White
Also with us is broadcaster,
writer and long time contributor to this programme, Jane Copsey, who writes under the name of Jane Finnis, she's in Scarborough, so no-one can see her, but what about you Jane, how much can you see?Copsey
I'm just very very very short
sighted. I can see to walk around and not usually fall into things except in the dark when my eyesight's rubbish, and I can see people but like everybody else was just saying, not recognise faces. It's great for the first time you meet somebody, in a day, and you can establish what they're wearing, especially if it's nice and bright coloured. But then you meet them next day and they expect you to know you when they've changed their clothes!White
Sue Arnold, Guardian's audio
book reviewer. What about you?Arnold
If somebody asked me that I'd
say well I can't see you for a start. And then I will say just like Julia, I can see blur and I can see outline, it all depends on light. So if I'm going through Glencoe and it's a bright sunny day, I can see ??? more of the mountain, but if it's dark, then I can't, and I put odd shoes on occasionally!White
OK, so that illustrates the
problem quite well I think. Very diverse degrees of visual impairment. So, how to get those messages across? It's hardly going to be an ophthalmology textbook, that people would choose, is it? Organisations representing us may try leaflets, press releases. There are those simulation specs which try to replicate types of sight loss. Television ads. And then there are the special awareness-raising events, the walk, the climb, the swim. And then there's the method which Redmond Szell has tried, the book. But a book which tries to creep up on you with information, by having a visually impaired hero. Before I tell you any more, here's the opening paragraph.