Vision Australia estimates there are 453,000 people in our country who are blind or have low vision. This number is predicted to grow to over 560,000 people by 2030. Low vision refers to the ability to see at only 6 meters what a normal vision could see at 60 meters. It also refers to a restricted peripheral vision narrower than 20 degrees in diameter. Such people need to use devices, technology and adaptive strategies to keep doing the things they enjoy. Conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, albinism, cataracts and glaucoma, are often responsible for low vision.
For those of us with relatively normal vision, it is easy to forget, ignore and misunderstand the challenges blind and vision-impaired people face daily. Apart from the obvious day-to-day challenges, blind and vision-impaired patients receiving medication have to cope with the difficulty of not seeing their prescription medication clearly, not recognising a pigmenting skin spot that may be melanoma or scaly lesion that could be neoplastic and have the significant emotional burden of isolation thrust upon them.
I was curious to understand some of these challenges by holding a conversation with the brilliant Mr. Murray Stewart. Murray is blind but has found his way to becoming a community leader, a podcaster, philanthropist, Myo therapist, athletics trainer for some of our future star athletes and managing director of Blind magic Communication. Murray Stewart hails from Australia’s’ red centre and is a true inspiration to all who meet him, please welcome him to the Podcast.
References:
Murray Stewart: Bridgeovermurray@bigpond.com
www.healthline.com