Second Henshaws Blog Post: A Day in My Life

My second blog entry was posted earlier today on the Henshaws Blog, giving insight into a typical day in my life as a visually impaired person.

"I’m often asked what it’s like to live life with a visual impairment. Many people think that it must differ remarkably from a sighted person’s day-to-day life, but I actually enjoy doing the same things that you do – I just have to approach it in a slightly different way. I wanted to share with you a typical day in my life, to give you a better understanding of my daily routine…"

You can read about a day in my life by clicking here.

I have written some more blog posts over the past few weeks including entries regarding my illustrations for Insight Magazine, how I produce artwork as a visually impaired person, the arts & crafts group at Henshaws, and my Braille progress.

I look forward to them being posted in the near future
and sharing them with you!

Interview with Henshaws

I recently did an interview with Henshaws regarding the Living With Sight Loss enablement course that I attended in the summer of last year, and discussed the impact it had on my life. You can listen to it below.

listen to ‘'It made a big difference to my life and gave me more confidence'’ on Audioboo

Transcript

Helen: Hi! I'm here with Kimberley Burrows today, who is a Henshaws service user. She's been on the Living With Sight Loss course, also Braille, Arts & Crafts and she does the Relax course as well. So hi Kimberley!

Kimberley: Hello!

Helen: We just wanted to talk a bit about the Living With Sight Loss course and how you found it. So, first of all, how did you find out about the course?

Kimberley: I found out about the course through Manchester Eye Hospital, and about Henshaws as well - as I'd never heard of Henshaws before. I was at Manchester Eye Hospital for various procedures for my squint and my mum noticed that near the main waiting area there was a Henshaws side room. So, in there I met with Maggie and told her about my condition and that I'd never really had any support before. I was 24 at the time and I'd never really had any support from Social Services, so she rang them up and they visited me not long after. She also forwarded me onto the enablement course, or the Living With Sight Loss course, which was run for 6 weeks at my local community centre.

Helen: Great! So tell us the benefits of the course, how has it made a difference to you?

Kimberley: It definitely made a big difference! It was the first time that I was able to speak with other visually impaired people and that gave me more confidence. It was also beneficial because every week we would do something different. One week we had a visit from Guide Dogs, another week from transport, another week we had a visit from local police about how they can help us, and another week - which was one of my favourites! - was learning about all of the different mobility aids and magnification aids that are available. So it was nice to try those out.

Helen: So, what did you find from there? Is that when you started using the iPad, or had you been using the iPad before that?

Kimberley: No, I'd been using the iPad before that.

Helen: So it more about the other aids that are available?

Kimberley: Yes. I never knew that you could have LCD magnification that looks like a tablet. It's very expensive but I would love to save up for one after using it. I thought it was fantastic!

Helen: Oh, wow! That good. So, would you recommend it to other people who are in the same situation as you?

Kimberley: Absolutely! You can find out all sorts of different information and meet with other visually impaired people, if you've never talked with anybody before. There's just so much information; things like if you have talking news services in your local area, which I now get every week. Also, things like books@home, so the mobile library will come to visit you to give large print and audiobooks. It just adds another dimension to your life.

Helen: Sounds great! Thank you for talking with us today!

Kimberley: Thank you very much!

Blog Contributor for Henshaws

Henshaws have recently launched an online blog, sharing the stories of those who are visually impaired, blind and / or disabled and providing helpful tips and information from staff members. It will give an insight into how Henshaws has helped the various service users' quality of life, and is directed at supporters, fellow service users and other visually impaired or disabled people who may not yet realise how Henshaws can benefit them too.

I was kindly asked to be a contributor to the blog, submitting regular posts covering a whole range of different topics - from my story of sight loss, to how the service has benefitted me and dramatically changed my life, to my hobbies including my interest in illustrating, crafting and brailling.

My first blog entry was posted yesterday and details my story of sight loss during childhood, how I found out about the Henshaws charity last year, and the service they provide for me. I have written a few more over the past month and look forward to sharing them with everyone through the Henshaws blog, and here, in the near future!

Champagne & Chocolate Evening with Henshaws

Last night I attended a champagne and chocolate evening, organised by Playhouse Events and held at Libby's Bread and Wine in Cheshire, supporting Henshaws Society for Blind People.

Canapes and champagne were to be served first, and then I would be giving a speech about my sight loss journey and how the Henshaws charity have made a difference to my life. Then, The Naked Chocolatier team would be making an appearance with a chocolate workshop; making truffles and having us guess the mystery flavours, as well as blindfolded chocolate lolly decorating!

When Jo and I arrived, we said hello to the ladies at Playhouse Events and were then seated. The table was decorated with lots of lovely things including flowers, candles, perfume samples, Henshaws cupcakes and nibbles! We had our first glass of bubbly (everyone was given a pouch with two gems inside, and each gem would allow you to have a free drink - a lovely idea!) and then the room began to fill up with guests.

Canapes were served first, and then it was time for me to give my speech! Jo guided me to the middle of the room, and I was introduced to everyone before then speaking about my sight loss journey, how I discovered Henshaws, how they have helped to dramatically improve my quality of life over the past 7 months since I started using the service, and my aspirations for the future. I was extremely nervous as this was my first ever speech in front of a considerable amount of people, but I think it went rather well and I kindly received a large round of applause when I'd finished!

Champagne and canapes continued to go around the room, and raffle tickets were sold with some amazing prizes which included massage and facial treatments, hair and beauty products, makeovers, reflexology sessions, flower arrangements, champagne and wine gift sets, a hamper, and a chance to have a session with a personal trainer.

It was then time for the Naked Chocolatiers and their workshop! Oliver Dunn introduced his company and gave a bit of background into how it was set up and the sort of events that they do. He then had his chocolatiers introduce themselves - and the room got considerably louder and giddier - so I'm guessing the guests were enjoying the topless men on show!

The chocolatiers began to prepare their ingredients for making the truffles and needed volunteers to help them. I thought I would give it a go when more volunteers were requested, and helped to pipe out the dark chocolate truffles. It was nice to meet the chocolatiers and have a chat with them whilst they helped me with the piping bag, and I joked that I must be the only girl in the room not ogling them!

When the truffles had set, the naked chocolatiers then went around the room handing out the mystery flavours for us to guess. I thought I was going to be quite good at this experiment, as my taste sense is much better than my sight and hearing combined, but I didn't get either correct! Admittedly, I've never had chilli chocolate or Jägermeister before, so I didn't recognise the flavours too well.

It was then time for blindfolded chocolate lolly decorating! The chocolatiers prepared the lollies and icing, and everyone had to put a blindfold on in order to write their name on their assigned lolly to demonstrate how hard it is to do something when you have impaired vision.

Obviously I didn't need to be blindfolded for the task, and achieved the feat of making even more of a mess than anybody that actually was! It was lots of fun though. I've never had the opportunity to decorate with chocolate before, so this was a new and exciting experience!

The chocolatiers' decorating versus mine. I don't think they'll be hiring me any time soon!

When everyone in the room had had a go of blindfolded decorating and the chocolate icing had set, the winner of the best lolly was announced and awarded a YSL makeover. Very well done to Linda!

At the end of the evening, the winning raffle tickets were drawn and the prizes were handed out. Before leaving, some of the guests approached me and congratulated me on my speech - with one lady saying that she absolutely loved my voice (something I've never heard before!) and another lady who said that she had no idea how I coped with daily tasks, especially after she'd had a go of the blindfolded decorating experiment and saw just how difficult it can be.

I had my photo taken with Oliver, and then it was then time to say our goodbyes to everyone before journeying home.

I want to say a massive thank you to Playhouse Events for such a wonderful evening, the Naked Chocolatier team for the yummy truffles, chocolate lollies and entertainment, Barefoot Wines for the bubbly throughout the evening and to Henshaws for inviting me along to the event. Thank you all so much!

Second Illustration in RNIB's Insight Magazine

 Here is my second illustration in the RNIB's Insight Magazine.

I'm quite disappointed, I have to admit. I spend a month at a time working on my illustrations - from planning how I want it to look, to choosing the colour scheme - and then spend 20 minutes at a time, for an hour a day, in the knowledge that it will be completed by the end of the month to then e-mail off to the team.

My illustration has taken up only a quarter of the page, with an advertisement of a Brailler filling half. I didn't notice my illustration at first when I was scrolling through the PDF version for the first few times (must be something wrong with my eyes!) so I increased my computer's magnification. When I finally found my illustration, I suddenly felt deflated and like my whole month's effort was for nothing. I also felt like a hinderance to their advertisement.

The young columnist doesn't get any ads on her page, so I'm not sure why I do - though the last issue's ad wasn't as noticeable as this one. It's so difficult to illustrate as a severely visually impaired person, as I can't see my illustrations in their entirety, having only 10% vision in one eye. Whereas if you were to write an article, there are so many tools to help you; voicing each key you type and reciting back what you've written on screen. There are barely any tools to help with drawing, aside from lighting, but I struggle on because I find it satisfying and fulfilling to complete something that is an obstacle for me.

I'm not the best person at Photoshop but I managed to come up with an alternative version without an ad to obstruct the page.

I'm heartbroken and know my mum will feel the same way when she sees the final result, as she knows how much time and effort I put into my drawings. I'm thinking of sending her this version and pretending it's the real thing, to avoid witnessing her disappointment too.

I hope that the Insight magazine team will take my feedback on board, and hopefully give me a bit more space in the next issue to present my illustrations properly.