With a lived experience of retinitis pigmentosa since her teens, author and educator Maribel Steel has released a paperback catered towards newcomers diagnosed with loss of sight. Aptly called ‘Blindness for Beginners - a renewed vision of the possible’, her book is self-help based and a unique blend of part-guide and part-memoir.
While on a personal level she had initially bluffed her way around as someone with low sight, it was gradually becoming worse than she cared to admit.
‘My sight was getting worse and I was having a terrible time navigating around town. My Centrelink officer happened to be blind with a dog guide, and after meeting him I had a real “a-ha” moment, that was when I really accepted there was no shame in my visual limitation and then I just went and sought help,’ said Maribel.
Maribel wrote Blindness for Beginners in three distinct parts:
- Maribel’s own personal journey with vision loss and how she overcame the challenges and emotional hurdles of losing her vision.
- The tips and tricks about learning to live an independent life, how to adapt the home with simple modifications and other practical concerns.
- Part Three is specifically for the sighted reader such as a family member or someone who is studying in the area of vision loss. It covers knowledge on some of the questions that people commonly ask and the myths that surround blindness.
Part three was particularly important for Maribel to write to help sighted people overcome their own fear of blindness so they can be of better support.
“There might be someone whose parent is losing their vision and want to help but don’t want to ask them because they’re afraid it’s going to upset them. So that person can read the section for the sighted person and learn what it’s like to be a sighted guide and you know, just feel more comfortable around the topic of blindness.’
You can listen to an interview with Maribel on Talking Vision here.
For more information about Blindness for Beginners visit Maribel Steel’s website.
