New student, legally blind, and looking for advice!

Hi everyone,

I’ am very new to Taekwondo, but I've trained in Kung Fu for a few years. I’m visually impaired—blind in one eye and with very limited vision (20/400) in the other. So I'm extremely nearsighted along with no peripheral vision or depth perception. Despite these challenges, I’m very excited to continue my martial arts journey in Taekwondo!

In my previous training, I relied heavily on leg blocks and low kicks to defend against kicks, especially since I can’t always see kicks coming until they’re very close. Also, closing the distance helped control kicks and mitigate my nearsightedness. However, Taekwondo places more emphasis on using hand blocks (like low blocks and high blocks), and I’m struggling to adapt within the rules while still feeling safe and confident during sparring.

I’ve spoken to my instructor about my situation, but I’m looking for more advice on how to make hand blocks work effectively for someone with limited vision, or if there are any drills or techniques I can practice to combine hand and leg blocks safely. My priority is learning good technique without putting myself or my sparring partners at risk. But my biggest challenge is seeing attacks coming as well as hand accuracy due to lack of depth perception.

Have any of you worked with visually impaired students or had experience adapting techniques like this? Any tips for modifying hand blocks or drills that might help someone in my situation? I really appreciate any suggestions or advice!

Thanks in advance!