In Touch

There are many types of eye conditions that can cause blindness or low vision and we often get requests to cover some of them in more detail. Tonight we're discussing Retinal Vein Occlusion with medical retina consultant Luke Nicholson from Moorfield's Eye Hospital. We discuss how the condition affects the eyes, the causes and the treatments.

What techniques do you have for reading the room in social situations? Perhaps you listen out for the rustling of clothes or pick up on a hefty exhale when someone is irritated. Well, tonight we speak to blind Australian psychologist Courtney McKee about the kinds of techniques she uses to understand what is happening in a room, both in a work environment and in a more relaxed party environment.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured are eight people sat around a dinner table, celebrating. One gentleman is stood, seemingly giving a speech whilst everyone else is smiling or laughing in his direction. The image represents a busy social setting, which can sometimes be difficult to read.

Like many things in the art and performance sector, there isn't much that blind and visually impaired people haven't been involved in. And drag is no exception.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: A group of drag humans. They are all waving and making faces at the camera. Everyone is in bright colours, fantastic make up and a lot of eco glitter. Picture taken by Christopher Andreou.

Audio clip of the RuPaul's Drag Race theme song is used by courtesy of World of Wonder Productions, Inc.

We're discussing three audiobooks: Cold In Hand by John Harvey and narrated by Nick Boulton, Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland and narrated by Imogen Church and The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carré and narrated by... John le Carré. Peter reviews the stories and themes and, most importantly, the narration with guests Richard Land and Fiona Dunn.

Presenter: Peter White

Links to audiobooks discussed in the show:

Audio credits:

Kerry Burke, Eilidh Morrison and Reece Watt are all from Scotland and are members of the youth forum Haggeye. Haggeye first began in 2007 as part of RNIB Scotland. Its a place where young people from all over Scotland can meet to socialise and campaign on issues such as accessible transport, the need for more educational material in formats such as braille and audio and more.

We speak to the three youngsters about their involvement in Haggeye and their lives more generally. We ask for their thoughts in relation to education, jobs, relationships and The Scottish Youth Parliament, of which Kerry and Eilidh are members.

Presenter: Peter White

Website Image Description: the image shows three young people sat around a table having a discussion and enjoying a cup of tea. On the table is a large red spotted teapot. In the foreground are two young females, seemingly enjoying each other's conversation. Between them is a young man in a striped shirt and glasses. He is leaning in to listen.

Back in 2007, Craig Lundberg was a decorated British Army soldier. He was one of the army's youngest junior leaders and was frequently being used by special forces. However during a roof top fire fight, Craig was hit with an RPG and was blinded instantly. Shortly after this happened, Peter visited him in Liverpool to hear about how he'd coped with his sudden sight loss. Back then, Craig's determination to lead a 'normal' life and the maturity in which he faced the realities of becoming blind made us want to revisit him, 14 years later. This episode is all about how Craig's life has panned out, his pursuits in extreme sport, his businesses and about the day to day life of this family man.

Presenter: Peter White

Website Image Description: pictured is Craig Lundberg stood outside the estate agency that he owns, called Whitegates. To the far left of the image is one of the shop windows, displaying available properties. Craig is stood on the right side of the image, in front of another window that has a huge white Christmas sleigh on display, with teddies of Olaf from Frozen and an elf sat inside it. The window itself is larger than the other and it has a two stencils on it, one of a Christmas tree and the other reads 'Merry Christmas'.

We visited St Vincent’s School in Liverpool where the children have been dubbed Climate Heroes for their work toward climate action. The visually impaired pupils have been doing their bit to ease the environmental crisis, by planting and growing their own produce and handing it out to their local community, by writing stories to encourage and influence discussions about climate change and they've been thinking up ways technology can reduce our carbon footprint. They've undergone various climate related projects this year, and some of their pupils even attended the COP26 summit in Glasgow. We hear about all of these.

Join in the In Touch Christmas party, where we speak to comedian Jamie MacDonald, jazz and soul singer Katriona Taylor and musical couple Denise Leigh and Stefan Andrishin who tease out a few of the challenges of Christmas as blind or visually impaired people. They share festive anecdotes, jokes and Katriona treats us with some festive tunes.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured is Peter White and one of St Vincent’s pupils, Abyan Farouk in the school's chapel. Peter is stood on the left and Abyan on the right. To the right of Abyan is a Christmas tree adorned with red and gold baubles and gold lights. To the left of Peter is a grand display of marble angels.

The Life in the UK test allows people to apply for British citizenship and its a test that requires substantial revision and preparation. Brian Alyward is originally from the Republic of Ireland, and he explains what happened when he initially found that the revision and preparation materials were not provided in his preferred format; braille.

When it comes to enjoying art work, it can be dependent as much on texture as it is on visual effect. There have been many blind or partially sighted artists over the years who have used their changing eyesight to add individuality to their interpretations of art. So when we heard about a recent exhibition in London, that featured the work of blind or visually impaired artists, we wanted to know what it was all about. Our reporter Fern Lulham attended the exhibition and spoke to some artists about their fascinating creations.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured is a large white wall with scripture printed in braille markings. To the left of the image is a woman's hand feeling along the tactile braille markings. She is wearing a large golden ring.

All further education colleges are legally obliged to develop accessible websites, learning, teaching and assessment materials to students who need them. But new research suggests that eight out of ten colleges in the UK are not doing this. The research was conducted by disability consultancy company, All Able on behalf of Thomas Pocklington Trust. It tested the pathways blind and partially sighted students may use to find out about support a college may provide. On this, we speak to co-Director of All Able, George Rhodes, a college student shares her experiences with access to specialist technology and information during her course and we ask David Hughes, the Chief Director of the Association of Colleges, about what they're doing to change this inaccessible culture across some of the UK's colleges.

When we heard from Valerie Brown about her concerns over the retirement age of her current guide dog, Jack we thought we'd get her some clarification. We invited Valerie to put this concern, along with others she had, to Peter Osborne who is the Director of Operations for Guide Dogs.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: the picture shows the midsection of a man who is waiting at a zebra crossing with his guide dog. In his one hand is his dog's harness and in the other, a red and white cane. The guide dog is a black Labrador, wearing a yellow harness. It is sat at the curb's edge and is seemingly looking right into the camera.

Parliament has revealed their plans to recruit a National Clinical Director for Eye Care, which could help transform services for patients. Until now, there's been no national clinical representation for eye care within NHS England and NHS Improvement, despite ophthalmology being the biggest out-patient department in the NHS. Last week, Minister Maria Caulfield announced that recruitment is now underway. We speak to the Chief Executive of the Macular Society, Cathy Yelf about this important development for eye care services and what she hopes the new recruit will achieve.

And you may have heard of a visually impaired Mayor before, but how about two in the same household? We're joined by Richard and Sue Lees who have both been Mayor of Taunton in Summerset; Sue is the current Mayor and Richard was elected in 2005. We talk to them about what the role entails, what led them to the post and their responses to our third item about access to Santander's bank cards.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: the image shows a woman getting an eye examination. Her head is leant toward a retinal camera, while the optometrist pulls down her bottom eye lid for closer inspection. A yellow light is being shone in her eye. The image represents eye care and that this element of the practice could potentially be transformed with the introduction of the new National Clinical Director for Eye Care.

We had an inbox brimming with your questions and investigation requests, and so this program is dedicated to getting you some answers.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: the image shows a lone man in a long dark bricked room with an arched ceiling. He is examining some pieces of art on the wall, which are each lit with a single spot light. The image represents how galleries and museums often have very low lighting, making it difficult for some visually impaired people to enjoy.