100. Really, one hundred??

No this is not our combined age (though not far off eh Dave 😊) but equally surprising is that Dave and I (Vicky) can’t believe we’ve written and posted 100 VIDA Insight blogs over the last few years…where did all that time go?
 
We really hope that you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as we’ve enjoyed thinking about topics and writing them. Most of our posts have been based on our own experiences but some have been based on books we’ve read, conversations we’ve had or other articles that have got us thinking. We hope they have provided you with some insight about vision impairments. We also hope that, on occasions, they’ve made you laugh.
 
So, just in case you haven’t been reading them or have come late to the party and only seen a few, here’s some of our highlights (of course you’re welcome to read all 100):

• The first one to mention has to be Dave’s heartfelt blog about Errol, his wonderful guide dog who suddenly and very sadly had to be put to sleep in June 2017. We can’t believe that this is now over 2 years ago – In Memory of Errol (13.06.2009 – 22.06.2017)
• Our Dans le Noir experiences – Dave’s visit in August 2017 described in blog No. 86 Dans Le Noir - Dave’s Experience  & my visit the year previously for my husband’s 50th birthday – No. 19 Celebrating at Dans Le Noir
• Dave’s various posts about his experience of using technology – No. 97. Be My Eyes: My Experience; No. 87. Accessible TVs in honour of #WorldTVDay and his series of 3 starting with No. 42. Blind Tech Part 1
• My posts about the books that we’ve read over the years which relate in some way to vision impairment – our favourite one being Touching the World by Cathy Birchill and Bernard Smith. We would recommend this wonderful book to anyone, about 2 people travelling the world on a motorbike, one of whom happens to have RP (Retinitis Pigmentosa, one of the eye sight conditions Dave has). Our blog about this one was No. 48. Touching the World. In reading various books, we’ve come to realise that we prefer the ones written by people with first hand experience – either by a person who is themselves vision impaired or co-written by one person with a vision impairment and one person who is sighted, so we also wrote a blog about this – No. 75. First hand experiences
• Answers to questions we get asked and interactions we have with people – No. 88. Do you forget Dave is blind?; Our ‘I thought you were blind?’ series starting with post No. 72. I thought you were blind, part 1; No. 90. Anytime, Anywhere…; No. 53. Access All Areas and No. 6. Sorry, who are you - part 1;
• Hints and tips (hopefully) gained by us working together – No. 70. Playing to Our Strengths; No. 50. Help, Hindrance or Interference; No. 49. Stirred not Shaken; the rest of our ‘Sorry, who are you?’ series – No. 7. Sorry who are you? Part 2 and No. 8. I’m just going for a wee! (or Sorry, who are you?... Part 3) and our series on Communication, starting with No. 11. See you tomorrow...(Communication Part 1)
• And finally, mainly here because they cover one of our favourite topics – food!! (But also because they cover everyday experiences and touch upon gadgets and technologies that might be helpful to others) – No.23. Food…#BritishFoodFortnight; No. 27. Blind Baking Part 1 and No. 28. Blind Baking Part 2; No. 30. What’s in that sandwich? #NationalSandwichDay and No. 61 Argh…Where has my burger gone?

 
Please have a read of any of these that catch your interest or as I said before, feel free to read the full 100! And, please do feel free to share your experiences and thoughts by commenting…
 
We will continue writing a monthly blog so please check in on the 15th of each month to read our latest one.
 
Interested to learn more about VIDA Training? Read about our Training and Consultancy packages, specialising in Vision Impairment and Disability Awareness, Communication and Team Building or contact us for further information.