Keep Christmas Inclusive!

Image of woman with white hair and festive glasses hugging child with festive sparkly glasses. Both are smiling and laughing.

The holidays are here, bring on the customs and traditions, and time with family!

Vision loss can feel like the great divide in families, and no matter the age of your loved one with vision loss, you might feel at a loss on how to include them in all the festivities.

But how can you include Grandma in baking cookies if she can’t see? Why would Grandpa enjoy settling in to watch your traditional holiday movie if he can’t see it anymore?

There are always ways to include people. Maybe Grandma can help with baking cookies by mixing the dough, or prepping the ingredients! In our house our Grandma who has vision loss prepares, bakes, cools and divvies up the cookies. We just eat them!

What about Grandpa who used to enjoy sitting on the sofa and watching a holiday movie? If you’re streaming movies you can check out the closed captioning options- sometimes there is the option of Audio Described. This replaces the original audio to include movement and details in the film that you would miss if you couldn’t see it. You might learn more about your beloved movie by adding description!

Don’t halt your traditions when family is experiencing vision loss- these are the things that ground us and solidify our connections with each other and form our sense of self.

How have you morphed traditions in your home to include family with vision loss?