When I had my consultation with the vision impairment specialist, he suggested I invest in a Pentel pen. Usually he gives a freebie to all his clients but unfortunately he had run out. He said I was able to get the pen from my local Officeworks (stationary shop) and they came in a range of colours. To my great disappointment, my local Officeworks didn't stock the particular pen, and I had to order them online in a box of 25 all black. So of course I procrastinated because 25 black pens was not appealing to me. Today turned out to be my lucky day. My friend and I ventured to Officeworks to discover a huge new wall full of pens. Of course we had to try every one out and we found the Pentel I was looking for! The Pentel's I bought are the S520 Sign Pen (0.8mm). They look like a marker but they write like a pen except in a more bold ink, making it easier to read. It also doesn't seep through the page unlike standard markers. The pens cost me $2.71 each (I bought 7!). Definitely worth a try! I highly recommend.
Today I updated to IOS 7 on my iPad (I use a Samsung mobile). I'm not actually sure if previous versions have as many accessibility features, but I found the most useful feature for my vision was the "Larger type" text feature. It gives you the option to increase the font size in any app that has enabled the feature. Of course I made it almost to the largest and then I tested out all my favourite apps.
The standard email app is now awesome. The font is enlarged in the content and title of the email and it makes it really easy to use and puts less strain on my eyes. The other app I barely used previously was the standard calendar. I found I could never read at a glance what appointments I had so I never used it. The design has changed and it is visually appealing plus the appointments are larger so I can actually see what I am supposed to be doing! Other apps I use that I've found to be easier to see are: Music, eBay, Maps and Podcasts. I'm assuming the update would also be useful for iPhones, but I found the biggest problem I had with the iPhone was the size of the screen in comparison to the text sizes, which is why I switched to the Samsung. IOS 7 is definitely worth an update.
Something I have been battling for a while is grooming. It's ever so hard to do the usual girly grooming that when you are sighted you take for granted. It seems like a petty issue but it can have a whole lot of impacts especially with self esteem. My biggest problem now is I can't tell when it's time to visit the beautician. It gets to the point where one of my younger brothers will say "geez you need a wax" and it's off to the beautician I go. There's no chance I can do it myself any more as I can't see the little hairs. It then gets me thinking what have I been looking like every day?! Most people don't like pointing out things like this so I now rely on my family to give me the heads up. Another important issue is putting on make-up. I've had people ask me how do I put on eye liner if I can't see? Well I end up poking myself in the eye and usually I end up with the "smoky" look when I wasn't going for that at all. Luckily years of experience have meant I can put make-up on without looking to a degree, and then I hope someone tells me if I've made a mess of my face before I walk out the door. For instance, I went to work and for a few hours I went on my merry way until a friend asked me if I had grey hairs. Grey hair I'm only 26!!! It turned out I had foundation in my hair and she fixed it for me. But in the 2 hours before that no one mentioned anything! I guess now I need to rely on others more often even though I am very resistant to doing so. I'm also lucky I live with other people so I can always ask if I'm looking terrible (and hope they give me an honest answer). So if you see me and I have make up all over my face, please tell me because I guarantee you I can't see it!
