A Vision Without Sight

“I am only one, but still I am only one.  I cannot do everything but still I can do something.  I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” — Helen Keller

What Are Dual Media Books? Dual Media books that are made for both print and braille readers.  They are usually that print version of the book with clear braille pages or braille above or below the print.  Dual Media books are great for blind parents or parents with blind children or both!  You can experience the pictures through picture descriptions that some books have.  This creates an experience that both sighted and blind readers can enjoy.  How To Make Your Own Dual Media Books I do this quite frequently.  Below are the steps I take to make a regular print book into a dual media book. Buy the print version of the book, usually off Amazon. Download the word doc from book share.  I edit out all the extra type and things that I will not braille like copyright stuff etc.   Using JAWS Screen reader I have it read the page to me one sentence at a time and I braille it on paper. Proofread the paper copy. On Braillables aka Braille...

One of the most eye opening perspectives presented by Stella Young.  Please Watch and Comment Below!

How Do Blind People Identify Their Money? Blind people identify their money in a variety of ways.  There is no right way to do it, it is what works for you.   The most common way is Money Folding The money is folded based on its denomination. Ones — unfolded Fives — Fold in half lengthwise (Hot dog style) Tens — Fold in half by width (Hamburger style) Twenties — Combination of two folds, One length wise and then by width.   Each Coin has a different characteristic to help you determine it by touch. You can feel the size then determine by the ridges or lack of ridges on them Penny — Smaller than nickel bigger than a dime with smooth edges Nickel — Medium with smooth edges Dime — small with ridges Quarter — Large with ridges 50¢ piece — really huge with ridges Some people choose Wallets with Dividers Some people choose to get a wallet with dividers or organize their money as they receive it and organize it based on memory of how many...

The Importance of Having a Spare Cane It is VITAL! I cannot stress this enough! I was packing for a trip to my parents house in Chicago.  I was only expecting to be gone ten days.  I have used my NFB Folding Cane and only really use it when traveling or going to crowded places and restaurants.  I figured it hasn't gotten much use so it should last ten days right?...Wrong.  I got to Chicago and unfolded my can and low and behold, the point of connection between the fourth and fifth pieces had frayed and the connection is weak.  Great.... I don't have a usable cane and I am no where near a center that sells NFB canes.  They don't sell long white canes on amazon and the Independence Market was closed.  I thought about the Free White Cane program but I had already requested my cane in the last 6 months so I was not eligible,  I called D Canes, the maker of the Nebraska Cane, aka Bob Riley, and he didn't answer at first.  Luckily....

How Do I Go Shopping? Many people ask, How do you go shopping for groceries or clothes without being able to see what you are getting?  Answer?....Shopping Assistant. What is a shopping assistant? A shopping assistant is usually a customer service or store employee that will walk around the store one-on-one with you and gather the items you request.  If you are shopping for clothes it is a bit different, How do I get one? To get a shopping assistant, in any store, walk to the customer service counter and ask for a shopping assistant.  Sometimes you get better assistants that others.  If I am clothes shopping I am usually with my mom but when I use an assistant, I can ask questions like "what color is this" "what size" I even ask "does it look like it fits?"  "how much is it?"  "are there any sales going on?"  I prefer to go shopping with someone who I have a relationship with like my mom, sister or close friend because I k...

This is the National Federation of the Blind Color Guard made up of members of the federation family, presenting the colors at National Convention in Las Vegas! I love that blindness does not hold these individuals back from sharing patriotism with our world.  Video Description:   Color Guard linked together with one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them displaying the multiple flags as they march off following the presentation of the colors.

Bookshare — Bringing Literacy to People With Print Disabilities Website https://www.bookshare.org/cms/ What is it? Bookshare is an ebook library that makes reading easier. Members can access a huge collection of ebooks and  read their way  with the most customizable ebooks  “for people with reading barriers.  The library has  “748,878 titles and is the most extensive collection of accessible ebooks in the world. It includes books for school, career, and reading pleasure, as well as titles in over 34 languages. The collection is supported by a dedicated volunteer community and partnerships with over 820 US and international publishers. Who Qualifies? In order for you to become a Bookshare member, an expert must confirm that you have a print disability that severely inhibits or prevents you from reading traditional print materials. Anyone in the world with a qualifying print disability may join Bookshare. (Learning Disabil...

Accessible Dungeons and Dragons Have you ever wanted to be able to be whisked away to the magical world of Dungeons and Dragons but could not because it was not accessible? Well it is now!  Bookshare has come out with all the players manuals available to you for FREE if you have signed up with them. (Bookshare is a database of texts someone with a print disability can sign up for, free membership if you are a student.) You can download them in an audio, BRF, WORD, EPUB or Daisy file onto your computer or onto your phone using VoiceDream Reader App.  (I will do another post about Bookshare and VoiceDream Reader soon.) You can now 3-D print any character and any braille or Nemeth version of the dice for the game, just download the design file and.... There you go.  A picture of a Nemeth D-20 (20 sided die) is below.  Now you juts need some friends and you're ready to be a Dungeon Master or any player in the fantasy world.  Image Description: Nemeth D-20 Di...

How to make an Accessible UNO Game I bought a UNO deck.  A great game for kids and adults.  They are great for individuals who are Visually Impaired who can see large print and high contrast print.  It is pretty easy to make accessible for blind individuals as well using braille.  How did I do it?  I have some vision and could identify each card using a CCTV that magnifies things.  I then put each card individually into a braille writer and brailled the number and the color.  So for a yellow number one, I brailled it as one y.  So I typed on the braille writer... number indicator, one, y for yellow.  Total there were three characters using three cells.  For cards like reverse and skip I would do RVG for reverse green and SKB for skip blue.  There are a total of four characters of space you can type on the top of your card, so I could type WILD.  If you need more space you can always adjust your margins on your braille writer....

If you have time, read this.  Every empowering and uplifting. I heard him speak at the NFB Banquet at national convention in Vegas.  Choice, Exploration, and Resistance: The Road to Freedom for the Blind An Address Delivered by Mark A. Riccobono, President At the Banquet of the Annual Convention Of the National Federation of the Blind Las Vegas, Nevada July 12, 2019 Freedom: the quality or state of being free, such as the absence of constraint in choice or action. Freedom: a widely celebrated concept but one that is often taken for granted by those privileged to have the most of it. Freedom: a standard built upon the benefit of choice. The poet Robert Frost wrote a number of works about choice. The most well-known is “The Road Not Taken” in which a choice is offered between two roads—one seemingly safer, but the other with more opportunities for adventure. The poem ends with these often-quoted lines: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one...

Here are some blind pet peeves I have gathered from different blind people as well as my own experience.  I like to say that it is important to be positive and nice in your responses as blind people when things like this happen because many sighted people are just trying to be aware and courteous, they just have not been around many blind people or have not be educated on it.  If you can, take a second and provide some feedback to those who do these pet peeves so the next time they know how to go about these things appropriately.  We also don't want someones only interaction with a individual who is blind or visually impaired to be a negative or hostile one. I have also included some ways people around us including sighted people could become more aware of.  These are in no particular order. When people grab me and start helping without asking. I appreciate that you would like to help but if I walked from my home to the bust stop, I'm pretty sure I can step up ont...

Below is a transcript attained through the National Federation of the Blind Monitor.  It is a wonderful speech by Kenneth Jernigan This gives people the perspective of the blind and how we identify our blindness not as a horrible thing but as something we live with that does not define us.  These words give me chills, tears in my eyes and make me feel empowered. Blindness: A Left-Handed Dissertation by Kenneth Jernigan Everyone is familiar with the "revolution of rising expectations" which has raised the consciousness of deprived and dependent populations the world over during the generation since World War II. Abroad this trend has taken the form of independence movements, the rise of new nations, and the decline of the old colonial empires. Within the United States it has found famous expression in the civil rights movement of the "black-brown-red-yellow" revolt; the feminist movement, known as women's liberation; the aggressive youth counterculture...

I have gotten many suggestions to do a post like this.  This is a compilation of my own points as well as some ideas and inspiration from other blogs.  Please comment if you have any you would add! These are in no particular order. Just because my vision changes, does not mean my interests do. Blindness and vision loss can feel socially isolating. We have "bad" and "good" vision days.  We don't dwell on our blindness daily.  Some might for a time if they are grieving their new vision loss. We all lead normal happy lives, we don't shut ourselves in a house and expect others to take care of us.  I still watch movies, clean my toilets, take out the trash and pick up my dogs poop.  Not all Visually Impaired people use a cane or guide dog.  Blindness is a spectrum.  Only 15% of blind people see total darkness. 84% see some light or have partial vision.   Speak to me normally. You can say "Nice to see you" because it is,  I...

Hello All, I wanted to show you how I made the appliances around my home accessible.  I made a list of the buttons I would use.  You can use a CCTV if you are low vision, a reader or a great app called Be My Eyes.  (Be My Eyes is a free app that calls up volunteers to face time and give you information about your surroundings. ) I made a list then abbreviated each button name to a one or two no more than three braille characters. For Example, Normal is "N" Start is "ST" For the buttons I use bump dots on each of the odd numbered buttons. On the dishwasher I also have a clean/dirty sign that has braille and is also high contrast colors so I can check if the load is clean or dirty.  This helps in households with multiple people so there is communication on whether or not the dishes are clean or dirty.  I do not enjoy having to smell the dishes to check to see if they are clean.    I have had microwaves in which I put braille numbers and I found t...