Interview conducted with visually impaired person

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What can you see?

I cant see anything- its nothing, I cant associate a colour with it. All I see is light or dark- I can see the presence of light in a room, no shapes or shadows. I can tell if the sun is coming through in a room – just see a light source. I can hear a sound in a room too. Its hard to explain

 

What are the most challenging aspects you face everyday?

Reading letters, like bills etc that come in the post. However, there is now software & technology that can assist with these things. For example at work i use a program called Jaws which reads the actions of the screen to me and i listen and can navigate the computer and complete my work.

Also, psychological need to know whats happening around me as you can hear whats happening but can't see and if it goes silent, i always think 'are they talking about me?'

I can now use technology such as iphone and apple watch to call/text people
Grocery shopping is challenging- usually have to call ahead and place the order over the phone for delivery
Finding a seat on the bus- usually touch the tops of the chairs to see if I can touch a head or if there is nothing then I know there is a seat unless someone tells me I can sit down

 

Do you use a cane or do you have a guide dog?

I use a cane

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Personally, do you think your loss of sight enhances your other sense?

That’s a tough question because I am not too sure. I know a few people who are visually impaired and I guess you could say it’s a natural presumption that the other sense are automatically enhanced.
I guess I'm good at remembering

Smell- I can walk past a shop and smell its content and then I'm subconsciously drawn to the shops

Hearing- after a while or identifying people but doesn’t happen straight away so don’t think I can remember peoples voices immediately as it does take time

Try and remember the smell and sound of the space- it creates the experience and helps me remember.

 

How do you differentiate between colours?
I am totally blind and only have light perception.
 

What is the most challenging this about being blind?
shopping for clothes- usually have to take somebody with me
tell them what I want and get them to pick out what matches/looks good

I can touch the clothes and usually distinguish what is what
when I need to get ready I ensure that I always put the tops/pants

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When navigating through spaces, do you look/feel for certain landmarks which allow you to stay on course?

If I am ever lost, I can hear people walking by so I will just ask them if I am ever lost or they will try to stay quiet and pretend I'm not there. For example when crossing a busy road, i can usually hear the cars stop and other people stop by their footsteps.

There are now apps with GPS tracking devices that talk to me and navigate

 

I also have a good memory and can try remember the paths I've walked or navigate- for example when we moved into the new office, I had an aid who sat with me for a week, we would walk the same bus route, to my desk, up the lifts, to the bathroom and kitchen every day for a week. My aid would then test me and say ‘ok lets go to the bathroom’ and I would find it myself so after 1 week of practice, I get good at remembering where to go /navigate- I guess this becomes harder with the new spaces. Now after a few weeks when I need to go to the kitchen or bathroom, I wont take my cane and just run my hand along the walls of the office and by touch, ill know where the door to the toilet is (brail on the sign).

 

When using my cane it helps to navigate or locate steps, curbs, streets, driveways etc.. ive had years of practice using my cane (you can feel the texture from the taxtile markers or a drain)

Sometimes you can smell landmarks e.g. remembering the smell of that tree or café close to work. Sometimes on foot paths it is hard to walk in a straight line when there is no guide to prompt you and ensure you are walking straight and sometimes I will bump into things

 

As time goes on, I make a mental map e.g. my house. I don’t use my cane, I know where everything is, ive memorised it. Or if I buy a new table, I can feel the table and try and remember where it is for future.
 

Do you ever feel people are more condescending to you as a result of your condition?
yes only sometimes though as people expect me to have much more limited capabilities- for example, someone saw me trying to cross a busy intersection in the city once and asked if I needed help. I can hear the cars coming and other peoples steps stop, so I know not to stop. I feel confident and don’t need help crossing the road.
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What challenges do you face on a daily basis?
little injuiries- nuisance
might bump my knee, hit my head, burn my finger but its ok
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Do you see yourself living a challenging lifestyle?
​No

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How do you experience things in ever day life?

I use sound and touch to create images which I assume my brain processes in a similar way to how yours processes images

 

Do you understand what colours are?
no – but I try to associate colours with concepts. E.g. fire is red, water is blue

 

How do you see a space or place when you’re blind?
with a hotel room for example- I use my hands to feel around- once I enter the room

I can touch and feel the bed, window, closet
can tell how specifically big a room is by the space

just on a side note – airports- they are very challenging places to navigate. I don’t know where a checkin desk is, there is no way to know. When I travel usually am with someone but if I am alone I will usually have to pre-arrange an airport assistant to take me from the taxi- check in – security- boarding the plane etc.

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EXPERIMENT

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For our experiment, we decided we would attempt to go grocery shopping, blindfolded. In the interview, the participant advised that going grocery shopping was a challenge. When we asked our group member to attempt to buy a donut from the bakery at woolworths, we observed how she attempted this task. As seen in the video, it is evident that it is difficult for a visually impaired person to navigate and find what they need at a grocery store. The perspex boxes at woolowrhts have no brail/QR scan code or any way of identifying the difference what is in each box. It was also difficult for our group member to find how to open the box/ find the bag to put the bread roll in and find the tongs. During the experiment, our group member did say that she did find that her sense of smell was heightended during experiment and she relied on touch to help her. 

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