Hello everyone! Sorry for not posting for so long, now I am back on it, since summer holidays have started for me. In this post I wanted to stress on a couple of things that I often end up explaining, and people seem to have a hard time understanding :) I have also gotten a few questions about this, both online and in real life, so here goes! There are a few things that people need to keep in mind regarding CVI and our access to the world. Firstly:
Reading black on white is ,,poison" for us
At first I didn't understand this myself, since, as a child and a teen I read countless books, all with black text on white background, and had no problem with it. Well, upon diagnosis, then I started thinking. Why did I always get so tired after reading? Why did the text suddenly become a un-readable blurry mess after a certain amount of time? ( usually 1-2 hours of reading). Why did my mother often need to read for/with me when studying for an exam? I can of course only speak for myself but, I feel reading black on white increases my level of visual fatigue. ( see my blog on that topic.) I function better reading white on black ( dark mode in my computer) or even yellow on black. ( Although neon colors are a BIG no no for me, as they hurt my eyes.)
2. When around the CVI person in your life, whoever that might be, try to avoid wearing chlothes with busy patterns
This includes all colors and patterns. Especially stripes and dots. I can't look at anything that is striped. Other patterns are hard, but manageable for me. I still have striped/ patterned clothes but I rarely see my clothes unless I look in a mirror ;)
The thing is, if we communicate with someone wearing patterns, we feel overwhelmed and might come across as having no interest in communication, even though we definately do! Here again, visual fatigue comes in. Looking at patterns physically hurts us, leaving pain in our eyes and sometimes head pain. Instead it's better to wear something in one solid color or with minimal patterns.
3. Try to avoid completely using the Times new Roman font if someone with CVI needs to see your text.
Arial is a much better option. Times New Roman is for many of us too crowded and has too little space in between letters and words, which makes it even harder for us to process things. This is also an issue of visual fatigue.
4. Enlarging things will most likely not help.
When we think of ocular visual impairment we automatically think to make things
larger. For CVI this might even make matters worse since there will be more to process of the enlarged text/picture/ ecc. ecc.. Instead try to change the contrast ( f.x. dark mode) - or use tactile clues like braille.
5. Tape those steps!
This is especially true for those with lower field loss, like me. When walking around, mostly outside, but also indoors, we more often than not miss a step, which can be gravely dangerous. In my case my white cane helps with this big time, but even the cane misses a step occasionally. This is why taping steps, however big or small they are - is super duper important. Best is to use a bright color like yellow or red. Steps can be taped or painted in that color. I know a lot of places where taping steps is ,, banned" because of architectural rules but this needs to change immediately. Without steps being indicated like that our risk of falling and breaking bones increases dramatically.
6. Avoid parking your car/bike/scooter on/ close to the sidewalk
Again, dangerous. Many CVI people don't see things until they are right in front of them, and then it's too late. Instead try to park it on your property or far enough away from walkers :)
It is normal to not think about those things when you aren't visually impaired, but they are crucial for us VI people just to be able to access the world as easily as you do! :)
Thank you for reading my blog posts <3
Dagbjört
Commentaires