Blindo A Brief History On A Page

Date Of Birth: Born 31/01/1966 in Poole, Dorset, UK
Family: Born to Janet & James Moore. The first of their 3 children Richard, Pamela & Derek.
Primary School: Talbot County Combined School, 1970 - 1976
Registration.: Was Registered As Blind In 1975.

College: After finishing school I attended main stream further education at Poole & Bournemouth College 1982-1984.
Hillcrest, My First Job: My first job was as a "Houseparent" for East Dorset Area Health Authority working with Adults with a Mental Handicap (Now called Learning Disability) 1984-1988
Peter: Our first child, Peter was born on 28/08/1984

Marriage: After some considerable arguement with my mother-in-law to be, Mandy and I were married on 20/12/1984 at Poole Registry Office.

Computing: After leaving the Health Authority in January 1988, I started a course of training with Bournemouth University learning basic computer programming.
Tara: Our third child and first daughter, Tara, was born on 07/11/1988

B.C.I.F.: In the autumn of 1989 following an eye operation, I started work for British Channel Island Ferries, at the Port Of Poole. 1989-1992
Lauren: Our fourth child and second daughter, evening up the boy/girl score, Lauren was born on 24/05/1990

The Wilderness Years: Between November 1992 & 2001 I went through a series of operations on my eyes in an attempt to either save the vision or learn from surgery lessons that might be applied to the care of my childrens eyes should they begin to lose sight, as I was doing.
On Boxing day 1996 I awoke to find that all my useful remaining vision, including light perception, had vanished overnight.
The Final Operation: In November of 2000 I asked my Opthalmic Consultant to arrange the removal of both of my eyes. The operation took place on 11th January 2001. I do not use prosthetics and have never regreted the decision to whip them out. I've never seen better.
Disability Wessex: My first job back in the workforce after such a long lay off was with a local charity called Disability Wessex Feb 2005-Oct 2005
Borough Of Poole: In October 2005 I joined Borough Of Poole Adult Social Services Commissioning as a Helpdesk Officer, a job I really enjoy and hope to continue to enjoy for some time to come.
Alexander: In April of 2008 our first Grandchild was born to Tara and her partner Jamie. 6 weeks early but fit and healthy.

West Of England School Reunion: In May 2009 a group of Ex-pupils and staff got together over a pint or two to share memories and catch up with each others news. Click the link to see the photographs.
Redesigning Our Home: The inevitable result of mor than 10 years as an insulin dependant Diabetic caught up with me and in July 2009 we started the adaptations that would be needed to allow me to continue to live in our chosen home.
In order to be able to install a suitable stair lift our staircase had to be removed and rebuilt. At the same time space for storing a wheelchair etc would be created.
The works took much longer to complete than we had expected. Finally a working stairlift able to meet my needs was completed at the end of September 2009
Megan: Our Second Grandchild, Megan, arrived after 49 hours of labour which ended with an emergency C Section on Friday 7 August 2009. Iann and Sonia were over-joyed to welcome their daughter into the world safe and sound.

Blindo's Wheels: In November 2009 I was issued with a Powered Wheelchair. It has duel controls which allow me to operate the chair independantly and an "Attendant" control to allow others to drive the chair.
It's been quite a challenge to learn how to drive the chair safely when you have absolutely no vision, but I am now confidently driving the chair indoors, at work etc and also driving it independantly outdoors on routes I know well.
The introduction of the chair also meant adaptations to the access to my house had to be put in place.
As my mobility decreases, a time will come when I need the chair to get around in the house and at that point, more work will need to be carried out to widen doors etc.
Our Silver Wedding Anniversery: On December 20th 2009, Mandy and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversery.
Our Family joined us for a celebration meal and drinks afterwards in the company of friends.
Stacey: Our 3rd Grand Child, stacey, Lauren's daughter, joined the family onf February 22nd 2010.

Wedding Day: on March 26th 2010, Tara and partner Jamie were married at Poole Registry Office.
Tara is now Mrs Tara Wakefield. We had a great day and celebrated well.

For more of Tara & Jamies Wedding Pictures click on the link to Blindo's Gallery.

Moving Home.: The day after the Wedding, Iann, Sonia & Megan moved into their first home together.
Peter: Peter, my eldest, continues to be as independant as ever; enjoying his computing and games.

To see more pictures of my family and friends visit Blindos Gallery