A Day of A Low Vision Person

Through the last three weeks, we followed Lisa, who is a blind woman, and examined how she uses technology to help her. Today, we will start talking about people with low vision.

When talking about sight-related disabilities, most people would quickly think of blind individuals. There is, however, another similar disability, and it involves limited or low vision. A low vision individual does not have perfect eyesight, but at the same time, he cannot be considered as totally blind.

We’ll find out more about this disability by following a person having this visual impairment. Here, we will take a look at the disability-related issues he encounters and how he uses mainstream and assistive technologies to solve these issues.

Introducing Our Guy

Our friend’s name is Marvin. Marvin is a typical college student. He loves science fiction, be it on film or in print. He has a huge circle of friends, most of them share his interests. The only difference is that Marvin has limited vision.

He can still recognize shapes and distinguish colors at a certain distance. Marvin can also read text provided that they are particularly large.

After getting to know a bit about Marvin, let’s now join him as he prepares to go to school and does his other daily activities.

In the Morning

Yesterday was a Sunday, so Marvin naturally had his fill of sci-fi movies last night. But now it’s time to wake up for another day. Similar to other people, Marvin also uses common appliances. However, they may be a bit different in one way or another.

Alarm Clock

For Marvin, the day begins with the sound of his alarm clock. Like most of us, once he wakes up, he’d like a few more minutes in bed. So he checks the time to see if he should already move and start the day.

Since he can’t see the digital display of most alarm clocks, he had to get one with a large display. He couldn’t find one in the local mall, so he had to order his alarm clock from a store that provides devices for blind and visually impaired persons.

Having Breakfast

Marvin doesn’t want to go to school with an empty stomach. So he decides to have a quick meal of cereals and a cup of coffee. Here, we’ll get a first glimpse of the stuff he uses to help him see things.

His coffeemaker has a large digital display which helps him read the information more quickly. Also, it has sound features which he uses to reassure himself that his coffee is ready.

He grabs his box of cereal. He forgot if it is already sweetened. Luckily, he can use a regular magnifier to read the details in the box. After checking the details, he pours a generous amount in his bowl and adds milk in to it.

Taking a Shower and Getting Dressed

After eating breakfast, Marvin prepares to take a shower. In his shower he uses bottles with different colors. This helps him quickly distinguish which is the body wash and which is the shampoo.

Marvin finishes his refreshing shower and gets dressed. He can still recognize colors although sometimes, he has to look at the combinations more than once. This ensures his upper garments match his trousers.

Marvin is all set. He just has to take his things. He has a somewhat large bag, but it serves a specific purpose which we will see later on. After closing all appliances, he steps outside and walks to the bus stop.

At the Bus Stop

Marvin is a bit early so he decides to make sure he has enough money for the bus ticket. He takes out his wallet and tries to look at his cash. Being a low vision person, he finds it a bit difficult to see exactly how much he is holding.

Worry not, he has his strong reading eyeglasses. He wears it to read comfortably the denominations printed in the bill. He sets aside the cash he needs, just in time to see the bus arriving.

The bus’s number is large enough for Marvin to see. He pays for a ticket, gets on the bus, and finds a seat.

On the Bus

The bus starts moving. Marvin feels like he has forgotten something, but what could it be? His eyes widened as he just remembered that he has a test in English Literature, and it is his first subject!

He still has around 45 minutes before the bus reaches his university. He takes out his English Literature book, which fortunately is in his bag, and his portable magnifier. It is relatively dim in the bus, so he activates the magnifier’s small lamp. He flips to the chapter he needs to read and reviews it.

At the University

To Marvin, the announcement about the destination the bus has reached is very helpful. He gets off the bus and enters the university. His school is quite large. He enters his building and goes to the floor of his room.

The floor has many rooms. He uses his reading telescope to read the numbers of the rooms he is passing by. This prevents him from stopping in front of each room just to read what its number is. Of course, usually he remembers where exactly his room is, but in most cases, using this device simplifies this task.

He enters the correct room. Most of his classmates are already inside. He finds a seat and gets ready for the test. He takes one quick look at his book and waits for their professor.

Taking an Exam

Their professor enters and after a few minutes, distributes the test papers and answer sheets. Marvin takes one and readies his portable video magnifier. This nifty product consists of a device that projects the image of the text in the paper. This device is connected to a specialized pair of eyeglasses which he wears to read the projected text.

To write his answers, he uses a felt-tip pen that produces thick writing. This lets him read easily the things he would write. His professor is of course aware of the stuff Marvin uses. Marvin makes it a point to talk to his professors at the start of the semester to discuss the things he needs to do differently.

On to the Next Subjects

After his exam, he goes to his next subject. He walks to the room for the next subject. Earlier, we mentioned that Marvin brings a relatively large bag. By this time, we can see why. He brings a lot of devices that enable him to do daily school-related tasks.

His next subjects are Calculus, History, and Physics. Today, these subjects consist of only discussions. Marvin is seated in front of the board but he still has trouble reading things written on it. Whenever things are written or displayed on the board, he uses his reading telescope to read the text and see the images.

In part 2, you can read more about how he works at school, and what he does at home.