How blind people spend their leisure time - Three people, three perspectives

"Here comes a low-hanging branch, so we have to turn right." Claude Keup makes his way along the houses in his neighbourhood with a great deal of skill, but also with the odd brush against a pillar. Claude is blind, as he has suffered from a disease called retinitis pigmentosa since childhood. This causes the optic nerves to gradually die off. For Claude, this meant the end of his career as a butcher in his mid-30s and now early retirement. Every day, the 62-year-old takes his dog Jack for a walk. Jack is not a trained guide dog for the blind, but simply the family pet that – the classic example – the children wanted, but is now walked by Claude. The father's life has changed since he went blind. Neither for the better nor for the worse, just different, he says as he walks back to his house.

"I used to have a 50 cubic metre motorbike and drive a tractor. My parents had a farm. I actually wanted to get a car driving licence too, but then I didn't really dare." Claude was told 40 years ago that he wouldn't be able to see anything at some point in his life. After a while, everything happened very quickly and the family man had to change his habits. "My wife always jokes that I timed the whole thing to look after the children." Since then, the tasks of the couple have been shared: his wife mows, he puts the grass in the bin; he pushes the shopping trolley, his wife fills it.

Travelling by bike and tram

Once the housework is done, Claude takes time to read or watch films. "Tatort" crime thrillers are his favourites. "I order a lot of things from Switzerland and receive SD cards with books, magazines and films. I have a device with lots of different functions from my care insurance. It can read to me, serves as an alarm clock and radio, or for the weather." Claude also regularly meets up with friends at "Tandem de la Vue", a cycling club for the visually impaired. "Yesterday we cycled 63 kilometres and once a year we go on a trip with an overnight stay abroad."

He still remembers everything from before he went blind: the colours, the faces, the landscapes. Nevertheless, the 62-year-old is not frustrated, but enjoys his free time, which he also invests in sensitising others. "I regularly give training courses for Info-Handicap to educate or advise on various topics, especially in terms of accessibility." Claude is virtually fully autonomous and either orders an Adapto bus or travels by tram. "It's great, with guidelines at the back and front doors and special round handrails that we blind people don't bump our heads on, " explains the 62-year-old. He has many points of reference in his everyday life that help him find a way around, and most people are helpful, so that he can organise his leisure time relatively flexibly.