I have someone who is partially sighted wanting to do a ring making workshop. How can i help her get the best of the rhe experience. She has a condition similar to macular degeneration, so can only see things in her peripheral vision. The muddle is a black spot.
Any advice welcome please
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Others may disagree, but my opinion is that before this person participates in your jewelry workshop that she should get a note from her Ophthalmologist or doctor (not an Optometrist) giving her permission to take your workshop. Ideally this note will list the student’s limitations and any restrictions within the workshop. I also think that that the student should sign a separate liability waiver to relieve you (the teacher) from any potential liability.
In many ways, you’re asking a medical question about a serious eye issue. My opinion is that as a jewelry teacher that you shouldn’t be in the middle of it.
There was a thread about an Orchid member with macular degeneration last spring. You may find that to be of some help.
All the best!!
Jeff
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I agree that she should have the okay from her Opthalmologist to utilize a torch. After a safety waiver, see if she’d be willing to make a bypass ring first, with no torch use - just texturing with a hammer. That way the two of you can see how she can adapt to doing close, detail work. I think that cutting the metal with a saw will be a challenge, because her depth perception is likely off. If she has learned to compensate, it might be fine. There are other ways to cut metal and those could be explored. You can adapt anything to a person’s abilities. Help her to feel successful by giving her things that are challenging but doable with what she has to work with.
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I worked for 35 years making homes, work areas, and hobbies accessible for people with disabilities. If going to an ophthalmologist is step one, then seeing an occupational therapist is step two. Possibly step 1 1/2. Learning to accommodate a disability is truly a hands on effort. Their advise with another metal worker could be invaluable. Maybe it becomes a four-hands on effort in this case. Some one to watch and offer a third hand while your friend learns to wrangle magnifiers and ways of manipulating metal, wax, or other forming and casting tools.
Dale Chihuly is a renowned glass artist who now, after an injury, directs and designs while leaving nearly all the manipulation to others. I can see this part of jewelry work as a possibility for your friend.
Don
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Speaking as a retired specialist physician, macular degeneration with a central blind spot is bad!..whatever condition she has needs to be evaluated by a medical eye doctor, preferably a retinal specialist.
corrective lenses and other optical devices are of limited use and can’t ocrrect for central vision loss. She should consult with an retinal specialist opthalmologist (MD, not optomerist- OD!) … if the central ten degrees or even 5 degrees of central vision is blocked out in one eye, being able to see small details won’t work… visual acuity including color vision is all concentrated within the macula of the retina which comprises only the central ten degrees of an eye’s visual field… peripheral vision acuity drops off preciptiously from the center… in her particular case, her opthalmologist would be able to advise her according to the residual visual acuity whether any specific visual task is or is not appropriate to the limitation, and what kind of safety precautions should be specifically taiken. This not to say that she can’t participate… it is saying that I agree with Jeff. If the doctor can give specific recommendations that can accomodate her, accomodations should be offered but not without liability waivers in addition to the usual… If only one eye is affected, one sightedness would be sufficient to see, but depth perception, as someone else pointed out, would be affected… But If the good eye is injured in an accident, the result could be catastrophic…
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If any disability can be accomodated with appropriate safety precautions, as they should be… they are covered under the ADA laws…but in some cases there are limits, depending on the disability and safety concerns. A trivial example is people who have to use their glasses on a driver vision test to get a driver’s licence… eye glasses while driving restrictions are then required to get a license or renewal. More serious visual loss may preclude safe driving, as the public interest has to be protected.
In this case, both the capacity to do work involving small abojects requiring good visual acuity and proper eye protection to should be cleared by a quailfied medical doctor…someone with visual impairment can be accomodated but protecting their residual vision is the first priority.
Sorry to beat on this topic…however safety and protection from furthur visual loss is not a liability issue only…it’s a moral and human issue.
agree 100% but safety and protection from further visual loss either to UV and bright light exposure. Protecting the good eye from injury is THE priority… Only her medical eye doctor can evaluate this and recommend appropriate saftey precautions… The caveat here is that medical eye doctors won’t know the visual demands that jewerly making in all of it’s aspects… these will have to be summarized for your students who have visual loss and their eye doctors will need to evaluate both the demands and the patient’s capacity to overcome their disability safely…
Thank you all so much for your detailed responses. I have contacted the lady and asked for medical report but she hasnt responded.
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midastouchjewels,
I’ll be honest, my primary concern within this thread has been for your well-being as an instructor.
It used to be that all workshop facilities covered their instructors liability when teaching at their studios, art centers or workshop facilities. In recent years, schools having liability coverage for workshop instructors has become rare. Most of the art centers and workshop facilities that ask me to teach want me to have my own liability insurance. The contracts request the liability insurance policy number or ask the guest instructor to declare that they don’t have liability insurance and that they take financial responsibility for pretty much whatever happens. I find this change to be very disturbing and it makes me want to quit teaching workshops.
Teaching at accredited schools, colleges and universities is different. Those kind of schools cover all of their instructors with blanket liability coverage.
I will say that when I get a student in any of my college classes who has health issues, I don’t have any problem, altering the assignment to meet their needs or doing parts of the assignment for them while they watch. I strive to take on every student, no matter how complicated their situation is.
An example of this, was that I had a student once who had such dramatic hand tremors that there was no way that she could safely hold a torch. We strived to come up with alternative construction methods to meet her abilities. If something had to be soldered though, then I would do it for her and she would watch. That seemed like a safe/good compromise to both of us, which allowed her to complete the class.
I don’t know if you’re teaching out of your home studio, a workshop facility/art center or a college/university/high school? Either way, I’m primarily concerned about your professional liability as a teacher. That’s why I suggested what I said.
All the best!
Jeff
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Professional and personal liability when working with potentially dangerous processes can’t be avoided in today’s litiginous environment. I first learned jewerly making basics in a highschool class, over 50 years ago. Since then, it was on and off home hobby work…learning by reading and trial and error. Since I had no students, all I had to worry about was self injury and burning the house down…There is no alternative to good safety practices that have to be taught or learned over and over again to make them into habits. People with handicaps can be engaged in the process with accomodation. Handicap discrimination is illegal in a public setting. My concern is eye and general health related… having had eye problems myself… I only hope that my expositions on eye health have been helpful to our general audience… take as much care of your eyes as you do with your heart and other vital organs. Please refer to the thread on retinal problems… Thanks to all of you.
the safety of the student comes first. liability concerns are valid, but morally, not letting someone injure themselves in the first place is the first priority.
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