A Different Way of Seeing. Helping You Make Sense of the Overwhelm
Apart from shark diving and parachuting, I’m generally open to new experiences. So, when the Cape Town Chapter of the Professional Speakers Association asked me to participate in a panel discussion on the merits of traditional publishing versus self-publishing, I leapt at the chance. What made it even more exciting was that two of us …
You know, sometimes things that happen by accident turn out to have the most remarkable results. Over the years people have asked me to describe what it’s like working with a guide dog. Sure, I can describe the experience but that doesn’t come close to what it’s really like. On one of our regular walks …
Anyone who’s read my book, “A Different Way of Seeing” will know that I have something of a love-hate relationship with technology. I love the freedom that technology gives me to do the things that I want, but I’m frequently frustrated when the tech “doesn’t work”! And yes, I’m even willing to admit that in …
I’m thrilled to announce that I have been recognised with the Xtraordinary Women ‘Woman of the Month’ award for March 2017. The nomination was in recognition of the work I’m doing de-mystifying the abilities of those living a productive life without sight. You can read more about the award here. I love the aims of …
Today it is one year since I started working with my guide dog, Fiji. To mark the occasion I wanted to share with you the greatest gift that Fiji has given me over the past year. I had a meltdown towards the end of my first week of training with Fiji at the SA Guide-Dogs …
In October last year I wrote an article commending Emirates Airline for taking the needs of their visually impaired passengers into consideration by having a few movies with audio descriptors on their standard airline entertainment channel. Here’s a great podcast from Twenty Thousand Hertz about audio descriptors and the impact they have on blind and …
I’ve noticed a change at home over the past few months. It was fairly subtle at first, but it’s suddenly become a whole lot more obvious to me – I think Eccles is jealous of Fiji! Eccles is my retired guide dog. She’s now almost 13 years old and, while still in very good health, …
So, what’s the quickest way to annoy me? Ask me to sign up for a mailing list and then add a sight-dependent verification process that I can’t access! To be fair, that’s probably not the quickest way to annoy me, but annoy me it does. It happened to me again today, on a site for …
I was recently interviewed for one of my favourite podcasts, Blind Abilities – you can listen to the interview here: http://blindabilities.com/bapresents/lois-strachan-a-different-way-of-seeing/ Blind Abilities is a podcast focussed on empowering people who are blind or visually impaired. The podcast is presented by Jeff Thompson and Pete Lane. I first started listening when a friend, Chris Venter, …
I love living in Cape Town. But I have to admit this isn’t my favourite time of year – yes, the summer weather is warm and everything… but it’s also the time that we are plagued with heavy winds. For many people, the heavy wind is something of an inconvenience. But for those of us …