My New Year’s resolution! I am the organization geek, the put-it-away monster and memory bank of where everything is stored – except for the glasses that I wear all the time. At least once a week I rush about searching for them early in the morning, calling out for help from my long-suffering husband. […]
Read more "A Home that Works for Everyone: Tip 3 of 4: Containerizing Your Life"
There are 3 challenges to gift buying when your sight is poor, or you have no vision. The first is getting to the stores you like; the second is picking out the item from the hundreds around you, but which are not on display to you; and the third is selecting the gift in the […]
Read more "Selecting Your Gifts Unseen"Celebrations like Thanksgiving can be particularly painful after any big loss. You think you will enjoy yourself at a family gathering …but you don’t. In fact you are kind of miserable. Remember, you don’t have to go to Thanksgiving dinner. There is no law requiring attendance. If you do decide to go, however, you have […]
Read more "Thanksgiving: How to Survive the Family Party"The invisible dish Last month I put a small cream–colored dish down on a white radiator cover. A few days later I swept my hand along the radiator cover – I can’t think why – and banged into the dish. It wasn’t on a tray or a shelf; it didn’t have high contrast with […]
Read more "A Home that Works for Everyone, Tip 2 of 4 – Protect It If You Don’t Expect It"
Moving freely and safely around your home and how to talk about it As you adjust to sight loss, you and your family or room-mates will need to make changes so you can step freely and safely anywhere in your home. If you are anxious about bruising yourself or falling, you will tend to stay […]
Read more "A Home that Works for Everyone: Tip 1 of 4 – Keep the Traffic Paths Clear"When do you speak about your loss of sight? When don’t you need to mention it? And how do you stop strangers or your cousin from asking intrusive questions? This is a big topic, but here are some tips to start with. At the beginning of your sight loss, you are still the person you […]
Read more "How to Talk About Your Vision Loss, and When"
There is a lot to hate about losing your sight, and having to ask for help from strangers is right up there. After a long time it can get to be quite fun sometimes (no really!). But at first it’s beyond awful. There are you, a paid-up member of the human race, having to ask […]
Read more "Four Rules for Getting Assistance"
What would people with vision loss have done without Steve Jobs? He gave his staff such a hard time with his perfectionism, but he gave people with vision loss great riches because he insisted that iPod Touches, iPhones and iPads have the screen reader – voiceover – built in. It works seamlessly from the moment […]
Read more "Steve Jobs’ Great Legacy"
I have tried to deny the painful necessity of growing through my serious vision loss over and over. Denial takes a lot of work to dig up. Each bit you fling out seems the final one. Then another fear, another confusion shows up. But do you want to stay inside a little box with shrinking […]
Read more "Why Doing Things for Yourself is Important: Part 2 of 2"
A friend whose vision is in slow decline wondered why doing things for yourself is so important. “Why not accept help from people who can see well? Surely you would feel safer (or be quicker) with someone sighted along?” There’s nothing wrong with getting help. Everyone needs help and almost everyone offers it. It gets […]
Read more "Why Doing Things for Yourself Is Important: Part 1 of 2"