Social distancing a 'struggle' for those visually impaired

Neil Jones said the only signal of his visual impairment was his glasses

A man living with a visual impairment said he had been challenged while out shopping because he struggled to follow social distancing rules.

Neil Jones, from Shrewsbury, has had Nystagmus and Ocular Albinism since birth.

He said he normally coped "absolutely fine" - however problems have emerged during the pandemic.

Mr Jones's condition means he is extremely short-sighted and struggles with depth perception.

He said news that social distancing would be reduced from 2m to 1m "would help the situation" but would still be difficult for him to judge.

"I've had a few people say 'Do you mind keeping your distance, What do you think you are doing?'" he added.

"I think 90% of people are fine, when you explain they apologise and say they didn't realise.

"But there is always the fear you will bump into the wrong person one day."

Mr Jones has also been using public transport to get to work during the pandemic

Because most of the guidance advising people to keep their distance, or pointing shoppers around one-way systems, is through signs, Mr Jones said he struggled to see them "unless it is a huge arrow on a floor and I am stood right over it".

But Mr Jones, who works at a bursar at a school in Newtown, Powys, said he was keen to keep to his normal routine.

"I also suffer from mental health problems, so the minute I stop doing these things, I know my self-awareness and self-respect will start dipping down.

"I didn't go out apart from work for the first three or four weeks and it started to affect me, so I made the decision to do it [shopping], despite the obstacles."

He said he hoped by sharing his experiences it would make life a bit easier for others struggling to be self-reliant during the pandemic.

Mr Jones said he had also tried to help fiancée Anna do the shopping but he "always feels more of a hindrance than a help" due to social distancing guidelines

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