The Journey of Independence is going to change your life!!!

For more details, take a look at our Way Finding Wizardry course page.
simply put, we first have to orientate ourselves. This means, knowing where we need to go, when we need to be there, our safety, and balancing getting a taxi with our skills for mobility. we may use a guide dog which will avoid obstacles and find crossings. We may use a cane to feel our way and get tactile feedback. we also use landmarks such as tactile paving, curbs, common sounds and if we have any sight left possibly buildings. We find the general public the best and we thank you.
It is also possible to use our phones to help us. Simply knowing the time because our phone talks to us. We can go on apps to get turn by turn navigation and there are also free apps to get a volunteer involved such as Be My Eyes. I also use Seeing ai to help with the last ten meters.

Talk to us like your best friend!!! We are simply normal people who’s eyes are not quite as good as your’s.
The first thing to say is your name, followed by “can i help?” you can say almost anything, including “did you see on the tv” as most people with vision loss still see something, it is not offensive. Most people will have got used to this over the years.
Be objective, if you are helping someone cross the road for example. it is not appropriate to ask about their eye condition. simply put, help them across the road, make sure they are safe and carry on with your day. You should feel good, knowing you have helped someone and not patronized or past any judgement on them.

Yes, it is the main way we access the world/ It has never been easier than it is for people living with vision loss than it is now. Some people like to use their phone as a magnifier, or may be they change the course on the screen. It is also possible to have your phone or computer talk to you. This is available on all devices free of charge.
i use my phone as an alarm in the morning, to read packets for cooking instructions, for email and social media, to find bus and train times, to do my super market shop and other website shopping, i listen to the radio, use my phone for entertainment purposes oh and sometimes i use it for making calls and text messaging.
All this is achieved with no usable sight and with a screen reader.

I can not stress enough, this question should never be asked to someone living with vision loss. Most likely not even your partner.
Often the person will not know the answer, as lot’s of people do not remember dreams.
It all hinges on whether they have ever had any vision historically. When vision deteriorates you can get hallucinations. This can be very traumatic and we must not revisit this for people with vision loss. the condition is called Charles bonney and can be confused with mental health conditions.

This is something you should never ask. people are in different places along their journey of independence. if you imagine someone who is gradually loosing sight from a young age and contrast it with a person having a stroke or traffic accident. they are very different states of mind. This is important, it can be damaging to ask this question.
broadly speaking people can not see for many reasons. The main reasons are things like blurriness, cloudy and foggy, light sensitivity, blind spots on the retina, night blindness and of course optic nerve and brain damage.
It is normal for many of these to be present at the same time.

It is common for people living with vision loss to have social isolation. It is possible they have not been out in a long time. Simply getting to a new venue will cause lots of anxiety. It is not uncommon for panic attacks in some situations.
If it is a noisy environment we may be struggling to hear and unable to see visual cues such as smiles and hand gestures.
When we walk in a room we will not be able to recognise our friends.
Challenges through moving in crowded areas. Missing out on visual information such as a tv screen, magicians and entertainers and shows.
Not knowing where toilets for example asking a stranger an obvious question is embarrassing.
We can not find the buffet and we may spill our drinks.
It is possible we do not get the dress code memo and possibly we are scared of wearing clashing clothes.
negotiating personal space and unexpected changes in plans.
Constantly getting pity or constant reminders of their problems by unaware well meaning people.

No simply put i use it better.

Yes we can!!! if you think about swimming, we can guide ourselves on the ropes or edge of pool. ball games are adapted with beads inside to hear and may be allowed extra bounces.
There are specialist sports such as Goalball and Showdown designed for the visually impaired.