Connecting with you has helped me help others. Connecting with people have helped my confidence, helped me talk about my disability, talk about my blindness,
~Krista Webb
my deafness.
Editor’s Note
We’re switching things up for our May features. Today, we’re introducing you to our Woman On The Move, and next week we’ll present our Man In Motion.
We are thrilled to introduce Krista Webb as Bold Blind Beauty’s May Woman on the Move! Krista is an empowering advocate who lives in Texas with her husband of almost 16 years and their two children.
Krista’s journey with Usher syndrome, the leading genetic cause of combined deaf-blindness, has been one of resilience and determination. Wearing hearing aids since the age of 2 and becoming legally blind at 31, Krista gracefully adjusted to her new reality. Despite her less than 5 degrees of central vision, Krista lives by the mantra of always being present and making the most of each moment.
She uses Instagram to connect with other blind and DeafBlind individuals worldwide, educating people about the spectrum of blindness and sharing her passion for creating art. Krista’s story is a testament to her strength, courage, and commitment to embracing life fully. Join us in celebrating Krista’s incredible journey and dedication to breaking down barriers and building community.
Watch Krista’s video or, for those who prefer reading, find the transcript below. Enjoy!
Stephanae McCoy
Editor-in-Chief, Bold Blind Beauty
Beyond Sight Magazine Cover
YouTube Video
Meet Krista Webb
My name is Krista, I am 36 and a half years old. I have two boys who are 9 and 11, they’re wonderful. And I am married to a pretty decent guy. We’ve been married for, almost 16 years. I live in Texas, been here for about seven years. My heart is in Washington state.
We love to travel as a family. We enjoy camping and exploring new places. Some people ask me if that’s challenging for me because I can’t see a whole lot like a normal person’s vision.
I have less than five degrees of central vision left. So imagine looking through two drinking straws, there’s a lot of scanning involved and I am night blind. So it can be challenging, especially when we go to new places, but I make it work. I bring my white cane with me everywhere I go and I’m surrounded by my wonderful family, my human guide. I try not to let the new places stop me. from checking it out.
I think it’s important to face our fears. For me, I like to show my boys that I am brave. Just gotta try to lead by example. And I hope that when they are facing something challenging they’ll remember to just put a brave face on and go for it. As far as I know, we only live life once, so why not be adventurous when we can, enjoy life, look at the good, the positive, be grateful.
Living with Usher Syndrome: Challenges & Triumphs
I guess I should rewind a little bit. I have Usher’s Syndrome Type 2, which is hearing loss and Retinitis Pigmentosa. I was born deaf and started wearing hearing aids at age two. I was not diagnosed with Usher syndrome until I was 19 years old. That’s when the doctor told me that I would be going blind, which I thought was quite silly at the time. Didn’t realize that blindness was a spectrum. I had no idea.
There was hardly any online support. Basically, I disregarded what the doctor said and lived life to my fullest. In my early 20s, I stopped night driving. In my early 30s, I stopped driving entirely, hung up my keys for good, which was a relief. I didn’t have to deal with the anxiety worrying about the possibility of hitting anybody. It just wasn’t worth putting myself or other people in that situation.
About a year later, I had the opportunity to fly out to Michigan at Leader Dogs for the Blind and get orientation and mobility training. Learn how to navigate the sidewalk, going through the crosswalk, uh, using my white cane safely, detecting obstacles, curbs, things like that.
And I came home more confident than ever. I was happy to talk to my other low vision friends about this organization, which there are other wonderful organizations as far as I know here in the United States of America and probably all over the world. If anyone is here listening and thinking about using a white cane, I would say go for it.
Understanding Disability & Embracing Blindness as a Spectrum
Do I see myself disabled? I guess. I guess I do qualify in the disabled category. I never even saw myself disabled until I started losing my vision. Maybe when I became legally blind at age 31 or so.
I have a sister four years older than me, and she’s wonderful. Had cerebral palsy since birth. Her being in a wheelchair, eating food through a G tube, needing help to walk to the bathroom, give her a shower, change her.
I never saw myself. disabled. I see now that there are different kinds of disabilities. I don’t think there is any shame of being in the disabled category.
I just wish that people understood that Blindness is a spectrum. Only 10 percent of the blind see nothing. We’re still a human beings. We might see you, we might not see you. We can still do things out in this world. Go to the store. We can do fun things.
Pursuing Passions: Wood Burning Art & Beyond
I’m a wood burning artist. I enjoy hanging out with my boys. I don’t mind doing projects around the house. Mow the lawn do some sewing, knitting. I have a wonderful dog who I like to go on a walk with sometimes. I go to the gym.
So what I appreciate about Bold Blind Beauty is they reflect on the acronym A.I.R. (Access, Inclusion, and Representation), Bold Blind Beauty. I also like to add another B to that, which is Badass.
We have such a strong, unique, fun, awesome blind community, and I’m very proud to be a part of it. Instagram has really helped me connect with people globally. It’s helped me build relationship, friendships, having Zoom sessions, doing custom woodburn projects for them. It’s, it’s what really helped me through this journey. Connecting with, with all of you.
Connecting with you has helped me help others. Connecting with people have helped my confidence, helped me talk about my disability, talk about my blindness, my deafness. And there’s a lot of anxiety. I am grateful for a lot of things and one of them is the little bit of vision I do have.
Finding Purpose & Perks
Like I said, I think it’s important to keep your hands or your mind busy. Find purpose in your life. My purpose in my life is being a mom to my, my boys who are nine and 11 and just being there for them, being involved with them. Also wood burning art. Keeping myself busy with that has really helped. Listening to podcasts, talking with people like Stephanae McCoy and other low vision blind people in this community. All in all, there are people, your people, out there who want to connect with you. So don’t give up on life.
I gotta say, being hard of hearing has its perks. I like taking my hearing aids out. I cannot hear. I can hear my voice a little bit. I don’t know if I’m shouting or not, but it’s nice to be able to mute my hearing aid or take my hearing aids out when it’s very noisy. I do like to connect my phone to my hearing aids and listen to music or podcasts.
Are there perks with losing my vision? Ah, that’s a tricky question. I think that has really driven me to find a hobby, which wood burning was my, my new hobby that I discovered when I was losing my vision.
Perks to losing my vision. I, I found a new way of gaining freedom. Your freedom gets taken away when you no longer drive. But you can still have independence other ways, such as using a white cane, or a guide dog, or however else. There’s Ubers out there, so you can still get out.
Perks to losing your vision, I would say are our badass kick ass blind community. I am very, very proud of many of the people in the community. I’m just trying to live in the moment day by day.
Thank you for taking the time to hear me out. Definitely reach out to Stephanae McCoy at Bold Blind Beauty to learn more about their mission. Check out their website. They have a lot of awesome people that they spotlight. Take care.
Connecting With Krista
- Instagram: blindlove.woodburning
Krista Webb’s Bio
Krista lives in Texas with her husband of almost 16 years and 2 children, who are 9 and 11. They enjoy traveling and camping, especially in the great Pacific Northwest.
Krista has Usher syndrome, type 2. Usher syndrome is the number one genetic cause of combined deaf-blindness. She is 36 years old and has been wearing hearing aids since the age of 2. She became legally blind at age 31 and hung up her driving keys for good.
Krista uses Instagram to connect with other deaf-blind people all over the world. She loves creating art and educating people how blindness is a spectrum.
Having less than 5° of central vision does have its challenges. Her mantra is to always live in the moment.
Connecting With Bold Blind Beauty
Like what you’ve read and want to chat about it? Join us in the Bold Blind Beauty Facebook group.
Image descriptions:
- The header photo is identical to the image used on the Beyond Sight Magazine cover and YouTube Thumbnail. Krista is sitting at a table working on a woodburning project. She is smiling and wearing a white tank top with an LED headlamp on her forehead. Her tattoos on both arms are visible, and the tank’s text reads “Find Your Focus.” The text on the cover reads “Beyond Sight May 2024 | Krista Webb.”
- YouTube video description: Krista is wearing a black, pink, and gray lumberjack shirt in a black office chair. Her long hair is pulled back and she wears eyeglasses, drop earrings, and layered necklaces.
- Photo #2: Krista is a white woman with long brunette hair cascading over her left shoulder. She is standing in front of a white wall next to a door holding her white cane. She is wearing a black top and has a smile on her face.
- Photo #3: Krista is standing on a bridge against the metal railing, holding her white cane in her right hand. She’s wearing a black tank top, denim shorts, hat and shades. In the background is a canyon and mountains in the distance.
- Photo #4: Tall oval wood slab with live bark all around measuring 20” tall and 10” wide. The finished piece has the word freedom wood burned vertically and next to it is a white cane. The white cane handle is wood burned while there are sections of white and red colors. On the right of the white cane is showing braille spelling out freedom. There is a vintage look with torch markings. Krista is smiling wearing a black hat, sunglasses, gray hoodie, black leggings and black tennis shoes while holding her actual white cane and the finished wood burn project.
- Photo #5: Krista, in a gray tank top is holding a finished woodburned piece. There is a tattoo of a realistic eye inside a dreamcatcher on her right arm. The finished piece is a parody of the American Gothic. There is a cat on the left and dog on the right. The cat is wearing a slouchy beanie and stylish glasses. The dog is wearing a top hat and a monocle while a couple drools drip from his mouth. The whole piece is wood burned with a red, white, blue and yellow colored butterfly that sits on the pitch fork.