The Scottish Vision Strategy

I spoke today at the Royal National Institute for the Blind’s conference on the Scottish Vision Strategy, explaining some of the problems involved in the devolution of benefits, especially those for people with disabilities.   Really enthusiastic listeners at conferences tweet about it; no-one tweeted about mine, but there was an enthusiastic tweet about Ian Hamilton’s guide dog, Renton.  That puts me in my place.  For the truly dedicated, the audio recording of my presentation is here, provided as a podcast by Insight Radio (76mb).

On a personal note, I’m full of admiration for the way that blind people  manage their circumstances in a world that makes no concessions to them.  My late father, who was determined not to adapt to going blind, generally treated his white stick as a badge of shame, dragging it behind him if anyone made him carry it (that rather defeats the purpose).    Ken Reid, who is the UK Vision Ambassador for Scotland, commented: “Being blind is pretty much the same everywhere.  It’s rubbish.”

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