The Key Learning Points:

1.The impact of developing a visual impairment on someone’s life and wellbeing

2.Tell-tale signs that someone has a visual impairment they don't know about

3.How workplaces and insurers can better support people with a visual impairment

Today on the Risky Mix podcast we’re delighted to be joined by Daniel Williams who runs Visualise Training and Consultancy. We’ll be talking about Daniel’s work, campaigning and advocating for inclusion, equality and diversity when it comes to visual impairment, and we’ll be exploring what workplaces can be doing more of to support those with sight loss. 

At the age of eight, Daniel was diagnosed with a visual impairment called retinitis pigmentosa. He tells us how, during his teenage years in mainstream education, he was confronted by his friends being able to do things he would never be able to, and he struggled with mental health issues while he was grieving his sight loss. 

Daniel explains how the turning point for him was starting a college for the visually impaired, where he had the realisation that there were other people going through the same struggle. He was inspired to see others pursuing careers that he had thought were no longer an option for him. Now, through his own consultancy business, he aims to make the world more inclusive for people with visual impairments by delivering visual awareness training and workplace assessments, and disability awareness training online. 

Daniel goes on to tell us that in the UK, alone, there are currently two million people with a visual impairment and around 250 people per day who start losing their sight in some shape or form. There is also an overwhelming number of people who don’t even know that they have a visual impairment. Daniel says that if you notice something isn’t quite right with a colleague, for example, if they are often clumsy, you shouldn’t just dismiss it; you should speak up and suggest they get an eye test. 

He then shares how finding out you’re visually impaired can really take an emotional toll, comparable to losing a family member and going through the stages of grief, loss and then acceptance. Daniel says that it makes it even harder to accept if there is no awareness of the help or support available. There are a lot of people out there who, after their diagnosis, simply don’t know what to do next. He adds that there is also a lack of role models, “there aren't many people who are visually impaired and in the public eye where you can think ‘oh they have a really good job’. You think David Blunkett or Stevie Wonder - but not everyone wants to be a politician or a singer.”

For workplaces that want to be more accessible, Daniel explains that they need to go beyond a tick box exercise. They should contact a specialist and engage people that can give them the right advice, information and support, especially as the individual themselves may not actually know what they need. He provides some great examples of small changes that employers can make that take very little time or money but could make a huge difference to someone with limited vision. On the topic of recruitment, he mentions how it is crucial to ensure that websites adhere to web accessibility standards so that people with a visual impairment can access the opportunity in the first place, and also emphasises the power of asking someone if they need any reasonable adjustments made during the onboarding process.

Finally, he explains that, while insurance products like income protection may be providing money to people who have become visually impaired, insurers could be doing more to educate people on the support available and to encourage them to use the payout toward their rehabilitation.