08/02/2026
It’s hard to believe we’re already into the first week of February and as the days start to get longer hopefully with that we’ll see some dryer days!
After a bit of a break from speaking duties, it was fun to get back out and visit the children and staff at Trinity Christian School who had invited Berkshire Vision in to talk to them about sight loss and communication.
We talked about the different ways people with sight loss communicate, in particular talking about Braille. The children were able to point out where they had seen Braille both in the house on medicine boxes and when they are out and about on lift buttons and so forth. We talked about the history of Braille and how it was created over 200 years ago byFrenchman Louis Braille after losing his sight to an accident. I showed the group some examples of Braille so they could feel the bumps and we used an egg carton and some bottle tops to show how the different letters are formed. Braille is a fascinating tool and there are over 100 different word signs and contractions (I’m sure there are many more than that!) which makes it much easier to read a book. We talked about the different ways to write Braille with either a frame and pin or a Perkins typewriter and how there are digital keyboards which constantly refresh to read out text from a screen. It was lovely to have the children so engaged and asking so many interesting questions about the language and sight loss in general.
Of course, we couldn’t do a talk about sight loss without mentioning my furry companion who, of course, stole the show with his constantly wagging tail. All the children were very careful not to distract Chester as he guided me to a seat and then he (briefly) tucked himself under my legs before then hopping up again when he spotted the fish tank!
We talked about how Guide Dogs like Chester help people with sight loss and how we find our way around. I explained that, no matter how clever Chester is, I can’t just tell him to take me to the shops, we work together, him finding the waypoints and me telling him when to turn left and right. I explained that I will navigate my way using maps on my phone which tells me directions via my headphones and Chester will make sure we avoid obstacles and will find crossing points, even taking me to the call box. We talked about tactile paving near crossing points and how I can tell it is safe to cross the road by feeling for the spinning cone beneath the call box. I explained that sometimes Chester will stay at home and how I use my long cane to guide me instead.
Finally, we discussed that if they see a visually impaired person out and about and they look like they may need assistance, the best thing to do is to ask pointedly if they need help and if they say “yes, please” then it is important to ask how they can help and not assume.
Afterwards, the kids went back to class and we had an eventful walk back into town where we almost collided with a delivery cyclist and then stumbled into a closed footpath which forced us to walk on a busy dual carriageway! Chester handled both cases in his usual calm and confident manner and we made it to meet Kath who had a tasty treat for Ches whilst I had a quick swim.
All that in the space of a couple of hours! I’d love to know if you got up to anything exciting this weekend – let me know in the comments.
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