My Hands Became My Eyes: Meet Daniela

Daniela was 17 years old when she noticed a dot pop up in her vision – it would take nearly seven years for doctors near her home in Burbank to understand why her vision was declining. From brain tumors to lupus, the potential causes were endless. She was in and out of hospitals until specialists at UCLA finally diagnosed her with retinitis pigmentosa, better known as RP, along with Charles Bonnet syndrome, which causes images to appear that are not actually there.

Newly diagnosed at age 24, Daniela moved to Davis to live near her sister who was attending UC Davis. With her vision still usable, Daniela decided to pursue her dream of a career in the arts. She worked as a bartender and in retail for several years to save money so she could attend the Academy of the Arts in San Francisco while helping to support her sister.

“My parents did not want me to go into the arts, despite it being my passion,” Daniela said. “But I didn’t want to have any regrets later in life, and I’m happy I did it.”

Daniela began commuting to San Francisco for her classes as she studied fashion and interior design. Eventually, the financial and physical demands became too great, prompting her to enroll at UC Davis, where she pursued fashion, interior and product design alongside studio art on a full scholarship.

“When fall quarter started at UC Davis, I realized I could no longer read textbooks,” she said. “My sister read the material to me, and I was able to get help through the disability center on campus so I could access material online. That’s when I started at Society for the Blind.”

Daniela began commuting to Sacramento to take living skills and assistive technology classes at Society for the Blind while continuing her studies at UC Davis and working in nursing homes to earn income. When it became too hard to juggle everything, she took a break from Society for the Blind to focus on school and earned her bachelor’s degree in design and studio art from UC Davis.

Daniela’s artwork – ceramic tactile hand

She continued to work in nursing homes while searching for a job in design. However, at age 29, her vision deteriorated significantly, requiring her to rely on her white cane at all times. Around the same time, she suffered an accident that left her with multiple broken toes. Unable to use crutches safely because of her vision loss, she relied on a wheelchair for three to four months. The combination of her declining vision and prolonged loss of mobility led her to become increasingly depressed.

“One of the things that helped me cope with my depression and grief over losing my vision was art,” Daniela said. “I kept creating these repeated patterns in clay and drawings without realizing they were connected to grief and death. Art became a way to process my sadness. Once I could see my pain on the paper, it no longer felt like I had to carry it alone. It was held there instead, and I felt a sense of relief.”

After her toes healed, she began looking for employment again, but it was now even more challenging.

“When I became a full-time cane user, it became more difficult to get a job,” she said. “I would get the interview, but afterward I was always told they had chosen another candidate. Before I began relying on my white cane, I didn’t experience that nearly as often because I could conceal my vision loss and mask my impairment. Once it became visible, everything changed.”

Daniela began attending Society for the Blind again in early 2025 to hone her assistive technology skills and decided to return to school for a master’s degree in marriage family therapy and art therapy. In fall 2025, she enrolled at Dominican University of California in San Rafael, initially commuting to campus once a week before gradually increasing her trips as her course schedule expanded. This fall, she will commute three days a week to complete her practicum, which she hopes will be at a psychiatric hospital. She plans to finish her degree by spring 2028.

“I will be contacting a bunch of people at Society for my thesis, which will focus on integrating art for visually impaired people dealing with grief,” she said.

She said Society for the Blind’s instructors have been instrumental in helping her succeed in school. They have helped her focus on Excel and PowerPoint skills for her statistics classes and presentations, and her education in the screen-reading software JAWS has allowed her to read her textbooks more quickly and accurately.

Now nearly 34 years old, Daniela continues to create her own art from her home in Davis where she lives with her 11-year-old dog, two cats and two housemates.

“I start by drawing shapes and then layer different colors over them because I can’t see lines,” she said. “I don’t create art the way most people do, and because I can’t see, every piece takes time. I spend a lot of time reflecting on what I’m feeling before settling into a state of flow.”

One of her recent creations represents a tactile hand because that is how she now navigates the world, saying “I have to be able to touch everything because my hands became my eyes.”

She has even been able to find beauty in the Charles Bonnet syndrome, which causes her brain to create vivid patterns and figures that appear real but do not actually exist.

“It can be fun and entertaining when it isn’t creepy,” she said. “At night, it can look like I’m floating in space and everything is galactic. It’s beautiful.”

Daniela plans to eventually obtain her doctorate and work at a psychiatric hospital or open a private practice. She also hopes to attend a series of classes designed to teach art specifically to people with vision loss.

“We need to learn to express ourselves, and I want to be able to do that with other people who are visually impaired,” she said.

Daniela said her art therapy practice with people who have vision loss will focus more on sensory aspects, like using texture. She said acrylic has a certain feel when it dries, and her patients also can use fabric, braille paper, small objects that can be glued together, modeling clay and more.

“When you create art, you’re unconsciously adding what you’re feeling even though you may be unaware of it,” she said. “Art therapy trains the therapist to be able to see what the person creating the art can’t see.”

Daniela said taking classes at Society for the Blind also helped her pick up old and new hobbies and activities, from hiking nine to 13 miles, kayaking, rock climbing and paddle boarding, to belly dancing, salsa, waltz and swing dancing. She also is taking more challenging STEM classes and learning how to code while fully blind.

“Society for the Blind has empowered me to take charge of my life again,” she said. “A lot of my friends have been impressed that I haven’t let the challenges of vision loss define who I am and what I’m capable of doing.”

Daniela hopes others with vision loss will come to Society for the Blind.

“You may think it’s too difficult or you don’t need the tools, but just take it one step at a time,” she said. “Pick one thing and stick with it. Eventually, you’ll realize you can do it. That moment reminds you that you’re still the same person you were before your vision loss. Your potential hasn’t changed, and you’re not confined by your vision.”