[Image description: abstract image of a hand gently touching a shoulder with light pouring in from up ahead] At the beginning of January I flew with my husband, Ben and the girls to meet our extended family in Cancun. I’m a nervous flyer. So when turbulence arose on our 7-hour flight , I quickly flipped through Audible for a calming book. I landed on “Meditations for Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself” by Dr. Joe Dispenza. In my very anxious state, I started working on moving into a more relaxed one. The end of the meditation had listeners ask for some kind of sign to show up that would r ..read more

My daughter, dressed as Harley Quinn, comes skipping out on stage twirling her pigtail, and settles into a pose with one hand on her hip and the other raised. She grins, leaning forward, bringing one leg up. She does an arial and then twirls her way back to the center of the stage. For those who read my last post, you know that I am privy to all of these details, thanks to Audio Describer Chanelle Carson. But what you may not know is that audio description is just one piece of access. Many have referred to vision loss as a “social disability”, which brings up some complex feelings for me, as c ..read more

Photo description: woman's hands chopping an onion As we approach the holidays, it’s helpful to revisit the feelings that sometimes come up for people with vision loss during large gatherings involving cooking and food. I brought this up in a previous post, “Just Keep Tossing the Salad,” to which my husband recently informed this naive, Midwest-raised girl on the innuendo of this phrase, much to my horror. All meanings and laughter aside, helping out in the kitchen when you’re not hosting can be a very vulnerable experience for those of us with vision loss. While I often learn what doesn’t w ..read more

Hello DoubleVision friends. We typically try to post an informative piece about Retinitis Pigmentosa and/or blindness during the month of October in honor of Blindness Awareness Month. Our good friend and fellow RP-er, Keith, recently shared this New York Times video about RP, and it’s honestly the best portrayal we’ve ever seen, and we love the visual simulation of what people with RP tend to see. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the video as well ..read more

In honor of World Mental Health Day earlier this week, we’d like to highlight the intersection of mental health and vision loss, we are sharing parts of our recent presentation at the 2023 Olympia Vision Fair. We titled it “Seeing the Unseen: A Discussion on Mental Health & Vision Loss”. The goal of the presentation is to address the psychological impact of losing sight in an ableist society. We’re inviting the Doublevisionblog community to participate in similar ways as our Olympia audience. We’ve listed 10 limiting beliefs below. As you read the below statements, tally how many of these ..read more

Hello Doublevision friends, Join us in a conversation on creativity, grief and shame as we sit down with Scott Hodge and Anna Hammond for an interview on The Orchard’s podcast. As always, we’d love to hear from you, so feel free to comment or reach out via email at mail@doublevisionblog.com Listen to the audio below or here on Apple Podcasts ..read more

Eight years ago, today, Roja and I graduated as a guide dog team from Guide Dogs for the Blind’s San Rafael campus. And now I am planning her retirement party for sometime in October. I hope the celebration feels playful, filled with squeaky toys and frisbees she was not allowed to have as a working dog. Perhaps we’ll sip some wine and have some cheese while cooing over sentimental photos of Roja in her younger years. She deserves at least that much. I envision The Beatles “It’s been a hard day’s night, and I’ve been working like a dog” playing through the speakers as guests carry cucumbers an ..read more

Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” pulses through the speakers, and the vibrations reverberate across our chairs, drawing each audience member into the moment. “She’s flipping across the stage,” my husband leans over, whispering. My heart beats faster and I realize I am holding my breath.  “Now she’s doing flips and kind of bounces into a group of dancers who push her back, and then… um… she keeps dancing.”  Huh? That last description kinda of confuses me, but I have some interesting images in my mind. It is Nationals in Seaside, Oregon, and the competitors are fierce. I’m on the edge of m ..read more

Twin girls swim in the water. Picture this: identical 7-year-old twin sisters racing into their playroom after swim lessons, brown curly hair still dripping wet from the Centennial beach. Damp beach towels sprawl carelessly across the floor (sorry dad), as mirror images thoughtfully arrange dolls and stuffed animals into “swim lesson groups” in order to “teach” their “students” how to swim. This was our daily summer routine, and we REALLY got into it, demonstrating the back stroke for bugs bunny (Bugsy) and ensuring Raggedy Ann and Andy kept their WHOLE faces in the water while floating. Teach ..read more