I need your help - what can visually impaired people do? Any ideas, any at all, are desperately sought.

[Rhubarb]

In a nutshell, mate is half blind, only 35, accident (he's got this eye thing, had a cornea transplant, everything great but had a drunken fight the other week, punched in eye, eye now fucked, they are hoping to operate again). He's living with his parents as he's a bit dependant. He's on painkillers, antibiotics etc that make him barf lots and he looks screwed. He gets up each morning and wonders, besides talking books and radio, what the eff he can do.

Your kind thoughts and advice are really really appreciated right now. We want to go back to him tonight with positive ideas to make his life a bit easier and more enjoyable (as best it can be) for the next few months.

Ta.

(If you have any talking books lying around btw, please let me know, he'd be grateful of them)

When you say half blind, what do you mean? What sort of vision does he have? What can he see?

there is a society for the visually impaired that meets where i work, tho i don't know them, but there must be some organisations local to you that are similar.

What do you mean by do? To pass the time over the next few months? Or jobs or what? Sorry - I'm not very clear what you're looking for. Is he expecting his sight to return?

The RNIB will deliver and pick up talking books. And you can get computers designed for blind people that talk. Is that the sort of thing you mean?

He can see shapes, outlines. All very blurred, he can't watch the telly or anything. It doesn't help his sickness either. Everything, he says, is out of focus and blurry. There is bleeding at the back of his eye so they can't yet see what state it is in. They operated on the night but it wasn't successful, now they are waiting for it all to clear up before they try again. He'll be like this for a few months yet.

RNIB can advise on all sorts - groups in his area, adaptive aids etc.

I work with people who are both deaf and blind who have gone on treks, completed PhDs, travelled the world etc so the short answer is "as much as hearing sighted people" but I appreciate that your friend has a huge transition to undergo and I would say that support is crucial for him at the moment in coming to terms with this. I wish him well, must be very hard.

I mean to pass the time of day. He won't join any clubs, that would be admitting how bad he is.

To get it into context, this is a man who climbed the 3 peaks and this weekend is supposed to go biking the coast to coast. He is very fit and only 35. He just needs to know how to pass the time of day for the next few months. How to get through day after day. It might not sound much, but each day is awful to him, it just drags on and on and he is getting very depressed.

Could he go to a gym and use a treadmill or something? I know it wouldn't compare to proper running, but if he could keep fit it might help him feel better in himself.

That is one thing yes, I'll suggest that to him. Trouble is he'll need supervision but this is a possibility. Thanks tamum

Is there anywhere that does talking magazines? Any resources anyone knows of? Websites? Please, help me out here!

I hope it helps a bit I don't know if he likes classics, but the Book People are doing these audio CDs at the moment- it's £22 but you get about 100 hours of stuff like Dickens.

Actually, would it be worth CATing wannabe, Rhuby? She uses a computer (well, obviously) with adaptations for visually impaired people, so she'd know about websites and so on.

Thanks Tamum, I'll CAT her and look into those books. The poor man is desperate for stuff to fill his days.

Book people stuff is here

You are great you are! I have made a mental note of your Mumsnet name (as I am shit at names) and I will repay you one day. Thank you, I'll order him some books.

Oh thank you . If they are out of stock let me know- I bought two sets for elderly rellies for Christmas but I can always find something else.

D,ya know what would cheer him up? Porn mags for the blind! Pity they don't do them

You could just go round and talk dirty to him

I'm not that close a friend!

Hey, sex line vouchers!

If his injuries do enable him to be physically energetic atm, I was going to suggest the gym, as tamum says, or those small hand held weights for home, or get someone to go on a tandem with him. My blind friend cycles the world on a tandem. He might need to be cautious, though, with bleeding in his eye.

I wonder if there is something he could train for as a volunteer that involves talking on the phone more than anythng else. Has he any professional skil that couldbe transferable?

He is a professional bullshitter?

He is off sick atm, on statutory sick pay, but still has rent to pay and is selling his car to cover it

Hopefully this is only temp and they can do something for him. He's a bit dodgy on his balance as you can imagine, but weights at home are also a very good idea.

Thanks

Porn? I used to know of a company that made talking boks of 'erotic fiction' for women. In the cause of equal access to women's erotica for blind women.

Free audio books here, and this site has lots of useful links www.whitestick.co.uk/

Really?

I've gotta go as I'm internetting in a shed in a field on the farm and I fucking need a piss but there are loads of brats around. I'll look back so please please keep bumping and keep suggesting and if anyone has any spare talking books, please cat me and I'll tell you where to send them to.

Thanks guys.

Ooh - I've had an idea. You can download loads of stuff as podcasts from the beeb and then listen to them on your mp3 player wherever/whenever you like.