Has she tried knitting or crocheting? Or embroidery? A lot of it is very tactile.

I don’t see why you couldn’t do any of those reasonably well as a blind person blind people can sew indeed, mostly with the manual way maybe even with a machine.

I don’t garden myself but know blind people who do and don’t see why she couldn’t do that.

Blind people can go through their hobbies and reorganize things too.

Blind people can definitely definitely do their laundry. And many independent things around the house.


Blind people can go out to stores and feel clothing and purses usually with a friend and she can feel all of them and appreciate them.

Just do those things but adapt them.

What about gardening on a smaller scale? Growing plants in pots might be easier to manage than a full outside garden, and they can be kept indoors or outdoors.

There are lots of flowers and herbs that do really well in relatively small pots. Many smell good, too, and sensory stimulation can help with mood. Lavender, sage, mint, lemon balm, rosemary, etc, for herbs. Daphne, gardenias, roses, primrose, peony, etc, for flowers. Creating a 'scent garden' could be a fun project!

Seeds may be too hard to manage, but if she started with little seedlings, she should be able to monitor them and take care of them pretty well herself.

When you have a sudden loss of agency and you end up feeling unhappily dependent upon other people, being responsible for taking care of other living things that are dependent upon you can help you feel useful and needed, too. I had a long stay in hospital and was lucky enough to be allowed to grow a bunch of seedlings in pots in the communal garden, and it definitely helped having something outside of my own head to focus on every day - little growing things that needed me.

I got a real kick out of growing dwarf sunflowers in particular, because they grow super-fast, and I could give them away to other patients to make their rooms more cheerful when they started flowering. Being able to do nice things for other people can give you a real boost.

Growing veggies or fruit trees could be an option for that, too. You can grow all kinds of vegetables in medium-sized pots, and dwarf fruit trees as well. She might be happy to be able to give away produce she grows and harvests herself to family and friends - carrots, broccoli, silverbeet, cherry tomatoes, chives, chillis, lemons, mandarins, cherries, strawberries, etc. Or use them for cooking, if it's something she enjoys!