Parent Learns His Kids Are Blind - Then He Contacted Me

VIDEO: Parent Learns His Kids Are Blind - Then Contacted Me

When Josh Forbes learned his two sons were diagnosed with legal blindness he was struck with concern and fear for the future of his boys. He turned to the internet for guidance. While surfing through medical articles, and formal information, he eventually stumbled upon YouTube videos, not only on the topic but from young adults who lived with legal blindness. One of these video creators on the platform was me, James Rath.

I was diagnosed with Ocular Albinism and Nystagmus, only a few weeks after I was born. This kind of early diagnosis was not common for those with my ocular conditions. I was fortunate to be born into a family where my Grandfather was an ophthalmologist and had the resources for my parents to get a quick diagnosis. This came after my older brother, was diagnosed two years prior, though his diagnosis would take a few months as my parents didn’t know what exactly they were looking for at the time. 

In 2016 Josh and I met up to talk about navigating adulthood with legal blindness and sharing any insight I could as his boys were still rather young. Recently Josh and I traveled to Istanbul, Turkey before the pandemic and filmed a couple of projects, one of which was the first BLIND ABROAD documentary covering what travel looks like for a blind person and getting to know what kinds of technology blind children in Turkey are using to have access to information and media. 

On the BLIND ABROAD Podcast Josh and I went in-depth about the journey of getting a diagnosis for his boys, along with how we began working on film projects together, including BLIND ABROAD - Istanbul.

Check out this video to hear from Josh about his reaction to learning his kids would be blind.

Listen to the full podcast episode to hear our full hour-long conversation.