"The gift that keeps on giving"

Hadley

The gift that keeps on giving

Dorrie: I would have to say, that the outstanding category for me, has been technology. Along the way, it has given me back so many things, so many functions that vision loss made difficult or impossible.

Marc: This is Hadley’s Insights and Sound Bites, where people facing vision loss share what has helped them cope and adjust.

Dorrie Rush: My name is Dorrie Rush and I am from New York. I have Stargardt disease and have lived with progressive vision loss for more than 30 years.

There is one device that plays a major role in every single day in so many ways for me, and that is the smartphone. The smartphone of my choice is the iPhone.

From the beginning, I learned to use voiceover, the screen reader. So, everything on the screen is read to me, which takes a lot of the stress out of trying to decipher or magnify everything on such a small screen.

I also use Siri to the maximum of my ability, which is very helpful because obviously in many ways the voice assistant makes verbal commands, voice commands easier to accomplish.

I also, of course, use the clock. Very difficult finding out what time it is when you have difficulty seeing. I use reminders a great deal and just things that I need to remember at a certain time. And I also am an incessant list maker, so I have a lot of lists. I love checking the weather. It's always nice to know what's happening in the weather.

I use Seeing AI, the app from Microsoft to read signs, to read documents and to read product barcodes, which is helpful when you're shopping or when you are cooking dinner and right now, I'm using voice memos to record this.

It sounds like a lot, but I learned one app at a time very patiently and with a lot of help from Hadley's workshops, which are the best. So, I can't imagine functioning without a smartphone. It is the gift that keeps giving.

Marc: You never know who might need to hear your story. If you’d like to share with us, just leave us a message on our Insights & Sound Bites voicemail. By calling, 847-512-4867. Or, you can use your smartphone or computer and email us a recording to [email protected].