Navigating Life with Vision Loss
Episode Title
What Do I Do Now? Finding the Next Step After Vision Loss
Show: Navigating Life with Vision Loss
Host: Kim Wardlow
Guest: Melody Bettenhausen
Producer: Jonathan Price
Presented by: Aftersight
Host: Kim Wardlow
Guest: Melody Bettenhausen
Producer: Jonathan Price
Presented by: Aftersight
Episode Summary
What happens when your vision is changing and your eye doctor tells you there is nothing more medically that can be done?
That sentence can sound like the end of the road. But as Kim Wardlow and Melody Bettenhausen discuss in this episode of Navigating Life with Vision Loss, it may simply mean it is time to begin asking a different question: What can I still do, and what tools can help me do it?
Melody joins Kim to explain the role of low vision rehabilitation and the work of Ensight Skills Center. They explore how low vision optometrists and occupational therapists help people identify usable vision, establish personal goals, and develop practical strategies for everyday life.
Sometimes those solutions involve technology or orientation and mobility training. Other times they are surprisingly simple: better lighting, magnification, high-contrast materials, bump dots, reorganizing a workspace, or learning a different way to accomplish a familiar task.
Kim and Melody also discuss why rehabilitation should begin before someone reaches a crisis point, the importance of letting the person experiencing vision loss determine their own goals, and how family members can help without unintentionally taking away independence.
They look at aging in place, progressive vision loss, transportation, support groups, emotional adjustment, family education, and the reality that two people with vision loss may experience the world very differently.
The central message is clear: when your vision changes, there are still options. You do not have to figure them out alone.
Contact Info
Ensight Skills Center
Headquarters:
1101 Oakridge Drive, Suite C
Fort Collins, CO 80525
1101 Oakridge Drive, Suite C
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Ensight provides low vision rehabilitation and related services, with programs and outreach extending beyond its Fort Collins headquarters.
Aftersight
Phone: (303) 786-7777
Email: contact@aftersight.org
Website: aftersight.org
Address: 1805 Hwy 42, Suite 220, Louisville, CO 80027
Email: contact@aftersight.org
Website: aftersight.org
Address: 1805 Hwy 42, Suite 220, Louisville, CO 80027
Producer
Show Credits
Show: Navigating Life with Vision Loss
Host: Kim Wardlow
Guest: Melody Bettenhausen
Producer: Jonathan Price
Presented by: Aftersight
Host: Kim Wardlow
Guest: Melody Bettenhausen
Producer: Jonathan Price
Presented by: Aftersight
Guest organization: Ensight Skills Center