Action Blog
Viewing entries tagged with 'living with sight loss'
Losing your sight and maintaining independence is hard work, but it is worth the effort
I do understand why some people just give up the ghost when living with sight loss. It would be so easy to not bother, to sit back and let other people do things for you, to not drag your sorry backside into work and face the frustrations and challenges that life throws at you. I really do understand why such a high majority of visually impaired people are unemployed. It seems like the easier route, but it is not.
Moving from the mainstream to the disabled-stream with grace
We went to our local mall on Saturday morning. Yes, I realise it is December and that going to the mall on a Saturday morning and having any hope of not doing the cane dance with someone’s stiletto’s is slim, but my son had some very important business over at HMV.
Husbands, wives, partners, carers and independence
I know it is just a word, but 'carer' is not one that I ever use to describe my husband, but in reality it is what he is. No matter how much I fight for every morsel of independence, there are some things that I just can’t do and he does them for me. On a practical level, it’s pretty straightforward, but Mark’s recent bout with cancer has provided yet another stark realisation.
What does a girl have to do to change inaccurate perceptions of disability?
I am a rather nauseatingly positive person and would like to believe that people are generally quite reasonable. When an issue is debated or a point of view is articulated, based on real facts and not conjecture, I would expect that people would respond thoughtfully and respectfully. But no. This is not always the way it plays out, Sandi.
If the shoe fits – a little tale about overcoming stereotypes
Despite my diminishing vision, I still try to make an effort when it comes to how I look and what I wear, as I have no intention of subscribing to the stereotype of what a blind person looks like, but I think I may have accidentally slipped into this stereotype ever so slightly, but managed to overcome it with my dignity intact.
Treat your useful vision with respect please
When I last saw my consultant, I was having really bad double vision and he referred me to another consultant who specialises in, well, double vision of course. I do love Moorfields.
Understanding what it’s like to love someone with a disability
I have been wondering lately if a 5-year-old child has played a prank on me and stuck a sign on my back saying 'Human rubbish bin. Dump here'. Either that or it is possible that I am having the longest streak of bad luck ever. I mean, I know I am strong, but one little girl can only take so much or was this one more lesson that I just needed to learn?
Getting to grips with the emotional side of sight loss
Getting to a happy place when you are dealing with sight loss is no easy thing, and there are so many variables, so how it’s done and when you will arrive at said happy place is different for everyone. But what I do know is this; as human beings, we may not be in control of what happens to us physiologically, but for those of us who are fortunate enough to have good mental health, we are in control of how we respond to it and attitude is everything!
Disclosing a disability in social situations is tricky business
When you meet someone new in a social setting, the expectation is that there will be polite conversation and you would not envisage sharing intimate details about your personal life with them, so deciding if you want to or need to or should or shouldn’t disclose a disability is tricky enough, let alone working out how to gracefully slip it into the conversation.
Are people I know uncomfortable about my disability?
At first, I thought I was being uber-sensitive and reading into things, which I am prone to do more frequently than I would like to admit, but it seems to be that there is a genuine trend happening here. People that I knew before I registered blind treat me differently than people that I have met since. I know it sounds ridiculous, which is why it has taken me so long to feel confident that this is the case, but I have been secretly assessing the situation and it’s just the way it is.
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accessibility, apple, assistive technology, beauty, benefits, braille, burnley, christmas, confidence, coping, disability, disclosing disability, discrimination, dla, dwp, education, employment, esa, family, fashion, grieving, guide dogs, happiness, holidays, human rights, inclusive design, inclusivity, independence, independent living, iphone, life, lifestyle, living with sight loss, pension, people, personal independence payment, pip, registration, respect, rp, sailing, shopping, sight loss, social inclusion, stereotypes, technology, travel, web accessibility, welfare rights, work,
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