Walk a Mile in Another Person's...Eyeballs?

I don't get headaches very much--at least not anymore; in the first grade I had more than my share since my nearsightedness hadn't been diagnosed yet. My mom used to get migraine headaches, but I haven't heard her complaining of any lately. However, every once in a while I get something that Mom has called a "visual migraine." The first time I remember having one I was quite worried--I'd never heard of this kind of thing and couldn't help but wonder if I had some kind of tumor. AllAboutVision.com has a page on "Ophthalmic Migraines" that says they're generally harmless and often painless (as was mine today, even though a normal headache rolled in later during Finance...ugh).

I experienced one of these today just before I went to meet my adviser about upcoming courses. This one was much longer than any I had previously had, but with an occurrence of about one per year I don't expect it is significant. The intensity of the symptoms was not as strong as the first one I can remember, but the placement of the blind spot was just right so that I couldn't regognize the faces of people I was talking to.

That got me thinking about the neurological conditions that make some people unable to recognize faces, shapes, or letters. It was interesting to have a kind of a small peek into the world of those people, if only for a little while. After the curiosity wore off, it was honestly a little exasperating to not know I was sitting next to my friend in the student union until he said hello to me, or to not realize it was my adviser walking down the hallway to meet me. That is something that I would have a hard time living with (as would most people, I imagine).

I'm not so filled with sympathy that I'll rush off and become a brain surgeon, but it was definitely helpful to me to have a reminder why I should be compassionate to people with disabilities.