How to see and hear better

 

It’s amazing how much technology is available for people with visual and hearing impairments. There are a lot of advantages to living in the 21^st century.

 

I have macular degeneration myself, meaning that my central vision is not up to par, even if the peripheral vision is fine. Glasses don’t help. It makes it difficult to see average-sized type in a book or newspaper.

 

There are lots of work-arounds:

--You can easily magnify type on a computer or tablet. Because I occasionally sing and play piano at the same time, I often print out the lyrics in large type and mark the jazz chords on top in large letters with a magic marker for performing in front of others.

--The cameras on tablets are remarkably useful. Before I go to a church service, I photograph all of the hymns and read them off a 12-inch ipad.

--A phone app can be used as a magnifying glass with a light and with adjustments for choosing distances. You can get a full-page magnifier to put on top of a book page.

—There are talking thermometers and a product called Seeing AI, which tells you out loud the name of the object where you have pointed your phone.

--Audiobooks are remarkably helpful. Computers, phones and tablets also dictate texts of any online publication, e-book or website. When I read back what I write for this column, I tend to miss typos. I can have the computer read back what I write and when it says a funny-sounding word, I know to fix it.

—Voice commands allow you to tell phones and computers what you want. You can dictate texts with remarkable spelling accuracy.

—On the highway, a GPS is useful to anyone, but its turning instructions are a big help if the road sign is hard to make out. On many newer cars, safety precautions include lane assist for keeping you in your lane and automatic stops when an obstacle gets in the way.

 

And there is aid, too, for people with hearing problems, which I also experience.

—Hearing aids today can be equipped with Bluetooth receivers, which send the signal louder from your phone straight to your ears. They’ll connect, too, with the music or audiobook on the phone, as if you were wearing headphones, like a teen-anger. You can groove to the Rolling Stones during a boring lecture or sermon, while the speaker thinks you are inspired by his or her words!

 

So think twice before you curse the latest technology and long for the good old days.