Making Adjustments

Accepting A Slower Speed

Nov 9, 2023

Accepting A Slower Speed

Adjusting to vision loss always means accepting that some things will be different, and that very likely includes the speed at which you get things done. It doesn’t mean you can’t, it just means you need to allow more time. Personal and professional skills and abilities are not less valuable at a slightly slower speed. If you make an amazing omelet, or write beautiful poetry, or negotiate incredible contracts…don’t let vision loss stop you.

Giving up is never the best option. Learning a new way to do something independently, feels better than depending on others to do it.

Be patient with yourself and consider these practical tips to help you keep it moving.

Get Organized.

Whether it’s a closet, kitchen, or bathroom — everything has its place. Being able to reach into a utensil drawer or a medicine cabinet and find what you’re looking for, because it’s exactly where it belongs, is priceless. Time to Get Organized.

Leave Extra Time.

It is no longer feasible to operate by the seat of your pants. Giving yourself a cushion in terms of time is the smart way to proceed.

Manage Expectations.

Don’t overestimate how much you can realistically get done in any given time period. Re-evaluate, prioritize, and acknowledge accomplishments. 

Use Magnification.

Make sure you have the right tools to magnify the text you encounter each day. Magnifiers Are A Must

Listen.

Consider transitioning some of your daily reading to listening. There are numerous ways to utilize audio for books, newspapers, and computers.

Listen to this article with the ReadSpeaker button, located in the top-right corner of this page. VoiceOver Speaks to You.

Automate.

Set up online banking and eliminate the arduous monthly hell of writing check and balancing accounts on paper. Your balance updates automatically online and your bills are paid with the press of a button. No envelopes, no stamps, no snail mail. 6 ways To Make Bill Paying Easier.

Practice.

Learning something new requires practice. Don’t give up on anything until you’ve repeated it 20 times. By then you will have totally adjusted over to it. And, once you know it, you know it. Learning at Any Age with Vision Loss.

Post originally published Nov 21, 2017 and updated Nov 9, 2023

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About the Author: Dorrie Rush

Dorrie Rush is the Chief Content Officer and Visual Accessibility Expert at Ophthalmic Edge Patients (OE Patients), an online resource, presented by the Association for Macular Diseases, providing practical information and empowering advice for living a full and successful life with vision loss.

She is the former Director of the Grunwald Technology Center and Information Resource Service at Lighthouse International 2001 to 2016. Dorrie is known to have an eccentric view, which is particularly useful in compensating for her central vision loss from Stargardt Disease.

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