Twenty-one young people, working with experts, have created an uplifting account of how to navigate key life transitions when living with a vision impairment.
Working with academics at the University of Bath and Audiobook Productions, the authors have created personal chapters based on their experiences of important transitions such as moving home, starting secondary school, playing sport and advocating for yourself.
As well as sharing their experiences, they offer practical tips and advice, and hope that ‘Today and Tomorrow; Living with Vision Impairment in the UK’ will be a valuable guide for other young people living with vision impairment.
“I was overjoyed to be asked to participate in such an important and exciting research opportunity,” said Zein Al-Maha, from Glasgow, who discusses her experiences of meeting and bonding with her first guide dog.
“By sharing a piece of my journey as a Guide Dog owner, I am able to spread awareness about the journey with my guide dog Mitch and what it is like being a visually impaired academic.
“On top of this, I believe this audiobook is going to break the invisible barriers we as visually impaired people with disabilities put on ourselves and help ease the transitions we go through. I hope this book brings people together and gives a sense of relief to those undergoing different transition stages of their lives.”
Funded by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, the project grew from initial work at the University of Bath to engage with young people with vision impairments and collaborate on ideas for tools and resources to help others in the same circumstances.
“It’s really exciting to get to the point where we can release the audiobook, which is unique in being written and narrated by the young people themselves,” said Dr Karin Petrini, from the University of Bath’s Department of Psychology, who led the project.
“Working with the young people to create something they felt would be really valuable for their peers, was absolutely critical for this project and we think we have something here which will work as a ‘handbook with a heart’ for others in similar circumstances.”
‘Today and Tomorrow; Living with Vision Impairment in the UK’ is available as a free audiobook on Spotify. It will then become available on other platforms including Audible and will also be available as an ebook on Amazon.
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