Mental Health Awareness Month & Vision Loss

Coping with vision loss can be difficult at any age. You go from being independent, active, and social to not driving and feeling depressed and isolated, sometimes overnight. 

How do you cope with this lifestyle change? Will you ever be self-sufficient again? What about your job–will your vision loss cause you to lose it because you can’t do it? Will you be able to participate in those activities you enjoyed before losing some, or all, of your sight?

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. We hope to alleviate your most pressing concerns about vision loss, and the psychological effects of vision loss can lead to problems with your mental health. We’ll provide you with resources to aid you in overcoming these hardships and allow you to live your life more independently and happily.

Remember, all of the resources in the world can’t replace an attitude of optimism and self-belief. Sure, it’s normal to experience depression after vision loss.

Symptoms and the five stages of grief

1 in 4 adults with vision loss experience anxiety or depression, typically brought on by loneliness and isolation. How do you know if what you’re feeling is depression thought? Here are some symptoms you might experience:

  • Suffering from insomnia or sleeping too much

  • Irritability

  • Sadness, crying

  • Hopelessness 

  • No longer enjoying activities you once found fun

Permit yourself to go through the five stages of grief. Progressing at your own pace through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance will allow you to move forward with your rehabilitation in the manner that best suits you. If you handle your feelings positively, you’ll be able to learn and remain focused on your goals and objectives.

Are you still suffering from anxiety? That’s okay. Don’t remain stuck in your anxiousness. Talk things through with a therapist, a trusted friend, a family member, or your physician. Get plenty of exercise, eat healthy, get plenty of sleep, start a journal, or relax by doing yoga. Additionally, avoid caffeine and alcohol.

Support services for the blind

After determining where you are with your mental health, it’s time to create a plan to address it. Counseling, whether individually or as part of a peer group, will give you the tools necessary to improve or maintain your mental health. Finding a peer group in your area made up of individuals with vision loss can serve as a helpful resource.  

Though your loved ones can provide support, they can’t know what you’re going through. Outlook Enrichment has a peer support group. Members find these benefits by joining it.

Locating local rehabilitation resources like the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired is an excellent start to regaining your ability to complete daily tasks. The American Council of the Blind and The National Federation of the Blind are two organizations with a plethora of resources for both you and your network of supporters.

Your state agency should also be able to provide you with occupational therapy, orientation, and mobility training using a cane, as well as training in assistive technology–such as screen readers or magnifying devices.

By learning to use assistive technology, you can find peer support groups online, therefore lessening your feelings of isolation. One such group to check out is Vision Aware. Social media is another resource where you might find a group to join or an account to follow.

If you’re unable to drive, you can find rides through friends or family or a local transportation service. You can order rides through Uber or Lyft. Better yet, Uber allows for multiple individuals to share rides.

Losing some or all of your sight can be traumatic and life-changing. Your vision loss is something to be mourned because it was once such an integral part of your daily life. By working hard and maintaining a positive outlook, you can again live a fulfilling life doing most, if not all, of the activities you once loved.

For more resources, guidance, and technology training, please contact us today.

How to Identify Your Learning Style & Adapt to Vision Loss

Do you know your preferred learning style? Have you ever considered how your vision loss or impairment will impact it as it progresses? 

What is a learning style?

A learning style is an individual’s best approach to learning. It considers strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and disabilities. This learning philosophy is called metacognition.

It helps you understand your needs and allows you to learn and retain information. Most people tend to have a dominant learning style but will revert to other learning styles, based on situational events or the type of content they are trying to learn. 

Information typically enters your brain in three main ways: sight, hearing, and touch. So, learning styles are broken down into three major categories:

Visual – processing with your eyes

Characteristics of visual learners include:

Auditory – processing with your ears

Characteristics of auditory learners include:

Kinesthetic – processing information in multiple ways

Characteristics of kinesthetic learners include:

Understanding your learning style is important in addressing new challenges as you navigate your new visually impaired journey and changes. Your brain is still wired for your learning needs even if you no longer have the vision to see what is on the page or screen.

Continuing your learning style with vision loss

A rehabilitation trainer will help you continue using your dominant learning style. This training will include implementing environmental modifications to allow a visual learner to access information.

Visual learning

Visual learners who are visually impaired will need to adjust lighting for glare sensitivity to read print on paper and screens. People with significant vision loss will rely more on verbal descriptions to describe body movements or physical cues.

Other learning adaptations include the intake of written content. A visual learner may now have to absorb information auditorily through audiobooks or kinesthetically by learning to read braille.

Additionally, visual learners will need to navigate differently. Previously, they may have relied visually on maps to navigate city streets. When the ability to see maps is compromised, new strategies must be acquired. 

These may be using a GPS program on their mobile device to access auditory route information, relying on bus drivers, or learning to identify landmarks based on auditory and tactual information. 

Deafblind learning 

Addressing learning style needs becomes increasingly more challenging for individuals who lose visual and auditory learning modes, resulting in only kinesthetic information inputs. These learning styles may have been dominant and secondary before the dual sensory loss. These individuals use tactile learning strategies for daily communication and other items.

The strategies used by the deafblind are vastly different than those used for individuals who are visually impaired.

Trained deafblind specialists are needed to help people become comfortable with these strategies. Outlook Enrichment has a deafblind specialist on our team who can assist you.

Your learning style is an important aspect of any rehabilitation evaluation. Outlook Enrichment can help you understand your learning needs and develop an action plan for success. Contact us today to get started.

A Parent’s Guide to Engaging Activities for Your Blind Child

Early intervention with blind or visually impaired children helps establish a foundation for future learning. Resources for visually impaired children can aid a blind child in five crucial areas:

With the pandemic still forcing some to remain at home, you might be running out of things to do if you have a child with low or no vision. Here are suggestions to help quell boredom and stimulate excitement.

Watch movies and shows.

Watching movies and television shows through numerous streaming services can provide hours of entertainment. Make sure the audio description feature is enabled. If you have very young children, Disney+ has over 300 movies and shows where the action is described.

Engage their senses to encourage play and imagination.

Make jewelry by stringing beads or braiding thread. Expose them to woodwork. Show your child how to build a small stool or statue.  Knit or crochet gifts for friends and loved ones.

Buy some play dough, or better yet, make your own. Make candles or a paper mache replica of a pet or your child’s favorite animal.

Play games.

Card and board games can be fun and educational resources for visually impaired children. Several online retailers sell UNO and Go Fish braille cards. The same can be said for buying braille Scrabble or Monopoly.

If screen time is more your kid’s thing, there are plenty of accessible video games available. Here is a list of educational games for the iPhone or iPad.

Have some fun in the kitchen.

Let your children get messy in the kitchen. Baking and decorating cookies and cakes with their siblings or friends can be a neat way to pass the time. If they have braille measuring cups and spoons, teach them how to measure ingredients correctly. Making bread can be both a sensory experience and scientific experiment—smelling the yeast as it is activated; getting your hands in the dough, stretching, punching, and kneading it; feeling it after it has proofed; anticipating that first taste of warm bread fresh from the oven slathered with butter or jam.

Start a garden.

The changing of the seasons brings nicer weather. Spring is a great time to prep your garden for planting. It’s also an opportune time to let your child get their hands in the fresh earth, planting seeds or flowers and harvesting what they’ve grown.

You can also start an indoor garden by planting seedlings in egg cartons before transferring them to pots. Herb gardens also do well indoors. They can be kept out of the way on window sills where light and fresh air can reach them.

Read books.

Cookbooks and other texts can be ordered online if your child reads braille. Better still, if they have a free membership to the National Library Service for the Blind, they can download them. Bookshare also allows members to download books in physical or electronic braille or through a Daisy reader.

Get outside.

Like spending time outdoors? Take a hike through the woods or strap your child in the seat on the back of your bike. Be sure to describe what you’re passing and what people are doing around you so they can fully enjoy the ride. Let them feel different rocks, plants, feathers, and trees – but be mindful of poison ivy.

To help people gain independence and expose them to different experiences, Outlook Enrichment hosts several monthly events to provide resources for visually impaired children. Virtual board game night and our tandem bike-riding club are just two upcoming events you might enjoy.

Since children with little or no vision need different activities to stimulate their senses, starting early by exposing them to experiences is an excellent way to teach and show them our ever-changing and fantastic world. Unlike sighted children, you can’t hand them their iPads and keep them engaged for hours. Get creative. There’s always something fun you can do. Keep this post handy if you run short on ideas.

Unveiling the Mystery: Why Women Experience Higher Rates of Visual Impairment

Did you know that women are at higher risk for eye disease and vision impairment? Eye diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration are diagnosed more often in women than in men. The World Health Organization reports that nearly two-thirds of all visually impaired and blind people in the world are women. In an effort to educate women on the risks and know the facts about healthy eyecare, Prevent Blindness America launched Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month in April. Since several eye diseases are treatable in preventing blindness and almost all eye injuries can also be prevented, let’s learn about some of the risks and healthy habits.

The Risk Factors 

Women typically live longer than men, which increases their risk of developing a vision impairment. Eye diseases such as cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma are specific to aging.

According to the National Eye Institute, women have greater instances of eye disorders because they tend to live longer, are more likely to undergo certain cancer treatments that may affect vision, and experience normal age-related hormonal changes that may affect their eyes. These changes are menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause. Additionally, eye conditions such as chronic dry eye syndrome are more prevalent in women, and hormonal changes can cause them. The American Academy of Ophthalmology explains women are more susceptible to autoimmune diseases than men, many of which affect vision, such as lupus, Sjögren’s syndrome, and hyperthyroidism.

Women are typically family caregivers and can neglect their health while caring for others. Raising children, managing a household, and working is a full load for many women, so squeezing in a trip to the eye doctor for a checkup can be trying at best. Getting access to affordable healthcare can sometimes be more difficult for women than men. Women typically make less income than men, so having the financial resources to pay for proper health care can be a major factor. These overall social and economic situations can impact women more than men, leading to a higher risk of eye disease and vision impairment.

Developing Healthy Eye Care Habits 

Now that you know many reasons women are more prone to vision impairments than men, let’s look at some things women can do to care for their eyes.

 1.  Get a comprehensive eye exam from your eye doctor. An eye exam can not only determine the health of your eyes but can quickly track any changes, especially if you have a family history of eye disease.

2.  Watch your weight and your diet. Being overweight or obese and not eating healthy foods like dark green veggies and fish can affect vision. Weight gain and/or poor diet can cause medical conditions such as diabetes, strokes, and high blood pressure.

3.  Monitor eye makeup usage. Replace old makeup every three months or so. Do not share cosmetics with other women, as bacteria and germs can be easily spread.

4.  Wear sunglasses when outside. Sunglasses protect your eyes from UV rays and air-borne pollutants that can blow into your eyes, such as dust and pollen.

5. Don’t smoke or stop smoking.

6. Be sure your hands are clean before touching your eyes. 

7.  Learn proper eye safety and first aid for home, work, and recreational environments. Wear protective eye gear such as goggles when using chemicals, tools, and machinery. It is important to protect the eyes from burns, cuts, and foreign objects that can damage the corneas and other parts of the eye.

8. Use and wear contact lenses safely 

Learning about these risk factors and healthy habits can empower women to take control of their eye health. Additionally, men can provide support and encouragement. Understanding that the rates of vision loss are higher in women than men can help motivate everyone to take constructive action, have a meaningful conversation, and move forward to better health.

If you or a loved one is living with or learning about vision loss, contact us to learn about our adaptive tech programs, or check out our resources to learn more about living with a vision impairment.

Tips for Negotiating Sighted Guidance During the Pandemic

Using sighted guide techniques is paramount for those traveling with a vision impairment. While safely latching on to an elbow, stumbling, tripping, and falling can be avoided. Additionally, physical human closeness, guidance, and touch are the foundations of how people with visual impairments connect with the world. But ever since the coronavirus appeared, everyone has been requested to practice social distancing. This means staying six feet apart from others at all times. No hugs, handshakes, and no sighted guide assistance. Negotiating sighted guidance while social distancing can be tricky, but it is not impossible.

Use more verbal communication

When using sighted guide techniques, verbal communication is needed to indicate the direction and location of objects like stairs and curbs and describe surroundings. Now, with the pandemic, it is even more important to communicate verbally. Stores, restaurants, office buildings, and public transportation have installed new visual signs and markers to reflect social distancing. A person with vision impairment may not see or be aware of these posted signs. Because of this, it is important to ask for verbal cues. A sighted guide can tell you when to move up in a line, when people are getting too close, and assist with keeping six feet apart. Communication with a sighted guide helps navigate situations like these.

Travel during off peak times

Travel during off peak times to avoid large crowds and prevent the spread of the virus. Going places with smaller crowds makes sighted guidance easier because of the decreased foot traffic. If your sighted guide is a friend or family member, check in advance for hours of operation and find out the best time to arrive. Be sure also to investigate whether your destination offers dedicated hours for the disabled and seniors; going during these times can make your errands much easier and more comfortable for you.

Carry a white cane for identification

Some people with visual impairments might not want or need to use a white cane. But with social distancing orders in place, a white cane helps in identification and is even more critical. This can help when requesting a sighted guide in grocery stores, office buildings, or medical facilities. People will see the white cane and understand that you may need assistance. In addition to the white cane, don’t be shy about communicating that you are visually impaired–advocate for yourself. Let people know you have a disability and need help.

Use a ramble tag

The Ramble Tag is a guidance aid that is designed to be worn on the upper arm of a sighted guide. This device was created to increase walking independence and enhance security and safety. It is a comfortable alternative to holding an elbow, allowing for free movement without physical contact. This lightweight harness is an option for negotiating sighted guidance while practicing social distancing.

Access assistive technology

Sighted guide assistance doesn’t always have to come in the traditional physical, direct contact format. Some smartphone apps can provide needed visual support. Be My Eyes and AIRA are two examples of virtual assistance apps where sighted people access the camera and microphone through a live video call to assist. Call a sighted agent for help navigating the outside world, maneuvering indoors, and practicing social distancing.

People with visual impairment typically rely on being in close proximity to interact and engage with their surroundings. Some may feel that during this pandemic, social distancing means social isolation. However, working creatively and negotiating with a sighted guide can open doors to independence and connection.

Five Tips for Maintaining Your Mental Well-Being While Social Distancing

People worldwide began practicing social distancing and taking other precautions in March to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. As these precautions continue, it is crucial to maintain your mental well-being during these uncertain times. Here are five habits to improve mental health to reduce stress and anxiety while social distancing.

Plan and take action

With several countries still under lockdown, being advised to adhere to the social distancing guidelines to keep from spreading the coronavirus can make you feel like the world is spinning out of control. However, if you create a plan of action to keep you and your family safe and healthy, you’ll feel more in control of the situation. For example, schedule grocery deliveries or supply runs around your work and your child’s class schedules. Plan indoor activities for the blind to keep your family entertained while sheltering in place.

Keep a consistent schedule or routine

While creating your action plan, consider keeping a consistent schedule or maintaining the routines you made for yourself and your family before the pandemic. Scheduling time slots to work from home or with your kids on their school assignments will keep you sane. Creating a new normal for kids during the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 reduces stress and anxiety and alleviates boredom and depression.

Stay physically active

Many gyms and fitness centers remain closed. Staying active while social distancing benefits your physical and mental health by improving your mood, immune system, and energy levels. Take walks around your neighborhood for exercise. However, if you cannot leave your home for health reasons, you can search for online exercise videos. Ask your kids to teach you the exercise games they learned during their physical education class at school, or learn a new dance together. If you’re working from home, try walking around your house during virtual meetings. If you have a smart home device such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home, check the app or website associated with your device for workout apps that you can follow at home.

Maintain virtual connections while social distancing

People miss face-to-face interactions while sheltering in place. However, you can maintain virtual connections through social media platforms like Facebook Live and Google Hangouts. People also use apps such as Zoom, Skype and Facetime. You can also chat with friends and family by making phone calls and sending texts and emails to one another.

Find a creative outlet to relieve stress

When social distancing and being ordered to shelter in place has disrupted your busy life, it’s important to think outside the box when looking for things to do during the lockdown. Find activities for the blind that can help you work through anxiety and depression. Journaling is a cathartic way to express your feelings if you love to write. Suppose writing isn’t one of your favorite hobbies. In that case, you may want to start a creative project with your family or take up a handcraft such as crochet or knitting to keep your hands busy while reading, binge-watching your favorite audio-described movies and TV shows, or listening to your favorite podcasts.

Even as restrictions begin to lift, these habits of improving mental health will help you continue to follow guidelines in uncertain times.