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In Touch: Social distancing

Social distancing

BBC Radio 4 - In Touch, Social distancing

What are the effects of social distancing?

What are the effects of social distancing rules on how blind and visually impaired people live their lives?

In this special programme we discuss what the rules on social distancing mean for the way blind and visually impaired people live their lives.  For example, is it safe for a stranger to guide someone by the arm?  What concerns are there around using public transport?  

We speak to Kirsten Hearn, a blind listener who raised the issue before lockdown.  We hear how she is feeling now.  

We hear the experience of those who live in countries just emerging from lockdown.  Peter Brass is a board member of the German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted and Lars Bosselmann is director of the European Blind Union based in Paris.  To get some answers, we speak to Professor Robert Dingwall, a sociologist with a public health specialism based at Nottingham Trent University.  

Presented by Peter White
Produced by Louise Clarke-Rowbotham

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