Working life: Aoife Josh, community resource worker, NCBI

Aoife Josh provides practical and emotional support for the visually impaired in Ireland.

6.30am

I have two dogs to walk and three kids to get to school before setting out on the 50-minute commute to work. Our office is in Ballincollig but my day doesn’t necessarily begin at my desk.

10am

Today I’m headed for Cork city centre to do a route from the bus station to a new place of work for a man who is vision impaired and a long cane user. He’s not native to the city and we need to work out the best route.

I meet him at the bus station and we navigate our way, manoeuvring through busy pedestrian areas, crossing roads and noting various landmarks along the way to enable the person to know whereabouts that are on the route.

If we encounter any inaudible traffic lights I make a note to contact the city council. They are always highly responsive to my concerns.

12 noon

I deliver awareness training at a company that has just hired someone who is blind.

I talk to employees about the main causes of vision impairment and the issues it raises for those who are affected. I also talk to them about how to communicate with their new work colleague and teach them how to guide someone with a vision impairment.

On a national level, we provide practical and emotional support to 8,000 people and their families.

2pm

I work with children too, and this afternoon I am assessing a young child’s functional vision. This helps me gauge how his level of vision is impacting on his day-to-day life.

I observe him playing and doing different tasks and I listen to his parents’ concerns and see what supports we can offer, such as workshops to meet peers and learn independent living skills.

4pm

I have an independent living skills session with an adult who has experienced significant loss of vision who wants to get back to doing household tasks, in this case cooking.

We break it down into a step-by-step process, dealing with knives, chopping, cutting meat, hygiene. It’s about reviewing skills, developing new techniques and building confidence.

6pm

Before heading home, I do a bit of admin around an upcoming Easter camp for vision impaired kid. We are heading to Cappanalea outdoor centre in Kerry over the holidays.

* Aoife Josh, community resource worker, NCBI (National Council for the Blind of Ireland)