Coping

The Right Tools for the Task

By Betty Mathews, DrPH

To pound a nail with something other than a hammer or to cut with a knife when the cut only requires a pair of scissors are often costly mistakes and can be very frustrating. I am a firm believer that if a task is worth doing, the right tools are needed to do it well. The task of managing everyday life with visual impairment is no exception.  

Want to know when to stop pouring liquids? You can!

Were you surprised when the water you were pouring missed the glass and washed the counter instead? To prevent this, a favorite tool is an inexpensive item named "Say When."* It fits over the edge of the glass or cup and when liquid reaches full status, it sings and you stop pouring. This is useful for all pouring and especially when liquids are hot.  

Want to put a crease in your pants? You can!

When Permanent Press and other wonderful "no iron" fabrics came on the market, many people took advantage of these products and gave up ironing all together. However some of us diehards, for whom ironing was never drudgery, still cling to the ironing board. Even with impaired vision, you can still do it because the hand on the iron has become sensitive to just where the iron is and what it is doing. All you need is a steady ironing board preferably with a slot in which to park the hot iron as needed.

It is impossible to iron a white shirt or crease white pants on a white ironing board. Look for an ironing board cover with figures and many colors. The busier the better because you want it to contrast with whatever you are ironing. You will need special lighting that is focused on the ironing board in addition to room lighting or window light. A good quality desk lamp with an extended arm will serve the purpose. I place my board beside a table on which I have such a lamp. The focused light with the contrast enables one to see the fabric being ironed.  

Want to hang a picture? You can!

I received two small paintings from my friend living in Switzerland. I studied the paintings and decided that they should be hung side by side as a pair at eye level. I located two picture nails, a hammer and my favorite tape measure. As the ceiling was low, I sent my tape measure to the ceiling to obtain the first measurement. Alas! In my excitement I had forgotten that I could no longer read the marks on the tape. After several thoughtful minutes, I stood close to the wall where I wanted the pictures to hang and placed a small piece of masking tape on the wall just above my forehead. I estimated that from this point the picture would hang at eye level. Holding the nail with the left forefinger and thumb, I placed it on the masking tape for my orientation. With the hammer in the right hand I placed the hammerhead on the nail head and began tapping the nail, careful to raise the hammer no higher above the nail than one and a half inches. This enabled me to control the hammerhead without benefit of sight and also to save my fingers holding the nail. IT WORKED! The view of the hung picture looked just right. My pride in this accomplishment was short lived, however, as I remembered the second picture still on the table. This one would not be as easy for it would have to be measured. As I contemplated this problem, I suddenly remembered the Click Rule* with which I had practiced at the Veterans Administration Blind Rehabilitation Center. The Click Rule is a tactile and audible measuring device that accurately measures one foot accurately to the sixteenth of an inch. Depending on the number of one foot extensions screwed into the Rule, nearly any length can be accurately measured.

It seemed sensible first to measure the horizontal difference from the nail I now had in place and the point at which to drive a second nail. By measuring the width of each picture and adding together half the width of each plus the two inches I wanted between them, the distance of the second nail from the nail that I already had in place was identified. On this point I placed a temporary piece of masking tape. To determine the height of the second nail, it was necessary to add several one foot extensions to the Rule. I then measured the distance from the ceiling to the first nail. By moving the end of the extension along the ceiling until the rule came to the temporary masking tape marker. By adjusting its height to the end of the rule, the correct point for driving the second nail was established. Not even counting the practice time with the Click Rule, the whole procedure took more time than when I could see the markings on the tape measurer. However, so does everything I now try to do. But I can do it without the vision so long taken for granted and you can too.

The Click Rule is a six inch aluminum tube with a stop at each end. A six inch metal rod slides through the tube and has a top screw connected with which the user can move the rod and secure it in place by tightening the screw (See Diagram). On top of the rod are raised markers at each half inch. On the side of the rod are raised markers at each sixteenth of an inch. The raised markers are counted by touch or the auditory clicks occurring as the rod is moved in the tube. It is this six inch rod that determines a measurement to which is added the six inch length of the tube plus any twelve inch added extensions.

Click Rule illustration

Are you still using a computer? If not, you can!

You will need magnification software to magnify the letters you type so you can read them on your screen and also to magnify instructions that appear on the screen from time to time. Such software enables you to print a shopping list with a font size large enough for you to read in the store when you shop. Purchase one that includes a Document Reader and do it as soon as possible, that is, do it before you need 3x magnification. You can learn to use it later, but sooner is better. This is important because as you require increased magnification, the field of vision decreases dramatically. Thus, to find your bearings on the computer screen you need to reduce magnification and on finding your place, to increase magnification in order to read. One needs to practice quickly increasing or decreasing magnification to maintain ones efficiently.

Often AiSquared, who produces Zoom Text, offers this computer magnification software for downloading on a 30-day trial. This enables one to practice with the program and decide if you like it. Zoom Text is one of the most versatile magnification programs on the market. It magnifies from 2x to 16x, can enhance the color and size of the mouse pointer, has a choice of reader voices and reading speed. The voice can be set to read each letter as typed or each word as typed and will read a complete paragraph or whole documents. There are many more functions that enable a person, who is visually impaired, to use the computer as efficiently as ever. It is my understanding that Zoom Text is not supported by the Macintosh computer.

As telephone books have become more and more difficult to use, it is helpful to create a Directory with frequently used numbers in large print. A computer file of favorite, frequently used recipes is especially useful as one can enlarge the type, print it and read it in the kitchen.

Never able to incorporate the numbers on the keyboard into my touch typing, I learned a neat solution at the V. A. Blind Center. Velcro was on numbers l, 4, 7 and 0. With this tactile identification I can easily find any number key by touch.

Often I cannot remember if I should go to INSERT or TOOLS on the tool or task bars in order to direct the computer to use page numbers or to change a default setting. My question is always what are the steps? I decided to create my own quick reference book. For accuracy I referred to the Maran Graphics Series, computer guides from IDG Books World Wide Inc. Using this resource I could check the accuracy of steps for each procedure. With a large font size, I typed the steps for each procedure as a separate file.

For example, to lock the task bar in place, the steps were listed as follows:

LOCK TASK BAR

RT. CLICK ON TASK BAR -- drop menu -- LOCK TASK BAR

Each file was dragged into a folder labeled Computer Guide.

Also, I printed each file and organized them in a three ring binder as a desk reference. This short hand way of spelling out the steps on a single page saves time and eliminates the need to search through an index that often is in small print and difficult, if not impossible, to read. This project has increased my efficiency and decreased my frustration.

Still want to use a calculator? You can!

Until the calculator came on the market I calculated in my head, but then I became addicted. Recently, as I was trying to magnify both the enlarged checkbook and the calculator under my only closed circuit television, it was a difficult juggling act and took too much time. I thought if only I could see the calculator without magnifying it, I could balance my checkbook quickly.

When shopping for an algae solution for my pond, I noticed the clerk was using a large, manual calculator. I could see the numbers on it from a distance. Making a mental note of this, I continued my errands. In the Desert Low Vision Services display, there was that same calculator.* It is eight inches wide, eleven inches long and a quarter inch deep. The black buttons with white numbers are one inch by three-fourth inches wide. In the summation window, the numbers are displayed in one inch size. With light focused on the calculator, all numbers are clearly visible without magnification. Now I can balance the checkbook without the juggling act.

*Tools mentioned in this article are available from:

Desert Low Vision Services, Inc.
1645 North Alvernon
Tucson, AZ 85712
Phone: (520) 881-3439
Fax: (520) 881-3482

The Click Rule and information is also available from:

Community Advocates Inc.
P.O. Box 18672
Boulder, CO 80308-8672
Phone: (303) 666-8206
Fax: 402-486-3091

Zoom Text is available from:

Aisquared
P. O. Box 669
Manchester Center, VT 05255
Phone: (802) 362-3612
Fax: (802) 362-1670
E-mail: www.aisquared.com

Maran Graphics Series includes User Friendly books on Computers Simplified, Word 2000, Windows 95 through Windows XP, and the Internet among others. These books are available in most computer stores and are published by:

IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., An International Data Group
Forest City, CA., Indianapolis; Chicago; New York

 

Betty Mathews is a Doctor of Public Health and Professor Emeritus, Behavior and Health Education, University of Washington. Currently, she lives in Green Valley, Arizona with her dog Sasi, who owns the home they share.

A time was when seeing with my eyes made it possible to accomplish the goals of every day living. More often than not vision occurred without my awareness. It was as if seeing is being. As my vision dims, other than sight is required. More and more the mind comes to the rescue by finding new ways of achieving goals for which sight alone was used. Thus, the title FROM MY MIND'S EYE was coined.

© by Betty Mathews, DrPH 2004