One for half term week…A trip to London's West End to watch a show had always been a treat for me. However, with travel, food and the sometimes very expensive tickets, it can be a costly day out and these trips had become less enjoyable as my sight deteriorated. That is, until we were introduced to VocalEyes.
VocalEyes have specific dates where they will audio describe a live performance. I've never tried their museum tours but have used them to enjoy several shows in town including Chicago, Avenue Q, Billy Elliot, Wicked and more recently (a birthday gift) The Lion King.
Although you are limited to the performances they are audio describing (which is sometimes only midweek) the whole experience of using VocalEyes is great. You book the tickets via VocalEyes at a reduced rate. This rate also applies to the party you're travelling with as they are keen that you should be able to enjoy the experience with your family and friends. Often the seats are in the stalls and are usually centre stage and about 4 rows back from the front ensuring that the viewing position is perfect for people attending that have some useful vision. About a fortnight prior to the show, VocalEyes send out an audio CD that contains information about getting to the theatre, a full description of the set, characters and their costumes and any other information that is useful to know about during the performance.
On the day there is an optional touch tour that you can attend. This is usually 2 hours before the show is due to start and lasts for about 45 minutes. Some touch tours are held in one of the theatre side rooms with members of the cast bringing out some of the costumes and props for you to feel and hold so that you get a real picture of the detail, some tours are done on the actual stage. I remember going on the stage of Avenue Q and feeling the houses and then some of the puppets and again when I went to watch Wicked and being shown the stage props and how they operate as well as how they move in and out during the scene changes. The Lion King was held in a side room but I got to hold the Giraffe head and feel the mane of Mufasa as well as other costumes and props – an amazing opportunity and one that my children thought was brilliant too!
For the actual performance, the only difference between me and everyone else is that I wear a wireless radio headset. This picks up the live audio description feed from one of the VocalEyes volunteers. This has to be done live due to the unknown happenings from a live performance such as someone falling over or a problem with scene changes…it's key that this is all audio described in real time so you receive the same information as everyone else at the performance and can understand why the audience are laughing, gasping etc.
VocalEyes is great and, for anyone who has a vision impairment and enjoys theatre but hasn't tried them, I fully recommend giving them a go. We always try to use them so that I can enjoy the show with audio description as well as getting a hands on experience from the touch tours.
In celebration of #NationalBakingWeek (16 – 22 October 2017), Vicky and I decided to create a film demonstrating some of the equipment that is available for people living with a vision impairment to use in the kitchen.
Part 1 (VIDA Insight No. 27) shows us using the talking kitchen scales and measuring jug as well as how I use a tactile approach to my cooking.
Part 2 of the film gets a bit more messy with us transferring the muffin mix in to the individual muffin cases and the problems that this presents. We made our muffins harder by doing lemon curd filling with meringue in the mix to give us lemon meringue muffins (or that is what we had hoped for). Vicky gets her blindfold on for this exercise to appreciate how difficult it is - knowing how much mixture is on the spoon and filling the muffin cases without making a huge mess. I also demonstrate the talking combination microwave oven that I have and we see the final outcome of the baked muffins and how I would tell if they are cooked or not (without eating them).
In celebration of #NationalBakingWeek (16 – 22 October 2017), Vicky and I decided to create a film demonstrating some of the equipment that is available for people living with a vision impairment to use in the kitchen. It also highlights some of the strategies I use and problems I have when I'm baking.
We decided to bake some muffins as this uses the 3 different types of talking equipment that I have. The film demonstrates the strategies I use for measuring, transferring ingredients and some other techniques that I use, all of which we chat about during the film. It was also an opportunity for Vicky to try completing some of the tasks under blindfold!!
Vicky has been busy editing the film, pulling out the most important elements and reducing its length from a ridiculous 39 minutes to approximately 16 minutes. We've split this in to 2 parts, one accompanying this blog and the next one tomorrow.
Part 1 shows us using the talking kitchen measuring scales and talking measuring jug. We chat about how I identify ingredients (the difference between plain and self-raising flour for example) and why I use my fingers more than maybe a sighted person would.
These are the strategies that I use but we would be interested to hear what you think and if you have any better ideas or tips.
Part 2 (VIDA Insight No. 28 – released 19 October), follows on to show the problems with getting the mixture in to muffin cases and how they turn out after being cooked in my talking combination microwave oven.
An extra one this month as today is #WhiteCaneDay sometimes also known as White Cane Safety Day.
Dave: There is a correct technique for using all of the various types of canes with training on how to use them given by a rehabilitation officer. It took me several sessions to master using a long cane and get the green light to use it correctly and safely but I have tweaked the way I use it to suit me – just like when you've passed your driving test (I know that people don't drive like they were taught after passing their test). However, swinging a cane at right angles is really dangerous and not very effective for the vision impaired person either… maybe if you see someone doing this you should suggest to them that they might need some further training (after ducking that is).
This week is National #GuideDogWeek and we wanted to give you a good news story about another service we are both involved in. The Disability Equipment Service is owned by Dave, co-run with Vicky and supported by a small group of friends. Recently the Disability Equipment Service was proud to be able to donate £5000 to Guide Dogs in order to sponsor and name a Guide Dog puppy.
Des (an abbreviation of the Disability Equipment Service) was our chosen and Guide Dog approved name and we recently received our first photo of him as well as a certificate providing us with more information.
Des was born on the 20th July 2017. In this photo he's about 7 weeks old – with a very cute furry face and big dark eyes. The accompanying certificate informs us that he is a Golden Retriever, who has 7 siblings. It made us smile that one of his brothers is called Sid, the abbreviated name of the charity where DES, the Disability Equipment Service, first started out.
So, how was the money raised?
The website is free to use by both members of the public and organisations. We can only do this by keeping our expenditure to a minimum and also from the generosity of people donating unwanted, good condition, equipment to us or from people giving us donations for using the service (not compulsory but much appreciated).
Items that are donated are cleaned, repaired if necessary and then sold at a competitive price. We put aside 25% of all proceeds and it is this money that has enabled us to donate £5000 to Guide Dogs and sponsor a guide dog puppy.
Why did we choose Guide Dogs?
As well as just being a great charity, it also has a personal connection in that Dave, who is registered blind, used to have a guide dog himself. Sadly Errol, a black German Shepherd x Golden Retriever, had to be put to sleep on 22 June 2017 following a sudden diagnosis of terminal cancer. It is this connection with Guide Dogs that made us choose them as our nominated charity.
We are now starting again and aim to raise a further £5000 to name our second puppy. We are hoping to name this one Errol in memory of Dave's lovely guide dog.
Thank you to everyone who has donated equipment to the Disability Equipment Service and also helped in any way to spread the word about it. Without your support we wouldn't be in the position to have made such a substantial donation to Guide Dogs.
I (Dave) don't have enough fingers or toes to count how many times I've come across a car that has parked on the pavement making me either turn in to Mr Skinny to squeeze through a tight gap or having to navigate it via the road. Currently there is no blanket law on this and it changes from county to county on whether parking on the pavement is illegal. As much as it's frustrating for me, I do understand that, in some areas, there just isn't enough space to park on the road without causing massive congestion and that's why people choose to park on the pavement. I also think that part of this is due to cars being bigger than they used to be.
To give you an example, the cul-de-sac where I grew up had a road leading to a circular turning point with about 6 spaces for parking. The road was wide enough to fit 2 cars side-by-side with the right hand side of the road used for residents parking. No-one parked on the pavement and cars didn't need to mount the pavement on the other side to drive past. My parents still live in the same house but now everyone parks their cars on the pavement – the road hasn't reduced in width so would indicate that cars have got wider? I don't think so, more that people prefer to park on the pavement to allow more room for cars to drive past.
I get all of the above but the thing that frustrates me is when there is no need to park on the pavement or when someone has parked their whole car (or as much of it as possible) across the pavement, preventing anyone from getting past. This isn't just blind people, but parents with buggies, people in wheelchairs or elderly people using zimmer frames or electric scooters (no, not Vicky). It is drivers of these cars that have not considered pedestrians at all but probably want to get on the pavement so that their car is less likely to be hit by another passing car.
Guide Dogs are campaigning to get a single law for pavement parking – you can read more about the campaign at: (https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/supportus/campaigns/streets-ahead/pavement-parking#.WcurGU2Wxjo) which will help everyone understand the law regarding where they can and can't park.
When I had Errol (my guide dog) I didn't think about pavement parking as he would ensure that I didn't walk in to them or, if the pavement was blocked, would alert me to this and take us around the obstruction safely (but in the road so not ideal). Since his passing in June, I've been using my long cane to get around and have naturally come across many cars parked on the pavements around where I live. In fact, almost every pavement that I use has parked cars on it. Most are just 2 wheels on the pavement leaving room to pass safely but I do come across cars on a regular basis that are parked with majority or all of the car on the pavement making it really difficult to navigate past.
I'm not going to finish on a moan, more of a plea to drivers to think about where they park and to consider how much room is on the pavement when they park. In addition, to consider the surroundings and ensure that there aren't overgrown trees or hedges that will narrow the gap further. Please also avoid parking over the blister paving or dropped kerbs near the ends of roads which are specifically for safe crossing points for pedestrians.