Where do you go if you are seeking training on how to use the various technology? We look at whether the training provided by rehabilitation services goes deep enough and what alternatives are available to you. We speak to Simon Labbett, who is a rehab officer and Chair of the Rehabilitation Workers Professional Network, to Scott Wood who is a team leader at the RNIB's Technology for Life service and to Mike Townsend, who is representing the Technology Association of Visually Impaired People. Bl...
Apr 04, 2023•19 min
We are debating a rather ambiguous question on this episode of In Touch: is the modern world more or less difficult for people who are blind and partially sighted? It is a difficult question because there are many variables to consider: your age, whether you have a job, how comfortable you are with the evolution of technology and, of course, your level of sight. To help us tackle it, we have invited Matt Johnson, who specializes in IT and data law, Roshni Hafeez, who is a VAT tax specialist with...
Mar 28, 2023•19 min
New data suggests that hundreds of ophthalmology patients are experiencing avoidable and irreversible harm to their vison by not being able to access NHS appointments. Over 70% of optometrists in the UK have also said they have seen a patient in the last six months who had experienced a delay to treatment of 12 months or more. Ophthalmology within the NHS is one of the biggest outpatient specialty and is experiencing severe pressure under patient need. So could a nationalised eye health strategy...
Mar 22, 2023•19 min
Network Rail's Rupert Lown gives clarification as to when all tactile paving installation works will be completed across the entire UK train network. Extant Theatre are a performing arts company that put visual impairment at the heart of all they do. One of their most recent renditions is a pantomime that is touring throughout March: the Super Power Panto. We sent along opera singer Bethan Langford to a performance in Wolverhampton during the first leg of its tour and she joins us to share her t...
Mar 14, 2023•19 min
The Islamic Republic of Iran has seen widespread protests in recent months following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. The news of the brutality of the regime against its protesting citizens has been widespread; we discuss how some protesters are being purposefully shot in their eyes and blinded. Khosro Isfahani is from the BBC's Monitoring Service and has been following the developments in Iran since the beginning, he provides us with a wider image of what is currently happening in Iran and ...
Mar 07, 2023•19 min
Eleanor Burke recently travelled to Ireland via Gatwick Airport with her guide dog. She has made this journey many times before but this time was held up for an hour in the security area by a member of staff that was not satisfied with her guide dog's documentation. We invited her onto the program to tell us what happened. Adam Jones is Gatwick's Head of Passenger Services, he explains the steps they will be taking to ensure this does not happen to other guide dog owners. Avanti West Coast are t...
Feb 28, 2023•19 min
With the ongoing war in Ukraine, the European Blind Union have been looking for ways to help the visually impaired that have stayed in the country and those that have moved to neighbouring countries. Their Executive Director is Lars Bosselmann and he tells us about some recent financial aid the EBU sent into Ukraine. He tells us what this money went towards, and about what the EBU's plans are to continue assisting the visually impaired dealing with the war. Olga and Denys Petrov are a Ukrainian ...
Feb 21, 2023•19 min
Valentine's Day is a day for love! And so we've invited two visually impaired people and their sighted partners to talk about how sight loss impacted the dynamics of their relationships, about the assumptions that other people make; that the one who can see in the relationship must be the carer and we touch upon the element of falling back in love with yourself after sight loss. Presenter: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Guests: Amit Patel, Seema Patel, Claire Sisk, Sergio Cianfi...
Feb 14, 2023•19 min
New College Worcester is a residential and day school for pupils who are blind or partially sighted. In September 2022, they appointed a new principal, Rachel Perks. We invited her onto In Touch to talk about her ambitions for the role, what the future holds for the school and about the school's recent Ofsted reports. We take a look at some of the smaller guide dog organisations, whose aims are to help beat the backlog for those waiting for a new guide dog. Neil Ewart is from The Seeing Dogs All...
Feb 07, 2023•19 min
The Access to Work scheme is essential for helping disabled people get into and stay in work. It can provide help with equipment and travel and human assistance, in the form of support workers. But the RNIB has found that there has been a huge increase in the backlog and long waiting times to receive support. This can result in jobs being put at risk, as some employers simply cannot wait to have the position filled. We assess the impact of these delays with Melinda Hanvey and Samantha Leftwich, ...
Jan 31, 2023•19 min
This week, we put guide dog waiting lists under the spotlight. John Welsman is canine affairs lead for the charity "Guide Dogs". He joins us to discuss waiting times and the outlook for those on the list. We're also joined by BBC news reporter Sean Dilley who shares his feelings following the retirement of Sammy, his faithful guide dog of over eight years. And we speak to Isabel Holdsworth who tells us about the experience of training her own guide dog. We also take another trip into the world o...
Jan 24, 2023•19 min
This week sees the latest in our occasional series of discussions about audiobooks. Peter White is joined by guests Jackie Brown and Dave Williams. Jackie and Dave have much in common - both having supported other visually impaired people in the use of technology, but more importantly for this episode - both are avid readers. Our trio take a broad approach, discussing not only storylines, but also issues such as narration and the merits (or otherwise) of audiobooks generally. Each has chosen a s...
Jan 17, 2023•19 min
On a recent edition of In Touch, we heard about Accessible In Home Displays, or AIHDs. These devices are essentially energy smart meters that have been adapted to provide, for example, a text to speech facility. We were told that they should be available from energy companies for blind people who requested them. However, many listeners have told us that this has not been their experience. We take a closer look. And Olivia Curno, CEO of "The Vision Foundation" and Keith Valentine, CEO of "Fight f...
Jan 10, 2023•19 min
Over the years, In Touch has been keeping up with five visually impaired people. They all first appeared on the program as children in the 1990's, then as young adults in 2003 and now, twenty years on, we've invited them back for a reunion and to hear how their lives panned out. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Idea Concept: Hetal Bapodra Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Ab...
Jan 03, 2023•19 min
We speak to three visually impaired people working within the entertainment industry. Ellie Wallwork is an actor and writer. She has featured in some very high-profile TV programs: Doctor Who and Call the Midwife and she is currently co-writing an LGBTQ+ short film, released in the new year. Jake Sawyers is an actor, comedian, drag queen and all round entertainer. He has recently written and featured in a couple of TV pilots and is starring in a pantomime of Snow White over the festive period. A...
Dec 27, 2022•19 min
The festive period can be very visual and with this in mind, charity Guide Dogs and entertainment production company The Ministry of Fun, teamed up to design a sensory Santa's grotto for visually impaired children. We sent along our resident child at heart, Fern Lulham to participate in the fun. For many years, blind and partially sighted people have been left behind when it comes to accessing the big blockbuster video games (also referred to as AAA games). Thankfully, developers have woken up t...
Dec 20, 2022•19 min
The Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO) has an important part to play when being diagnosed with an eye condition, during later prognosis and treatment. We invited Paula Thomas onto the program, who is visually impaired and is currently working as an ECLO at Great Ormond Street Hospital, to tell us more about what her role entails and the kinds of things ECLOs can offer help with. We often report on In Touch about sports that have been adapted to be played by blind and partially sighted people... b...
Dec 13, 2022•19 min
A few weeks back, Pauline Mottram told In Touch about the way she was dealt life changing medical news; she felt it was given to her in an extremely insensitive way. We get the hospital's response and hear about a twist to her story. We also hear from Rowena Thomas-Breese who, thirty years prior to Pauline, experienced the same when being told she'd lose her vision and in the same part of the world. We talk to Alan March Sport about how they are providing audio described commentary for this year...
Dec 06, 2022•19 min
Following on from last week's discussion about whether you can prepare for sight loss, we've been asked to provide further information about the type of services you are entitled to. Simon Labbett is a rehab officer and Chair of the Rehab Workers Professional Network and he provides details of changes that can be made in the kitchen, what you should be asking for and from whom. If you own an older internet radio streaming device, you may have heard a recent announcement from the BBC stating that...
Nov 29, 2022•19 min
Getting a diagnosis that your sight will deteriorate or eventually be gone entirely, can be life changing news. But can you prepare for it? We brought together three people who are different stages along the sight loss path. Pauline Mottram received the diagnosis that she will definitely eventually go blind only a few days ago, and so we invite Amit Patel, who ten years ago went blind overnight and Marcia Beynon, who has a progressive condition and is yet to lose more of her vision, to offer som...
Nov 22, 2022•19 min
On bonfire night Angharad Paget-Jones, her boyfriend and guide dog, Tudor, attempted to stay at a Premier Inn hotel. Subsequently the staff at the hotel did not believe that Tudor was a real guide dog and they were asked to leave. Angharad provides details of how the situation unfolded and what she is planning to do about it. Anna Tylor is the Chair of the RNIB and is partially sighted. She reached out to us upon continuously receiving inaccessible information regarding her breast cancer treatme...
Nov 15, 2022•19 min
We hear from two women who are both celebrating firsts and both aiming to make a difference. Louisa Wickham is a consultant ophthalmologist and medical director at Moorfields Eye Hospital but in September, she added to her titles by being appointed as England's very first National Clinical Director for Eye Care. We invited her onto the program to explain what her ambitions are for her new role and how she plans to tackle the current problems facing eye care services; patient backlogs, long waiti...
Nov 08, 2022•19 min
The Department for Work and Pensions will soon appear in the high court in a case brought against them by Dr Yusuf Ali Osman. Dr Osman has repeatedly requested that communications over his benefit payments be sent to him in his preferred accessible format but has not received them. We invited him onto the program to provide further details on which his case is being brought. Mike Lambert has had a similar problem with the DWP and he shares those with us. For those who have certain eye conditions...
Nov 01, 2022•19 min
Access services in supermarkets are, for some blind and visually impaired people, an essential service to gather the exact groceries you need. Services like assisted shopping, where a member of staff takes you around the store gathering items for you, are offered by a lot of supermarkets but some were suspended during the pandemic. Auriol Britton decided to take Sainsbury's Supermarkets to court when she had a problem with her local store in Bristol, primarily based on the suspension of their as...
Oct 27, 2022•19 min
Dr Paul Jarman contacted us following our coverage of what changes had occurred since the RNIB took over the National Library for the Blind. He noted something that we had not mentioned. He believes there has been a seismic shift toward students and tutors like him, no longer being able to access as many serious books as once before. He lays out his concerns in this area and explains why he believes braille books should be regarded as heritage items. Our reporter in Washington, Gary O'Donoghue t...
Oct 19, 2022•19 min
Three visually impaired people tell us about their experiences of domestic abuse. The cases involve the perpetrator using their visual impairments against them, though gaslighting, coercive control and in one case, extreme violence being the cause of their visual impairment. These stories come in the light of a report called The Unseen, by The Vision Foundation and Safe Lives. Olivia Curno, The Vision Foundation's Chief Executive gives summary of the report's harrowing findings. Link to The Unse...
Oct 11, 2022•19 min
Our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss hasn't yet offered assurances to people receiving disability related benefits during the current rises in inflation and wider cost of living increases. This has concerned visually impaired grandmother and benefit receiver Kim Jaye. We invited her onto the program to explain her current situation and her added costs due to her visual impairment. The RNIB only last week handed in a petition to the Department for Work and Pensions about how the cost of living crisi...
Oct 04, 2022•19 min
Dr Peter Hampson is the Clinical Director of the Association of Optometrists and we invited him onto the program after hearing about a rather unusual cornea replacement method to come out of Sweden; scientists there have developed replacement human corneas out of pig skins. We ask Dr Hampson whether this could become a viable solution to tackling the UK's cornea shortage. A Edinburgh based accessible technology company called Screen Language are soon to release a new streaming platform, strictly...
Sep 28, 2022•19 min
Sarah Leadbetter and her friends could of had a near miss on the streets of Manchester when they veered into a road. They weren't aware they had done this as there was no kerb, tactile paving or crossing box to indicate the change between pavement and road. This was the straw that broke the camel's back and she will be taking the Department for Transport to a judicial review to mainly assess the legal safety guidance and requirements for the height of kerbs. Sarah joins us to tell us more about ...
Sep 20, 2022•19 min
Tributes to Her Majesty the Queen and how Poppy Levison got her job within architecture. The Electoral Commission have launched a public consultation that will gather the opinions and experiences of disabled voters, with the aim of making voting more accessible. Ailsa Irvine is their Director of Electoral Administration and Guidance and she explains why this consultation is necessary, given the recent passing of the Elections Act, how information provided will be used and when we will see the ef...
Sep 13, 2022•19 min
