NEWSLETTER No. 375

Alexandra Adams says the biggest hurdle in becoming the UK’s first deaf-blind doctor has been discrimination, not disability.

“I never saw myself as any different,” Alexandra, 32, told This Morning the day after she received her medical degree, making her the U.K.’s first-ever doctor who is deaf and blind. But, as she shares, “That all changed” when she decided to go to medical school. “Then suddenly people were saying, ‘Oh, you can’t do that because you’re deaf-blind,’ ” she said, using the preferred term for people with both diminished sight and hearing.However, Adams didn’t see her disabilities as a detriment. Instead, she told the show, “I realised that maybe I had something slightly unique.”

She decided to become a doctor in her teens after she ended up in the hospital for 17 months following surgery complications – “I was particularly inspired by one doctor,” who noticed that she was, “very frightened and didn’t know what was going on,” Adams explained. “She just asked me three simple words and they were, ‘Are you okay?’ And I said, ‘No.’ Adams “burst into tears,” which is when the doctor “drew the curtains around the bedside and she showed me a big scar across her abdomen and she just said, ‘I know how you feel.’ The experience helped her develop empathy, she says. “It’s that empathy that I could use in the future to help other people. And what’s what I get to do now.”

But getting there was a challenge, and not because of her disabilities or her health struggles, which include the immune disorder Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), requiring her to use oxygen. “My disabilities haven’t been the obstacle in my medical degree. It’s been the perceptions of other people,” she said. “I think discrimination has been a big hurdle.”

Read the full incredible story here: https://people.com/woman-born-deaf-and-blind-gets-her-medical-degree-12015717 utm_source=toptechtidbits&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=07162026&utm_content=editorial

A group of talented blind and partially sighted musicians gathered on Friday (July 3) to showcase their skills at an event at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The musicians and composers – all of whom have developed careers in singing, performing or composing across a wide range of instruments – performed for an audience of music professionals, blind and partially sighted people, and partner organisations.

The event celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Elizabeth Eagle-Bott Memorial Fund – a legacy donation administered by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) that provides vital support for musicians with sight conditions in the UK.

Performers included British composer, clarinettist and former Paraorchestra Associate Music Director, Lloyd Coleman; composer, collaborative artist, music teacher and clarion player, Gareth Churchill; acclaimed soloist and graduate of Canterbury Christ Church University, Charlotte Hardwick; lyric soprano, Joanne Roughton-Arnold; recorder player and founder member of the British Paraorchestra, James Risdon and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduate and tenor, Zachary Smith.

Read the full article here: https://www.rnib.org.uk/news/blind-and-partially-sighted-musicians-perform-stunning-concert-to-celebrate-25-years-of-vital-support/

Technology is transforming what’s possible for blind and vision-impaired people but according to Sir Robin Miller, who has retinitis pigmentosa, the biggest barrier isn’t technology at all. It’s people’s expectations. Speaking at Vis-Ability 2026, Sir Robin, shared why he believes innovation, alongside changing attitudes, is key to creating a more inclusive future.

Technology has shaped Sir Robin’s own journey. Learning computing and programming early in his career gave him opportunities that might otherwise have been out of reach.

Now, he believes artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to be just as transformative.

From summarising lengthy documents to making complex visual information more accessible, AI is helping remove typical barriers that blind and vision-impaired people face at work and in life.

Read the full article here: https://www.fightforsight.org.uk/news-and-insights/news/charity-news/underestimate-blind-people-at-your-peril-sir-robin-miller-on-technology-attitudes-and-the-future-of-work/

New training to give eye care professionals all the tools to provide better emotional support to patients receiving a diagnosis of sight loss was rolled out at an event in Westminster on Wednesday, 17 June.

The training, developed by RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) and in collaboration with the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, aims to help professionals have difficult conversations with patients as they are told about their sight loss as well as outlining routes to support services.

RNIB research found that compared to people without disabilities, blind and partially sighted people are more than twice as likely to experience unhappiness or depression.

One research participant said: “People don’t like to talk about mental health, they are quite happy to talk about your eyes, they will talk about it all day. I couldn’t even get out the house for a while, in fact I would say that in a way, the mental health side of it is even bigger than the sight loss.”

Patients say that bad experiences at the diagnosis stage can have a significant impact on their mental health and how they cope with sight loss, so handling the conversations carefully is the focus of the six training films. The films are hosted by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and are designed to fit around eye care professionals’ busy schedules.

Read the full article here: https://www.rnib.org.uk/news/emotional-support-at-diagnosis-training-offered-to-ophthalmologists/

With public pilots of self-driving taxi services set to begin on London’s streets in the coming months, RNIB’s Head of Policy joined a panel event in Parliament with politicians and industry, to represent the hopes and concerns of blind and partially sighted people, and ensure key considerations around accessibility are made from the start for this new form of transport.

The event, hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Self-Driving Vehicles, brought together parliamentarians, industry representatives and other stakeholders to discuss the potential benefits of self-driving taxi services, and the regulatory and practical steps needed before these services are used more widely. RNIB is one of the sponsors of this All Party Parliamentary Group.

Mike Wordingham, RNIB’s Head of Policy, said:

“Self-driving taxis could become a new transport option for blind and partially sighted people, but only if accessibility and safety are treated as essential from the very beginning. The first few metres and the last few metres of any journey matter just as much as the journey itself. People with sight loss need to be able to find the vehicle they have booked, get in and out safely, access support when they need it, and navigate the streets around them with confidence.

“As public pilots move closer, it is vital that the Department for Transport and industry work directly with blind and partially sighted people to understand both the opportunities and the risks. If this technology is designed inclusively, it could open up new possibilities. If it is not, it risks creating new barriers on our streets and in our transport system.”

“Self-driving taxis” refers to a service you would request on your smartphone, to get a ride equivalent to a taxi but that has no person in the car other than you (and any other passengers with you) throughout the whole journey, relying on computers, cameras and sensors to navigate the road. These already operate in some US cities.

Read the full story here: https://www.rnib.org.uk/news/rnib-joins-panel-in-parliament-on-self-driving-taxi-services/