By: Kylie Matthews
CNIB National Youth Council Member
As summer begins, I find myself having more free time on my hands, and I’m always wanting to try new things and find creative outlets. As such, I wanted to introduce you to some hobbies that I’ve found to be “vision-loss friendly” and tell you a bit more about how I’ve adapted certain activities to meet my needs.
I have always loved to paint, and I’m happy to report that I’ve taken up this hobby again – with some small adjustments. As I am red-green colour blind, I’ve written large letters on each paint bottle to indicate its colour. While my paintings might not look as good as they used to, my main thing is that I enjoy creating art!
Another hobby I took up is bracelet making. A few summers ago, when making thread bracelets became popular, I would make multiple bracelets a day for my friends. As the string is now too thin for me to see, I’ve transitioned to using a parachute cord instead. This thick thread is perfect for making survival bracelets.
Another good way to spend your downtime is to try learning a new instrument. I’ve found that the piano is the most accessible instrument to me. I was taking piano lessons for a couple of years before I lost some sight. After experiencing more sight loss, I realized that I couldn't distinguish some of the keys – they would all kind of blur into a blob of black and white. To help with this, I decided to colour every two black keys yellow. This enabled me to better distinguish where specific keys are. This simple adaptation gave me more confidence to play the piano more frequently.
Some other hobbies that I consider to be “blind-friendly” are listening to audiobooks or music, going on walks, playing card games with braille cards, baking with assistive technology, gardening and more.
Living with vision loss is all about finding alternate ways to complete a task. Don't stop doing what you love. Adjust your favourite tasks to your specific needs to make them accessible. Think outside the box. Happy summer, and have fun with your hobbies!