In Touch – Details, episodes & analysis

It's now two years since the publication of "The Unseen" - a report exploring domestic abuse experienced by blind and visually impaired people. Now Extant, a group of visually impaired performing artists, has adapted the report into an audio drama, and a short tour of the production starts on the 16th of October in Wolverhampton. Extant members, Ben Wilson and Georgie Wyatt join us to explain more about their work.

Leeds Playhouse Theatre is one of a number of organisations to have collaborated with the Thomas Pocklington Trust and RNIB to provide internships for visually impaired people. We talk to Akin Famakin about his experience as an intern at the Theatre and to Amy Leach, the Deputy Artistic Director.

Presenter: Beth Hemmings Producer: Fern Lulham Production Coordinator: Pete Liggins

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’

When you need help or information, where is best to turn? Perhaps reaching out to peers via online methods, or perhaps finding a group that you can meet up with in-person.

Has the prevalence of social media and online meetings discouraged in-person get togethers and has it meant that the quality of our interactions has been diminished? Or does it make accessing information and help from peers and organisations much easier and more efficient. The answers will naturally differ from person to person, depending on preference and whether you are able access to online methods. This episode is dedicated to peer support; where you get it from, who you get it from, and in what form you prefer it.

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: David Baguley Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

In Touch has learnt about changes happening to the RNIB's Technology for Life service that will result in major changes to how the service is delivered, and may result in staff redundancies amongst the team that has many visually impaired employees. This change is separate from a ten-year proposed plan of changes that we recently spoke to the charity's Chief Executive Matt Stringer about. These included a need for cost savings of around £10 million and may also result in redundancies for staff.

The world now has a blind Barbie doll. Influencer, broadcaster and model Lucy Edwards brought her into the studio to be introduced to the In Touch team and to tell us what she means for representation. We analyse more widely whether representation of this form is of benefit to disabled children with Rebecca Atkinson, who founded the Toy Like Me campaign. The campaign began as a call on toy companies globally to become more inclusive of disability within their products. Rebecca also began her own disabled-led children's brand, with her Channel 5 pre-school children's programme 'Mixmups', which has disabled characters.

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Brigid Harrison-Draper Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

We hear from two women who are both celebrating firsts and both aiming to make a difference.

Louisa Wickham is a consultant ophthalmologist and medical director at Moorfields Eye Hospital but in September, she added to her titles by being appointed as England's very first National Clinical Director for Eye Care. We invited her onto the program to explain what her ambitions are for her new role and how she plans to tackle the current problems facing eye care services; patient backlogs, long waiting times and preventable permanent vision loss.

Jessikah Inaba is believed to be the UK's first blind and black female barrister. She studied for her law degrees in braille at London's University of Law and, in the last few weeks, has been inducted to the bar. She tells us about this momentous moment, about the barriers she faced getting there and about her goals for her future career in law.

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

The Department for Work and Pensions will soon appear in the high court in a case brought against them by Dr Yusuf Ali Osman. Dr Osman has repeatedly requested that communications over his benefit payments be sent to him in his preferred accessible format but has not received them. We invited him onto the program to provide further details on which his case is being brought. Mike Lambert has had a similar problem with the DWP and he shares those with us.

For those who have certain eye conditions with enough sight to continue to drive, you may have heard of the Esterman Visual Field test. It is designed to test your peripheral vision but concerns have been raised over the test's validity and appropriateness to be used by the DVLA. We have these laid out by Lou, who has glaucoma and has had a negative experience when taking the test. We also invited Roger Anderson, who is a Professor of Optometry at Ulster University and sits on the DVLA's Advisory Committee of Vision and Visual Disorders, to share his thoughts on the matter.

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Access services in supermarkets are, for some blind and visually impaired people, an essential service to gather the exact groceries you need. Services like assisted shopping, where a member of staff takes you around the store gathering items for you, are offered by a lot of supermarkets but some were suspended during the pandemic. Auriol Britton decided to take Sainsbury's Supermarkets to court when she had a problem with her local store in Bristol, primarily based on the suspension of their assisted shopping service. We invited Auriol onto the program to outline the problem she had and what happened in court.

Demand for eye services is rising rapidly and the NHS is struggling to keep up. Well, The Eyes Have It is a partnership between the Macular Society, Fight for Sight, The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and other sight loss organisations and they held a parliamentary a drop-in event at Westminster last week. They are calling for a national eye care plan to tackle the problems patients are facing. Our reporter Fern Lulham provides the details. (NB - Dr Peter Hampson is from the Association of Optometrists.)

And swimming can be a great form of exercise for blind and visually impaired people but keen swimmer Aletea Sellers contacted us when she had a problem in getting access provisions put in place at her local swimming pools. She tells us the responses she got, good and bad.

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Dr Paul Jarman contacted us following our coverage of what changes had occurred since the RNIB took over the National Library for the Blind. He noted something that we had not mentioned. He believes there has been a seismic shift toward students and tutors like him, no longer being able to access as many serious books as once before. He lays out his concerns in this area and explains why he believes braille books should be regarded as heritage items.

Our reporter in Washington, Gary O'Donoghue talks us through a new partnership between access tech companies Aira and Envision. Together, they have created 'smart glasses' that enable you to be put in contact with a sighted agent, completely hands-free. Gary demonstrates how they can be used to assist with daily tasks and navigation.

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Three visually impaired people tell us about their experiences of domestic abuse. The cases involve the perpetrator using their visual impairments against them, though gaslighting, coercive control and in one case, extreme violence being the cause of their visual impairment. These stories come in the light of a report called The Unseen, by The Vision Foundation and Safe Lives. Olivia Curno, The Vision Foundation's Chief Executive gives summary of the report's harrowing findings.

Link to The Unseen domestic abuse report: https://www.visionfoundation.org.uk/our-work/research/the-unseen/

If you are at risk of domestic abuse, contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247. If you are in immediate danger, call 999 and ask for the police.

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss hasn't yet offered assurances to people receiving disability related benefits during the current rises in inflation and wider cost of living increases. This has concerned visually impaired grandmother and benefit receiver Kim Jaye. We invited her onto the program to explain her current situation and her added costs due to her visual impairment. The RNIB only last week handed in a petition to the Department for Work and Pensions about how the cost of living crisis is impacting visually impaired and blind people. Their Director of Insight and Customer Voice, David Aldwinckle explains the contents of the petition and their future plans to help blind and partially sighted people through the cost of living crisis.

The British Wireless for the Blind Fund have announced that they are to be discontinuing their Sonata Internet Audio service by the end of October. Kim O'Neil uses the service and explains to us why the device offers such an important and unmatched service and the Fund's Jenny Cameron tells us the reason behind the discontinuation.

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Dr Peter Hampson is the Clinical Director of the Association of Optometrists and we invited him onto the program after hearing about a rather unusual cornea replacement method to come out of Sweden; scientists there have developed replacement human corneas out of pig skins. We ask Dr Hampson whether this could become a viable solution to tackling the UK's cornea shortage.

A Edinburgh based accessible technology company called Screen Language are soon to release a new streaming platform, strictly for audio described movies. It will launch on September 30th called My Sound Cinema. It aims to be a one stop shop for audio described films of a variety of genre. Elena Zini is Screen Language's founder and she gives us the details about their new platform. Kim Milward is visually impaired and a major film fan, we invited her to tell us and Elena whether My Sound Cinema is something that she would consider using.

And we sent producer Beth Hemmings to Leeds to listen in on a music performance by a group of visually impaired people who had been working with percussionist Mendi Mohinder Singh. The music was performed on some rather unorthodox instruments...

Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Paul Holloway Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.