Christmas Gift Ideas for Visually Impaired Family and Friends

Christmas Gift Ideas for Visually Impaired Family and Friends

It can be difficult knowing what type of gift to buy for someone who is visually impaired at Christmas, so with the festive season fast approaching I thought I would share a few ideas to make the task of Christmas shopping a little easier and less stressful.

Games and tech.

There are a wide variety of adapted and tactile board games to purchase from RNIB, including braille scrabble, tactile draughts, chess and large print playing cards. This can get the whole family involved and make happy Christmas memories.

Smart speakers, such as an Amazon Echo or Google Home, can be a great way for someone to begin using assistive technology. They can check the time and weather on an Amazon echo as well as learn interesting and fun facts through a variety of quizzes, so a fantastic gift all round! If you need help setting up your smart speaker, we have an excellent team of Community Support Workers here at NAB who can come and visit you in your home and do this free of charge. Give us a call on 01604719193 to arrange an appointment.

Gift the joy of reading.

If the visually impaired person on your Christmas list is an avid reader, you could consider giving them a subscription to an audiobook service such as Audible. The beauty with this type of gift is that it gives them the freedom to select a book of their choosing from the wide selection available, so if you’re not sure what authors or genres they like, they can choose for themselves.

Alternatively, you could give the person a talking book player, specifically designed for visually impaired individuals with large tactile buttons. The service is free of charge and it’s the person’s preference whether they receive their books on either CD or USB stick.

If you find the VI person is enjoying their talking book player or Audible subscription so much that they’d like to take their rekindled love of reading further and discuss books with others, we hold a monthly book club here at NAB that will allow them to do just that. It’s a chance to explore new genres and authors with like-minded people over a cuppa in a relaxed environment. New members are always welcome so please ring us for more information.

Useful gadget gifts for practical solutions.

Most people take the simple task of knowing what the time is for granted by being able to glance up at a clock or look at their own watch, but for someone who has recently lost their sight this is no longer the case. If you know someone who may be struggling to tell the time, then gifting them a talking clock or watch for Christmas might be the perfect solution. We have a variety of talking clocks and watches to buy here at our NAB sight centre if you prefer to keep your Christmas shopping local and support your local sight loss charity at the same time. Searching for something to help keep the VI person in your life more organised around the house or enhance their independence? Then look no further than the Penfriend labelling device. This portable handheld device, similar to a pen in size, lets the VI individual record their own labels on everything from food packets, medication bottles to their CD collection. It works by touching the pen lightly against the object, then at the touch of a button their voice will announce what that item is. The Penfriend is available to purchase from our sight centre here at NAB.

Give them an experience to remember.

The best gifts don’t always have to be physical things; rather it can be an experience that allows you to spend time with others which can be even more valuable. You could consider giving the visually impaired person an adapted or accessible day out they can look forward to beyond Christmas.
One idea is to buy them tickets to an audio described play or musical at their local theatre. The Royal and Derngate in Northampton has many brilliant audio described performances throughout the year. The performance usually includes a pre—show touch tour as well, where visually impaired people have the opportunity to go on the stage, examine the props and set and in some cases even meet the cast and find out more about the characters they play. The Derngate has a wonderful team of Access Champion volunteers who have received sight loss awareness training from NAB, and can assist with guiding you to and from your seat and anything else you may need support with during the performance such as ordering drinks and snacks in the interval. I have used this service myself in the past and can highly recommend it: the Access Champion who supported me was extremely helpful and friendly without being intrusive. If this is something you’d like to find out more about, simply request to use the Access Champion service upon booking the performance tickets.

I hope this article has given you some original and unique inspiration for gifts to buy visually impaired people this Christmas. Happy shopping!