Collaborations – Well Eye Never

Visually Impaired Blogging Research Articles

Since I started blogging many years ago, I’ve been invited to take part in research projects about sight loss with a few people, and it’s always nice when I get to see how my contributions have been used.

Recently, therefore, I was contacted by Ibrahim Emara, an Assistant Professor of journalism at Tanta University in Egypt. He’s the first visually impaired person in Egypt to teach and do research in journalism, and his research has focused on the use of mass media among the visually impaired.

Ibrahim interviewed me back in July 2021, among many other bloggers, and while that was quite a while ago, I’ve been flattered to learn that the chat we had has helped to influence four of his articles. I’m only directly quoted in the first one of course, which was the core study he was conducting, but it’s fascinating to see the other three that have spun off from it as well. He’s very kindly sent me full copies of them so that I can write a bit about them here.

April 2025 Favourites

Hey there, hope you had a wonderful Easter and a lovely April in general. This has been my busiest month for a while, as there’s lots to mention in terms of outings, including social events, a musical and a concert, along with TV shows and films I’ve been watching at home.

The concert I went to was a PR invite for me to review, but otherwise nothing is sponsored to appear here, and in any case all opinions are my own as usual. So let’s jump straight into April’s post and video roundup, and I hope you enjoy!

AD | National Open Youth Orchestra – Ring Out! Review

Note: I received a complimentary ticket for this concert, but all opinions are my own.

Music is an incredibly powerful, immersive and varied medium that impacts us all in one way or another, irrespective of who we are. It’s certainly been a constant feature in my life, as I’ve always enjoyed listening to it, and when I was a kid I used to play it a bit as well, just for fun. Being unable to read sheet music didn’t matter, as I could memorise things with practice, and I enjoyed improvising too. I still think it would be cool to learn an instrument like the guitar or piano one day, if I had the time, patience and guidance.

So I know first-hand that being able to play and/or compose music is a great form of escapism that allows you to express yourself and be creative. But for many disabled people, it’s not only enjoyable and rewarding, it can be truly vital. It can enable them to communicate clearly, reveal their personality, share their ideas, demonstrate their talents, feel safe, increase their confidence and form connections with other people, in ways that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. Music is the magic key that can unlock so much.

Of course, that can be easier said than done, if there are instruments that are inaccessible, or if you can’t find other people to share things with and learn from. So it’s always nice to learn of ways that disabled people have been given the opportunity to fully engage with music, especially at a young age so they can carry it with them throughout their lives. And I had the privilege of seeing one such group perform last weekend.

April 2024 Favourites

Hey there, hope you’re all doing well. I’m good, although like all disabled people in the UK I feel great unease over the government’s proposed changes to our benefits. My PIP review still hasn’t been dealt with after 9 months as it is. I’m not going to rant about it here though – I’ve posted a brief thread and shared several other posts on my Twitter/X page if you want a wider sense of people’s reactions. But please do read the proposals and respond to the consultation if you can (by 22nd July), as it’s vitally important to have our voices heard at this early stage. Same goes for the separate consultation about fit notes (until 8th July) too.

But anyway, on to much nicer things, and there’s plenty that I’ve enjoyed during this past month, including a couple of exhibitions, a West End musical, a theatre workshop, stand-up gigs and other comedy shows. One of the exhibitions was a press invite for my journalist friend Emily, and I’m due to be paid for the workshop I took part in, but nothing is sponsored to be featured here and all opinions are my own as usual.

So let’s crack on with this month’s post and video, and I hope you enjoy!

AD | Extant – Unseen Interviews

Content Warning: Domestic abuse. There is support information at the end.

Unseen is an important and powerful audio drama about the impact of domestic abuse on visually impaired people. The free 45-minute production has been created by Extant, the UK’s leading performing arts company of blind and visually impaired actors and practitioners, and is inspired by the findings in the Unseen Report from the Vision Foundation.

I recently reviewed the drama in advance of its online premiere on Monday 4th March. But in addition to that, I was also invited to send in some questions to members of the team to find out more about how it was made.

So I’m delighted to share some interesting insights from sound designer Ian Rattra y, director Ben Wilson and actor Georgie Morrell. Many thanks to all of them for putting aside some of their valuable time to answer my questions!

AD | Extant – Unseen Review

Content Warning: Domestic abuse. There is support information at the end. I had early access to Unseen for review purposes, but all opinions are my own.

It can be easy to take dramas for granted, as just another form of entertainment. But recently we’ve all been reminded just how emotionally powerful the medium can be, for raising awareness and generating action around serious and devastating real-life issues. The Mr Bates series about the Post Office scandal, and Breathtaking about the NHS during the pandemic, pulled back the curtain to reveal shocking details about events that many people had little to no knowledge of.

The stories were told in a way that was realistic, relatable and accessible, without being sensationalised, so they were compelling and stuck in the mind very effectively.

Now a new audio drama by Extant, the UK’s leading performing arts company of blind and visually impaired actors and practitioners, takes a similar approach to another very difficult issue, in a uniquely creative way.

Unseen, a 45-minute drama which will be available to stream for free on Monday 4th March, shines a light on one of society’s most hidden and disturbing crimes – domestic abuse against visually impaired people (the lessons from which are applicable and adaptable to victims of all disabilities).

Did you know, for example, that at least 1 in 12 visually impaired people in the UK (around 188,000) are a victim or survivor of domestic abuse? Or that less than 1 in 5 domestic abuse professionals have had specialist training to support visually impaired victims or survivors?

No, me neither. These are just two of the alarming and sobering statistics in the Unseen Report by the Vision Foundation (using research commissioned from SafeLives), that are incorporated into this new production. It’s being released to coincide with No More Week (3rd-9th March), an annual event that raises awareness of domestic abuse and sexual violence, and educates individuals and organisations about how to take a stand against it.

Therefore, having reviewed some previous Extant productions, I was kindly invited to listen to Unseen this week, in advance of its public release, in order to share my thoughts on it.

The Dream Team – One Year As A Support Worker

It’s been just over a year since I became a support worker for my friend Emily Davison, aka Fashioneyesta, to assist with her new role as a trainee journalist with Newsquest, primarily on the News Shopper site as well as their other south London titles. So I thought I’d give an update in this post and video on how it’s going, and an insight into the work I’m doing. I’m not sponsored to mention any of the products and services that I talk about here, all opinions are my own as usual, and I hope you enjoy!

Christmas 2023 Favourites – Part 1

Seasons greetings, I hope your preparations for Christmas are going well, November always feels a little bit festive, but for me it was even more so than normal this year, because I’ve already explored a variety of London’s displays, seen a bunch of snowmen on a sculpture trail, and had a free Christmas dinner courtesy of a PR invite. On top of that I’ve also seen a couple of theatre shows, while at home I’ve been enjoying some more TV and music as always.

Consequently it makes sense to treat this as a festive Favourites post and video, and spread the joy over 2 months. It’s not too early as far as I’m concerned. So with the usual disclaimer that all opinions are my own, including for the free food, let’s crack on with it, and I hope you enjoy!

40th Birthday Favourites

Here we go, the big four-o,
These two score years have not gone slow!
Amazing how the time has flown,
And since my youth how much I’ve grown.
I had to celebrate, you know,
With food and drink and West End shows.
So with my friends and on my own,
I’ve really marked this milestone.

There’s stand-up stars who made me laugh,
Musicals well-choreographed,
Eating blind and on a cruise,
A 9-course feast and rounds of booze,
A major rock star’s prized possessions,
Art displayed with cool projections.
An action film with audio description,
And shows I’ve seen on television.

Come see how I’ve spent my time,
I promise it’s not all in rhyme.
Here’s why I’m feeling all aglow,
Enjoy this post and video!

AD | Frameless – Audio Described Tour

Note: I was given complimentary admission to this tour, for feedback and review purposes, but all opinions are my own.

For many people, art is already what they would consider immersive. A carefully considered and expertly crafted painting on a flat canvas has the power to draw you in, so that you’re totally absorbed by its people, places, fashions, creatures, scenery, history, objects, shapes, patterns, colours, messages, emotions, etc. Galleries with framed paintings on their walls have been successful for centuries with good reason, and will rightly continue to be so.

However, there is always scope to experience and enjoy the medium in alternative ways. Not only can it give even the most regular and fervent art connoisseurs a new perspective, but there are a lot of other people for whom it’s nothing short of vital to approach it differently, because they need assistance, encouragement or inspiration to fully appreciate and lose themselves in the masterpieces being presented to them.

For instance, as much as I love a good gallery, the fulfilment I can get from them as a visually impaired person tends to be very limited, hence I don’t go to them very often. On the few occasions I have wandered around such spaces on my own, where accessibility hasn’t been fully considered by the venue, it’s in the unfortunate knowledge and reluctant acceptance that I’m missing out on the full context of the pieces and cannot appreciate the finer details they contain.

I have, therefore, been delighted to take part in audio described tours at several museums and galleries since moving to London, which have really opened up this world to me and enabled me to engage with it more thoroughly.

But in late August I had a descriptive tour of Frameless that took it to another level, with its use of cutting-edge technology that showcases artworks in a way that I’ve never personally encountered before. The buzzword ‘immersive’ is being bandied around a lot in the cultural sector at the moment, and not always accurately judging by the reviews for some attractions, so I have felt uncertain about visiting such places. But for me Frameless very much lived up to that billing. And they have more audio described tours coming up, so I wanted to give some insight into what it’s like.

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