Get her set up for $1

Turn on audio descriptions in the TV. Try reading with the booked turned so you are reading top to bottom, not left to right. Use and index card to stay on the line you are reading.

I’ve lived with hemianopsia since 1985, I wish I got a white cane decades ago.

My experience with dragon thing, it was not accurate, came in the way when I was trying to browse computer with screen reader, and not that useful. If you need voice dictation, windows and phones have it builtin.

If she likes to read, get her a good set of wireless headphones.

I am in the US (NE Ohio) and our library system utilizes an app called Libby. Alll book downloads are free. I read a book about every 48 hours, and I am yet to run out of selections.

I do have an audible subscription for the titles I can't get on Libby, but she may bee able to subsist on Libby for awhile.

The reason I suggest the headphones is that gives her the freedom to listen anywhere. I listen while doing household tasks, waiting in waiting rooms, etc.

As a reader, this has been a way for me to keep my sanity!

First off training is important here. Get her training for mobility and cane skills also independent living training.

Also dragon won’t help that’s something you dictate. And blind people can type and touch type as well as sighted people as long as they learn how and don’t hunt and peck keys. Right now I touch type and people say I actually type pretty quickly at that. So yeah. My fingers fly when I type.

What she will need is a screen reader like jaws or nvda on the windows side and if an iphone then voice over or talk back on android. Talk bakc and voice over is already built in on the computer you will have to download jaws or nvda. Windows has narrator built in but it’s definitely not as advanced.


Also get her training on assistive technologies. After that she may be able to read and write again. And read the gossip magazines if she’d like though she would not see the pictures just words so I don’t know how much pictures mattered to her in that magazine experience.

Also many things she can resume she’ll just have to learn to do different and adjust and adapt. Blindness isn’t the end of the world.

Hi! I recommend for canes- seems like she’s the type to like it- red rhinestones or pretty red tape on the cane make it such a greater experience to use one, it helped me when I lost a lot of my sight!

If she has an iPad/ kindle, highly recommend the Amazon kindle monthly bundle!! It’s great for audiobooks and you can zoom in a lot on the app!

I also have a small magnifier I carry around with me, linked below! It’s great to read menus and other paper items on the go so I don’t have to take a picture that’s all shaky and such.

Just lost most of my sight a few months ago at sixteen, Cone Rod Dystrophy and Macular Degeneration here. If she is an active walking person I would recommend looking into a guide dog! For me, knowing I would be getting one was a haven for when my friends were getting cars and licenses while I was stuck at home, not being able to Uber and not being trusted to go out alone as a blind female teenager with my cane, even though I have really good cane skills. It helps me beat the depression and feelings of detachment from society.

Also, as a lover of all things gossip, podcasts are amazing. I recommend searching up online for gossip podcasts that you can do any time!!

And for general life, GET. HER. AN. ALEXA. TRUST ME!! My parents set up an Alexa/Dot in some rooms, you can program the lights to it, tell the time (it’s hard for us blindies to tell the time, trust me), play music, get recipes (my favorite so that we can independently and more importantly, easily, follow along without having to use a visual recipe), and so much more! It’s really a godsend and it has helped so much.

Writing is a big one for me, I have so many ideas running through my brain I always have to jot them down. I like the app Evernote, it’s one of my favorites!! Also, I would recommend, looking at her hobbies, to try scrapbooking! I have spreads of cut newspaper, stickers, colored paper, and quotes that don’t require much sight at all.

I’ve had to adapt so much of my life as I progressively lose sight, having to quit figure skating and playing the flute, but I change course to now Taekwondo and horseback riding! Although it’s not the same thing for what I’ve done more than half my life, it’s still something I can do to the best of my ability and that I enjoy. Simply changing your mindset can do a world of help for your mental health, and try not to focus on what she can’t do. My family and friends always talk about how terrible it sounds to be going blind, and it makes me feel SO shitty. Hype her up on the things she likes, try to find ways to work around it.

My DMs are always open if you need any help modifying things, I have a lot of experience and can give you detailed instructions so that she can still be the bad bitch she was and always will be. 😈💕