Coping With Blindness

Losing your dominant sense is shattering and confusing.

• Worldwide, between 300 million and 400 million people are visually impaired due to various causes. Of this group, approximately 50 million people are totally blind. Eighty percent of blindness occurs in people over 50 years old.
• Common Causes of blindness include diabetes, macular degeneration, traumatic injuries, infections, glaucoma, and inability to obtain any glasses.
• Less common causes of blindness include vitamin A deficiency, retinopathy of prematurity, vascular disease involving the retina or optic nerve including stroke, ocular inflammatory disease, retinitis pigmentosa, primary or secondary malignancies of the eye, congenital abnormalities, hereditary diseases of the eye, and chemical poisoning from toxic agents such as methanol.

With the right support you can turn it around and learn to live afresh but it's a very big hill to climb. The journey requires a great deal of patience and practice and is complicated enough without also factoring in trauma and injury in the line of police duty.

Everything from your ability to move around, read, write, do DIY and appreciate the scenery around you, suddenly changes or disappears.

Social services provide rehabilitation officers who make home visits to people with restricted vision in order to ensure that their living environment is designed to support them. For example, they may make recommendations on how to enhance the contrast of different surfaces and improve lighting in the home. Rehabilitation officers can also provide mobility training and explain other potential sources of practical help. Social workers can offer counselling, including advice and assistance for the family and friends of those who have lost their sight. 

For visually impaired people who work, on-the-job assessment of an individual’s needs can be carried out. Aids such as portable CCTV systems make it possible for many people with severely impaired vision to read or see a screen well enough to perform many jobs. Children with vision loss may still be able to go to an ordinary school. Education advisers and specialist teachers can design a management plan and provide appropriate LVAs to help a child through school and into higher education.

Charities and self-help groups are often the best sources of information and practical support. They also provide contact with people who have had experience of losing their vision. Among the listed charities and groups, the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) provides practical support, information about groups within each area and advice on training with techniques such as Braille reading. It lends and sells books and magazines in various formats, including Braille and large-print.

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association supplies trained dogs for placement with blind people. The dogs make it much easier for blind people to cope with the everyday hazards of urban life, such as crossing roads and negotiating busy public spaces. The association also provides training in using a long cane to aid mobility and reading and writing Braille.

- See more at: http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/health/hearing-vision/vision/coping-blindness#sthash.2N6zx5Un.dpuf

There is also Braille, an amazing tool for the blind

Braille is a system of reading and writing by touch used by the blind. It consists of arrangements of dots which make up letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation marks. The basic Braille symbol, called the Braille cell, consists of six dots arranged in the formation of a rectangle, three dots high and two across. Other symbols consist of only some of these six dots. The six dots are commonly referred to by number according to their position in the cell:

There are no different symbols for capital letters in Braille. Capitalization is accomplished by placing a dot 6 in the cell just before the letter that is capitalized. The first ten letters of the alphabet are used to make numbers. These are preceded by a number sign which is dots 3-4-5-6:

Thus, 1 is number sign a; 2 is number sign b; 10 is number sign a-j and 193 is number sign a-i-c:

Some abbreviations are used in standard American Braille in order to reduce its bulk. These must be memorized, but most Braille readers and writers find them convenient, rather than a problem. Braille is written on heavy paper, and the raised dots prevent the pages from lying smoothly together as they would in a print book. Therefore, Braille books are quite bulky.

Today there are three methods of writing Braille, just as there are two methods of writing print. A Braille writing machine (comparable to a typewriter) has a keyboard of only six keys and a space bar, instead of one key for each letter of the alphabet. These keys can be pushed separately or altogether. If they are all pushed at the same time, they will cause six dots to be raised on the paper in the formation of a Braille cell. Pushing various combinations of the keys on the Braille writer produces different letters of the alphabet and other Braille symbols.

One of the goals of the National Federation of the Blind is to help people appreciate Braille for the efficient system it is. The main difference between print and Braille is simply that print is meant to be read with the eyes, while Braille is meant to be read with the fingertips. Fingers feel dots quickly and accurately; eyes see loops and lines of ink. In both cases it is the brain that processes and reacts to the raw data sent to it by the fingers or the eyes.

White sticks/canes

There are three main types of white sticks or canes. The first type is called a symbol cane and you simply hold it rather than use it to find obstacles in front of you. As the name suggests, it’s a way of letting other people know that you’re blind or partially sighted. It’s particularly useful in busy or crowded places as other people who see the cane should take a bit more care not to bump into you. You might also find that you get more offers of assistance from staff and members of the public because they can see that you have sight loss more easily.

The second type is called a guide cane and you use it to find obstacles in front of you. You hold it diagonally across your body and then use it to find obstacles such as kerbs or steps.

The third type is called a long cane and people who have been trained to use one roll or tap it from side to side, as they walk, to find their way and avoid obstacles.

Red and white banded canes of all types are available and these indicate that someone has a hearing impairment as well as sight loss.

You can buy different types and sizes of white canes, as well as other products to help you get out and about, however we recommend you contact your local social services if you need getting help out and about. They should be able to provide you with a cane for free and, if you need a guide or long cane, give you mobility training so that you know how to use one to get about safely.

Benefits of owning a guide dog

Studies show owning a pet or therapy animal offer positive effects psychologically, socially, and physiologically. Guide dogs especially come with a variety of benefits and help in many ways. They give a blind person more confidence, friendship, and security. Blind people who use guide dogs have increased confidence in going about day-to-day life and are comforted by a constant friend. Companionship offered by a pet helps reduce anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Because dogs offer support, security, and companionship, stress is reduced, which in turn improves cardiovascular health. “A number of studies identify pet ownership as a factor in improved recovery from illness and in improved health in general”. Guide dogs make it easier to get around, resulting in the person getting more exercise or walking more. People are more willing to go places and feel a sense of independence. Meeting people and socializing is easier, and people are more likely to offer a blind person help when there is a guide dog. The dogs lead to increased interaction with other people. Dogs are seen as “ice breakers” to a conversation and something to talk about. In many cases, guide dogs offer a life changing experience. They are more advantageous than long canes when one is in an unfamiliar place. The dog directs the right path, instead of poking around wondering if you might bump into something. Guide dogs make the experience of the unknown more relaxing. Getting from point A to point B using a guide dog is much faster and safer.  Owners of guide dogs share a special bond with their dog. Many report that the dog is a member of the family, and go to their dog for comfort and support. The dog isn’t seen as a working dog, but more as a loyal friend. 

If you have a family member or a friend who is having trouble with their sight, first get them to the doctors, the earlier you get medical help the better, also tell them about the RNIB,a great association for people with partial sight or those who are fully blind or developing problems, they will help them and with your support the disability will be less of a problem and more a challenge, as with many things.