LYNDA Strickland (pictured) lost much of her sight to macular degeneration six years ago, but has refused to let the condition rule her life.

Within two weeks in November 1997, her sight collapsed and she faced a future with her central vision replaced as if by a "thick fog". Only peripheral vision remained.

Despite this, the editor's secretary at the Argus maintained her job for four years, until she retired, and continues an active social life in the St Julian's area of Newport, where she remains this newspaper's Grassroots correspondent.

The disorienting and demoralising effects of sight loss are many and varied, and people cope in different ways.

For Lynda, strong support at home has been matched by her determination and what she recognises as a generous slice of luck.

"When I look back I had had symptoms, such as straight lines appearing wavy, but I had put up with that," she said.

"My vision collapsed completely within about two weeks. My optician first recognised it as macular degeneration.

"One thing I always remember is the consultant at the hospital, when I told him the job I did. He just said it was out of the question and I should ask for lighter duties.

"I was very lucky because I had a friend who had a similar problem from when he was young, and he told me how exactly I could get on in work with the help of technology.

"The visual aids that were brought in enabled me to carry on pretty much as I had before."

Technology is the key to enabling partially sighted people such as Lynda overcome the problems.

She has a computer kitted out with speech and magnification software, a scanner to help read printed and typed material, such as gas bills and bank statements, and a mini tape recorder to help her work for Grassroots.

Other gadgets include talking books equipment - she is awaiting delivery of a new machine that takes CDs as well as tapes - and heat sensors for cups, which tell her when a cup is nearly full when she makes tea or coffee.

"They are very simple and make life a lot easier. My life is very technology-driven.

"Some of it I couldn't do without, such as the scanner. That is great for checking, for instance, a bank statement against a cheque-book. Without a visual aid you would have to ask someone, and that is your privacy and independence lost.

"Some aids you can get away without.

"I am so glad I have got my computer, but if I have a bad day I just want to pick it all up and throw it out of the window!"