Mental illness+disability in OCs discussion

one big thing i see often is people giving characters albinism but those characters not having many of the less immediately obvious characteristics of albinism [my sister has it]

Like yeah it looks cool I guess but people don’t usually mention 

1] the vision impairments that can range broadly but usually aren’t acknowleged

2] how light affects how much someone can see because of extreme light sensitivity 

3] very bad, sometimes chronic migraines

4] the eyes of people with albinism not usually being red but rather appearing blue, green, hazel, gray or some mixture of those colors depending on the lighting 

5] the experience of not looking like you belong in your family and being made a spectacle in public, especially if you’re from a race with darker-skinned people

does anybody have any advice theyd like to give on writing legally blind / low vision characters ? the character that im speaking about can Technically see but his vision is abysmal to the point of being completely useless [ best way i can like. describe how it is specifically is Extremely Blurry To Where Everything Is Just A Vague Mess Of Colours , not sure what the specific term would be apologies ] and id like to make how he lives his day to day life and stuff a bit more realistic 

edit because i completely forgot to include this information somehow even though thatd probably help w advice: the character in question mostly lives pretty normally , having been able to get and keep a job [ as a retail worker ] + generally live on his own , however he does need to use a white cane , has his best friend act as a human guide for him pretty frequently , and has trouble navigating new areas / sometimes trips on things or stumbles . he also uses stuff like braille keyboards voice to text technology etc etc 

mipyguy sure! I think the best way to go about it is describing how his other senses help him get around in the absence of sight. When a sense of part of the body is less functional than what’s typical, the brain dedicates space to the rest of the senses/parts. Hearing and touch are probably the most helpful to focus on, since the former can be used to place objects in space by how sound travels back to someone. the latter, when paired with the white cane, helps someone have further reach to feel for stuff like stairs 

[sources: my sister is legally blind, I give her sighted guide relatively often]