George’s Blog on Accessible Towns

This is an article written for Bedford an Inclusive Town.

Hello everyone,

My name is George Hogman and I am the Visually Impaired Champion for Sight Concern Bedfordshire, 01234 311555.

I have an eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa. This condition affects the way eyes perceive light and dark and how I see in general. I am however lucky enough to have a guide dog called Usef, who has given me so much independence. Usef and I have been a partnership for 4 years now and he is an absolute hero. He keeps me safe on my way to work and guides me around obstacles in my path. Some of the issues I encounter are below.

Pavement parking

Pavement parking is a real issue, not only to me but to everyone who uses the pavement to walk on. I have had to walk into the road because a car has parked on the pavement. This is, I am sure you will agree, hard enough to do if you are sighted, let alone if you are using a guide dog or if you use a wheelchair or have a baby in a buggy. Team this up with bin day and it becomes even harder to negotiate the pavements.

Road Crossings

Sometimes, the cones on pelican crossings are broken and there is not an audible tone to let you know you can cross the road. The cone sits underneath the box on the crossing, if you press the button on a pelican crossing and then run your fingers down and under the box, you should be able to feel a cone shaped button, this cone starts to spin when it is safe to cross the road. However, with no audible tone or cone I have to rely on members of the public helping me cross. I do think that there should be more zebra crossings for everyone to be able to cross roads in relative safety, my guide dog will find a crossing for me, if one is close by that is.

Shopping

Sometimes shops seem to be lit up brighter than the sun. This means that all I can do is close my eyes and follow my guide dog, until a member of staff finds me and asks me if I need help. Since having my guide dog this has become a lot easier as we are more visible to members of staff. Prior to having my guide dog, it was very difficult to get any assistance. Quite a lot of older people dealing with Macular Degeneration are still coming to terms with sight loss. This means that they are probably still trying to cope without any aids. I am not sure how this group of people manage to go shopping. It is a very big step to start using a symbol cane or a guide cane and some people just can’t accept that they need to use one. The other thing about some shops is, they are packed out with rails which makes my guide dog stop a lot, he looks up at me as if to say, we are not getting through that gap dad! My guide dog will stop and not move forward, a similar experience to the pavement parking above.

Transport

Waiting for a bus when you can’t see is a little hit and miss. Even with a guide dog the buses will sometimes drive past because I did not put my hand out. Taxis are notoriously difficult with a guide dog although I have been pleasantly surprised recently while using a taxi. Train stations are a little daunting, although, if I am using a train for a long journey I will call passenger assist prior to my journey, 08000223720. Staff will meet you at the station and get you to the correct platform and then get you off the train at the other end. There are a number of apps and pieces of equipment that can help you navigate and know where you are too.

The term ‘blind’ is not really recognised any more due to there being confusion with the word. It is now SI, Sight Impaired and SSI, Severely Sight Impaired. I am SSI and have had my eye condition from birth. I was registered as SSI back in 1996. I don’t tend to dwell on this as in my opinion it is what it is and I don’t want my condition to stop me living my life, in a way I have been quite lucky in the fact that I have had my whole life to get used to being SSI, rather than having sight for a large proportion of your life and then losing it when you get older, this I am sure would be infinitely harder to accept and cope with at an older age, the loss would be far greater in my opinion.

So this has been a little bit about the things I encounter daily with sight loss. I am George Hogman from Sight Concern Bedfordshire. Who are you and what experiences do you have with your disability? Please feel free to write something and post it on here.