Loss of central vision means this is what you see.
The blurred image is what you see when you have an established case of Age Related Macular Degeneration.
Millions of people are living with the condition which causes the loss of central vision but does not cause blindness; there is always sight available. The peripheral vision that remains can be used very effectively and there is training available for anyone who needs it.
Reading does become increasingly difficult, but there are solutions for every problem. Good light levels can help maximise the remaining sight and there are specialist daylight lamps
In the Kitchen.
In the kitchen it can help to have the numbers on the microwave timer written in bold marker pen or the RNIB sell little rubber dots “bumpons” so people can feel the 5 minute increments.
Ready meals that are a firm favourites can be easier to cook if the instructions are written in large print.
One cup waterboiler
Keeping things in the same place at all times can save hunting for them when needed.
Using the phone.
The BT 195 service in the UK is a free telephone directory service for people with impaired vision.Here is my previous article about this.
I also found it helpful to make a large diary out of an A4 folder and loose sheets of paper. Each page is a day and clearly labled with a thick marker pen.
Phone folder. It is essential for people with AMD to feel confident they can contact people when they want or need to and conventional phone directories and address books don’t offer much help here. I created a phonebook for one gentleman in the largest font available to fit the page and he had a folder with one name and number per page.
