During National Volunteer appreciation Week, held every year at this time in April, we’re pleased to feature one of the kindest, friendliest people we know who’s volunteered for years.

We first met this guest at a Canadian Federation of the Blind convention out in B.C. and we greatly appreciate her support of this show. This week on Outlook, we speak with Nancy Gill, a mother and now newly a grandmother who’s had to learn to manage and adapt to Usher’s Syndrome throughout her life. Usher’s is a condition causing both blindness and deafness.

She tells us about the supports she didn’t receive when she was in school as a child, learning braille in her sixties, and the complicated parent/child relationship. We hear about her love of cooking, gardening, and her new OrCam reader which she can use to do both those things more accessibly.

Disability has, historically, and still does bring with it challenges (barriers society puts in the way), feelings of denial, and feelings of shame. We, as blind people, need to openly discuss it to eliminate it, how we can all feel useful. Gill goes through life with a sense of humour and outgoing outlook.

We discuss the outlooks we have and choose to share and how we learn from others and Nancy’s outlook is one of giving back and getting out there. She is doing this with a new senior’s support group. Check out the following link to learn more about her Blind/DeafBlind Seniors National Roundtables . They have a new intake open right now and are highly recommended for any blind seniors out there who would like to join:

https://cobd.ca/programs/roundtables/#seniors

And for more on Nancy’s story, check out Kerry’s article featuring her in The Blind Canadian magazine:

https://www.cfb.ca/the-blind-canadian-volume-20-december-2021?id=11