Sensory Christmas Activities for Children who are blind

In our opinion, one of the best ways to celebrate Christmas is with some arts and crafts. Christmas engages all colours and senses from all the seasons. Baking, decorating and spending time with family and friends all makes for a joyous and happy time, especially around the holiday season. 

Getting your children involved  and letting them help in the kitchen, create Christmas decorations or even making their own gifts for their friends really helps them engage and learn new skills they didn’t even know they had. There are so many ways to engage all kids, especially those with visual impairments and other disabilities.

Tactile Christmas Trees

This tactile Christmas activity made with some Velcro and felt is easy to put together and take part. Adding a pipe cleaner as a loop also gives you the option to hang it up somewhere.

Christmas Tree Brownies

Bake some deliciously sweet brownies and decorate them exactly like your Christmas tree at home. This offers a great opportunity for hands-on learning.

Frozen Ice Balls

Filling balloons with water and freezing them either outside or somewhere in which you can fit them. They show up very nicely alongside most walkways and if it snows you’ll really be in for a treat.

Shredded Paper Snowman

It may not be snowing right now, but there is still the option of making your own snowman with shredded paper and creating a fun and festive picture.

These few activities have hopefully given you enough inspiration to go on and create even create some of your own creations with your children. Getting them involved and learning only helps them in the long run and will overall improve their ability to perform in later life. 

3D Printed Sheet Music Being Developed for Blind Musicians

3D printing technology has the ability to connect and bridge various things simply by using a piece of software which enables you to create these 3D models. Yeaji Kim, a former University of Wisconsin student, has been creating and developing sheet music that blind and visually impaired people can read!

This system is called Tactile Stave Notation, which is essentially 3D printed sheet music with the notes and staff slightly raised from the surface; which allows blind people to feel the tactile notes to connect with what a teacher for example is seeing. The students that are working on the project with Yeaji constantly send over improvements and she provides feedback on how to make it absolutely perfect.

With Yeaji Kim being a visually impaired musician herself, she was inspired to develop the system in order to offer young musicians a chance to understand sheet music better and be able to communicate with their music teachers better. At the moment, blind musicians must read a complicated Braille notation for their music and memorize bits at a time.

Todd Welbourne, a piano professor at UW-Madison and Kim’s instructor whilst she was there explained that “The (Braille) letter system is already very complicated. And then to have the symbols also mean something else, to mean music, can be very confusing to a kid.” The Tactile Stave Notation, the visually impaired musicians will be able to keep up in class and actually learn to play music at a quicker and faster rate.

Yeaji Kim has recently received her PhD in piano performance and pedagogy and has since returned home to South Korea.

At SRSB we update you with every story, event and the goings on around the visually impaired community. For any information on how you can be part of this please give us a call on: 0114 272 2757 or email us: info@srsb.org.uk

Don’t Turn a Blind Eye to Sight Loss

With national eye week just passed, here at SRSB we wanted to reflect on how it went and how you can still get involved and get checked. Many people are living with bad vision or even worse, putting their sight at risk by failing to go for regular eye check-ups. You should really get an eye check-up every two years, regardless if you haven’t seen any deterioration in your eye sight.

Research shows that more than two thirds of people admit to leaving it over a month and in some cases years before getting an eye test even after noticing there eyesight is deteriorating.

It also shows that almost two thirds of people put up with poor eyesight even if it has a lasting effect on their life, with over half of people saying they sometimes struggle to see the TV and a further 50% struggle to read books.

Most people get their eyes tested every two years but this could obviously vary depending on your age, family or medical history. The most worrying statistic is that 1 in 10 people have never actually had their eyes tested!

If your eyesight does become bad and you’re having a severely hard time to see, SRSB are always here to help. We have a growing community in which we have a vast amount of volunteers to help and people to talk to in the same situation as you possibly are.

We also have facilities and a various amount of activities in which blind and partially sighted children can enjoy, and have an escape from day to day life. Living with no sight or having partial sight doesn't have to restrict you, and we are here to show you that you can enjoy life just like everybody else.

What is colour-blindness?

Colour blindness, or colour vision deficiency, is the inability or decreased ability to see colour, or perceive colour differences under normal lighting conditions.

There is no actual blindness but there is a lack of colour vision. Colour blindness affects a significant percentage of the population, and is much more common in men. It is believed that 8% of the world’s male population suffers from a degree of colour blindness. In Britain this means that there are approximately 2.7 million colour blind people (about 4.5% of the entire population).

Types of colour blindness -

Red-Green Colour Blindness

The most common types of hereditary colour blindness are due to the loss or limited function of red cone, known as protan, or green cone, deutran, photo-pigments. This kind of colour blindness is commonly referred to as red-green colour blindness.

Protanomaly: In people with protanomaly, the red cone photopigment is abnormal. Red, orange, and yellow appear greener and colours are not as bright

Protanopia: In people with protanopia, there are no working red cone cells. Red appears as black. Certain shades of orange, yellow, and green all appear as yellow.

Deuteranomaly: In people with deuteranomaly, the green cone photopigment is abnormal. Yellow and green appear redder and it is difficult to tell violet from blue.

Deuteranopia: In people with deuteranopia, there are no working green cone cells. They tend to see reds as brownish-yellow and greens as beige.

Blue-Yellow Colour Blindness

Blue-yellow colour blindness is rarer than red-green colour blindness. Blue-cone, known as tritan photopigments are either missing or have limited function.

Tritanomaly: People with tritanomaly have functionally limited blue cone cells. Blue appears greener and it can be difficult to tell yellow and red from pink. Tritanomaly is extremely rare.

Tritanopia: People with tritanopia, also known as blue-yellow colour blindness, lack blue cone cells. Blue appears green and yellow appears violet or light grey.

Complete colour blindness

Complete colour blindness is called monochromacy. People with monochromacy cannot see colour at all and the clearness of their vision may also be affected.

Colour blindness can be difficult to identify, particularly in children with inherited colour vision deficiency as they may be unaware that they have any problems with their colour vision. A child with a severe condition such as deuteranopia may seemingly be able to accurately identify colours which they can’t see because they have been taught the colour of objects from an early age and will know for example that grass is green and the sky is blue even if they have no concept of their true colours.

In the UK colour blindness is not considered to be a disability, but in other countries colour blindness can be regarded as a great deficiency. In Japan, for example, colour blind people can be not permitted to drive because they are not always able to read coloured lights correctly. You cannot do the following jobs if you are colour blind –

• Pilot
• Electrician
• Fire-fighter
• Baggage Handler
• Police Officer

Being colour blind shouldn’t have that big an impact of your day to life, and is usually seen as a very minor inconvenience. Undoubtedly the most important oversight is the difficulty of colour blind school children who are left to struggle at school due to lack of awareness of the effects of their disability.

How do your eyes work?

Your eyes are essentially an amazing sort of camera. They take pictures of the world around you and send the pictures to your brain, so that your brain can work out what your eyes are seeing. This happens from the moment that you open your eyes in the morning to when you close your eyes at night.

When you look at an object, the light from it enters your eye through the pupil. The iris changes the size of the pupil, depending on how bright the light is. The lens focuses the light onto the back of the eye: the retina. The retina is a mass of light-sensitive neurons, called photoreceptors, which change light signals into electrical ones.

Photoreceptors contain chemicals that change when they are hit by light. This causes an electrical signal, which is then sent to the brain along the optic nerve. Different types of photoreceptor allow us to see an enormous range of light, and all of the colours of the rainbow. And all of this is happening right now as you read this!

Sight is an amazing gift, and unfortunately not one everyone is born with. Blindness and sight loss affects almost two million people in the UK. The most common causes of blindness and sight loss are:

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - an eye condition resulting in the loss of central vision.

Diabetic retinopathy - a common complication with eye sight which is due to the condition diabetes.

Cataracts - An eye condition where the lens part of the eye becomes clouded.

Glaucoma - an eye condition where the optic nerve is damaged leading to sight loss. In the UK, glaucoma affects two in 100 people over the age of 40.

Retinitis pigmentosa - a group of hereditary eye disorders which affect the retina.

If you suffer from sight lose or are blind and need help and support, please contact us. 

We provide opportunity, support, friendship and services to blind and partially sighted people in Sheffield, helping them to achieve whatever they wish to do and whatever they aspire to be.

Why you should volunteer

People volunteer for many reasons, but it’s mainly because they want to help others. The great thing about volunteering is that you do get to help others, but there are also many benefits for yourself!

Some people are uncomfortable with the notion that a volunteer benefits from doing volunteer work as it is seen as a form of charity, based on altruism and selflessness. However we believe that the best volunteering does involve the desire to help others, but this does not exclude other motivations, as well.

There is so much that you receive when you give and consider why you want to volunteer! Here are just a few of the many possible motivations to be a volunteer:

·         It is nice to feel needed and appreciated

·         It is great to share a skill

·         You get to know a community

·         You can demonstrate commitment to a cause/belief

·         You can to gain leadership skills

·         You will get satisfaction and feel a sense of  accomplishment

·         It’s a great way to keep busy while unemployed or in retirement

·         You get to have an big impact on someone’s life

·         You can learn something new

·         You can be challenged and will proud

·         You can make new friends

·         You can explore a new career choice

·         For fun!

·         Tobuild up and improve your CV

·         Because of personal experience with the problem, illness, or cause.

You may have some special reasons of your own for volunteering. There are many volunteering opportunities available here at the SRSB, depending on the type of role that you are looking for or the experience that you can bring to our team.

We are looking for volunteers of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to help us with our work, and as we extend our services we are constantly creating new roles for volunteers.

Don’t worry if you can’t commit to a regular day and time, as there are several roles that you can help with on an occasional basis at times which suit your circumstances. Some of our opportunities include -

Activities Centre Volunteer - This role involves working directly with our clients who visit the centre each week day.

Tele-Friends Volunteer  -Tele-friends contact our clients on a weekly basis.

Befriending Volunteer - Befrienders visit our clients to offer support, companionship or practical assistance.

Tele-Contact Volunteer - We aim to contact our clients by phone every six to twelve months with a courtesy call.

Hand in Hand Volunteer - The Hand-in-Hand service is aimed at offering flexible support for people who spend a substantial amount of time caring for a visually impaired person.

 Driver/Escort/Taxi Service Volunteer - Transport is one of the biggest problems faced by visually impaired people. Volunteers help our clients to access a range of places that may be difficult for them to get to.

Office Volunteer - Office Volunteers are a vital support to our staff, carrying out administration work.

Sport and Leisure Volunteer - We need volunteers to assist with a range of sporting and leisure activities so that visually impaired people can participate in a safe, secure and friendly environment.

Café Volunteer - Volunteers assist staff in our Café VIP’s.

Reception Volunteer - The aim of this role is to be the first contact at the main entrance for our clients and visitors to our Centre as a ‘Meeter and Greeter’.

Mentoring Volunteer -Mentoring volunteers will work with clients and/or their families on a one-to-one basis offering support.

Computer Support Volunteer - We require volunteers who will be able visit clients in their home to help them with computer related problems which they are unable to rectify.

Fundraising Office Volunteer -Our office volunteers help us to administer and promote our varied fundraising projects.

Fundraising Event Volunteer - Event volunteering is suitable for people who want to be involved in specific one off events.

Fundraising Collection Volunteer - Our fundraising collection volunteers help raise not only funds, but also general awareness of SRSB.

Collection Box Co-ordinator Volunteer- Volunteers co-ordinate collection boxes in specific post code areas of Sheffield.

Fundraising Supporter Group- Volunteers would be part of a group who would organise activities or events on our behalf in their local area. 

The world’s first Braille Tablet

Braille has just got a lot more savvy a brand new tablet that lets you to read in the tactile text! BLITAB is the world’s first handheld tablet for blind and visually impaired people, opening up a world of reading for them by becoming the first of its kind to let you to read in braille.

Over 285 million blind and visually impaired people in the world that can't fully be part of the modern social community we are living in today, and the BLITAB aims to change this. 

The accessible design allows you to convert any text file from USB sticks, memory cards and online content, into braille code, which then appears through raised buttons that move up and down on the interface! It is like an e-book which instead of using a screen displays, small physical bubbles rise and fall on demand, composing a whole page in Braille code without any mechanical elements!

Unlike regular braille readers that show only one line of text at a time, you can upload and read large text files, like books, with a USB stick. The invention could allow blind and partially sighted people to read during travel and improve access to study materials for students.

Kristina Tsvetanova, a co-founder of BLITAB came up with the idea after helping a blind colleague to sign up to an online course. Her aim was to give blind and partially sighted people the opportunity to enjoy reading like sighted people.

BLITAB is currently in the prototype stage and there isn’t a planned date for release yet, but watch this space for development news! You can find out more on BLITAB here.

All of our services are set up to help people maintain their independence, empowering and enabling them to achieve their aspirations. If you are losing or have lost your sight please check all of our services as there is probably something that we can support you with. If you are unsure what service or support may be appropriate then please just give us a call.

A few fun ways to fundraise

We have so many brilliant volunteers and supporters who help so many people by raising money for us. If you’re interested in raising money for the Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind, but you’re not quite sure how to then please read on! This blog lists some of our favourite, most fun and rewarding ways to fundraise...

Get your bake on!

The old fashioned bake-sale is a fantastic way to raise money and have fun while you do it! We love baking cakes. It’s cheap, relaxing and, in the end, yummy! You can set aside one Sunday afternoon to bake a few cakes or bathes of cupcakes with very small expenses and they sell them to your friends, family, neighbour or work colleagues. You will enjoy yourself, make others happy, and raise lots of money for a great charity!

Dress down, or up!

If you work in an office environment this works particularly well. Ask your boss/manager if it would be possible to have a dress down day, or a fancy dress day at work! Everyone get enjoy dressing up in fancy dress, or lounging in their comfy clothes, and can donate a small fee for the pleasure. It’s great for work morale and a really simple was to raise money!

Don’t bin it, sell it!

How does that saying go - one man’s trash is another man's treasure? A great way to kill two birds with one stone is by holding a garage sale! You get to clear some space in your home while selling your unwanted belongings and raising some money!

Shut up for money!

A great one for the chattier among us is a sponsored silence. Suitable for work, home or at schools, (we’re sure bosses, mums and teachers will love this one!), get your friends, family and work colleagues to sponsor you to remain silent for the entire day. A free, effective and simple way to fundraise!

Charity Film Night!

We love a Saturday night in watching films! Instead of going to the movies, out to eat, or out for a few drinks on a Saturday night, why not invite all you friends over to your house for a film night. All of the money that they would have spent on going out can be donated to charity instead!

These are just a few easy ways to fundraise we enjoy, but there are literally 100’s of ways you can raise money for charity. Why not share your favourite methods in the comments section below!

Could your Smartphone be your eyes?

It’s pretty much a fact that modern technology plays a huge role in almost every aspect of our lives these days. For the blind and visually impaired community however, this technology has the potential to be truly life changing.

Progressively more and more, people with visual impairments are using smart phones to access the internet for a number of services - to talk to friends, make travel plans, read mail etc. However a new app that actually claims to ‘be your eyes’, could make a real difference in helping people to see some of the things they struggle with.

You may have heard of or used an app called ‘TapTapSee’ - which allows visually impaired people to take photos of things they need reading or describing, like signs and menus and send it to call centre where it is viewed by a sighted person, who texts back a description of the object in the photo.

However good this app is, TapTapSee is a paid service, which can make it expensive. Some people also find it hard to position the camera on their phones to take a picture of the object, wasting photos, for which they’re still charged.

This is where new app called Be My Eyes comes in, ironing out some of these issues. Be My Eyes brings visually impaired users and sighted volunteers together for a conversation it is totally free. The app uses video not photos, making it easier for visually impaired users to pan around the object they want reading or describing. Volunteers can also support people to take a clear video of the object, helping to reduce error. 

How does it work? A sighted volunteer helper signs up to the service. They then receive a notification for help and a live video connection is established with the visually impaired individual. From the live video the volunteer can help the blind person by answering the question they need answered. Simple!

Be My Eyes is a free download from the Apple App Store, so if  you would like to learn more about it and other new technology for your phone, tablet or desktop computer contact us on 0114 272 275

“It's my hope that by helping each other as an online community, Be My Eyes will make a big difference in the everyday lives of blind people all over the world” 

– Hans Jørgen Wiberg, Founder of Be My Eyes

Interesting Marathons you can run to raise money

Running a marathon or a half marathon is no mean feat. Pushing yourself mentally and physically to exhaustion deserves an awful lot of credit! For this reason, people really respect and admire marathon runners, and are more than happy to support and sponsor them.

If you’re planning on, or are interested in, running a half or a full marathon this year, you should consider running it for charity. It’s a great way to raise much needed and valued funds for good causes while you achieve something on a personal level. We’ve put together this list of a few popular and interesting marathons you can partake in –

The Plusnet Yorkshire Half Marathon-Sheffield

The all-new Plusnet Yorkshire Half Marathon will burst onto the streets of Sheffield on Sunday 12th April. Set to be hugely-popular with runners of all abilities, this exciting new event will boast a field of thousands. The major new charity road race - organised by Run For All in partnership with Sheffield City Council - will attract thousands of runners of all abilities and spectators to the city's streets and raise many thousands of pounds for good causes. All profits from The Yorkshire Half Marathon-Sheffield go to charity. You can sign up today and start your fundraising for any cause you wish. Find out more about it here - http://www.theyorkshiremarathon.com/events/-events-plusnet-yorkshire-half-marathon-sheffield-/

The London Marathon

Since the first London Marathon in 1981, runners in the race have raised more than £600 million for charity, making it the largest annual one-day fundraising event in the world! Running the London Marathon and fundraising for charity has never been more popular – at the 2014 race 77 per cent of participants raised money for causes close to their hearts. If you’re a runner who’s looking to get a place in the 2015 race via a guaranteed charity entry, visit the ‘I Need a Charity Place’ page here to find out more - https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/charity/run-charity/listings/UK/

The Edinburgh Marathon

The Edinburgh Marathon is Scotland's most popular marathon. It began in 2003 and has continually grown in popularity and stature, having just received a 97% satisfaction rating in a recent Runner's World poll. Since 2003, Edinburgh Marathon Festival runners have raised over £30 million for hundreds of amazing charities. Find out more here - http://www.edinburgh-marathon.com/?why_run_for_charity

The Bournemouth Marathon

Stunning sea views, fresh crisp clean air and the very best of Bournemouth and Poole is on show as the South Coast is home to an international marathon. This is the perfect natural environment for “running as it should be”. There are 3 different ways to become a charity runner at Bournemouth Marathon Festival.  Find our more - http://www.run-bmf.com/?pages_id=6044

If you are running one of these, please consider raising money for us here at the Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind. We are one of Sheffield’s oldest independent local charities, originally formed in 1860. We provide opportunity, support, friendship and services to blind and partially sighted people in Sheffield, helping them to achieve whatever they wish to do and whatever they aspire to be.

Raise money for charity this Lent

Lent begins this month on Wednesday 18^th February and of course continues through to Thursday 2^nd April and it is a brilliant time to raise money for charity.

It is the part of the year when Christians remember Jesus’ journey into the desert and when He fasted and prayed before managing to resist temptation from the Devil and start His work for God. However, it is not only Christians who like to join in with Lent: people from all different faiths participate by giving up something that they love. Some common examples include:

• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• Sweets
• Crisps / salty treats
• Swearing

Raising money while you give something up is a fantastic way to give to a good cause while working on your personal goals. Furthermore, it can act as great motivation: when you want a cigarette / drink etc you reflect on what or whom you’re doing this for and it makes temptation easier to resist.

So how do you actually raise money during Lent?

Well, the most straightforward way to achieve this is to be sponsored. Ask family and friends who know how much you smoke / swear etc to sponsor you to quit for the full period and donate the funds to charity.

Another popular method often used by people who give up particular food is to work out how much money they usually spend on this food and instead donate it to their chosen charity.

If you are hoping to raise money this Lent, we would really appreciate it if you pick the Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind as your charity of choice. We are dedicated to ensuring that people with blindness – whether fully blind or partially sighted – live their life to the full. Have a look at our website to find out more.

Raise money with your New Year’s Resolutions

Have you made any New Year’s Resolutions this year?

People make all sorts of New Year’s Resolutions but some are more popular than others. You might have promised yourself to find a new job, lose weight, give up alcohol, get fitter, or any number of things.

Alongside these popular resolutions, many of us promise to do something charitable and “make a difference”. So how can you achieve these goals all at once?

Getting fit

After multiple Christmas dinners, indulging on chocolate, snacking on mince pies, and consuming lots of alcohol we tend to feel somewhat worse for wear which is why getting fit is one of the most popular Resolutions made. Charity runs are a great way to raise money while achieving your NYR: whether it is a national event or a track that you set yourself, ask friends, colleagues, and family to sponsor you for completing a challenging run.

Quitting smoking

According to the NHS, “around 7 million of us will make a New Year’s resolution to improve an aspect of our health”[i], and a classic example of this is to quit smoking. While there is lots of help available to you, ultimately it is up to you to motivate yourself. Ask people to sponsor you to quit smoking or simply give the weekly money that you would usually spend on cigarettes to charity.

Swearing fund

A simple but fun way to raise funds is to provide a swear jar that people add 50p-£1 to each time they curse; this is good for large households or for pubs / restaurants that want to raise a little extra money. While it is a release, swearing often leaves us with a little guilt so quitting swearing can feel good while raising money.

Lose weight for charity

The number one resolution made each year, losing weight, can easily be combined with raising money. If you ask people to sponsor you for every pound you lose, or to sponsor you if you meet a target weight you could make a lot of money and feel good in the process!

Improve cooking skills

Another popular Resolution is to learn how to cook. A bake sale is a great way to raise money for charity, and particularly if you work in a school or a busy environment then you can have sales throughout the year to raise funds.

Charity work

Finally, charity work is something that many of us make a commitment to at the start of the New Year. One of those things that we always mean to do but many of us never get round to doing; volunteering is a great way to give back to the community and feel that you are truly making a difference.

If you are hoping to raise money for a great charity this year, have a look at the Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind who help people with blindness to live life to the full and achieve any ambition that they have. We appreciate every penny raised for our course.