SeeAbility Eye Care Champions visit Bexley Beyond Words reading group
In April, SeeAbility’s Eye Care team visited Bexley Respect Mencap to read the Beyond Words book ‘Looking After My Eyes’.
The Bexley Group hold a monthly reading group for Beyond Words books. Beyond Words books have no words and the stories are entirely told through pictures. This means that everyone can tell the story through the pictures, removing the barrier of reading ability. People can interpret the pictures in their own way, and discuss what the story means to them.
These book clubs are run all over the country so people can come together and read the Beyond Words books in a friendly and safe environment. They provide an opportunity to talk about important things that happen in our lives, so that members can become more familiar with these.
SeeAbility Eye Care Champions Grace and Lance visited to read the book called Looking After My Eyes, that we helped to write with Beyond Words. Looking After My Eyes tells the story of a lady who is having sight problems but is not sure what to do about it.
The Beyond Words books give people an opportunity to talk about how they feel about a particular subject. On this occasion, people talked about their experiences of going to the opticians. They discussed the different parts of the eye test and how they felt about these.
It was also an opportunity to learn more about how eye tests can be made accessible for people with learning disabilities. There are simple adjustments that can be made, such as using pictures instead of letters. You don’t even need to be able to speak to have an eye test!
Book club member Geoffrey said:
“I enjoyed reading the book, it was a great way of getting the message out to look after your eyes for people with learning disabilities”.
Book club facilitator Jane Menzies said:
“SeeAbility recognises that eye services need to be inclusive, so everyone with a learning disability can have an eye test. Reading Looking After My Eyes helped us understand why this is so important for us all.”
Following the success of the Bexley visit, our Eye Care Champions will be working with Beyond Words to encourage other reading groups around the country to read this book.
SeeAbility Eye Care Champion Grace said:
“We loved visiting the Bexley group and hearing them share their eye care experiences. We hope that other groups will now read the book too.”
Get in touch with Grace and our Eye Care Team to find out more about how we support people with learning disabilities and autism to get the eye care they need.
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