Macular Disease Society Launches Course for Lawyers
3 October 2008
The Macular Disease Society are launching a course to help lawyers understand the needs of visually impaired clients.
There are about two million people in the UK with disabling sight loss. But up until now, there has been no training available for solicitors and their staff to help this significant minority
The Macular Disease Society, which helps people with the most common cause of sight loss - macular degeneration – has launched a course for solicitors to help them understand the needs of blind or visually impaired clients.
“Solicitors attending the course will be able to adapt their practice to comply with disability legislation and maintain client’s trust and confidence,” says Gale Gould, from the Macular Disease Society.
“We cover everything, from how to open the door and greet someone who can’t see you; to user-friendly ways of communicating by letter and ways of understanding everyday problems for people who can’t see.
“The course has been designed around the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act’s section 19 which talks about auxiliary aids to help businesses communicate with their clients. In the case of solicitors’ firms we are talking about the use of audio tapes and large print text for example.”
Jonathan Hudson, an Associate with Hampshire firm Coffin Mew LLP, attended the pilot course in January 2008. Half of his clients are elderly. He says: “The course has certainly helped us appreciate the everyday hurdles and difficulties that our visually impaired clients face. Simple changes can make a huge difference - our house font for letters is 10 point and we have already changed that to 16 point for visually impaired clients.
“I think the course will also help us provide a better service to this group in future.”
Jane Weston, a Consultant with Wilsons LLP Salisbury, also attended a pilot course, and says one of the best things about it from her point of view was being made aware - as literally as possible - of what a visually impaired person can’t see.
“We were also asked to put on a pair of Simspecs,” she says, “these are goggles which have had areas of the lens obscured to approximate the sight of a person with their peripheral vision affected by macular disease. It was completely disorientating – we asked to drink from a cup with them on and I had no sense of relative distance.
“For me, the take home message was that we unconsciously communicate a great deal with visual clues: with a visually impaired client, it’s important to say things like ‘I am leaving the room now to photocopy this document’.”
Jane’s colleague at Wilsons, Acting Head of Probate and Trusts, Fran Room, says the course is not only an excellent checklist for firms to ensure they are meeting section 19 of the Disability Discrimination Act – she says it’s given her a ‘toolkit’ of questions to ask new clients in order to ascertain if they need help accessing the building – without offending anyone.
“There is an etiquette of dealing with disability responsibly but without over-doing it; and I think the course is really practical and can literally give a form of words to find out what you can do to help.”
The two and a half hour course costs £450.00 and is worth 2.5 CPD points.
For further information:
Contact: Gale Gould, Macular Disease Society
Tel: 01264 321965.
