You’ve given Karen such unexpected happiness

In her role as Gifts in Wills Officer for Vision Australia, Karen travels across the country up to three times a month, meeting with donors who want to include Vision Australia in their Will. She is delighted to have rekindled a favourite hobby, she enjoys in her travel downtime, with help from kind people like you.

Karen was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease as a child. Now a 54-year-old mother of two, she has 97% vision loss. Karen has used Vision Australia’s services for more than 30 years and loves meeting donors in person and sharing the impact of their generosity.

One of the most meaningful services Karen has accessed for herself is our Print Accessibility Service, which assists people who are blind or have low vision by providing texts, documents, and other items in accessible formats.

This talented team convert artwork into tactile pieces with UV printers, create tactile models, such as a table of elements to assist students undertaking STEM subjects, and even 3D models of maps and architecture for clients who travel, like Karen.

“I carry examples of the many things the Print Accessibility team make when visiting donors. They created a tactile map for me, showing stops along my travel routes, even small waves along the edge to represent the shoreline! I had such an emotional reaction to this… delight and pleasure are the only two words I can think of.

“This map inspired me to ask if they could make tactile colouring pages, because I used to love colouring in. I was told I could have anything I want. We started with mandalas, repeating circle flower patterns. It has given me unexpected happiness."