How Do Sight Impaired People Cope With Every Day Activities?
People with sight loss need to carry out many of the same activities during each day as anyone who can see perfectly well. Difficult you may think or some of you may think it impossible. However, you may be surprised to learn that most things can be achieved. The difference is it may be carried out using an alternative method or just not as quickly.
Each person coping with their sight loss is different. They may come from a different cultural background which can make a difference. They may have no sight at all or quite a bit of useful residual vision. They may have tunnel vision or peripheral vision. All have their own strategies for coping. Other factors that may have an effect are lighting and colours.
Getting Around
There are various methods people with sight loss use to get out and about. Some people need to be trained to use a long white cane. This may only be done by a qualified rehabilitation officer. This is not easy for the person to learn. At first they may not be able to walk in a straight line or get their coordination right. However, once learnt this is a very effective method of getting around. The person will sweep the cane in front of them and would be able to detect all the different surfaces they encounter. They use different landmarks to assist them such as manhole covers, how many side roads they cross and any other street furniture they need to. It is not the case as many people think that blind people count their steps.
For people with more residual vision or perhaps peripheral vision they may use what is called a symbol cane. This is literally a symbol to indicate that the person has a sight impairment. It is useful for them when crossing roads so that motorists may take a little more care when they see the short white cane. It can also save people a lot of explaining. If they were in a shop and were having difficulties seeing what they needed on a shelf they might have to ask for help. With the symbol cane they immediately know that they have a problem with their sight. Some people who have physical mobility problems may use a white walking stick.
If you see any person using any of the white canes described above which has a red or orange band around its neck it means that the person has a hearing impairment as well and if there are two bands then it denotes that they are without speech.
If a person has a guide dog they would have applied directly to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. It is important to remember that when the dog has its harness on it is working and you should not make a fuss of the dog. Guide dogs are also on a strict diet and you should not feed a dog anything without the owners permission.
Sighted guiding is a good way to help a person to get around. There are different techniques and if you would like to learn more HACB staff could instruct you.
You may see people using any one of the methods to get around and you may feel that they might like some help. The important thing to remember is to ask them. They will then be able to tell you the best way in which you could help them. Never be offended if a person says no thank you because they may be quite happy and confident in what they are doing.
At Home
The environment in which people with sight loss feel most comfortable is their own home. As long as other people do not move things then a person can usually find what they need quite easily.
For people who have some sight getting the lighting right is important. Again, people with different eye conditions may find different kinds of lighting beneficial. Using colour and contrast can help enormously and for some people this is the key to every day living. For example, if you make a sandwich using white bread and put that on a white plate on a white work top it is very difficult to see. However, if a different coloured plate is used, preferably a dark colour, then it all shows up very well. If this principle is used in almost anything a person does then every day tasks can become a lot easier.
Tasks such as cooking and washing, making drinks can all be carried out. Appliances can be marked using what are called ґbump-ons. These are raised brightly coloured dots. Their bright colour contrasts with the background so hopefully a person may be able to see the settings they need to use. If they have not enough sight for this then they can feel the dots. This is a cheap effective way of helping people.
HACBҒs Resource Centre has a wide range of equipment or special aids to help people. In general these work on three principles:
- Colour/contrast. Buttons and controls are a different colour to the base. This may not be specialist equipment but just good design.
- Making things bigger. For example, big button telephone or TV remote.
- Equipment with an audible noise such as a bleep on a liquid level indicator or synthetic speech on a talking watch or clock.
A problem people can have is identifying the items that are in their cupboards. There are a number of methods that people can use.
- A system using elastic bands. For instance, a tin with nothing on it could be baked beans and tin with one elastic band round it could be spaghetti and so on. The person has to memorise their system and stick to it.
- Magnetic letters which can be fixed to tins.
- Braille labels using dyna tape. Some supermarkets will label the tins in the shop.
- Talking tins. This is using the technology used in birthday cards where people can record their own message. Instead, of wishing someone a happy birthday you record what a tin is and attach to the tin.
- If a person has enough sight the design of a tins label may be enough to distinguish it from another even though they may not be able to read what the words say on the label.
- Using magnifiers.
People need to clean their home and when their sight is impaired you may think that this cannot be done. They also occasionally drop things and need to find them on the floor. There are techniques for doing these things but the main thing is to be methodical and thorough and they can be achieved.
Communicating with Sight Impaired People.
Many people think that to communicate with a blind or sight impaired person is really difficult. However, the simplest way is just to talk to them either face to face or by telephone.
Nevertheless, it becomes more difficult when it comes to the printed word. People use a number of methods to access print and they are listed below.
The use of magnifying glasses. It is advisable that they do not buy an off the shelf magnifying glass. They should be properly assessed to get the magnifier that suits their eye condition best. This should preferably be done through a Low Vision Clinic where they can get their magnifier on loan. If their eye sight changes then they can be reassessed and have a different magnifier. Alternatively, a member of staff from HACB can assess them but unfortunately they would have to buy their magnifier from us. At the same time they can be taught techniques to get the best results from their magnifier.
It can help many people if they receive their print in large print. For many years the font Ariel Black 16 pt was used. However, many people now prefer VVerdana pt 16. This is a good clear font. If any person requests large print it is very easy to produce now from a PC.
Talking books and newspapers. There are a variety of sources for talking books. People can get them from their local library. There is also a free talking book service from the charity called Calibre. The RNIB have a talking book service which has an annual subscription. Many talking books are still on cassettes but many are now on CDs. There are some called e-books that are available as MP3 files via the Internet. Each area has its own local talking newspaper. For example, the Talking Echo or the Talking Romsey Advertiser. These are recorded weekly by volunteers and sent free of charge to the sight impaired people in their area. There is also the National Talking Newspaper Association of the United Kingdom where people can access the national newspapers and many magazines. There is a subscription for this. If people request information recorded onto a tape i.e., their bank statement or their utility bills under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) they should be provided.
Many people when thinking about blind people think of Braille. In fact of all the people registered blind only a minority can read Braille. There are several reasons for this:
The majority of people who have sight loss are older people and because it is difficult to learn they do not bother.
There are other methods such as talking books of accessing print.
Many people with sight loss caused by diabetes or MS will in all probability have a poor sense of touch.
Nevertheless, for those who use it it is a very effective and great way of reading and writing. You can save on electricity because you donҒt have to put the light on! There is a National Library for the Blind where people can get their Braille books from. It is a system based on raised dots. It is contracted to make it use less space. It is almost like learning short hand.
There is another method of tactile reading. This is called Moon. Instead of using dots Moon uses raised shapes. It is a bit like very simplified versions of the shapes of the printed letters. It uses up a lot more space than Braille and is harder to produce. The choice of books is much more limited than Braille but again people can get books from the National Library for the Blind. It is quite popular with older people because it is easier to learn even if they only use it for labelling things.
There are more hi-tech solutions for peoples communication needs. There are video magnifiers or CCTVs. This enables people to magnify print onto a computer or television screen. It also leaves their hands free to allow them to magnify effectively what they are writing. This for many people is very effective and much better for them than hand held magnifiers. They are however quite expensive and beyond the reach of many sight impaired people. People can get a demonstration of a video magnifier at the HACB Resource Centre. Many libraries throughout the county also have them for peopleҒs use.
In the modern age of the computer it has been an on-going challenge to the manufacturers to make them accessible to people who are blind or sight impaired. There are a multitude of different ways and software solutions for people to try. Both the Windows and Apple operating systems have built-in accessibility features. The Windows has a magnifier and speech output. You can also change the display to make icons larger and high contrast print display. This can be a help to some people without them having to spend any extra money on more expensive software. It does have its limitations and for many they need to investigate trying some other solutions. There is a screen magnifier which is free that can be downloaded from the Internet but this is limited to 3x magnification. It can be found at www.issist.com. If these are not sufficient for peoples needs then they should look at some professional software. There are many on the market which can magnify or magnify with speech or just speech screen readers. People should try more than one before they purchase to make sure they get the one that they really like and is fit for purpose. This software often costs more than the computer itself so it is important that the right decision is made. Further advice can be obtained from HACB.
If possible it is a good idea if a person can learn to touch type before spending a lot of money on computer equipment this is not as difficult as people first imagine. However, there are computer keyboards available with larger keys for those who cannot manage to learn.
Even though there is all this wonderful software available to help people many websites are still not very accessible to people. This is due to poor design. Please see the section on our website about accessibility
When it comes to writing with a pen or pencil you can imagine how difficult this can become when you cannot see what you are writing. There are some simple aids to help. Whilst people are concentrating on what they are physically writing it is sometimes difficult to keep it in a straight line or to write in the correct place. There are writing frames, signature guides and most banks should be able to provide people with a stencil to put over a cheque.
If a person has a hearing impairment as well as sight loss they may know the deaf/blind manual alphabet. This is a method of communicating where you sign on that personҒs hand. It is not easy for them to learn but if they have they can converse remarkably quickly. For the sighted person it is easy to learn and could be learnt in about 20-30 minutes.
Education
In the past it was the usual for blind and sight impaired children to go to special schools but nowadays most go to mainstream schools. Support can be given to students by people reading to them either face to face or recording onto tape. Use is made of access technology. Careful planning by students and teachers/tutors is important to make sure that any reading material is in a suitable format and on time. The RNIB is very good at supporting students with their material on tape or in Braille. These support systems should be put in place as soon as possible so that the student does not fall behind in their education.
Employment
The unemployment rate for people who are blind or sight impaired who wish to work has constantly been way above the national average at 25%. However, many people do work in a huge variety of professions. The Department of Work and Pensions funds a scheme called Access to Work. This is designed to give people the support they need and to take any extra costs away from the employer. The scheme can include help with transport to and from work; specialist equipment and personal work assistants who can read and write for them as well as drive if necessary. What they actually do is really fulfil all the functions that the person would normally see.
Leisure
Leisure at home is important. Many people who have had sight loss spend many hours listening to their talking books. Many spend time listening to the radio. However, television can be more of a problem. There is audio description to help. This is where when there is no dialogue being said the action is described so that in theory a person should not miss out on what is happening. Audio described videos can be purchased. A special Freeview digital television box can be bought which enables some programmes in this format to be received. Sky also has a system for this.
If people enjoy playing games indoors then many have been adapted. Playing cards can be bought so that they are larger or Braille. There is a Braille version of Scrabble and many others. Some computer games have been designed so that they are by sound only and are quite good fun. In the main though the idea is that just because someone cannot see too well it should not prevent them from joining in with their family in having some fun at home.
Likewise people take up a huge range of leisure activities away from home.
Many theatres have audio described performances Art galleries often have tactile exhibitions so that people may feel the different textures and shapes of art. They also have descriptions of paintings and tactile versions of them. Many museums supply audio tours and in fact many people get more information than their sighted counterparts.
Blind and sight impaired people play a lot of sport. Some examples are football, cricket, golf, archery, bowls, swimming, canoeing, sailing, darts, cycling and marathon running. People also take up a range of arts and crafts.
The underlying theme is that once people have accepted their sight loss and learnt coping strategies with the right support there are not many things that they cannot do. Many people try things that they would not otherwise have attempted and a high quality of life is possible.
Look at the ability not the disability and ask how you can help then you can help HACB with its aim of enhancing the life of Hampshires sight impaired people.
About the Author
Steve Geary lost his sight as a young man but undaunted went on to study for a Degree and has been employed by HACB for the past six years in the Eye Clinic Support role and since December 2005 as Outreach Reception Officer at Head Office. Steve's wide knowledge and experience is invualable in offering support to new HACB referrals and he can be contacted on 02380 641244.
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Visual Impairment Services
