Category: Disability

November 2018 Favourites

The nights have drawn in and there’s much more of a nip in the air, so at this time of year it can be very tempting to stay indoors where it’s warm and dry and cosy. But not me. The wintry weather hasn’t stopped me getting out and about as much as ever, so November was pretty busy.

I think it was especially nice to relax having got my charity abseil out of the way. Finally getting the blog post and video up for that at the start of November was a nice way to wrap it all up. Donations are still possible and very welcome though, and thank you to the Nystagmus Network for giving me another shoutout as well!

So here’s my latest monthly recap for November, including visits to theatre shows, comedy clubs and museums, and other bits and pieces. There’s also an accompanying video as per usual. I hope you enjoy!

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#WhatMakesMe

When people first meet me or look at my blog or social media, it’s easy to focus on the fact that I have a disability, because of the different ways that I have to do things as a result.

However, my visual impairment is just one part of me. It does have an impact on me, sure, and is an important aspect of my life. But it doesn’t stop me from being happy and successful and exploring the world around me. So there is far more to me and my identity than just a couple of wonky eyes, as regular readers of my blog will know already.

So in this post I want to list some of the other key things that make me who I am, all of which seem to begin with the letter C now I think about it. I was tagged to do this by Holly at Life Of A Blind Girl, and the #WhatMakesMe tag was originally created by Gem Turner. So thank you to Gem for initiating it and Holly for nominating me, and I hope you all enjoy reading about what makes me who I am.

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Blogger Interview – Carol (The Invisible Vision Project)

It’s time to showcase another blogger as part of my little series of interviews, and today I’m delighted to introduce you to Xin (Carol) Sun, who many of you may already know as the author of The Invisible Vision Project.

On Monday she very kindly posted an interview with me on her website, so in return I’m very pleased to share an interview with her here, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Please do go and check out her blog as well, where she’s got a lot of wonderful posts, and follow her on social media using the links at the end. She’ll really appreciate it!

So big thanks to Carol for collaborating with me, and let’s get on with the interview!

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Guest Blogger Interviews #4

I’ve been featured in another guest interview! Thank you so much to Carol at The Invisible Vision Project for including me in her Guest Blogger series, I hope you all enjoy reading my answers to her questions. And be sure to look out for her interview on my blog very soon too! 🙂

The Invisible Vision Project

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to The Invisible Vision Project’s Blog and, welcome to another episode of Guest Blogger Interviews, currently at Interview #4. For today’s interview, we have a guest blogger, Glen from Well Eye Never. Now, let’s get right into the interview with Glen:

  1. Please briefly introduce yourself.
    Hi, my name is Glen, I’m 35 years old and I live in London. When I’m not doing my day job, I love going out and about in the city, making new friends and blogging about my adventures.
  2. What are your hobbies and interests?
    I love going to the theatre, exploring museums, having fun at game and quiz nights, eating out, taking long walks and socialising with friends. And at home I love listening to music, and watching comedies and action dramas.
  3. Name your strengths? And your lacking?
    I have a calm and positive outlook on life, I’m honest and never…

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October 2018 Favourites

We’re deep into autumn now, with Christmas edging ever closer. And now that we’re well into the penultimate month of the year, it’s time for a look back at October to see what I got up to.

The major event, of course, was my charity abseil for nystagmus research, and you can find out all about it in my epic blog post and video. There are lots of photos and video highlights from the day, especially from the headcam I was wearing during my descent. So do go and check all of that out. Huge thanks to everyone who sponsored me, and you can still donate until 23 March 2019.

But there were still other bits and pieces going on during October as well. So I’m going to tell you about them here, and there’s also a video to go with this post as usual. I hope you enjoy my latest recap!

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Ballet & The Bard

Over the past fortnight I’ve been to a couple of theatre shows that in the past I wouldn’t have considered going to – a Shakespeare play and a ballet. Both types of production can potentially be quite hard to follow if you’re new to them, even more so if you’re visually impaired. So I was curious about them, but I didn’t know if I would like them. And I didn’t fancy going to anything that was a heavy drama or a tragedy.

However, my friend Claire spotted a couple of light comedies that had touch tours and audio description available – Much Ado About Nothing and La Fille Mal Gardée (The Wayward Daughter). So they were very intriguing. And having the extra accessibility really appealed to me, as I always find it very useful. Being able to closely examine and feel the costumes, props and scenery on a touch tour, combined with the audio description during the performance, ensures that I can fully understand and enjoy what’s happening just like everyone else, as I can feel confident I’m not missing anything important. It’s always greatly appreciated when people put aside their time for us in this way.

So I went to both shows, as they looked quite fun, and here I’m going to review and compare my experiences. I hope you enjoy reading about them.

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Out Of Orbit – My Charity Nystagmus Abseil!

We did it! 🙂 On Sunday 21 October, after a month’s delay due to the typical British weather, I finally got to do my charity abseil down the ArcelorMittal Orbit Tower in aid of nystagmus research. That’s a drop of 80 metres (262 feet) from the UK’s tallest sculpture!

It was my first ever fundraising challenge and my first ever abseil, and therefore a big deal for a beginner like me. And it was an amazing experience, which I’m excited to tell you about in this post. I’ve also made a video that includes headcam footage from my descent, so do check that out as well.

Don’t forget you can still sponsor me until 23 March 2019. And thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far. Look out for your name at the end of this post and in the credits of my video (unless you were anonymous of course). Anybody who donates later will be added to this post and will get a shoutout in later videos too.

So I hope you enjoy reading about my abseil adventure, including my fundraising achievements and what happened on the day itself! Thanks again for your support!

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