10 Ways Daily Skills Training Empowers Adults Living with Vision Loss
4 min read
Daily living skills training is available across the US and is a powerful tool that helps adults living with vision loss maximize their confidence, safety, and independence. Training is provided by highly skilled vision rehabilitation professionals, including vision rehabilitation therapists and specialists in orientation & mobility, assistive technology, employment and vocational rehabilitation, and more.
Enhanced daily living skills can help adults remain in their homes instead of prematurely entering assisted living facilities. It is an invaluable resource that can positively affect every aspect of their physical and mental health.
Vision rehabilitation training is tailored to each person’s unique circumstances. Providing a referral to a Vision rehabilitation agency is an easy way to help your clients make progress in all areas of their lives.
Here are 10 ways daily living skills training can improve lives.
1: Personal care
Personal care and hygiene can become increasingly difficult for those living with blindness or low vision. Here’s how daily skills training can help:
- Training can equip adults with specialized tools and techniques to better manage personal grooming, oral hygiene, bathing, skin care, dressing, and other daily self-care activities.
- Adaptive tools, including color identifiers and tactile markers, can make it easier to recognize and use grooming tools, health and beauty products, and select clothing.
2: Home management
A broad range of training helps those living with low vision manage activities necessary to maintain and live safely at home. Training often includes:
- Home organization skills that provide effective strategies for arranging spaces for easy access to information and commonly used items. Strategies also address furniture placement, lighting, the use of contrast, and other techniques to enhance safety and reduce the risk of falls and other injuries.
- Enhanced housekeeping strategies make a difference. Keeping the house clean can be a challenge for us all and may create added risk for those with vision loss. Training tips and tools can streamline cleaning. Tactile marking or high-contrast colors can be used to label and differentiate cleaning supplies, reducing the hazards of incorrectly using supplies individually and in combination.
- Tactical marking and labeling also enhance safety when doing laundry. Other strategies can help identify and separate clothes, operate appliances, and safely use added cleaning products.
- Home safety, home maintenance, and emergency preparedness are vital to safe at-home living. A growing list of electronic devices can be linked to smart home assistants, controlling devices through audible commands. Available smart devices include major appliances and electronics, lighting and outlets, thermostats, security (doorbells, locks, security cameras, and monitors), and other home automation products.
- Vision Rehabilitation Training can help identify activities that can be done independently versus those requiring additional support. Creating a network of trusted people to assist with home maintenance and repairs is essential, as is establishing emergency contacts. Emergency information should be readily available, and emergency supplies should be clearly labeled in large print, Braille, or other tactile marking.
3: Communication and assistive technology
Adults living with blindness and low vision can learn to use specialized technology and tools to effectively communicate with family, friends, their care team, and others.
- Assistive technology, including screen readers, magnification software, and voice-activated devices for digital communications, help keep the lines of communication open.
- Smartphones with a wide array of apps can help support daily activities.
- Digital home assistants, smart appliances, and other devices can be programmed to provide added support with activities, including the home environment, scheduling, and reminders.
- Braille reading, writing, and large print materials can be essential communication tools.
4: Orientation and mobility
Orientation and mobility (O&M) training helps adults living with blindness and low vision safely travel within their homes and throughout the community. Training may include:
- The use of a white cane for indoor and outdoor mobility
- Smartphone apps with GPS and tactile maps assist with safe and efficient route planning and navigation.
- O&M training is offered in home and community settings - including busy streets, intersections, crosswalks, and public transportation - to build spatial awareness and improve mobility.
- Some adults are paired with a guide dog and receive intensive training to thrive as a team.
5: Health management
Vision rehabilitation helps adults master the skills needed to access various care facilities - from scheduling appointments, traveling to the facility, navigating inside the facility, and completing paperwork to communicating effectively with the care team. Learning to self-advocate and safely use prescription medication (tactile prescription labels, talking prescription bottles) is another essential component of daily living skills training.
It's essential for caregivers and care teams to recognize that vision loss can significantly impact mental health. Vision loss is correlated with higher rates of anxiety and, for some age groups, more than twice the rate of depression as compared to their fully sighted peers. Many vision rehabilitation agencies offer support groups and referrals to local mental health services.
Share this recent article to help clients better navigate the health care system.
6: Meal planning, nutrition, and cooking safety
This vital training provides helpful strategies for kitchen activities and meal prep, including:
- Techniques for easier grocery shopping, including the use of online apps
- Safe food storage and consistent placement of items in the pantry, cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer, and the labeling and tactile marking of ingredients, containers, spices, and condiments
- Meal preparation, featuring tips for safe food handling, reduced cross-contamination, cutting, and chopping
- Easy ways to access recipes online via screen readers, apps, or using voice-activated home assistants
- Cooking strategies focus on the safe use of kitchen appliances, countertop equipment, and potentially hazardous tools such as knives
Share more about kitchen and cooking safety with your clients through this NCOA article, Safe Cooking for People with Blindness or Low Vision.
7: Employment and professional development
Vision rehabilitation agencies offer services to help clients working later in life succeed in existing positions or transition to new ones.
- On-the-job training enhances skills and instructs in using assistive technology, screen readers, and other assistive hardware and software.
- Training can also help employers understand equipment or accommodations that may increase success.
- For those seeking a new position, employment services can help confirm career options and assist with resume development, job search, and interview preparation.
8: Social activities and self-advocacy
Adults living with blindness and low vision may significantly reduce the scope of their social connections, resulting in isolation that leads to anxiety and depression. Daily Living Skills Training can help clients maintain active social lives and enjoy meaningful relationships and activities with family and friends.
- A growing number of social groups and classes welcome adults with vision loss. From support groups, community, and senior centers, audio book clubs, gardening guilds, and cooking classes to accessible dining events and tours with sighted guides, there are many activities that enhance the lives of adults with blindness and low vision. Many museums offer audio tours and specialized exhibits. Community theater groups and other cultural organizations offer activities adapted to the needs of those with vision loss.
- Daily living skills training can also help adults better understand their needs and rights, learn how to request accommodations, and ask for help when necessary.
The ultimate goal of daily living skills training is to help adults thrive, contribute, and live the most rewarding life possible. Contact your local Vision rehabilitation agency to learn more about activities, groups, and opportunities available in your community.
9: Recreation and leisure activities
For some, increased vision loss equals reduced recreation, fitness, and leisure activities. No longer doing what they once enjoyed can lead to diminished health and quality of life. Vision Rehabilitation Training can help provide adults living with blindness and vision loss with techniques and tools that maintain their engagement with the activities they love most.
- Avid readers can keep reading thanks to large-print books, Braille, magnifiers, audiobooks, and screen readers for digital books.
- Assistive devices and training in accessible formats help those with vision loss continue to enjoy their favorite pastimes. Specialized tools, tactile adaptations, and audio descriptions make it possible for them to continue enjoying arts & crafts, gardening, card games, movies, and other enriching pursuits.
Specialized exercise programs, sports groups, and classes are increasingly available and adapted to the needs of adults living with vision loss. One such group is InTandem, which offers tandem cycling programs facilitated by a sighted guide. Running and jogging can also be done with a sighted guide. Other adaptable sports include swimming, beep baseball, goalball, and team activities played at the local, state, national, and international levels, including many featured at the Paralympics.
10: Financial management
Training is key to helping adults with vision loss maintain financial independence. Practical strategies, techniques, and assistive tools are available to develop and manage budgets, access banking institutions, obtain investment information, and make purchases. Banking apps and other financial platforms can be accessed using magnifiers and screen readers. Technology can also be used to identify currency, write checks, and handle various financial transactions online.
Learn more about maintaining financial independence with vision loss.
How to connect older adults with a local vision rehabilitation agency
Access a list of Vision Rehabilitation Agencies and visit Time to Be Bold to locate state and local vision rehabilitation services and other resources in your area. You and your clients can call the APH hotline to receive support and practical coping strategies for everyday tasks, join remote discussion groups, and access free online resources at the APH Connect Center and VisionAware.
These national organizations also provide a vast array of information and resources: the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), National Federation of the Blind (NFB), and National Industries for the Blind (NIB), which provides career and employment information and resources.
Learn more about connecting your clients with the benefits of vision rehabilitation programs. You can also access a toolkit that professionals can use to enhance their support for adults living with blindness and low vision.
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