The Council is coming to Dodgeville on Wednesday, October 9 for a free information event, On Sight: Vision Loss Resources in Southwest Wisconsin. On Sight will provide a wealth of knowledge useful to area residents who are blind or low vision, their families and their caregivers. The event takes place at the Iowa County Health and Human Services Building in Dodgeville from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Council is committed to promoting the dignity and independence of people who are blind or low vision across all of Wisconsin. People with vision loss living in rural areas often face greater barriers to services than those living in larger cities. This event seeks to help break down some of those barriers and inform people living in Southwest Wisconsin about the services and resources available to them.
Education & Vision Services Director Amy Wurf will kick off the October event by breaking down how to talk to your eye doctor and the next steps after a diagnosis. Amy will provide a who’s who of the different doctors and specialists people need to contact and when they should begin to reach out. Knowing who to talk to and what to ask them is important to effectively address any changes to your vision.
After a diagnosis, vision rehabilitation is extremely helpful in enabling people to continue to live independently. Amy says that services are available in Southwest Wisconsin if you know where to find them. “While we don’t provide direct vision services in Iowa County, there are good places to go,” Amy says. “Giving an overview of the landscape will really help.” Rehabilitation Specialist Chasie Willis of the Wisconsin Office for the Blind and Visually Impaired provides some of those services in Southwest Wisconsin and will be in Dodgeville for the event to help people understand how to navigate the options available locally.
Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist and Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialist Brent Perzentka will be going over the ins and outs of O&M and the services available to people in Southwest Wisconsin. His presentation will break down everything included in O&M training, such as how to move around your home and community, navigating public transportation, and the different types of canes used by people who are blind or low vision.
Brent says that people in rural areas of Wisconsin can benefit from O&M training just as much as those living in bigger cities. “Some people might say, ‘Oh, well there’s no stoplights or buses around me, I live on a county highway. I’m not going anywhere.’ They might not think it pertains to them,” Brent says. “But O&M can help someone get to their mailbox or walk around their community. When they go into town with someone, they don’t have to rely on that person to shop for them. They can shop for themselves.”
Access Technology Specialist Jim Denham will focus his presentation on the different cellphone options available to people with vision loss. Cellphones are becoming more and more important to our everyday lives, and being able to use one that meets your needs is important. Jim gets more calls from people losing their vision about how to use a cellphone than about any other topic. “People ask me ‘What is the best cellphone for me?’ But there is no one phone that works for everyone,” Jim says. “It depends on so many different things. How do you use your phone? What’s your level of vision? Do you prefer touch screens or buttons? It all depends on what you want to use your phone for.”
Jim will compare a few different popular phones and their accessibility features, including iPhones, Jitterbug phones and the BlindShell, a phone designed specifically for people who are blind or low vision. There will be samples of each phone available for attendees to explore which one might work best for them. Jim will also give a brief breakdown of the different phone carriers available for the different phones.
Executive Director Denise Jess will cover public policy issues that affect people with vision loss across the state. One of those issues is transportation. Transportation options are very limited in rural areas. For people who don’t drive, that often means they will need to walk to get to work, medical appointments, or to visit friends. Denise will discuss what communities can do to become safer and more welcoming for pedestrians, and how people can get involved to help bring about those changes.
In addition to the Council, representatives from the ADRC of Southwest Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Talking Book and Braille Library will be on hand to provide information about their services. The Council’s Customer Care Specialist Greg Schmidt will also be there to showcase adaptive items available in our Sharper Vision Store.
The event is free and open to all, and lunch will be provided at no cost for those who register by October 1. Registration is strongly encouraged, and you can do so online at WCBlind.org/Council-Events/On-Sight-Vision-Loss-Resources-In-Southwest-Wisconsin.
