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Glow and Flow: Easy Accessibility Tweaks Around the House

Your home is supposed to be your safe space, your sanctuary—the place where you can breathe and relax at the end of a tough day. However, living with progressive sight loss can mean that even your own home can feel like a minefield. What was fine weeks—or even days—ago no longer is. Even small changes can make a huge difference. From basic swaps, like changing your dinner plates from white to grey so you can see what’s left on your plate, or swapping plugs and cables to black so they’re easier to spot, to larger modifications, like painting doors grey to make them stand out against the wall or adding hooks to hang items such as your white cane or lanyard for quick access. These little adjustments all add up, creating a space that’s much easier to navigate. It’s not about ripping your house back to bare bones—it’s about noticing the small obstacles that trip you up daily and finding creative workarounds. I’ve also started labelling things far more than before—switches, appliances, drawe...
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Reflections on Resilience: Usher Syndrome and Me

Around Usher Syndrome Awareness Day, I find myself reflecting. This is my realization. It begins from day one, really — the moment I was diagnosed — but it didn’t fully hit me until I turned sixteen. The years between then and now — three years — have only strengthened this understanding. For years, I barely noticed the changes. Then sixteen arrived, and the truth hit me: my world wasn’t the same anymore, and neither was I. Sixteen changed everything. The rules I trusted — gone. But it didn’t end my story. It just started a new one. Usher Syndrome doesn’t care how old you are. It doesn’t care about your dreams. It barges in, changes the rules, flips the world you thought you understood. At first, it feels like that’s all there is — new rules you didn’t ask for, limitations you didn’t choose. Rules that leave you scrambling, wondering if life will ever feel familiar again. But here’s the thing: those rules? They’re just the beginning. Yes, they feel daunting. Yes, they shake...
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Comfort in Darkness

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Darkness has always felt like a contradiction to me: part threat, part refuge. And now feels like the right moment to share these thoughts—as the days shorten and we edge toward the clocks going backwards for winter. Being alone at night can be utterly terrifying—filled with uncertainty, hidden dangers, and a suffocating sense of unease. While I could go out alone at night if I absolutely needed to, it’s not something I would ever choose to do. There would always be someone else there willing to guide me. Even if I know the route by heart and could technically walk it alone, I still move closer to the person guiding me. The dark adds strain: scanning for obstacles like overhanging branches or bins sticking out on the pavement, flinching at sudden voices of passersby that appear without warning. The street at night feels unpredictable—every shadow a question mark. And yet, at the same time, there’s something deeply calming about the stillness that darkness brings after a long, chaotic ...
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How 3D Printing Makes My Life More Accessible (and More Fun)

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What if you could fix a broken clip, design a custom organiser, or print a niche solution to a niche problem—all without leaving the house? That’s what 3D printing gives me, and it’s why I’ve fallen in love with it. You’ve probably heard of 3D printing. The technology has been growing rapidly, with new printers, new materials, and more people joining the hobby every day. For me, it’s become more than just a fun tech toy—it’s a way to make my life easier and more accessible. Some of my favourite projects include a custom set of Gridfinity (an open-source organisation system) to keep track of all the extras for my cochlear implants, an electric toothbrush holder that stops it from falling, phone stands, boxes with lids, and cable clips for my bed. I’m planning on making a dice tower and braille tokens once I have more filament options. The possibilities for accessibility are endless—limited only by imagination. And these days, even ChatGPT can help create the models to print. Image shows...
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Learning to Let Go

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This past weekend, I finally donated 36 books to the local charity shop. Thirty-six! Why is that such a big deal? Because each book represented an unfinished story I could no longer read. About three years ago, my sight deteriorated rapidly—so quickly that within months I went from enjoying my favourite pastime to struggling with tiny print and the harsh glare of the pages. At the time, I was only just beginning to face what Usher Syndrome would mean for me. Letting go of my books felt like admitting defeat, like saying: “Okay, Ushers, you win.” And that wasn’t fair. Why should I let it take away something so important to me? Reading was always a huge part of my life. At school, I was the one with a book in hand or tucked away in the library during break. I loved browsing charity shop shelves for hidden treasures. For months, I kept my collection, stubbornly thinking: “Maybe one day I’ll be able to read them again.” But life moves on. And now, letting go doesn’t feel like losing—it fe...
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Acceptance isn’t instant but a journey

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When you realise everything you knew is changing, people often expect you to be fine with it instantly. But acceptance isn’t something that happens overnight — it’s a journey, full of highs and lows. It’s like navigating a maze: eventually, you make it to the other side, but first you hit dead ends, sharp turns, and confusing paths. I speak from experience. I was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome at six. My parents never kept it from me. They explained what it meant — that my sight would get worse, that one day I might go completely blind. I was encouraged to ask questions. But as a child, how do you fully understand something that hasn’t begun to affect you? How do you grasp the weight of it before it’s real? For the longest time, I didn’t. I genuinely thought everyone saw like I did — that no one could see in the dark. It wasn’t until a Year Six residential trip to PGL that I realised how wrong I was. One evening, I was walking with my best friend and a teaching assistant. Suddenly, I...
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The Low Vision App You Probably Don’t Expect Me to Love

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There’s no shortage of apps designed to support people with visual impairments. You’ve got the familiar built-ins, like Apple’s Magnifier , and specialist tools like Be My Eyes , which connects you with volunteers who can describe what’s in front of you. But my favourite low-vision app? It’s probably not the one you think. It’s called NowYouSee – Helping Colourblind on iOS. NowYouSee - Helping Colourblind App Logo If you’re on Android, Colour Blind Pal works in a very similar way.  Colour Blind Pal App Logo Here’s the twist: I’m not colourblind. So why on earth is this my go-to app? Why I Use a Colourblindness App for Low Vision I have Usher syndrome , which includes Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). RP is a progressive sight-loss condition that first steals your peripheral vision, then gradually eats away at your central vision too. Eventually, it could cause total blindness for some people.  Right now, my peripheral vision is long gone. I estimate I have around five...
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