August 2 - Sight and Stairs

Recently I visited an elderly friend in Hospital. She had fallen and suffered a hip fracture. My friend observed how quickly the fall had taken place. She also said that she hadn’t been using her walker at the time.

While I am not elderly and I don’t use a walker, I was still able to have much empathy with my friend. I have had several falls in my journey with vision loss and certainly the split second speed with which such falls have occurred is something with which I can identify. One minute you are standing erect, and the next second you can be on the ground. Actually, my falls haven’t been when I have been standing, but rather when I have been rushing somewhere and not paying attention.

I’m not sure if it can be generalized that people with little or no sight have more falls than people with full sight, but it does seem to be the case for me. I don’t know anyone in my age demographic who has had a fall, but I do know several individuals either partially sighted or blind and who are younger than me and who have taken a tumble.

My worst falls, and by this I mean those that have resulted in some form of injury, have taken place when I have been in a hurry, but also when the ground has been uneven or there has been some unexpected obstacle in my path. Actually I have only fallen on stairs once because I am very aware that they can be a hazard. I am always, well, nearly always, careful to hold onto a handrail and to place my foot at the back of the stair. My white cane is a good guide as to the height of the steps. Because I use my cane in my right hand, I usually look for a handrail on the left side. I must admit that this is a bit inconvenient for others who are coming up at the same time I am going down. At least, that is so in North America where the rule is to keep to the right. I do better in Australia where keeping to the left is the norm.

I appreciate stairs where there is a handrail on both sides of the steps. I like it when the steps are wide enough for me to place my foot on each tread. I don’t like steps without a handrail or where the handrail is not positioned to be functional - that is, where the rail doesn’t start completely at the first step or perhaps does some fancy and possibly unexpected curve before the bottom step is reached. I don’t like wooden railings with splinters or metal railings with fancy bumps and spikes. I don’t appreciate people who sit on steps. Too often they try to sit near the wall thinking, I suppose, that they will be out of the way and not realizing that that is exactly where I would like to be walking. When I am tired and my concentration is not at its peak, I prefer to negotiate a ramp or use an elevator.

I am quite sure that people without sight will be able to identify with much of what I have written here today. However, if you are one of my sighted readers, I encourage you to pay attention to some of the various forms of steps and stairs that you encounter. Also, if there is not an accessible alternative to using those steps, perhaps you could be proactive and bring this to the attention of those responsible. Falling down is not good at any age, but the older we get the longer it takes for our bones to mend.

July 18 - Choosing Clothes

In the past three weeks I have been asked on three separate occasions how I manage to choose my clothes. I’m not sure if this has been plain curiosity or perhaps because I have been cleverly coordinated or terribly mismatched. I have decided to go with the first option and take the question seriously. I am no expert for sure but this is what I do.

When it comes to buying clothes, I like to have someone with me. Lyle is an obvious choice and not only does he help me choose, but he also pays for my purchases.  Basically I try to describe to Lyle what it is that I want, and patient man that he is, he searches the store to find it. Lyle and I don’t have the same taste in clothes but he knows what I like to wear and doesn’t try to dissuade me to his way of thinking. He is also honest enough to let me know if what I have chosen is totally unflattering.

So, that is step one. Step two is sorting things out once I am home. With my so called dress up outfits, it is all relatively easy. I put clothes on hangers with matching skirt and top. They stay that way. I do have a bit of trouble when it comes to pants and tops. I have more tops than pants and I can’t tell the difference between the darker colours – navy, black and brown. Then it is helpful to have Lyle around when I am getting dressed. I think that if I was on my own I might just limit myself and possibly only go with black, which goes with almost everything.

This brings me to socks. I only ever buy white or black socks.  I remember talking with my friend, Norma, about my frustration in trying to match socks – colour and style. She gave me a fairly obvious solution. Always buy the same style, and as my sight is enough to tell the difference between white and black, then those are the two colours to buy. I have followed this advice and it has made things so much easier.

When it comes to shoes, I only have a few pairs and I tend to remember the colours. Actually, I usually wear running shoes when I am out walking. I find that it is easier on my feet. I do have a tendency to bump into things and if I am wearing sandals or going barefoot, those little bumps don’t do my toes or feet any good.

So, those are my fashion hints. I think that people who are blind or partially sighted usually work out their own method of choosing clothes. It is simply a matter of finding what works. My best tip for anyone – sighted or not – is to be organized.

July 9 - For my Alberta readers

Who has the missing horse??

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=664406810419280&id=100005499007924&_rdr#_=_

July 2 - Celebrating History

Did you go to any special celebrations for the 150 years of Canada’s history? I have been thinking about what the world looked like then. Coincidentally I have also been reading (or listening to) several books set in the same era. One of these was the Full Story of the Titanic. It was definitely a good read with some insight into the political and social outlooks of the times.

I have also been thinking about CNIB. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind was founded nearly 100 years ago and will be celebrating its centennial year in March, 2018. The agency began as a service for soldiers who were returning from World War 1 and who had been blinded in action. From small beginnings as a reading room in Toronto, the agency has grown to a national institution for Canadians with varying degrees of vision loss.

Particularly I have been thinking of how difficult life must have been in those early days. I think this as I am writing on my computer with an audible screen reading program. On the desk beside me is my CCTV Reader, a device which enlarges print to a much greater degree than a hand held magnifier. On my wrist I am wearing a watch with an audible function to tell the time. Soon I will be sitting in my armchair to listen to yet another audio book.

When I go outside, I will use my white cane but I also know that many of the buildings I enter will have accommodations for my vision loss. I will encounter ramps, curbs with brightly painted yellow lines, elevators which announce the floor as the lift ascends and descends.

I am glad that as a person living with partial sight, I am living now in 2017 instead of in those earlier days.