When I was about eleven, my parents gifted me a magnifying glass for my birthday. It was a small hand-held magnifier that magnified everything eight times. That way, I was able to read large print for a little while longer, albeit slowly. That is until my vision deteriorated even further and, even with the magnifier, I could no longer read the large print atlas that I so loved. That was sad.
Now that I’m totally blind and couldn’t care less about that large print atlas, I do wish I’d kept the magnifying glass. Not for myself, but so that staff can more easily help me with my crafty pursuits. Many of my staff struggle with the detailed work involved in jewelry-making or with reading small print.
Then again, with the print, I could easily point my iPhone camera at it and have Seeing AI, Envision or another related app read the text for me. Intriguingly, yesterday I was chatting with a staff about learning to write and she asked me whether I could still write by hand. I asked her to hand me a pen and a piece of paper and wrote my first name onto it. Envision didn’t give me any feedback, but Seeing AI read everything except for the A. Of course, every letter except for the A was an inch tall. I am however pleased that it was legible by AI.
Not that it’s of any use in daily life. I mean, when I had to get a new passport a few months ago, it was decided that my handwriting isn’t readable enough for me to write my signature. That’s in part because my signature has always been a mess because I never quite understood the concept. However, my handwriting has definitely worsened over the years. I’m glad though that I got the comment on my passport that I’m unable to sign, because that way until I’m due to get a new one in ten years, no-one will ask me to try and then conclude that my signature looks nothing like the one on my passport. I had that problem when my wife and I were buying our house. Thankfully, the solicitor was able to ask to colleagues to sign in my place. Next time, official people will know beforehand thanks to the note on my passport.
This post was written in response to today’s prompt for #JusJoJan, which is “magnify”.
A Multitude of Musings 
Magnifying glasses are so useful, Tim bought one that lights up
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Oh wow that’s cool!
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Thank you for sharing your moving story.
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You’re welcome and thank you for commenting.
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my handwriting has always been shocking; I used to fail it at primary school :=)
sherry https://sherryspickings.blogspot.com/
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Ah I see. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
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What an interesting story.
I totally get that the staff would struggle with the small details involved in your craft work, I would too.
Whenever I sign my name no one can read it and it looks different each time. I don’t suppose that is a good thing. Oops.
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Thanks for sharing. Re signing your name, even though I have not been able to have my signature look the same in years and my wife for this reason at one point even had to copy my signature, she says a forensic expert would have been able to tell that my messy signature was mine and her copied one was fake. The reason is the fact that I hold a pen really tight and press quite hard onto the paper. As such, even though your signature looks different each time, it’s still quite likely that if it truly matters, people would know it’s you.
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Cool story, glad you shared. We get by with a little help from our friends…and a little compassion from the systems folk.
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Agree. Thanks so much for stopping by.
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It sounds like a very good idea that you had that comment added to your passport. My signature can change throughout a single day even, I would likely have issues with it matching. My mom was always using a magnifying glass to see small things. If I have adequate light and take my glasses off that are for distance, I can usually see pretty small stuff. Although as I age I am sure that will change. That is pretty good that you could still write your name and have it mostly read by your app.
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Thanks for your supportive comment. I’m glad I got that note added to my passport indeed, but do wonder what the consequences will be when I have to sign official paperwork again. I think solicitors will always have to have two people sign in my place, but not sure.
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You’re welcome.
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