VIP Coaching In The Dark

  • Riding with Confidence

    A Guide to Local and Regional Bus Travel Bus travel can be a powerful tool for independence, connection, and confidence—especially for blind and low-vision travelers. Whether you’re riding across town or heading to another city, having the right information and a solid plan makes all the difference. Here’s a guide to help you decide what…

  • Laughing at the Wrong Times (and Being Grateful for It)

    More than twenty-five years of parenting and caregiving for two medically fragile daughters stripped away any illusion of certainty. Plans became provisional. Assumptions dissolved. What emerged in their place was a kind of adaptable resilience, paired with an absurdist, sometimes irreverent sense of humor shaped in part by laughter and gratitude. Those practices helped me…

  • Shopping As A Team-Sport

    Tips for Making the Most of In-Store Assistance Welcome to today’s main event: the grocery store. On one side, you—the shopper—with a list, a purpose, and a limited amount of energy. On the other, your store teammate—a store staff member who may be overworked, inexperienced, or unfamiliar with assisting someone with vision changes. Like any…

  • A Small Bag That Matters

    ,

    How a Go-Bag Can Reduce the Overwhelming Unknown that is The Emergency Room and Hospital A “go bag” doesn’t have to be complicated, and there isn’t just one right version. Some people keep one for evacuations, power outages, or travel. Here, I’m talking specifically about a hospital or emergency room go bag — something you…

  • Balance; it might not be your inner ear.

    How vision and hearing changes can affect your balance 1. How Vision Affects Balance Your eyes give your brain important information about: When vision changes due to eye conditions (cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, double vision), neurological conditions (stroke, brain injury), or binocular vision problems (eyes not working together), your balance can be affected. Tips: 2.…

  • Vision Changes Affects Your Energy

     I had been blind for about a year when I had the opportunity to talk with an adjustment to sight loss counselor, who is blind herself. I will never forget how impactful one of the first things she told me was; “it takes a lot more energy to do everything when you’re blind. You will…

  • Organization: Home and Kitchen

    From todd’s Exploring Life Skills Desk. Edited by Desirée A. Christian Here are the top 10 organizational skills tailored for home and kitchen environments, along with practical tips to make each one work beautifully: Consistent Placement Skill: Always store items in the same location. Tip: Use labeled bins or drawer organizers. For example, keep all spices in one tactile-labeled…

  • Medication Managment

    , ,

    By Teresa Christian, Marja Byers, Todd Fahlstrom Best Practices For someone who is newly blind or adjusting to vision loss, managing medications independently can feel daunting.  Yet with the right strategies, tools, and support, it becomes not only possible but empowering.  The following tips provide practical guidance for blind and low vision individuals, as well as for…

  • When Dining In and Out

    Things to Think About Dining In Present to your dining venue with clean clothes and good hygiene Use your manners (don’t talk with food in your mouth, sit up straight, elbows off table, say please and thank you, cough into sleeve or napkin, asked to be excused if you need to step away, etc.) Use…

  • Navigating Social Situations

    Tips From the Exploring Life Skills Desk Adjusting to social situations as a blind or visually impaired individual can be challenging, but there are effective strategies to navigate interactions with confidence with practice. Here are some ways to ease social engagement: No matter the social environment, we encourage you to keep learning, growing and connecting…