yes, a sense of a sense of humor is very important and
Matthew Reeves: It is, it is great.
Dawn McAvoy: is fun. My favorite people are to know the first time I told them that they could joke with me about it, and I was okay with [00:52:00] that. the people that
Matthew Reeves: Right.
Dawn McAvoy: well, I'm like, well, you don't know me.
You can't, you can't do.
Matthew Reeves: I, yeah, I, I like to say you gotta have something in the banks to make a withdrawal. Like you, you can't, yeah. You need to know me before you go there, but once you, once you do. Yeah. Let's have fun. Absolutely. I, I could, couldn't agree more. Yeah. Great.
Dawn McAvoy: this. I
Matthew Reeves: Oh, I hope, uh.
Dawn McAvoy: to have found something like this in and trying to learn everything that I could. Um, there's not a whole lot out there.
Matthew Reeves: There's not, that's, uh, that's why this exists. Uh, 'cause I'm, I'm, we need resources. And so many of us tell the story of not having resources when we did need it. So hopefully this can, this can fill some portion of that gap for some people. So thanks for being a part of it. I really appreciate it.
[00:53:00] Of course, every story of vision loss is distinct, and I think Dawn's story really highlights how valuable it can sometimes be to adopt a take no prisoner's approach to adjusting to disability, while also taking the time to sit with the emotions we're feeling as we discover our new normal. I hope you found her story as uplifting as I did.
Matthew Reeves: Thanks for joining us for this episode of Insight Out. You are the reason this podcast exists and we'd love to hear from you. You can leave us a voice message at speakpipe.com/insightoutpod. That's speakpipe.com/insightoutpod. There, you can share your thoughts about today's conversation, suggest a topic for a future episode, or tell us about your experience living with vision loss. Again, that's [00:54:00] speakpipe.com/insightoutpod.
Insight Out is produced by Integral Mental Health Services, my private practice in Atlanta, Georgia that offers psychotherapy for adults in Georgia and chronic illness and disability counseling nationwide. Visit us at integralmhs.com and you can visit insightoutpod.com to catch up on all the episodes. You can also find us on social media using the handle @insightoutpod. I hope you'll join me for the next episode of Insight Out. Subscribe now in your favorite podcast app to stay connected. Thanks again for listening.