Home, Sweet Home and Other Welcoming
Environments: Vision Supports
People who don’t have disabilities modify their environments and use tools to make life better. People with disabilities may also need modifications in their environments and tools to make life better. This is one in a series of articles about ways to create accessible, friendly, and welcoming environments for all.
Need some vision supports or accommodations? There are lots of great products on the market today, and others you can make at home!
When my son, Benjamin, was four, we got him started at the computer (recognizing that a computer would be his “pen and paper”). Even though his vision was “corrected” by glasses, we learned that magnification was still helpful, as were bright colors (black and white images were hard for him to identify), and he sometimes needed assistance with “finding things in space.”
Benjamin was excited about learning to type his name, but his eyes had to search for the keys he wanted. Instead of buying one of the (expensive) keyboards with colored keys, I modified the keyboard myself using a package of colored “dots” from the office supply store. Here’s how . . . Click here to continue.
When Benjamin reads, a tabletop easel brings the book, magazine, and/or tablet closer to his eyes and puts the reading material at a better angle. Easels can be purchased at office supply stores or you can make one yourself.
Kathie Snow
New Ways of Thinking and Revolutionary Common Sense