Comment by probably_wrong | Hacker News Reader

Comment by probably_wrong | Hacker News Reader

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My mom went through a similar path, so here are some details I haven't seen already mentioned:

* Not too many people know that losing your eyesight is often followed by nightmares. The moment I told my mom this fact she stopped having them.

* The "problem" with suggesting Braille is that it requires an acceptance that one has lost their eyesight for good, which is a difficult step for many. So audio solutions could be better in the short term. The same goes for training for how to move around using a white cane.

* iPhones have a feature called VoiceOver that lets you use your phone without looking. My mom never really got the hang of it too much, but she definitely uses Siri a lot. Android has something too, but last time I checked it was not as good. Being able to take short and long notes (voice notes, small recorder, whatever works) should be a priority.

* If you install a screen reader, I encourage you to use a Linux laptop. Windows has a tendency to move things around for no good reason (and God have mercy if your OS auto-updates), which breaks my mom's muscle memory of how to open this or that program.

* Audiobooks: I typically convert EPUB/MOBI books with Calibre to DOCX, put them in a shared folder, and she uses the screen reader to hear them. I also use the same shared folder to download podcasts. Alexa didn't work well here at all, but that's because Alexa in South America sucks. Your case may be different.

* Be ready to curse whenever some clueless news anchor talks about a "miracle bionic eye" while praying that your mom doesn't hear about it. Having to be the one who's constantly shooting down someone's last hope is not cool.

I submitted a similar question here 8 years ago. You can check the answers here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9546311

You can slowly work towards braille without overtly using braille. Adding some sort of unique tactile feedback to spice jars for example. While you can certainly add a braille label to them, you can also just use embossed jars/lids, or stick multiple nibs to the top (1 nib = salt, 2 nibs = pepper, etc). Getting them used to tactile feedback being a good thing to look for can go a very long way to accepting that braille is an enjoyable next step.

Grandma had a terrible time using the microwave. I eventually found out that there are microwaves that have only two dials, one for power on top, which we left alone, then the bottom one was time. Knowing how far a quarter turn of the dial was in minutes allowed her to still cook things when she wanted to.

My microwave has an on button that immediately starts, with a 30 second timer, and if you press it while it's running it adds more time.

If someone is good with tactile stuff the dial might be better though.

Part of the problem with the flat buttons you touch is that you can't really tell where they are. A dial was much easier for her to understand than trying to manage to remember where a dozen buttons are and what order they're in.

We got the microwave with the dial after she accidentally microwaved something until it caused a fire in there which flooded the room with smoke and was so bad I had to simply throw it out.

If I wanted to use my stove, microwave or dishwasher (all flat buttons), I might try to put a little Sugru on the surface to outline the important ones like the +30 seconds button.

We did that, but the old one didn't have a +30 second button and just had little sticky pads on every button, since you had to use numbers, which didn't make it clear what was what. And some things have 9 at the top, others put it at the bottom, so it's not that hard to forget.

Either way, a physical dial was much easier to use than trying to remember the layout of the number pad, which button is power/cancel/etc.

They have tactile stickers specifically for this kind of thing, I think they even have different textures a blind person can distinguish

My mom has macular degeneration and she loved to read.

At first I bought her an e-reader and a subscription to a library that had more ebooks than our local library. That gave her access without driving and she was able to adjust the font, font-size, contrast and brightness to her satisfaction. That worked for several years.

My backup plan for things getting worse was to move to audiobooks which she refused to try earlier because it felt like giving up to her. Braille was out of the question. Unfortunately vision loss is often, but not always, a precursor to dementia which I now know. She slowly stopped most activities she enjoyed entire life.

In some ways, attitude it the most important tool. Acceptance of things you cannot change, adaptability and creativity to handle unexpected events along the way, and compassion to support her in her journey.

+1 for audio books in general. Proper audio book recordings with good narrators are so freaking awesome.

My favorite narrators (that I follow more than authors them selves):

- Ray Porter

- Jeff Gurner

- Tim Gerard Reynolds

- Carl Prekopp

Plex (media server) and Prologue (audio book front end) on iOS is a magical combo.

I joined Audible a few years back and although most narrators are OK, I noticed very quickly how a bad narrator could ruin an audio book. I started paying attention to who the narrator was, and Ray Porter immediately stood out as one of the best. Someone else must have noticed too, because he's narrated a surprising number of the books I've read so far.

Definitely. He is one of the narrators I will follow and listen to specifically for the performance.

Scifi plus Ray Porter? I'm in for the whole book.

Also:

- Neil Gaiman (especially stuff he's written)

- Stephen Fry (could listen to him read a phone book)

- Wil Wheaton

I love Wheaton in a few audiobooks that I've listened to him in. I didn't love Ready Player 2 but he made it more enjoyable.

I've been listening to the Aubrey / Maturin book series by Patrick O'Brian, narrated by Patrick Tull. To my untrained ear he seems to do a good job with the various UK accents of the different characters, as well as various other Europeans.

> If you install a screen reader, I encourage you to use a Linux laptop.

For what it's worth, the ChromeOS built-in screen reader seemed surprisingly powerful (to me experimenting as a non-blind person curious about the space; no idea if it's actually useful to a blind person). The UI is also pretty simple, so it could be great for basic web browsing needs.

One other thing — people losing their vision can have visual hallucinations when awake as well - it’s called Charles Bonnet Syndrome:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_release_hallucination...

The iPhone also has a speak screen functionality (separate from VoiceOver) that’s great if you want your phone to read a website or book to you.

Also see if she is or will be eligible for the NLS Bard. It provides a wide selection of audio books and periodicals gratis for the blind.

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