There is no better feeling than seeing the fruits of your labor in front of you. This is why Paul Castle (@paulcastlestudio on TikTok) was so excited to take a look at his children’s story after it was published. The blind children’s story author and illustrator from Washington looked full of pride as he took a first look at his children’s story. This one was particularly different, given that it was the Norwegian translation. But his pride didn’t last for long. Paul quickly became shocked by what he was reading.
In the viral video, Paul Castle was handed a copy of his children’s book, Pringle and Finn in Norwegian. He looks excited, and then his excitement quickly turns to shock as he says to his husband, “Matthew! I can’t be seeing this right.” Matthew hilariously responds, “I mean, you are blind.”
Paul then shows his book to the screen, where we first see an illustrated picture of two penguins sitting next to each other and the word, “Slutt” written on the page next to it. He continues laughing as he says, “That can’t be right.” Apparently, it is correct. “Slutt” actually stands for “The End” in Norwegian. Matthew seemed to be privy to this information, whereas Paul thought he was being pranked.
Commenters shared in the laughs with Paul, including actual Norwegian commenters who found hilarity in his reaction. Paul replied to one of their comments: “Omg my heart stopped,” as he was concerned. It has an entirely different context in English and especially in America.
Other commenters, however, found fault in something completely different. In a follow-up video, Paul explains he was accused of not actually being blind because he could ‘see’ the words. It’s apparent not everybody understands there are different levels of blindness. Would it be surprising to learn color blindness also has variations? As one commenter stated, “Many forms of blindness have SOME level of vision” and went on to explain her father’s vision was like “looking through a straw with a tissue covering everything else,“ which easily proves the author’s condition is possible.
Paul took the time to explain his disorder, Retinitis Pigmentosa, to viewers so they could gain a better understanding of how he can still see some things. He even shared research that approximately 93% of people in the blind community still have some vision, even though it can be severely limited. I live for this type of informative one-on-one, helping others gain a better understanding of what they go through on a daily basis. I also wish Paul the best with his novel’s success!
