Arts and Music

Attending theater productions and arts events with vision impairment

Several of the young and young-at-heart students I have worked with in the last few years have asked me about making friendship bracelets with low vision and how to find accessible friendship bracelet patterns. DIY friendship bracelets and beaded bracelets have exploded in popularity thanks…

Many school band programs have a uniform requirement for specific ensembles, which can consist of a mix of school-owned pieces (such as a marching band jacket) and items purchased by the musician like shoes or pants in a specific color. Musicians that experience sensitivity to…

Many of the people I meet with visual impairments have an interest in DIY projects or crafting in some capacity. Some are more interested in fiber arts and work on projects like crocheting or knitting with low vision, embroidery, or sewing in some capacity, while…

Over the years, I have made friends with many talented dancers across various styles, many of which also have low vision or some form of visual impairment like I do. When learning new choreography or dance moves, many of them rely on video lessons or…

When I was working with a student with newly diagnosed neurological visual impairment (also known as CVI), I noticed that patterns and visual clutter played a significant role in how the student accessed information, and that they preferred items on a plain background with a…

Strategies I use for reading music on an iPad, and how to set up iPad for reading digital sheet music for musicians with low vision

When I was first learning to play clarinet and saxophone, my instructors would often tell me to look at the fingering chart printed in the back of the music book to figure out the proper hand positions for a note I was learning. This wasn’t…

Recently, I received a question from the parent of a middle school-aged musician with low vision asking about options for watching the conductor with low vision. The student said that they have trouble seeing the conductor from where their section is located, and it often…

When I wrote the first version of this post on why I chose the clarinet as a musician with low vision, I didn’t mention any of the techniques or strategies that I’ve used over the years for learning clarinet with low vision, both from my…

A while ago, a clarinet player with low vision asked me if I had any tips for how to read marching band drill sheets and talking to their director about marching with low vision. The conversation made me think of my time in marching band…

Over the years, I have been friends with many visual artists who create wonderful amateur art across a variety of mediums. One of these friends often creates unique art with lots of bold colors inspired by pop culture and their own original characters that they…