Introduction

-
Welcome to Vision: Impossible. Where we will learn about all things related to visual impairment. 

Purpose of the Blog
  • To share people’s experiences of living with visual impairments
  • To explain misconceptions about visual impairments 
  • To explain ways that you can help people who are visually impaired 
  • Discuss assistive technology 
  • And much more 

First let’s understand what Visual Impairments are
  • Visual impairments are typically described as a level of vision loss that cannot be corrected fully by surgery, glasses or contact lenses. 
  • In the UK visual impairment is classified with 2 different registrations: sight impaired and severely sight impaired (this registration also covers those who are fully blind). 
  • The impact of visual impairments differ massively from person to person. 

Lets briefly discuss resources and support that is available for those who have visual impairments (this will be discussed in more depth later)
  • Organisations: There are many organisations that can provide help and support for those with visual impairment.  Some organisations provide help for those with specific eye conditions and others offer more generic help and support
  • Practical support and aids: This includes assistive technology, home adaptations, transportation assistance, braille instruction, computer skills development and mobility aids (with training if necessary)
  • Emotional and social support: This includes support groups, Eye Clinic Liaison Officers (ECLOs), and more. 

Advocacy and Awareness
  • Importance of Advocacy: One reason that it it’s important for people who have visual impairments to advocate is because it allows them to explain how they can best be supported. This is importantly because sight loss impacts everybody differently and this results in everybody needing situations adapted slightly differently.
  • How to Get Involved: There are many ways that you can support someone who has a visual impairment, one way is to donate to charities that upport individuals with visual impairments or if it is a loved one or a close friend you could ask them how you could help them or make things more accessible to them. 

Call to Action
If you think this would be helpful for you please keep an eye out for the coming posts and do not hesitate to share this with your friends. If there is anything specificity that you want a blog post about please leave a comment or send an email to vision.impossible.blog@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The benefit of using AI as someone with a visual impairment

-
Technology has always played a vital role in improving accessibility for people with visual impairments. From screen readers to Braille displays, digital tools help break down barriers to education, work, and everyday life.  Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved and become a great new tool. Either in the form of wearables such as the Meta RayBan Glasses or Ally Solos or in the form of apps such as Gemini and Seeing AI. These tools do not act as a replacement for existing assistive tech, but as something that builds upon the fundamentals of what already exists. For many people with a visual impairment, AI isn’t a futuristic hype. It’s a practicality that provides the support, independence, and inclusion that they need now. Turning Visual Information into Accessible Information One of AI’s biggest strengths is its ability to interpret visual information and turn it into something that is accessible. AI-powered tools give people access to information that otherwise ...
Read more

Retina UK Conference 2025

-
Image
On September 19th and 20th 2025 Retina UK hosted their annual conference in London. For most this was a very inspiring occasion, with Retina UK celebrating their 50th anniversary. This was my first time attending a conference by Retina UK.   19th September  This was a day designated for professionals to discuss and hear about developments in within the understanding of inherited retinal dystrophies There were talks about; developments in inherited retinal disease research, learning from lived experience, technology advancements and other things.  20th September  This conference was mostly attended by those who live with inherited retinal diseases and their families.  In the morning there were many professionals discussing advances in trials for many different genes which cause inherited retinal dystrophies. Research like using stem cells to regenerate the light sensitive layer in the eye were particularly interesting, even if learning about it meant bein...
Read more