"There is lots to consider in selecting a talking watch for the visually impaired. Please read this before you buy." - Dr. Bryan Stoker, Founder -
Dr. Bryan Stoker

How to Select A Talking Watch For The Visually Impaired

 

  

This is the Reizen Atomic Talking Watch I Selected For My Visually Impaired Mother 
Important Things I Discovered When My Visually Impaired Mother Needed A Talking Watch

If you are interested in a talking watch for someone who is blind or visually impaired, you may want to see the "Important Factors To Consider" I discovered when I was looking for a talking watch for my mother.
  

If you ever get diabetes, do everything you can to delay the symptoms it creates. My mother has been visually impaired for just a couple of years now, because the capillaries in her retinas have collapsed.   

She had several experimental drug injections, but just recently, she went completely blind. She says it's not as bad as you would think since she is now living in a nursing home, but she got really excited last weekend when my wife asked here if she would like to have a talking watch.

We took her out to eat at Cracker Barrel for her 77th birthday, and we had almost given up on giving her a birthday present since there's not much room in a nursing home room ... especially when you have to keep your wheelchair there with you.

But after I saw how excited she was about the idea of a talking watch ... especially since she's been visually impaired and hasn't even seen a watch in the two years ... I just had to get her one.

The problem is which talking watch is is best for her?

There are lots to choose from ... you can get a talking wrist watch, a talking pocket watch, or a talking pendant watch. You get a wind-up talking watch, an atomic talking watch, and different kinds of watch bands. After thinking about it for awhile, I came up with a list of important factors to think about, and I thought this list might be valuable to other visually impaired or blind people.

I didn't much care about a nice quality watch for a very reasonable price. If you want, you can see it and hear it talk in my video below. I don't think we could have found a better birthday present. My mother is proud of it, and doesn't have to feel like she's bugging people all the time.

Specialty Talking Watches

4 Alarm Talking Watch   

Casio Talking Watch With Alarm   

Gold One Button Talking Watch   

Kids Talking Watch   

Men's One Button SPANISH Talking Watch   

Men's One Button Talking Watch   

Men's Talking Calendar Watch   

Men's Talking Pocket Watch For The Visually ImpairedMen's Talking Pocket Watch  

One Button Talking Watch   

Quartz Talking Watch   

Reizen Atomic Talking Watch
(High-visibility black numbers)  

Reizen Atomic Talking Watch (diamond numbers)   

Reizen Talking Watch (water resistant)   

Reizen Water Resistant Talking Watch   

Talking Pendant Watch For The Visually Impaired
Talking Pendant Watch
   

Talking Pocket Watch   

Travel Talking Alarm Clock For The Visually ImpairedTravel Talking Alarm Clock   

Voice-Activated Talking Alarm Clock   

Women's One Button SPANISH Talking Watch   

Women's One Button Talking Watch  

Women's Talking Calendar Watch   

Here's my list of important stuff to think about when buying a talking watch for the visually impaired:

4 Buttons, 2 Buttons, or One Button Talking Watch:

Nearly every talking watch I found had 4 buttons ... 2 on each side. The thing that bugged me about that was ... I thought my mother would likely put it on and take it off every day since she has dialysis through her left forearm ... and she wouldn't want to ask someone to put it on for her. 

What if she put it on upside down? ... With two buttons in the same place on both sides, how would she know?

She can't see it. What if it's upside down, she pushes the wrong button, and it goes into some funky mode? 

The online ads don't even tell you what the 4 buttons are for. I could just see her trying to get the nurses, assistants, and social workers to fix it back to normal ... and she ends up frustrated with a watch that doesn't work. She just doesn't need that aggravation at her age.

I thought the best option was a talking watch with just one button ... or at least buttons on just one side ... so she could tell the watch is on right and she hits the write button. 

Setting The Time On A Talking Watch You Can't See:

Since I got wrapped up in the thought about too many buttons screwing up the settings, I started to wonder ... how would a visually impaired or blind person set the time in the first place?

I decided my mother shouldn't have to set the time or get someone else to either. She should have on atomic talking watch that sets itself and even adjusts automatically for daylight savings time.

Having figured out I wanted a one button atomic talking watch for her, the problem was I couldn't any ... there are no atomic talking watches with just one button! But I came up with a solution ... watch the video to see what I did!

Wind Up Versus A Battery-Power Talking Watch:

Since I chose an atomic talking watch that sets itself, this decision is almost made for me. If she has a battery-operated talking watch, she never has to worry about winding it up each day. I would hate to be blind and push the button and realize I forgot to wind it up ... 

"Where's the nurse? I need the time set again ..."

Talking Pendant Watch, Talking Pocket Watch, or Talking Wrist Watch:

The next question is where is she going to wear it? 

As I mentioned above, you can get a talking wrist watch or you can get a talking pendant watch you wear around your neck, or a talking pocket watch. In the nursing home, my mother rarely wears anything with pockets, so a talking pocket watch was not an option. I guess you could put the pocket watch on a necklace and wear it around your neck, but I thought a talking pendant watch might get tangled up with the dialysis cables and tubes ... or fall down to the side where she couldn't check the time during dialysis. 

That was important, because lying perfectly still for 3 hours during dialysis sucks, and I think she really wanted to be able to see how much longer before she's free again. 

Plus, if you have a safety alert pendant, it could get tangled up with a talking pendant watch. Safety alert necklaces tend to be lightweight too, so if it got tangled up and broke the safety alert necklace, that could be really dangerous ... Or it could accidentally set off the safety alert. So, Mom got a talking wrist watch.

Talking Watch Band Types:

Since I chose a talking wrist watch, I had to pick a type of watch band. They come in leather bands, "Slap Straps" (which are kinda cool), and metal stretch bands. I can't fasten leather bands myself, and I can see! So, getting the stretch band was an easy decision. I could have gotten a "slap strap" which is a straight band that wraps itself around your wrist when you gently slap it on against your arm; they are cool and probably work pretty good, but they cost an extra $10; I wasn't sure my mother would like them or not.

Shock Resistant Talking Watch:

I thought a shock resistant talking watch would be best for a visually impaired or blind person in a nursing home with all hard surface floors, but none of the ads I was said anything about shock resistance. So, I had to take my chances on that.

Alarm Talking Watch:

Some of the talking watches have an alarm feature, but I wondered if you are visually impaired enough to think about getting a talking watch, how can you see well enough to set the alarm? Later, I discovered the watch talks to you as you set the alarm, but I didn't know that at the time ... I guessed you could get someone else to set the alarm for you, but what if you hit the wrong button again and screw it all up? In the nursing home, the nurses and aides tell my mother every time she needs to be somewhere; so she didn't need an alarm talking watch.

Volume & Voice On Talking Watch:

Now these features are important. It can be a bit noisy in a nursing home during the day especially with dialysis machines all around you. Plus, many older people can't hear that well either; that's not a problem for my mother, but it is something to consider before buying a talking watch. One of the reasons I selected the talking watch I bought was because someone wrote the following review:

I purchased [this talking watch] for my blind father. He is totally dependent on it. He can't accidentally change the time as he did with other talking watches. The voice is male and easy for him to hear. Some of the talking watches have a computerized voice, some a woman's and both of those were hard for him to hear.  - T. Beauchamp - 

If you want to hear the talking watch for yourself, play the video on this page.

Waterproof Talking Watch:

I thought it would be nice to get a waterproof talking watch. There are no truly waterproof talking watches, there are water resistant talking watches,  but most of the ads didn't say anything about water resistance, and it wasn't really necessary. I did find a few water resistant talking watches, however; you can see it in the Specialty Talking Watches box on this page.

Size, Color, & Men's Talking Watch Versus Women's Talking Watch:

These were all features I didn't think mattered very much for a visually impaired or blind person. Even with a woman's talking watch, the face tends to be fairly large so the numbers are more visible; so what's the difference? That said, there is a large selection of men's talking watches and women's talking watches available; check the Specialty box on this page to see some of them.

NOTE:  None of the atomic talking watches come in men's versus women's styles; they all use unisex styling.

These are the most important features I came up with, and my Mom loves her new atomic talking watch. This is the talking watch I got her and it even comes with a cassette that explains how to use the buttons.

So, you can see and hear the talking watch firsthand (including my solution to the one-button issue I mentioned earlier), I made a short video you can watch. Just click the picture below to play it.


Video: Talking Watch For The Visually Impaired Or Blind

 

Wishing you the best,

  Bryan

Dr. Bryan Stoker
Founder & President
Lifestyle Publishing

The article above presents the features I found to be most important when selecting a talking watch for someone that is visually impaired or blind, and the links in the "Specialty Box" are my "Best Picks" for each category. However, you can also click here and look up whatever unique features you like in a talking watch. 

MaxiAids.com offering independent living products for blindness, low vision, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, disabled, challenged - click here

Articles About Talking Watches

www.Autopilot101.com/jewelry/talkingwatch.htm

  

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