Some businesses in our community go above and beyond with their kindness. One of those is ShopRite – every week, they donate baked goods to our students for breakfast. Thank you!
Pictured (from left):
ShopRite of Parsippany Store Manager Frank Sblendorio, VLANJ student Ed Larson, and Pauly Maresits, Bakery Manager.
Ever fallen asleep with your contact lenses in? 👁️👁️
The Center for Disease Control reports that this is the most common offense for contact lens users. But what’s so bad about it anyway?
Eyes, like the rest of our bodies, need oxygen to survive, and if you have lenses in for an extended period of time, your cornea – the outer surface of your eye – doesn’t get to breathe. Without oxygen, your corneas will get larger and swell up. This is called keratitis, which means your eyes’ physiology is being damaged or altered.
This inflammation causes small gaps to start to appear across the surface of the eyes and bacteria will start to make its way through those gaps to invade the cornea.
In most cases, this leads to eye infections. In worst case scenario, it can rob you of your eye sight.
Moreover, you can damage your cornea by trying to pick out dried out lenses, and develop other long-term problems that can eventually lead to loss of sight.
Why risk it? Keep your eyes safe & take those contacts out at night.
Going out with a person who is blind or has low vision?
Let them take your arm and follow, rather than grabbing their arm and pulling them or pushing them ahead of you.
Help them feel at ease by telling them about the surroundings: the street you’re walking on, what lies beyond such as trees or bushes 🌳🌵; or when indoors – the size of the room, how many people are there and who some of them are, and so forth.
Image description: Four women are walking outside in pairs. The first pair is of a woman wth brown hair in a light blue coat, dark tights and sneakers. She is guiding a woman with light brown hair in a purple jacket, jeans and sneakers, who is holding a white cane. Behind them, in the second pair, a woman with brown hair in a ponytail is using a white cane. She is wearing a grey sweater, maroon shirt, dark pants and boots. She is guided by a woman with blonde-gray hair, who is wearing a red sweater, blue flower-patterned shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
Shout out to Panera Bread for having an accessible ordering system!
The self-service ordering stations feature both Braille and VoiceOver, which make ordering simpler for people who have low vision or are blind.
Well done, Panera Bread. 👏 We’re always happy to see such excellent accessibility initiatives by members of our community!
Image is of an ordering screen at Panera. A woman is using her finger to tap on the screen and order an item. A black rectangular sign is sitting at the base of the screen, and there is writing in English & Braille on it.
TapTapSee is an application designed specifically for users who are blind or have low vision, utilizing your device’s camera and VoiceOver functions to take a picture or vide of anything and identify it out loud for you! 📸
TapTapSee is one of the apps our students learn to use in the Apps Club, that meets on Thursdays as part of our Better Health & Wellness Program. Want to find out more? Reach out via email: LGroszew@vlanj.org, or via phone: 973-627-0055 ext. 1312.
Image description: A screen shot of the TapTapSee application as it appears in the Apple App Store. The top left indicates the thumbnail of the app, which is a white outline of glasses and eyebrows on a multicolor background featuring blue, pink and teal hues. The Text reads “TapTapSee camera for the Blind”, a 4 out of 5 star rating, indicating 995 reviews. The bottom shows three different phone screens, with the text, “Just Tap To Take A Picture” in the first image, with a picture of a phone taking a photo of a fuchsia colored flower, and the text “Listen To The Description” in the second image. All 3 images show different angles of the phone and flower.
Not all Vision is 2020 – have you ever heard of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)?
It’s the leading cause of severe, permanent vision loss in people over age 60. AMD happens when the small central portion of your retina, called the macula, wears down. Because the disease happens as you get older, it’s often called age-related macular degeneration. It usually doesn’t cause blindness but might cause severe vision problems.
There are two types of AMD – wet & dry.
What are the symptoms of AMD?
If you have any of these symptoms, go to an eye doctor as soon as possible. What to do if you are witnessing severe vision loss from AMD or any other eye disease? Reach out to us! At Vision Loss Alliance of New Jersey, we offer a variety of programs for people who have low vision or are blind, in order to help them gain new skills and independence for navigating a life without eye sight.
Ways to get in touch:
📧 lgroszew@vlanj.org
☎️ 973-627-0500 ext 1312