The Olympics comes to life for blind and visually impaired children like Jacob

Every four years the world comes together to experience the tradition, ceremony and rich visual spectacle of the Olympic Games – but 25,000 blind and visually impaired children and young people are at risk of feeling excluded. At Living Paintings, with the support from a host of sporting superstars, we have tackled this by releasing a very special range of free sensory resources that will bring the events and ancient tradition to life for everyone.

One of the children we have supported is aspiring Paralympian Jacob Wright, 11, from Harlow in Essex. Jacob was born with a condition called retinoblastoma – a rare cancer of the eye. At 12-weeks old, he had his right eye removed and has just 10% vision in his left. But Jacob’s severe vision impairment doesn’t stop him from excelling at his favourite sport, Judo.

Having won gold medals in competitions against sighted competitors, Jacob has strong potential to represent Team GB in future Games. For sports-mad Jacob, resources like ours can help him feel fully included in the global celebrations that mean so much to him.

His mum, Charlene, said: “Jacob loves football, but uses a cane to move around so can’t really play it with his friends. We wanted to find something he could do and discovered Judo. It is largely done by feeling, so sight isn’t important. He trains twice a week and his coach says he can start attending Paralympic potential days when he is 12. Jacob is so excited for the Games, and having tactile-audio resources from Living Paintings means he can fully understand the various events and history that the rest of us can see.”

We have released three sensory boxes that feature a range of tactile images accompanied by audio-descriptions that guide little fingers over the raised pictures to help blind and visually impaired children ‘see’ through touch. Audio descriptions come from stars of the sporting world including Ellie Simmonds, Clare Balding, Colin Jackson, JJ Chalmers and visually impaired Paralympic track athlete, Libby Clegg.

Libby Clegg said:
“Being visually impaired myself it was a pleasure to share my story and help other blind and visually impaired young people feel included as we approach the 2024 Paris Games. I truly hope that by being involved I can help these children to know that anything is possible – and perhaps inspire the next generation of Paralympic superstars.”

Jacob said:
“The pictures are fantastic! I loved learning about Libby Clegg. That’s going to be me one day!”

Experience the Olympics and Paralympics through touch and sound!

With our new range of Olympics and Paralympics sensory experience, we’re bringing the rich history and visual spectacle of the The Games to life through touch and sound.