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Ask The Coach
January 2022

Original Release: 1/1/2022

How many times do we find ourselves either stuck or stymied, overwhelmed or overcome because of vision loss?

Or how many times do we find ourselves in a quandary or sinking in quick sand because of our sight loss?

No matter if we use the term blind or vision impaired or low vision to describe our circumstance, the fact remains that we often need varying degrees of help, assistance, mentoring, or advice to help us cope.

My name is Donna Jodhan and I am using my extensive experience as a sight loss coach as well as my lived experience to share and respond to questions that are submitted to me and I also invite you to share your thoughts on questions asked.

Question #1 of 3:

A question from Nigel in Salem Oregon: Nigel has a teenaged nephew who lost his vision about a year ago and wants to know if there are any ideas that he can have for a gift for him moving forward.

Response #1 of 3:

Nigel; this is a very interesting question and before I offer any suggestions I would need to do some research to find out what his interests are.

Is he into electronic stuff? Or maybe board games or audio books? Or even something more mainstream as simply clothes, shoes, or even some sort of sports related things?

I would not necessarily look for something for him based on his being blind/vision impaired. Maybe you can also have a little chat with him to see what he may like?

Question #2 of 3:

A question from Paula in Kent England. Paula is looking for ways to time her cooking and baking. She is not sure what sort of timers are out there particularly talking timers.

Response #2 of 3:

Paula, I have a talking toaster oven that has a built in timer for such things as baking, toasting, warming, broiling, and so on.

I also have a talking microwave that has a built in talking timer.

I also use Alexa to help me time things and then there is my i device that I can also use.

There may be some stand alone timers that may still exist but I am not sure and would need to do a bit of research.

Question #3 of 3:

A question from Casio in New Castle New Hampshire: Casio would like to know if blind persons can learn to ice skate.

Response #3 of 3:

Yes Casio! I sure learned how to ice skate as a blind/vision impaired kid and growing up in Canada this was somehow expected of me.

It may not be as hard as you may think but requires a lot of patience, trial and error, and be ready to fall and get back up on your feet many times.

Using a chair when you first start to help you keep your balance is quite useful but the important thing is not to be afraid to fall!

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Tell us what you think! Share your feedback and let's get more ideas cracking! It's important for us to share how we do things!

To contact me with a question or a thought; please send an email to me at donnajodhan@gmail.com ✉ and I'll be sure to respond inside of 5 business days at the most. If you need me to respond earlier then put the word important in your subject line and I'll do my very best to respond more quickly.

Until the next time then!

I'm Donna wishing you a pleasant day and thanking everyone for their insightful feedback and suggestions!

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To learn more about me as a Sight Loss Coach and Author, please visit:
https://www.donnajodhan.com.

To learn more about me as an Advocate, please visit:
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca.

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https://www.donnajodhan.com/donate.