Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Tricks to people slowly loosing sight? (self.Blind)
submitted by Maphew404
My grandma is slowly loosing her sight, and its gotten pretty bad to the point where she walked into a wall, thinking that it was the hallway last night. she bumped into the wall pretty hard, which made my heart ache.
So for the past 24 hours, I've been aggressively thinking of ways to help her "see" obstacles in our house, whether it be walls, chairs, tables, etc.
Of course, one could say to get her glasses but the doctors told us that her cataracts are too advance for glasses to help. we could op for surgery to help her see, but there's a chance that it might not work. worse, she could just go blind all together. And even if the surgery worked, she would at most, see a few months with her eyes before loosing vision again.
So what I am asking for is, does anyone have any tricks/hacks that can help the elderly see better? For example, I was thinking of putting bright neon colors around the house so maybe she can see better. for instances, i could wrap a neon cloth on the back-top of chairs so it'll register as a caution sign to her. Or perhaps put large neon stickers on the corner of walls to help her know where and when the wall ends.
But that's as far as I got when it came to brain storming while working. I want to know if you guys have any other ideas or suggestion that can help me - any tips and tricks that can help her from hurting her self again would be greatly appreciated!
So for the past 24 hours, I've been aggressively thinking of ways to help her "see" obstacles in our house, whether it be walls, chairs, tables, etc.
Of course, one could say to get her glasses but the doctors told us that her cataracts are too advance for glasses to help. we could op for surgery to help her see, but there's a chance that it might not work. worse, she could just go blind all together. And even if the surgery worked, she would at most, see a few months with her eyes before loosing vision again.
So what I am asking for is, does anyone have any tricks/hacks that can help the elderly see better? For example, I was thinking of putting bright neon colors around the house so maybe she can see better. for instances, i could wrap a neon cloth on the back-top of chairs so it'll register as a caution sign to her. Or perhaps put large neon stickers on the corner of walls to help her know where and when the wall ends.
But that's as far as I got when it came to brain storming while working. I want to know if you guys have any other ideas or suggestion that can help me - any tips and tricks that can help her from hurting her self again would be greatly appreciated!
KillerLag 3 points 2y ago
It sounds like she needs some orientation and mobility training. You should check about your local rehabilitation center and talk to someone there.
If she can still use some vision, high contrast can help her see a bit. But keep in mind that depending on lighting, neon colours aren't always the easier to see. Safety orange usually stands out the best, but it also depends on her eye condition.
If there is one specific place she needs to get to (say, the bathroom) one thing you can do is put a low level sound source (a radio on low, or a ticking clock) there. That would give her a non-visual landmark to help locate the room. You want it loud enough she can hear it as she gets closer, but not so loud as to be a constant annoyance. Also, you can't set up too many of them, as the sound would start to interfere with each other if close enough.
If she can still use some vision, high contrast can help her see a bit. But keep in mind that depending on lighting, neon colours aren't always the easier to see. Safety orange usually stands out the best, but it also depends on her eye condition.
If there is one specific place she needs to get to (say, the bathroom) one thing you can do is put a low level sound source (a radio on low, or a ticking clock) there. That would give her a non-visual landmark to help locate the room. You want it loud enough she can hear it as she gets closer, but not so loud as to be a constant annoyance. Also, you can't set up too many of them, as the sound would start to interfere with each other if close enough.
Maphew404 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
I was thinking of sound ques too, but she is losing her hearing too.... Actually she has been slowly steadily lossing he hearing since 10 years ago, but it's only the past two years has her hearing truly degraded. We have a hearing aid for her, but she hates wearing it with a passion. She's stubborn when it comes to wearing stuff like that.
I'll look into the orientation and mobility training. This is all new to me so finding out that there are resources out there for the impair has bee. Really helpful. Thank you btw
I'll look into the orientation and mobility training. This is all new to me so finding out that there are resources out there for the impair has bee. Really helpful. Thank you btw
sk1ttl3s 3 points 2y ago
It sounds like it's time for a cane.
Maphew404 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
She's in her 90s but her mobility is still strong. She's just loosing sight and hearing.
ukifrit 2 points 2y ago
a white cane isn't for support, it's for orientation.
sk1ttl3s 1 points 2y ago
A white cane is used by those with limited/non existent sight and/depth perception.
It's used in a fashion that the handler can help identify safely (from a distance) where objects, walls, drops, etc are.
It can actually be a very freeing tool in helping some people regain independence.
It's used in a fashion that the handler can help identify safely (from a distance) where objects, walls, drops, etc are.
It can actually be a very freeing tool in helping some people regain independence.
ginsenshi 2 points 2y ago
If the cataracts are as bad as running into walls your grandmother needs to learn non-visual techniques and not rely on failingf residual vision
Maphew404 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Thank you. I just googled Non-visual techniques. I didn't know such things existed. its my first time looking into these kinds of things.
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