One of the things I’ve been able to demonstrate in this blog is that having a visual impairment doesn’t prevent me from having a good time and being successful in life. It took me a while to learn and appreciate that when I was a shy youngster, but over time I learned that I can have hobbies and skills just like anyone else, and make the most of them. In fact my talents have directly led to an exciting new opportunity very recently, which I’ll get to in another post soon.
Consequently, it’s proven to be fun and rewarding to ignore convention and challenge misconceptions, by doing things that are different or unexpected. In all our minds it’s easy to assume that certain things can only occur at certain times, or in certain places, or be done by certain people, when they can actually happen anytime or anywhere, and anyone is capable of doing it.
So with that in mind – why not go to a pantomime in the spring? Why should we wait until the festive season to lose ourselves in the joy that such a production brings? Especially when there’s an exciting, interactive, inclusive new show that’s touring the UK in March, teaching children to embrace their own super powers!
Note: I received complimentary tickets to attend this production, but all opinions are my own.
It’s good to be back. After such a long absence from auditoriums, it was lovely to take a seat in a theatre again yesterday, to enjoy the premiere of a new and original play.
Note: This post is marked as an advertisement because I have been generously sent complimentary tickets to attend and review the show. I accepted them because I am very happy to support a production that features visually impaired performers and looks very interesting.
I’ve missed the theatre, it’s been 20 months since I last set foot in an auditorium. So what better time to make my return, than to see a brand new play that is produced and performed by visually impaired people, and is fully accessible for a visually impaired audience. That level of inclusion is courtesy of Extant, the UK’s leading performing arts company of visually impaired artists and creatives, whose work I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in the past when I saw Flight Paths.
The production, called States of Mind, is a contemporary dramatization of the poem Venus and Adonis, the first published work by Shakespeare. When the Bard wrote it, London’s theatres were closed because of the plague, so it’s rather fitting that this modern retelling was put together during the Covid pandemic.
In advance of its premiere on Saturday night as part of the Bloomsbury Festival, I was granted the opportunity to pose some questions to writer & director Christopher Hunter and actress Gillian Dean, who are both visually impaired (as is Gillian’s co-star Robin Paley Yorke).
So here Christopher gives us an informative introduction to the play, before Gillian gives an extensive and fascinating interview about her career and the play, and the accessibility of the performing arts for disabled actors like herself, and she gives a lot of advice for aspiring performers who want to get into the industry.
So, many thanks to Christopher & Gillian for giving up so much of their valuable time, amidst their busy preparations for the play, in order to share their insightful responses with me. Let’s get to it.
Hello again, I hope you’re all continuing to enjoy yourselves safely. I’m happy to say that I’ve managed to get out to meet some friends and explore the city again at long last, as my aches and pains are continuing to ease off, now that I’ve figured out how I was over-correcting my posture problems. I’m still not cancelling my November NHS physio appointment yet, as I don’t want to tempt fate, but I’m feeling much better at the moment. So I seem to be moving in the right direction, touch wood!
That means I actually have some recent and upcoming London adventures to tell you about in this month’s post and video, as well as the usual mixture of entertainment I’ve been into. So it’s a bumper update this time. With the exception of a theatre show I’ll be mentioning, for which I’ve been kindly given a review ticket, nothing else in this post is sponsored or gifted. So I hope you enjoy!
This is a paid advertisement. I only share this type of content occasionally, when I feel it’s relevant to the themes of my blog and can be of benefit to my audience. So I hope you find it of interest.
Thinking of setting up a business as a visually impaired person? These six top tips for doing just that should help to get you started…
There’s no denying that blindness and partial sightedness can have a huge impact on your daily life. Considering 66 percent of the UK blind population are unemployed, it’s clear to see that the job sector needs an overhaul. So, why not set up your own business?
Of course, it won’t be easy, and there are plenty of things to consider before jumping right in. From seeking advice on accessible commercial conveyancing transactions to finding the right technologies that work for you, there’s plenty to think about.
That said, it’s certainly not impossible, and who knows – you may even make a real mark on the employment scene for those with VI. In this article, we’re going to explore six tips for setting up a business when you’re visually impaired, so take a look…
This week I was very excited to receive my first ever product to review! I’ve had a few offers from other companies in the past, but this is the first that has really grabbed my interest. Because it came from the rock gods Def Leppard, no less! They’ve always been one of my favourite bands, so when they got in touch to ask if I wanted to check out their new London To Vegas box set, featuring 2 massive live shows, the answer was easy!
I was genuinely going to buy it anyway, so it was sheer good fortune that they got in touch before I made the purchase. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for the lockdown drawing my attention to other matters for a while, I would have pre-ordered it much earlier.
There are many different versions of this set, depending on your budget and level of obsession with the band. I was sent the Deluxe 2 DVD & 4 CD Set, which costs £50 (the Blu-ray equivalent is £60). But there are cheaper options, including the Hysteria show on its own, a couple of vinyl discs, and the ability to stream the London and Vegas shows online. Or you can opt for more expensive bundles with goodies including a t-shirt, a printed set list, laminates, photo cards, guitar plectrums, etc. It’s great to have so much choice.
So today I want to share my unboxing video and give my review of the set. It’s important to stress that all opinions are my own here. I haven’t been asked to say anything in particular, and I accepted the product because I knew it was highly likely I was going to love it. So I hope you enjoy this post, and huge thanks to Def Leppard for their consideration and generosity!
Hello there. I hope you’re all keepinng safe and well, and that you had a nice break over Easter, with plenty of chocolate goodies or whatever you like to indulge on.
I think we’ve all earned a few treats at the moment, given that things have felt very strange since we went into lockdown on 23 March. Like everybody else, I was very anxious about the situation at first, and it’s still going to be a concern for a while, because all of the changes to our lives are a lot to get used to. But I know that we’re doing it for the right reasons, to save lives.
I do also feel that my mother and I have been adjusting as well as can be expected, we feel relatively relaxed at the moment. It also helps that I’m not checking news and social media updates as often as I was initially, and I’ve muted certain phrases and blocked various accounts to make browsing social media a calmer experience. Things like that certainly make a big difference to one’s mindset.
I’m already a homeworker too, so that’s made things easier. Although, as it happened, I didn’t fully go back to work straightaway, because by chance I had already booked the first 2 weeks of lockdown off to use up my annual leave quota (after an illness last year meant I couldn’t use as much holiday as I’d hoped). Granted, I couldn’t use that holiday time to go anywhere nice, except the local park, but the time was very useful to ensure that Mum and I were stocked up and could start settling into this temporary new way of living. So it’s only been the last couple of weeks that I’ve started getting into a proper routine again (and even then Easter ensured that I had 2 four-day weeks).
But of course, many people have far more important, difficult and stressful jobs than I do. So if you’re a key worker – including employees and volunteers in the health service, social care, retail sectors and local authorities, among many others – then thank you!
It’s a very uncertain time, and we don’t know how long this will last, but I want to keep myself occupied as best I can. There are certainly lots of options for things to do – and if you need any ideas, check out my special Lockdown Resources page – so I’ll try my best not to get bored. Indeed, it feels like time is moving more quickly again, after the month of March felt like a year. Maybe it’s because I was already used to homeworking and spending a lot of time at home, and because I’m finding plenty of ways to stay busy and entertained.
So with that in mind, here’s my first lockdown post about the things that have been keeping me occupied. There are 3 videos to go with this – for weeks 1-2, week 3 & week 4 – because with more free time I’ve been able to produce videos a bit more frequently, at least for a little while. So I hope you enjoy looking through this selection.
This is a paid advertisement. I am very selective about featuring such content, but I feel this article fits very well with the disability and visual impairment themes of my blog, and features a lot of useful information for parents, who form a significant part of my audience. So I really hope you find it of interest.
It’s no secret that disabled and special needs children require different methods of parenting, but how can you support your child in the best way possible? Find out more, here…
Looking after a child with a disability or special needs is not always the easiest job. You have all the usual difficulties parents go through and, on top of that, you have to find ways to do your best for your disabled child.
Disabled and special needs children require constant support and supervision from their parents in their early life. The child may also require additional support from compensation, if their disability was caused by some sort of medical negligence. Here, the help provided by lawyers, for example erb’s palsy and cerebral palsy solicitors, will really come into play.
In this post we are going to cover the definition of a special needs child under the law, so you know whether you child is covered. We’ll also be sharing our top tips on how you can care for your disabled or special needs children.
Well Eye Never 
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