Holiday gift ideas for visually impaired adults and children

The holidays are here and ‘tis the season to be jolly and go shopping! Are you wondering what to get that friend or family member who is visually impaired? Unsure of where to go for that special adaptive gift or toy for visually impaired children and adults? Don’t stress because a sampling of great gift ideas has been compiled below for the young, old, young at heart and perhaps the hard to buy. So sit back, grab a cup of your favorite hot cider or cocoa and read these suggestions.

For the inspiring master chef:

Adaptive kitchen aids like long arm silicone oven mitts that protects hands and arms from a hot stove. Low vision cutting boards, talking food scales, low vision and talking measuring cups, double sided spatulas and metal spice measuring spoons are all great tools for whipping up a simple to gourmet meal in no time.

For play time:

Pick up adaptive games such as checkers, large print playing cards and Bingo boards, or accessible Scrabble and Monopoly board games. Braille Uno is now available at Target. For those visually impaired children and adults who love to build things, there is Lego for the Blind. It provides directions in an alternative format for over 30 Lego sets. Light Stax are illuminated construction blocks that use LED technology but are compatible with traditional building blocks. When connected to a power source, each Stax will magically light up.

For the voracious reader:

Sign them up for a Bookshare or Audible plan for audio books that can be read with smartphone apps. Seedlings has superb choices for braille books, especially for small children. They provide books with texture or twin books, which are books with braille and print. These great gifts can give hours of enjoyable reading and quiet play.

For the fashion-conscious:

Set them up with a color identifier or a pack of braille clothing labels for keeping clothes organized and color coordinated. Embellish that stylish outfit with braille jewelry or a trendy, yet classy, talking or braille watch. These accessories polish off any wardrobe.

For reading and writing:

Low vision office supplies like large print calendars, dark lined paper, 20/20 pens, signature or check writing guides and large print address books all make great gifts. These items provide high contrast and along with a hand-held magnifier, gives people who are visually impaired independence in completing daily tasks.

For the healthy and being physically fit:

A Fitbit tracks steps. Additionally, medication organizers, talking blood pressure monitors and talking thermometers help maintain health and wellness.

For the person on the move:

A new white cane, dark sunglasses or Uber/Lyft gift card sets them up for those jaunts around town.

For personal assistance:

Create personalized coupons to help with running errands, reading mail, going grocery shopping or doing household repairs and cleaning. 

For those who have everything,how about a donation to your favorite charity, like Outlook? By shopping with Amazon Smile, your gifts help visually impaired children and adults learn technology, experience a play with audio description and even ride bikes and play competitive sports. 

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