Michael
Michael Gerwat, 64, from south Leeds, spent 21 years as a piano tuner to the stars, including: Elton John, Bob Dylan, Genesis, U2, Simple Minds, Wham, and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
He has been blind from birth. Twenty five years ago he lost his hearing, and with it, his career. From that, he then successfully turned to djing.
Michael, who also played the piano, said: "I'm totally deaf and blind. My only contact with the world is through my cochlear implants and computer equipment. I decided to publish a book about my life called 'Touch me please?; which I feel sure people would be interested in.
It's a very human and moving story, describing my career turning pianos from the top bands, and how difficult life was when I lost my hearing."
Liam
"A screen reader is very helpful for me (on the iPhone), but I also have my Braille device. Everything comes up in Braille and it mimics a keyboard.
If I play chess, or study chess... I download the games or the information needed off the internet, and then listen to it via the screen reader. I do this by connecting my Braille device to my phone via Bluetooth."
"We have trips out, go for different meals, when the weather is better obviously! You see... the difficulties arise becausethe council no longer have the money. There's not enough staff, as well as there being no facilities for the blind people. So, our group is the only group really where blind people can come. We would love to do things like teaching people! For example, I could show people how to shop online, but it's all about the resources unfortunately."