I am starting to think we should all move to Wisconsin. Every time I go looking for something related to the support of the visually impaired I end up on a site supported by that fine state. The only problem with moving to Wisconsin, though, would be having to wear those cheese wedge hats. Hmmmm. Maybe I will pass on that move.
[Lin/Linda here: I suspect those of you who are outside the US are wondering about this, are you?]
Click here for more information about the term ‘cheesehead’ as used in Wisconsin.
I had gone looking for more practical life skill-ish stuff for coping. I have already done some psychological coping stuff. Add the lifestyle coping skills stuff to the DBT stuff and we have talked about emotional coping a fair amount. Probably will hit it again with mention of other DBT skills later.
But for now what about the practical stuff? The Health Department of Wisconsin published Tips for Living with Low Vision. The site is not only low vision friendly in content but also in format. Sentences are short. Fonts are large. Lots of white space.
Topics range from brushing your teeth to sewing. I am not having trouble putting toothpaste on a brush yet and I don’t sew. My junior high home economics teacher took care of that when she made me rip out a seam in my project seven – count them! Seven!- times. No, I do not sew.
What I do do, and seem to do more since having my visual impairment, is plug things in. Or to be more accurate, I attempt to plug things in. Better than half the time the outlet is in a corner, in the dark, behind the furniture, etc.
Once I find the outlet I then have the chore of deciding which end is up! I twist plugs around until they are dizzy.
The website suggests using contrast and bright colors in order to find the outlet in the first place. The site also suggests plugging in the plug should be a two-handed job. One hand holds the plug while the other hand outlines the outlet. Not sure those instructions will solve my problem with outlets but the suggestions are worth a try. [Here’s a tip from our Occupational Therapy consultant (bottom of linked page): for difficult-to-access wall plugs, get a power strip and plug it into the wall. It should have a cord long enough so that you can put it where you can easily access it next time. The plus side of this is that you’ll have extra outlets/plugins.]
Check out the website for a number of other helpful suggestions. It appears the good people of Wisconsin do a lot for us low vision folks. If you know a Cheese head, thank him….and try to ignore the hat ?
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