Guiding a Person with Vision Loss

It's Throwback Thursday and here's a video on how to guide a person with vision loss.

It's Throwback Thursday and I'm posting what was my most popular blog post! I've updated with new material from different people as well.

Are you THAT Clueless?

This is a list of stuff I've heard over the years regarding my Deaf/Blindness...

* "Oh you must really miss hearing things" - How can I miss something I've never had in the first place??

* "You don't look Deaf or Blind" - Uhh how am I supposed to look? Have a freaking sign around my neck?

* (Asked to my Mother) "How is your daughter doing?" (Mom'ssnapback) "Ask her she's standing right here!"

* "What's it like being Deaf?" - Dunno what's it like being Hearing??

* "How long are you going to stay Deaf?" = How long are you going to stay stupid?

* (Explained to someone I'm Deaf and need to lipread) (person turns white and freezes in fear) - Oh for crying out loud it ain't contagious!!

* (Turns around to catch someone glaring at me) "What's the matter with you!! YA DEAF???" - Yes I am, what's your excuse?

* (Taps way into room with White Cane) "Hey! How'd ya get here? Drive?" - Yeah! I stuck my cane out the window and tapped on the road ahead of me!

* (Explaining how a Hearing Ear dog works) "So when the doorbell or phone rings..." (interrupted) "Oh then the dog BARKS at you!" -Uhhh no I'm Deaf remember???

* "Deaf people can't have sex" "Whaaa? Where the hell ya come up with that?" "Well they can't hear the sounds of lovemaking or see in the dark to talk..." (facepalm)

* (Explained I'm Deaf) (Enunciating) "Ohhhh Caaaaaaanyoooooouuuuu uuuunderstaaaaaaaand meeeeeeeee?" (I really wanna punch these people).

* (At a home show...leaning against my White Cane...waiting) "Oh where ya get that?" "pardon?" "The free stick!" "I'm blind and this helps me get around" (like there's a table giving away free "sticks" to the first 200 people)

* "You can't be Deaf! You're understanding me!" - it's called lipreading dufus

* (Spotted my C.I.) "Oh is that the new Bluetooth??"

* (Asked after explaining why I was bringing my Hearing Ear dog in the building) "Oh so the dog's gonna interpret for you?"- I'm lost for words

* "Where are ya from? Where's the Accent from?" - it's called a Deaf accent.

* (Bill Collector calls house - Hearing Son answers) "Hello may I speak to your mother?" "She's Deaf and can't hear on the phone" "I don't believe you!" "Okay" *click* - Good boy :)

* "Oh so you're into Goth, ghosts, graveyards and such?" "Whaaa??" "You said you were a member of the Association of the Death" "of the DEAF!!"

* (Explained I can't hear the PA system and please come get me.....after a looooong wait I inquire about my turn) "We tried calling you ten times!!"

* (Passed a note with "Can you read and write" written on it) I grabbed their pen and wrote "No I can't" and pass it back, they become sad and walk away. WTH???

* (After asking for something in a store) "It's over there" "Over where? I'm nearly blind (holding up White Cane)." "You can't be...ya got glasses on" (trying hard not to whack 'em with my cane)

And THEY think we're dumb???

New Material

After this blog came out, I've had several new ones sent to me:

* "I'll pray for you, then you can become normal" Whoa! As a Christian I understand the need for prayer and intercession, but please if you need to pray - pray for my family finances, good jobs or widsom, NOT for me to be "normal".

* To a wheelchair user "It must be great to be sitting down all the time." Oh sure, they're always sitting when they got to drag their legs in and out of the car, in and out of the tub, trying to reach the cupboards, yeah easy life...shaddup!

* To a Blind person "I'd kill myself if I went Blind" Blind man's comeback "Why wait?"

* To a Blind person "When you eat, how do you know where your mouth is?" Ever eaten popcorn in a dark theatre? Found your mouth then??? Shaddup!!

* "Why do you have a Cell Phone? You're Deaf!" Uhh there's texting......and other apps for communicating!

* "How do Blind People wipe their butts?" Seariously??? I've heard the expression "He can't find his own ass with both hands and a flashlight" but it doesn't make it true! When's the last time you've seen a mirrored toilet so you can see your own ass to wipe?? Good grief!!!

* Asked to almost EVERY Deaf person "Can you drive?" Can YOU drive with the stereo blaring, carrying on a cell phone conversation, chatting with everyone in the car or screaming kids?? Same thing! I once saw Hubby's friend drive a stick shift tow truck, backing into driveway with a coffeecup in one hand, cig in the other & a cell phone to his ear!!

* A Deaf mother was asked by several Doctors "How are you going to communicate with your new daughter - let alone take care of her if you're Deaf?" Wow! Uh doc...it's called ASL!! Look it up!

* "Do Deaf people get tired of Signing?" No but we get tired of idiots (sweet smile).

* Find out the person has a Disability "But you look so happy?" WTH!!?? Am I supposed to be pitiful, depressed & wailing at the world to help me?? Good Gawd NO!! (It'll make me happier to hit these people....but not going there).

* To blind person "Oh you're Blind? You must like Stevie Wonder & Ray Charles! Do you swing your head back and forth like them??" I'm speechless......

* To person on crutches "You got to be faking it so you can get Disability, not have to work & get all the cool parking spots!" I'm so glad there's no disability benefits for pure idiots!! 

Now this is just all in good fun! I am willing to answer curious questions from people on my disabilities as I feel the simplest way to erase ignorance is by educating. I'm sure there are others who don't mind either. But PLEASE think your questions through! :)

This is a 2 for 1! Helpful tips for living with Low Vision

It's Throwback Thursday and I'm posting a 2 for 1!! I did this blog post back in 2008, and sadly the technology hasn't advanced much since.

Deafblind Access - Where? (Part One)

The other day I did an internet search for DeafBlind Accessibility products I was suprised to find it amazingly limited!

On one Accessibility Products "Vendor" site, there's about 200 products for "Deaf or Hard of Hearing" such as: ttys, videophones, visual alerts, pagers, volume controls, amplifiers, closed captioned televisions, captioned phones, hearing aids, CIs, etc.

On the same site there's about 300 products for "Blind or Low Vision" like Braillers, screenreaders (reads computer screen to speech), talking clocks, magnifiers, Large Print materials, talking handheld GPS system, audiobooks, money identifier, and a variety of equipment that "speaks".

But there's only 7 products for "DeafBlind" like Braille ttys, tactile alert (pager vibrates when phone rings, door knocks, etc), TellaTouch (a manual typewriter with a Braille output: person types their message on keyboard and the DeafBlind feels the Braille), and a few vibrating/tactile products.

Only 7 things?? What the Hell???

Then after my blog on "DeafBlind Communication", it hit me! There's no way to categorize "DeafBlind" products because we are so widely varied in our needs. The individual that has some usable hearing can choose to use an amplified system (FM system) and volume controls. Others with usable vision, like myself, can choose Large Print products and magnifiers. So we really end up "picking and choosing" from products on both lists. But for the "truly" DeafBlind with no usable vision or hearing, the products are very limited.

(To be Continued....)

Deafblind Access - Where?? (Part 2)

(Rod Sterling's Voice) "..... This is the dimension of imagination. It is the area which we call....The Twilight Zone" (Spooky music)

In an apartment, a DB person is watching TV via her "CaptionBrailler", finds out the weather will be sunny all day. She collects her "CommuniBraille" and her computerized white cane and heads out on her errands. The white cane feeds her information about her surroundings via a touchpad on her belt, "Amy's Bodega is on your right" the touchpad spells out in Braille. She slowly taps her way down the street until the touchpad informs her "Post Office across the street on your left". She stops at the crosswalk and feels the crosswalk button until it vibrates, signaling that it's safe to cross. She crosses and enters the post office. Making her way to the counter she takes out her CommuniBraille" and types in "May I have 2 stamps please?" The CommuniBraille voices her request and the postmaster slips 2 stamps into her hand.

Meanwhile across town another DB person who has some sight enters the grocery store. He's wearing computerized sunglasses and is carrying his handheld "ASLContact". He searches the aisle signs which the sunglasses magnify 4 times, he finds the canned goods aisle and walks down. An employee approaches him and talks to him. He notices her and holds up his ASLContact to her. A small sign on the front requests her to speak into the microphone. She asks again "Do you need help?" The ASLContact's screen lights up and a computerized figure signs in ASL. He types in "I'm looking for Chicken Soup" and a voice speaks his request.

Alright, alright, (clicking TV off) now that was farfetched eh? Is any of this possible?

Some of it actually is getting close to reality. Let's go over the scenarios:

"CaptionBrailler" - There seems to be 2 products available called the "Braille TeleCaption System" and the "Closed Caption/Braille Computer System (CCBCS)". Notice I said "seems", these products are listed on www.deafblind.com 's listing of equipment available. But further research turns up nothing on the internet.

"CommuniBraille" - There is a product that allows communication via "instant messaging". It's called the FaceToFace by Freedom Scientific (www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/facetoface-product-page.asp). It's a pocket PC with Bluetooth technology that allows the DB to have conversations wirelessly with anyone they need to. The DB types on their Braille keyboard and the other person types on a keyboard on another handheld PC (included). But can it convert Braille to Voice like I imagined? No, not yet.

"Computerized White Cane" - Is this available? No it's not (but would be kewl). But there is a white cane that uses sonar (like bats) that alerts the user via vibrations. This would alert the user of objects either overhead or in front of them.

"Vibrating CrossWalk" - Yes this product is available! More and more "Audible Crosswalks" are popping up across the US and Canada which alert the "Hearing Blind" to cross by loud beeps. Sadly though there are very few tactile vibrating crosswalks.

"Computerized Sunglasses" - There is such a product called "Bioptic telescope glasses". This product is made by Ocutech (www.ocutech.com), and are glasses or sunglasses which have a miniature telescope on top. These can magnify your vision up to 4 times.

"ASL Contact" - There are products for the computer that can translate spoken English into ASL. The limit is that the "speaker" has to program their voice into the program and then the computer can recognize the speech from that user only. It cannot be "taken anywhere" and recognize any speaker. Are we getting closer with this technology? I believe so. There are many "spoken" operated products available (such as 'Sync), so we're getting closer and closer to this being available.

Now why don't more DeafBlind have these products in their arsenal? The biggest reason is $$$. The sonic cane I mentioned runs about $700 bucks! Some day in the future things will get smaller and cheaper; hey, our home computers used to be big clunky things that ran into the thousands of dollars.

Now a little "disclaimer" - The twilight zone story told here is totally fiction made up inside my warped imagination. So don't be emailing me about "I never saw that episode!" (wink)

Every Thursday I will repost an old blog or video from my previous site.

Today is an old video called "White Cane Stories" whereWhite Cane Stories
 I share my experiences with a white cane. Captioned for the Signing Impaired (hit CC)
Let me know if you rather have a transcript.
Enjoy!!