Category: Low Vision Aid

Talking to Your ATM

Before I get on the topic of this page, I want to give you a quick FYI. If you remember, I mentioned my monocular was full of condensation. Could not see a thing! Although I think many of you know this anyway, I just wanted to remind you: don’t throw it away; dry it out. I plopped mine down in a nice, warm patch of sunshine and it is all better now. Hair dryers work, too. Microwaves do not. Monoculars have metal on them.

And from low tech aids to high tech….automated teller machine, ATMs, money machines, call them what you will, they are practically ubiquitous to modern life. Problem is, most of them require you to see and read that glary, little screen. Yippee.

I have sort of memorized the one I generally use. As long as the questions are the same and the answers are in the same places, I’m good. When I first lost a lot of vision and I had not mastered the routine, it was nasty.

If you are still able to see, don’t just mindlessly push buttons. When you use an ATM, think about what you are doing and master the sequencing and positioning. It will serve you if you lose sight later.

You may not have noticed but many, many ATMs have jacks for headsets. American Federation for the Blind reported there are 100,000 ATMs that are able to be operated by voice just in the States alone. All you need is a headset with a microphone. Plug in and do your banking. The ATM will ‘talk’ to you and guide you through the transaction.

I found a 2012 article from the Telegraph reporting Barclay’s had installed audio technology in three quarters of their cash machines in England and Wales. They should be farther along in the process now. The technology was reported to work with pretty much any standard headset.

The article went on to say Barclay’s had made the modifications when they realized people were being required to share security information in order to make simple transactions. They were also concerned about “small and fiddly” buttons – you guys know how to describe things? – and inconsistencies among machines.

Not sure how many other banks are actually providing talking ATMs. Be sure to inquire if you are interested – and even if you’re not. It is always good to give these people a nudge.

Prashant Naik did a nice comparison between the talking ATM and ATMs with public voice guidance. He reported that each screen is voiced but everything is private because you are hearing it through the headset. If you want to blank out the screen, you can. Naik also remarked upon larger fonts and better contrast if you do chose to use the screen. Naik in fact wrote 24 comparison points in his chart. He concludes the talking ATM is a superior product.

And btw, Naik is writing about India so these things are available internationally.

Once again, I have not tried an auditory ATM myself. I am telling you what I have read. I will occasionally try something and report but at the moment I am functional with what I have and if I bought everything – like headphones with a microphone for example – I would soon be in the poorhouse. Still hoping for some audience participation, guys. Who has used an auditory ATM? Stand and report!

written July 30th, 2017

Continue reading “Talking to Your ATM”

Around the World of Books

Once again trying to be a ‘good’ or at least productive person and I am not getting very far. Only working part time this summer I have become rather unmotivated!

I finished listening to Rick Riordan’s The Dark Prophecy. That was through BARD. Just a note here confirming BARD has books for kids (real kids and kids in old lady bodies, like me!).

Not only do they have ‘chapter books’, they also offer picture books. I just downloaded Goodnight Moon, all two minutes of it. If you can no longer read to the grandchildren, BARD can come to your rescue. You just turn the pages and provide the hugs.

I also looked at Gutenberg.org a little more closely. They have thousands of titles, all in the public domain. That means the great majority of titles is over 100 years old. If you like the classics, they are available on Gutenberg.org and can be read on your NaturalReader. [To refresh your memory about NaturalReader, go to Sue’s pages Jabbering and Whoopsie.]

Oh, and they are looking for proof readers, too. A page a day would be acceptable. Apparently there was a 20 year moratorium on the ending of copyrights and it expires this winter. Gutenberg.org expects to be inundated by proof-reading work.

If you can edit and manage to read a page or two a day, you can help get the classics from early 20th century into the hands of people who may not be able to afford books.

That is in the States….

Looking for more sources of audiobooks, it appears Bookshare would be available to our international readers, all around the globe. Bookshare requires a statement by a ‘competent authority’ that you cannot access regular text. That could be a family doctor for you without access to vision professionals. Low and middle-income country citizens – countries like India, Egypt and Guatemala – pay $5 sign up fee and $10 annual membership fee for up to 200 books a month. Jeez, and I used to think I was a voracious reader!

Now, this being an American company, most of the books are in English. If you only understand Basque, you are limited to 110 titles. Could be worse. The Bulgarian speakers get 10. Germans hit the jackpot with 4,590. It would appear you should check their holdings before paying your money. Marathi speakers get 120 options. What IS Marathi, anyway?

Just browsing here it appears the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) has something similar to BARD in their Talking Book program. You must be a U.K. resident with a disability that does not allow you to read standard print. Not sure who makes that determination but the audiobooks look as if they are free.

And they give a tutorial on canes on their site! Nothing like a little ‘trivia’ lesson. White canes are guide canes for only visually impaired. Red and white canes are for the deaf/ blind. A long cane is used to help avoid obstacles and a symbol cane is to let people know you have sight loss and really did not run into them on purpose!

Ok. Now many of us know a little more than we knew 10 minutes ago. Anything else for the good of the order? Bye!

written July 23rd, 2017

Continue reading “Around the World of Books”

A Cat Eating a Shoe

Slowly getting my stuff together. The change in phone carriers and the accompanying set-up have been accomplished. Even with ‘plug and play; I am just about hopeless to begin with and then add a visual impairment. Oy vay. The pool that was green because the pump was down is blue again and six days into the two weeks left to live prediction, Beastie Baby is acting like she never got the memo. [Sue wrote this in July.  Beastie Baby has since passed away.]

Not arguing with it. It is often good to be unmindful of coming sadness. If she can enjoy short walkies and cheeseburgers (yes, spoiled dog), why not?

If there is no averting disaster I see nothing wrong with dancing on the deck of the Titanic. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die.

Planning my next ‘adventure’. Since the dog is elderly, etc. we really don’t want to leave her with a sitter when I go to Penn State. That means my husband drives me down and comes right home. I get to get a bus home. Happy, happy, joy, joy. My choices are taking eight hours – including a 3 hour layover – to travel 100 miles and end up at the bus stop in town here or riding the bus two hours to a town 45 minutes away and having my husband come rescue me there. I vote for option #2!

“You can’t get there from here” may not be a totally accurate statement but it seems pretty close. I will let you know how I do. I would like to say America allows freedom of movement for all, but I have a feeling things are not going to be that easy.

Lin asked me to download Seeing AI. Apparently it is all the rage right now and everyone is all atwitter about it. That said, apparently I am not that easily impressed. Seeing AI seems to combine the functions of several different apps into one. It does a better job describing scenes than some other apps, but bottom line once again is, it needs work.

Seeing AI did a nice job on identifying things on the fridge door as “food in a refrigerator” and the Beastie Baby truly was a “brown and white (and black!) dog on a bed”. Beyond that, we had some problems.

Two pairs of my husband’s shoes were “a cat eating a shoe”. Giggle. The app identified the concrete around the pool but failed to note the black inner tube or the pool just beyond. If I were totally blind I could have easily expected clear sailing, tripped over the inner tube and gone for an unexpected swim! Although the examples in the ads were things like “a 20 something girl smiling”, Seeing AI identified my colleague, a 30 something smiling girl, simply as “a person”.

I guess I have to say excellent start, good attempt, but I would not want to depend on this app to interpret my world for me. Too many chances to trip over inner tubes and end up swimming.

The app is absolutely free in the Apple App Store . The price is certainly right! Download it and try it for yourself. [It isn’t yet available for Android.  It was originally only available in the US and Canada but has recently been made available to people in the UK, Ireland and Australia.]

Check out a good review by Sam of The Blind Life on YouTube.

written July 19th, 2017

Continue reading “A Cat Eating a Shoe”

Whoopsie!

Whoopsie. Errata alert. I discovered the NaturalReader does NOT support Kindle like I thought [see previous page Jabbering]. This is because Kindle books are DRM (Digital Rights Management) books. Also iBooks, Nook and Adobe Overdrive. DRM is related to copyright laws. There are ways to get around the software ‘locks’ and you can easily find these offered on the web. However, they are illegal and we try not to encourage criminal behavior. Rumor has it scofflaws use something called Calibre. And that is what I know about that subject. ? [Lin/Linda here: I had to look up ‘scofflaws’ in the last sentence.  It is “a person who flouts the law, especially by failing to comply with a law that is difficult to enforce effectively.”]

I looked at Gutenberg.org and found titles like “The Paper Currency of England Dispassionately Considered”. Whoa.

Numismatists study coins AND paper money (thought it was just coins). Hopefully they would be enticed by that title. Me? Not so much.

So far on a cyber search of non-DRM ebook sources I find nuthin’. So for right now for ebooks on NaturalReader I guess it is Gutenberg.org or nothing. Remember if you are legally blind like moi, you can get BARD. I am just finishing listening to John Sandford’s Golden Prey. Love Lucas Davenport. Also, ebooks will zoom on a tablet so those with less of a vision loss can go that route. Sorry I fed you bum info.

And in other news, I passed the 100 mile mark on my bike today! This summer I have been using it for transportation. I realize for many of you your cycling days may be behind you; however, for those of you who can still ride and live in an area conducive to bike travel, it can be an option. Traveling at 7 miles an hour it is easier not to run into things than when you are traveling at 70 mph.

Of course, I almost had my first accident today. I was riding in the street parallel to some guy on a Jazzy (electric wheelchair) on the sidewalk. He decided he wanted to go across the street, swerved right and nearly took me out!

Maybe I should get a bell for my bike…or one of those horns with the red bulb. Anyway, glad I was able to avoid him. How do you explain being taken out by a Jazzy? It would be humiliating.

And because I am again prattling about things totally unrelated and of no great importance – and because I need about 150 more words! – I wanted to ask if you folks knew we are creating great investment opportunities? OK, maybe not us personally but I found a BusinessWire report on Global Age-Related Macular Degeneration Partnering Deals. They are hyping advice about buying into research and development of AMD treatments! They think people can make buckets of money off of us!

Now, some people may think it is rather opportunistic of these potential investors, but I think it’s great. The only way they can make said buckets of money is to invest in treatment we will buy. That generally means something that will work. If research is stirring up enough interest for people to be buying AMD specific investment advice, things have to be happening!

And that is the end of this page? Continue reading “Whoopsie!”

Jabbering

Greetings everyone! First of all, thank you for all of the birthday wishes [July 17th] and kind comments! I am amazed and overwhelmed. I sit here in my sun room, just kind of hanging out and having weird thoughts, and I sometimes forget there are real people reading the stuff. Probably better that way. I might become self-conscious. Not that that has ever happened in 64 years. No filters here. As in really NO filters. My mother used to ask me why I could not just LIE sometimes.

That said, nothing big planned for the b-day. Fighting rot and decay. I have my first physical therapy appointment for the rotator cuff tendinitis. Also, the container for the sand filter cracked and nicely soaked the garage with pool water so I am having the sand container replaced tomorrow.

Have you ever noticed you spend the first 40 years of life building and the next 40 trying to keep everything in working order?

My friend, the exercise enthusiast, and her family treated me to an escape/puzzle room last week. That was fun. We did the ‘tornado’ room. The premise is you have been hit by a tornado and you have to figure out how to open a locked door and escape before a second tornado strikes. This all involves finding clues and things you will need as well as figuring out a lot of ciphers. We ‘died’. We were only about ¾ of the way by the end of the hour and the second ‘tornado’ hit.

It was low light – a problem – and there were clues I could not read, but this is a team (up to 8) activity and I had people to do the fine seeing. I still have a brain and could sleuth out a lot of clues as well as have input on how to solve the puzzles. Enjoyed it. Would go again.

Low vision does not have to mean no fun.

And continuing to just jabber along here, I downloaded the Near Sighted VR app from Google Play. Lin sent me the cardboard goggles last week. My husband cut the hole for the camera to see through so it would actually be somewhere near centered. I downloaded the app. Nothing to that and the app is free, free, free! [Lin/Linda: it worked better for Sam at The Blind Spot and he says with some upgrades which he suggests, he thinks it will be an ‘awesome app’. Click here to see his review of it on YouTube.]

Not as enthralled with it as I was hoping to be. Not sure if the new phone (Hello, Moto!) does not have a decent camera or what the problem is, but I thought the image was pixel-y and a little wavy. Being a great one for motion sickness I am not sure I could use it very long without having an ‘incident’.  [Lin/Linda: there is also an app for iPhones called SuperVision Cardboard.  Click here for more information.]

Once again, although I would love to believe I am, I am not the final word on this stuff. I think we need other input on these products. Please let us know if you have tried anything and give us your input. My pans may be your picks and vice versa.

Last thing: I ran into a little gem called BookBub. They offer free and deeply discounted email books. Lin says she has used it for years and it is a good resource.

When dummy here set up her NaturalReader she failed to click on Kindle as one place she wanted to be able to download from. Cannot figure out how to go back and change the setting so I am in the process of also downloading the free version of NaturalReader. Hopefully I will be able to get into my Kindle account that way and give you info on how it works.

Once again, knowledge, insights, opinions? Please share. Support the cause. We are in this mess all together. Continue reading “Jabbering”

Timeline Part 1: Advances in Treatment & Care for People with Macular Degeneration

It’s Lin/Linda.  I created this page to go with Sue’s page Not Your Parents’ AMD.  Like some of you, I had a loved one with AMD.  It was my father who was diagnosed with AMD in 2005 at the age of 82.  At the time, I was living 700 miles away and I did not know much about the disease or at what stage he was diagnosed.  He progressed to geographic atrophy (GA), that much I knew.  He was the sole caregiver for my mother who had Alzheimer’s Disease.  He continued to drive (not safely), take care of her and the house.  He was never referred to vision rehabilitation or offered any help other than being told to use handheld magnifiers.

I wondered how things have changed since then which led me to do this timeline review.  Not only have there been advances in the medical end of the field but also in the technology that is allowing people to remain independent for as long as possible.  That is if a person learns how to use the various devices and apps available.

I’ve based the categories of time on an article Age-Related Macular Degeneration
1969 –2004: A 35-Year Personal Perspective by Stuart L. Fine, MD published in 2005.  He says “In 1969, patients with AMD constituted a small part of a typical ophthalmic practice. From 1969 to 2004, the prevalence of AMD has increased, and the methods of evaluation and treatment have changed dramatically.”

I know I have missed many events that have been critical to the history of the treatment & care of AMD.  There is SO much information out there and I’ve tried to use the most significant dates I could find.  Have a suggestion of what to include? Did I get a date wrong? Let me know in a comment or send me an email at light2sight5153@gmail.com.

1st Era: 1969–1979
  • Emergence of fluorescein fundus photography: test used in diagnosis of retinal diseases
  • Development of ‘hot’ (high power) laser photocoagulation, first treatment for wet AMD
  • Relationship of drusen to age-related macular degeneration
  • Other developments:
    • 1976-1977 first personal computers affordable for home use
    • more low vision aids:
      • 1960s large print books became available
      • 1976 large print calculators became available
      • 1969-1970 CCTV (closed caption TV) for reading aid
2nd Era: 1980–1994
  • Clinical trials to evaluate new treatments, especially laser photocoagulation (1979-1994)
  • Development of risk factor data from large and small epidemiologic studies (epidemology is looking for patterns & causes)
  • mid-1980s term ‘senile macular degeneration’ becomes ‘age-related macular degeneration’
  • Other developments:
    • 1982 Vitreous Society was founded; 1983 first meeting attended by 44 retinal specialists
    • 1991 OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) test used in diagnosis of retinal diseases
    • mid 1980s name changed from ‘senile macular degeneration’ to ‘age-related macular degeneration’
    • 1992 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
    • 1983 first cell phones
    • 1991 World Wide Web for ‘surfing’ the Internet with easy-to-use browsers
    • low vision aids:
      • MaxiAids catalog of aids for orders from people with low vision & other impairments
    • technology/low vision aids:
      • 1982 DragonSystems founded Dragon NaturallySpeaking, speech to text
      • 1988 ZoomText was released which is software to magnify text on a computer screen
3rd Era: 1995–2003
  • Evaluation of radiation therapy for neovascular AMD, not proven to be effective
  • Assessment of pharmacologic interventions for neovascular AMD; Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) “cold” (low power laser) with Visudyne (first drug treatment;  2001)
  • Prevention trials: results AREDS released 2001
  • Other developments:
    • 1995 Amazon sells books online (1998 expands beyond just books; e-books 2000)
    • 1996 Google released
    • 1998 first e-book reader The Rocket
    • 2000 GPS available for civilians; 2001 personal navigation systems available like Garmin and TomTom
    • 2000 Microsoft & Amazon sell e-books
4th Era: 2004 – 2017
  • Completion of ongoing trials for neovascular AMD: FDA approval: Macugen 2004; Avastin 2004; Lucentis 2006; Eylea 2011
  • Earlier identification of eyes at risk: regular use of OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) and other diagnostic tests
  • Prevention trials: results AREDS2 released 2013
  • Increased number of retinal specialists: eg, American Association of Retinal Specialists (ASRS), formerly Vitreous Society (see 1982 above), has 2700 members representing 60 countries.
  • Other developments:
    • 2011 First baby boomers turn 65
    • 2004 Facebook
    • 2013 first ‘bionic eye’ retinal implant, Argus II approved by FDA
    • technology:
      • 2007 Amazon Kindle e-reader; iPhone & Apple IOS
      • 2008 Android 1.0 & Android phone
      • 2010 Apple iPad
    • technology/low vision aids:
      • 2005 Apple VoiceOver for Mac users
      • 2009 VoiceOver added to iPhone IOS
      • 2010 FDA approved implantable telescope
      • smart glasses/wearable technology
      • 2014 KNFB Reader app for Apple & Android; 2017 for Windows 10
    • ongoing research areas:

Lions & Tigers & Bears…Oh My!

Home from ‘the City’ safe and sound. I was really no help with sign reading. None at all! However, I was able to program the phone’s GPS and help in areas I did know. I was also able to read site maps with my reader. [Lin/Linda: ‘the City’ is New York City.]

At The Met Cloisters I could use my telescopic glasses to look at the art ‘close up’. Beautiful tapestries, paintings and carvings.

I talked to one of the guards about whether they would be more handicapped accessible any time soon. The Cloisters is built on multiple levels and my companion for this jaunt has hip and heart problems. As far as vision is concerned, the descriptions were still on printed signs.

Many museums are going to QR signs. QR stands for quick response. They are the little ‘barcode’ squares you can scan with an app on your iPad or iPhone and get amazing amounts of information, even videos! Since you don’t have to actually stick you nose against a sign – your iPad will tell you the information – the system is much more low vision friendly.

Museums using the QR system include the Smithsonian and the National Museum in London. There are also a number of more local museums using the system. You can get the QR reader app from the Apple app store. I was going to try mine yesterday but The Cloisters is not fitted with the system. [Lin/Linda: there is a QR Code Reader for Android from Google Play.]

Since the rain was coming down in buckets – so much for that forecast!- we opted for the Bronx Zoo rather than the gardens. Unfortunately the zoo does not yet have the QR system either. However, for you who also have mobility issues, the zoo is very handicapped accessible and allows scooters and wheelchairs.

I saw the lions and tigers and bears, oh my! We also saw the gorillas who were incredible. With the more humane construction of zoos, I several times could not locate a creature in the foliage. Telescopic lenses helped some with that, but not a lot.

Bottom line on this? We had a successful day in the city. People were incredibly kind and friendly and we struck up conversations with maybe a dozen people. The museum and zoo have ways to go to become more accommodating for us with disabilities but all together it was not too bad. Since my companion had to do all the driving, I paid for gas and lunch.

Would I go back? Yes. Probably not The Cloisters because that was my second trip there and it has sort of ‘been done’ for me. We only got through about half of the zoo. I did not see the snow leopard or get my camel ride! Those things can happen another time. The Botanical Gardens could be that day, too. Some day it is sunny and pleasant.

What have been your experiences with different venues as a low vision person ? Any praise or pans for a place? Any suggestions for a traveler? Let us know!

written June 18th, 2017

Continue reading “Lions & Tigers & Bears…Oh My!”

UK Volunteer Wanted!

I am looking for a volunteer in the UK. This is an audience-participation event. Thinking it should be painless, but you never know ?.

To explain, I was surfing around, looking at some links Lin had sent me and found a bit of wearable technology called Sight Plus by Give Vision. Apparently this is a startup company that is doing pretty well. They have a Twitter page with a number of glowing commentaries. I found a couple of videos about a paralympic athlete and an eight year old boy with Stargardt’s. Pretty good stuff according to the clips. These goggles are supposed to be comparable in quality to other wearable technology and cost much less. (I cannot find a price, though). They are made with parts easily available. [You can click here for their Facebook page.]

But my point – and I do have one – is they give free demonstrations! I tried to sign up for one but they will only accept you if you live in the UK. Really! However, I have my ways to find things out.?

That is where you folks in Britain come in. I emailed the company and asked if we could send a ‘spy’ to try their product and report back to us. Just sent it and it is the middle of the night there so I don’t expect anything immediately. Just checking with you guys beforehand.

Presentations are on Liverpool, Sheffield, Exeter and London. The next one in London is June 19th. I realize that is cutting it close but I think they do their demonstrations monthly.

Any takers? Sign up is through givevision.net. Continue reading “UK Volunteer Wanted!”

Not Your Parents’ AMD

3 pm Monday and so far it is a good day. The pool guy is working on my new liner. The funny thingee on my tummy is a normal, benign growth and the transportation company got new vans with fancy logos painted on them. No more confusion with two dozen, white vans. Life is looking up!

Lin told me there was a conversation thread in the Facebook group about parents who struggled with AMD. People remember what their mothers and fathers went through and they are determined not to become like them.

I am reasonably sure my father’s vision problems were AMD. The more I think about it his father’s vision problems may have been AMD. I remember both of them using a handheld lens to read the newspaper as well as the really strange interpretations Daddy would have when it came to TV shows. I have no idea what HE was watching but it was not the same thing I was watching!

I have said it a couple of dozen times and I will say it again: this is the best time in the history of the human race to be losing our sight. Absolutely the best. You may not realize it. You may remember what you saw and think we are doomed to go there too but we are not. We really are not.

I tried a handheld magnifier for a couple of weeks. Not doing that again. They are very inefficient. I have my CCTV, my handheld reader and my iPad which can go in the Justand.

[Lin:Linda: To see what Sue uses on a daily basis, check out these pages: A Day in the Life and A Day in the Life:Work Day.]

I can get newspapers on my phone and books from BARD (there are other sources, too, as well as magazines which are available).  I’m able to take a picture of pretty much any text I want and my KNFB Reader will read it to me. The zoom feature on my iPad will allow me to read email and research pretty efficiently. ZoomText allows me to work. (refer to the “Day in the Life” pages above)

If I want to look at something a little distance away I can use my max TV glasses or my monocular. Not too bad.

Depending upon when Lin publishes this page, you either have or will be hearing about audio description services (coming soon!). If my father had had those for the TV we would have been “on the same page” a lot more than we were when we watched programs together. Audio description can also allow you to go to the movies and live theater and actually know what is going on.

Do I want to be losing my sight? Hell, no! This is not a walk in the park but it is not what Daddy endured either. Just the same he made it into his mid 80s and managed to take care of himself until other issues brought him down. If he could do it without all of the toys, I can do it.  [Lin/Linda: My dad had geographic atrophy & took care of my mother who had Alzheimer’s using several different handheld magnifiers & a few other low vision aids.]

Yet another reason to be optimistic is all of the exciting research happening. We are poised for a veritable explosion of treatments. Not cures, mind you, but treatments. Thirty years ago there was nothing.

[Lin/Linda: To see what’s in the research pipeline, click here.]

What can you do? Be willing. Use what has been provided. If you put that iPad your son gave you in the drawer you have absolutely no grounds for complains. Bluntly put? Your extra suffering will be your own damn fault.

What else? Volunteer. Sign up for clinical trials. Join support groups. Share your knowledge and skills.

Life – and this vision loss bit included – is the craziest thing you will ever experience and none of us get out alive. Make the most of it while you can.

Continue reading “Not Your Parents’ AMD”

Get Out of That Chair

OK. So I am a noodge. I harp. But you know it is for your own good!

And you also know there is no bigger zealot than a convert. I have sort of lived my life ‘in reverse’. Bookish intellectual before 25, fitness fanatic after. I preach (and preach and preach) exercise because it works.

Right now I am having no problems getting enough exercise in. That was ‘enough’. Not too little like many people I know and not too much like a few others. However, what happens when my vision gets worse?

People NEED activity! AARP did an article on how deadly sitting too much can be. That was the word I used: deadly. We already knew sitting too much can lead to cancer, diabetes, heart problems, yada, yada, yada. Now we know it can hurt your chromosomes, for crying out loud!
Telomeres are the ‘caps’ or aglets at the ends of your chromosomes. Nice, ‘big’ telomeres are sort of protective and are found in younger people. As we age we wear them down. Smaller telomeres mean we are closer to death. Think of what your shoestrings start to look like when you lose the aglets. Those laces are not long for this world.

AARP reported people who sit more than ten hours daily and get little exercise have cells that look to be 8 biological years older than those of their active contemporaries.

I don’t know about you, but I would like to have those 8 years!

And to add insult to injury, a sedentary lifestyle style makes you dumb. OK. They did not say ‘dumb’. They are what I am not: politically correct. That is what they meant though when they said you lose brain agility.

What are the alternatives? You have lost a lot of your sight and you are scared to death to move from your chair. People put everything within reach and leave you there. Fantastic, NOT!

Orientation and mobility (O&M) services are a great thing. Problem is they appear to be as scarce as hen’s teeth. If you cannot get O&M services request a free, white cane and start to practice. Back and forth to the bathroom a dozen times. Rest. Repeat. Have them set your lunch up on the kitchen table and walk there to eat. [Lin/Linda: In the US, you can get a free white cane from the National Federation of the Blind: click here.  In the UK, I’m told you can get a free white stick/cane from the NHS but I can’t find anything about it online.]

Even if you are afraid to leave your chair you can still do all sorts of things to exercise. Side bends, seated jumping jacks, leg raises, etc. Get a doctor’s clearance and go to it. Remember this is both quality and quantity of life we are talking about.

That is pretty much it for his post. Staying mobile and agile (not to mention strong and flexible as well having good endurance AND good balance) is the key to health and contentment, good vision or not. Continue reading “Get Out of That Chair”

App Update

Back to the Daniel Roberts article. Actually sort of back to Roberts himself. I just watched a video of him using the LowViz Guide.  [Lin/Linda:  we published Sue’s page Comparison Shopping on June 5th, 2017, where she talked about Dan Roberts.]

The LowViz Guide was basically Roberts’ brainchild. It is an indoors navigation system. Can’t find your way around the hospital or the cruise ship? The LowViz Guide may be able to help.

I say maybe because the venue – be it conference center, hotel or hospital – has to have been tricked out with iBeacons. Your smart device ‘talks’ to the iBeacons, the iBeacons talk back and your device tells you where to go.

(I find that only fair since I have told my devices “where to go” on numerous occasions!)

In the video Roberts demonstrated the app has not only VoiceOver capabilities but also gives you ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ signals. The ‘cold’ signal is very irritating as, I guess, befits a message that is saying “wrong way, buddy!” It would make me want to go the proper direction just to shut it up. (A perfect example of negative reinforcement for you psychology students.)

There is an informative article on the LowViz Guide on the American Federation of the Blind website. It does not say where the iBeacons have been installed and I got the impression the cost of installing these things is not small.

The LowViz Guide app is downloadable for free from the app store. [Lin/Linda: I don’t see an Android version yet.] If you can get a list of places with iBeacons and you are actually going there it might be fun to see how it works.

Another new technology I found interesting was Aipoly. The ‘Ai’ in the name stands for artificial intelligence, of course. Funded by Google, according to Natasha Lomas in a 2015 article, Aipoly uses computer vision and machine learning technology to recognize what is going on in photos you take with your device. Aipoly is supposed to be able to identify multiple objects in a scene. It is also reported to be able to identify the relationships between things in the photo. For example, Aipoly would say something like girl eating ice cream. It is sort of like Be My Eyes minus the thousands of volunteers.

The whole process can take as little as five seconds to have a scene described. The longest time is said to be about 20 seconds.

The most seriously cool feature of Aipoly -and one that will undoubtedly interest our readers in Massachusetts – is the system has the beginnings of the ability to identify facial expression!

As of the writing in 2015, the system was starting to be able to recognize very exaggerated facial expressions! It is not yet ready to describe subtle expressions but there is hope.

Be aware this system does not work in real time, but they are trying to get there. They are also trying to get it into as many hands as possible. I am downloading a free version from the App store even as I am writing this. They have also come out with an Android version. Not sure if there is a cost for that or not. [Lin/Linda: It is free, too.]

I will let you know how it works later. Taking some time to load. And, by the way, I don’t have to be the only product tester. Feel free to download it and experiment yourself. Continue reading “App Update”

How Many Favors?

One of the problems with being a cockeyed optimist and a Pollyanna is I always expect good things and relatively easy sailing. When that doesn’t happen, frankly, I become perturbed. I HATE to be thwarted.

Last evening I started downloading Golden Prey (book by John Sandford) from BARD. It has stopped several times since then.

I think it has to do with too much in my iPad memory. My ability to clutter up my environment extends to technology and cyberspace!

Another case of “do as I say, not as I do”. Deleting books you have already listened to is fine. You can always get them again. FYI for you non-technical savvy folks, your devices will run faster if you do.

My schedule is changing for the summer and I have to figure that out. Transportation will only pick up until 7 pm. After that my coach turns into a pumpkin! (Of course, for some of the ‘lemons’ I have ridden in, that would be an improvement!)

I have been picking up signs a woman who has dutifully transported me up for the last 15 months has gotten tired of it and needs a break. Changing my schedule so that I can ride my bike at least some of the time and take up some of the rest of the slack with transportation should work. I also have a co-worker who has started to take some of the same classes and who has offered to haul me. Also another gym friend.

People truly are wonderful and generous but they are not saints. Problem becomes they hate to let you down and will keep on helping even when it is no longer convenient.

I am starting to think I need some sort of rotation system. I already try to limit how many times I impose in one week. I try to keep it under three rides – counting someplace and back as two – a week for any one person. Except my husband, of course. He drew the short straw when he married me!?

Once again there needs to be some sort of etiquette book for this! Any ideas about the ride dilemma? How many favors for the old, visually impaired chick is too many?

Still haven’t got the new pool liner. Got that call at 7 am as the rain poured down.

And my frustration that you may actually care about….Aipoly, or at least the free version I downloaded, did not live up to its hype! My diet Pepsi bottle was “a wine bottle” (however, that is a thought!) and my glare glasses were “one string of headphones”. I got too close to my sandal when I took the photo so that was “a basket” although when I pulled back and tried again, Aipoly got it right.

Now, in all fairness, I am cheap. The word free can be music to my ears. There is an Aipoly version for slightly less than $5 per month. That one is supposed to be much ‘smarter’. Since I am cheap and not in need of such a service yet, and since I can never remember to cancel those damn ‘free’ trials, I’m not downloading it. If you are in need of such a service and can remember to cancel a free trial, try it and get back to us please.

Type at ya later! Continue reading “How Many Favors?”

Comparison Shopping

Good evening! I am doing some comparison shopping here. Lin and I were looking at some TV magnifying glasses at the request of a reader. We found the Eschenbach ones I have for $164 and another pair for $49.

What the hey, for $49, I will order them. The truth of the matter is, I am REALLY hard on parts. My CCTV has been replaced and then repaired. My handheld reader was smashed and I had to replace it. My max TV glasses have also been replaced once. And we cannot forget the crack I have in my iPad screen. Can you say “bull in a china shop”? The day is going to come that the people repairing and replacing my stuff are not going to be so understanding. Better have a spare available.

So, the $49 max TV glasses came today. I gave them to my husband to be my “comparison shopper”. Then we compared notes.

The Eschenbach pair is the superior product. They are heavier, possibly because they had solid temple pieces. The inexpensive glasses are not quite as “solid state”. When I leaned forward the telescope part slipped and I had to readjust my focus.

That said, I can see just as well through the $49 pair as I can through the $164 pair. Nice and clear at 2.1 magnification, same as the Eschenbach ones.

Moral of the story: if you are not hard on parts, you don’t mind adjusting the wheel regularly and you do not have $164 to spend the more inexpensive pair may be for you. They are manufactured in China by Joyutoy and are available, of course, on Amazon.

Those of you who are using assistive technology and have any comments on it, please share. I would like to do more of this but there is a limit to the funds and we still have not found a multi-millionaire corporate sponsor (although we remain forever hopeful?)

Moving right along, Lin sent me an article written by Dan Roberts, the guy who wrote The First Year: Age-related Macular Degeneration. Roberts apparently does a yearly wrap-up on the progress, medical and technical, that has been made in fighting and dealing with vision loss. I followed one of the links to Living Well with Low Vision and glanced through some of the technology.

Under text-to-speech readers was something called the Aries Smart Reader. Available from Enhanced Vision, the Smart Reader weighs under 5 pounds. The cost is $1800.

That is pretty much what I know about it. I have not seen it nor do I have a clue how well it works. For me, personally, it is going to stay in the warehouse. Two big sellers for me are portability and price. I have enough to carry and I do not have a spare $1800 to burn.

I have limited need to have text to speech capabilities at this time. When I do need them, I have my KNFB reader on my iPad. Zero additional weight and a $100 price tag. Of course, for some unbeknownst reason my KNFB ‘girl’ is Australian! No problem. The couple of Aussies I have met have been good people.

Again, I am speaking totally personally about preferences and have never laid eyes on this product. Different opinion? Let us know and we will publish it. Continue reading “Comparison Shopping”

Time On My Hands

Memorial Day, 2017 and it has been raining off and on for all three days of the holiday weekend. Right now it is ‘on’ and raining hard.

I have been taking the opportunity to do some other things. For example, I pulled out all of the furniture in the sunroom and ‘really’ cleaned. All the while I was doing that I was listening to the latest Jeffery Deaver book, The Burial Hour. Good ‘read’. Love my BARD.

I also wrote the questions for the review game for DBT class. Wednesday is the last day of distress tolerance and we go right into mindfulness. Get ready for more ‘thoughtful insights’! Ha!?

And in other news, I have done some very basic cooking. Gasp!

If you have been following along you know some basic and not always flattering things about me. For example, I am a slob. Also, if God wanted me to cook, He would not have invented restaurants! Domestic goddess? Not me!

While I am not planning on retiring (and as of last week, no one was planning on letting me go! Praise be!), I am cognizant the time is coming I will be home with time on my hands. Also, on a budget that may not allow regular restaurant meals. Maybe it is time to practice (how about start to develop?) my culinary skills!

To that end – and also for a page! – I came upon what looks like a nifty little web site. The title of the site is BlindHow. This thing has links to other sites with cute little monikers like Cooking Without Looking and The Blind Chef.

But the site also has other stuff. There are links to just about every practical skill you can think of. Shopping? Laundry? Personal finance? They have links.

Speaking of audiobooks as I did above, I found a link entitled 91 places for free audiobooks online. If you do not quite qualify for BARD, you could probably find an audiobook site that is not as ‘exclusive’. La di da.

The site also has links to information on movies with ‘descriptive audio’. From what I gather, this is a system aiming to keep the blind guy in the back of the theater from asking “what’s happening now?!?!” in all of the suspenseful or sexy parts of the film when everything has gone quiet.

Anyway, following a link, I found a site called MoPix and sponsored by the Media Access Group. They have a list of about a dozen movie theater chains in the US offering headphones and devices that will allow you to access the description apparently embedded on certain flicks. The list of those was pretty long, too. [Lin/Linda here:  I found this link that says that MoPix has shut down. Their Facebook page had no recent posts. Sorry.]

I would volunteer to go and check it out for you but our local movie chain is on a short list of chains that do NOT offer the service. (Did you notice the local paper was not available over the phone either? What the…..?)

Oh, but if you don’t have cooperative local providers (dig, dig), the American Council for the Blind sells ALL of the DVD and Blu-ray discs manufactured with descriptive video since 1997. Do you need any special equipment? Not sure. Links for some of the movies take you right back to Amazon. I did not see a special offering of DVD with audio descriptions but I am legally blind; remember? May have looked right over it. [Lin/Linda here:  I do not think that you need special equipment for DVDs & Blu-ray disks but check here first to be sure regarding particular devices. ]

Anyhow, BlindHow looks like a winner. Problem is, it probably just took away all my arguments for a housekeeper and a cook! Dang.

Written May 29th, 2017

Continue reading “Time On My Hands”

Caveat Emptor

So we have come to the middle of another week. Hump day, Wednesday!

I looked up funny hump day jokes and found a slew. You can take your pick. Some of them are giggle-out-loud quality.

Anyway, I taught today and then went over to the sight loss support group. My low vision person was presenting the latest in low vision technology, the MoJo monocular.

Mojo monocular

I cannot give you much of a spiel on it. I have not done much more than glance through it and pass it on. Therefore, as usual, this is just me telling you what I read. No recommendation.

The MoJo is a magnifier that works both near and far point. The price for the handheld monocular itself is about $1500. Add the part that can turn it into a CCTV and you are looking at $3000 or so. The manufacturer, Enhanced Vision, advertises a large field of view and autofocus capabilities.

This may be a great addition to the list of low vision tools. May not be. The MoJo has only been on the market for two or three months. If you are interested and have the money, try it and give us a product review.

And continuing in the interested and have the money vein, I have started to see articles suggesting that, in spite of its celebrity endorsements in the UK, the Eyemax Mono may still have some bugs to work out. The Daily Mail reported the Macular Society is suggesting caution before you agree to undergo this expensive procedure. The cost being quoted is £15,000 which at present exchange rates is approximately $19,480 (May 2017). Ouch. And if you are an American, remember the Eyemax Mono is not FDA approved and added to that cost would be a trip across the pond.

In short, it sounds promising, but remember caveat emptor. Use extreme caution before committing to any new procedure. Do your homework. Nothing is ever as good as it sounds at first blush.

The newest implant this side of the pond is a miniature telescope. This one is FDA approved so it should be both effective and safe. The manufacturer is VisionCare.  The surgery is Medicare eligible according to the article so we are not talking about huge out of pocket costs. That is a plus.

Now, once more, on the minus side, this is not a cure and will not halt the progression of the disease. All it is is magnification and a spreading of the image to intact parts of the retina. They have moved the magnification system from the outside in.

They also will only do the implant in one eye. That is because there is a ‘tunnel effect’ in the vision of the treated eye. The untreated eye is used for peripheral vision.

Another problem with the telescope is the need to train the brain. There is a period of several weeks during which the patient is learning to adapt to a new way of seeing.

Bottom line, things are progressing but not necessarily in the areas of treatment or cure. All three of these things mentioned magnify and move the image to intact retina. Close, but no cigar.

My personal preference is to find something medical that will stop the disease progression in it’s tracks. Barring that, magnification and relocating the image may bring you an undetermined period of better sight. You pay your money and you take your choice….just do it wisely.

May 10th, 2017 Continue reading “Caveat Emptor”

There IS Help

I got lots of help from Blindness and Visual Services of Pennsylvania. Lots. Part of the reason for this was I was in the vocational rehabilitation program. They wanted to get me back to work so I could continue to be a tax paying citizen. I shared that goal with them. At least the back to work part. Paying taxes maybe not so much!

People who are not planning on going back to work get a lot less help. According to my low vision special, Pennsylvania has now reduced funding for those clients down to $600 per individual. That does not buy much. My handheld magnifier was $600.

Since the government is, once again, not bending over backwards to help us, where can you go for some basic assistance? It turns out there are several private agencies that stand ready to help.

Again, the disclaimer: these are leads I got off the web. I have not used any of their services and I have not a clue how valid their advertising is. At least two of the three I am mentioning here are run by nationally known organizations. Hopefully that makes them good. Maybe not. If you have familiarity with these programs or others, please let us know.

If you live in Dallas or near to that city you might find some services at the American Foundation for the Blind.  The website advertises all sorts of seminars and community outreach programs. They also advertise an ‘apartment’ called Esther’s Place. Esther’s Place has all of the rooms outfitted with products and appliances either designed or adapted for several, different levels of vision loss. Hands on demonstrations of these things can be arranged.  AFB Dallas also offers help by voice at 214-352-7222 or email at dallas@afb.net.

If you live in Duluth Minnesota try the Lighthouse Center for Vision Loss. The Lighthouse also has an impressive list of services. They have such things as training programs for adjusting to vision loss, independent living and workplace adaptations. They also over free radios for listening to audiobooks and local newspapers. Their onsite low vision store has customer service people to help you with your purchase.  Contact number for the Lighthouse Duluth is 218-624-4828. Email: info@lcfyl.com.

In eastern Pennsylvania there is Center for Vision Loss with offices in the Lehigh Valley as well as Monroe County, my old stompin’ grounds! They advertise a speakers’ bureau as well as escorted transportation. This is in addition to the ‘usual’ services. Their contact numbers are 610-433-6018 and 570-992-7787.

That should give you a start. If you’re located elsewhere in the USA, I would suspect AFB could give you a few leads. Find anything – worthwhile or not – let us know and we will publish your impressions. There is help out there.

Continue reading “There IS Help”

Parts Is Parts

Today was sort of an ‘eye day’. Spent most of my day talking about vision or dealing with my ‘toys’. “Mama said there would be days like this.” [Lin/Linda: I don’t know if Sue intended this but this song came to mind!]

Toys first: my CCTV is broken again.

Apparently when they say portable they don’t mean what I mean: hauled everywhere and set up and torn down twice or three times a day. I lost another pop rivet so my document tray does not slide properly.

Also, my vertical hold comes and goes. Remember Outer Limits? “We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical.” Whoever is controlling this is not me. It gets flipping enough to make me sea sick!

For future reference should you have this problem, we think it might be a loose wire. When I flipped the camera to distance viewing and brought it back, the flipping stopped.

Needless to say, it is going into the shop. It is going into the shop as soon as I get a loaner; that is…..Oh, and I am not paying the $50 diagnostic fee either. The cursed thing has a two-year warranty.

What can I say? I am hard on parts.

[Lin/Linda: if you were wondering about the title, when I read the above sentence, my mind went to the Wendy’s TV commercial where the catchy line is “parts is parts”.  Click here for the commercial.]

Today was also the vision loss support group. As anticipated, I was the youngest one in the group. I was also the most informed. I am half ashamed to admit that I ‘held court’ and lectured on my toys and some of what I considered to be AMD basics. The ladies – and they were all ladies – seemed receptive and asked me back.

I was a bit disturbed that several of the ladies admitted to owning iPads and having shoved them in a drawer!  They have no background or understanding of computers and they are afraid of them. The lack of knowledge about basic electronics – especially things that can make your life 100 times easier – was scary.

When I said you could get things in the app store I was asked if that was in this town or a town nearby! Oh my….

Which made me think some of you may be in the same boat.

The App Store is a blue and white icon on your desktop. It has a big A right in the middle.

Touch the icon/symbol and you will get a page of whatever apps they are featuring, often games. In the upper right hand corner there is a gray box that says search. Touch that and you should get a keyboard. Type in a keyword or phrase and then touch enter. Examples of keywords might be magnifiers, low vision apps, or knfbreader. Remember many apps are free but some like the knfbreader are for a fee. The ones for a fee you will need an Apple account. Actually, I think you need an account no matter. I always have to put my password in to approve the download. Lin, what do we have about opening an Apple account? [Lin/Linda: I’m posing that information below.]

That is about it for now. I have to email the group leader and remind her about passwords. Next month they are bringing their iPads!

Click here for a good place to start learning about your iPad.

Click here for instructions on how to create an Apple ID.

Click here for the ‘Dummies’ series For Seniors: Use the iPad Online User Guide.  There are also topics on this website about iPhones and Android devices (smartphones & tablets).

Continue reading “Parts Is Parts”

Highlight: Where can I find books in formats for people with visual disabilities?

Sources of Books

  • Formats: Braille, large print, e-book and audiobooks; some services for free if you qualify
  • US Library Service provides ‘Talking Books’ in Braille & audio; you need their e-reader
  • US BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download) also from the US National Library Service; you can read them on an Apple or Android device or app
  • US BARD & BARD Mobile: YouTube video talking about the service
  • US & Canada Sources of large print & Braille reading materials
  • UK RNIB Overdrive: ‘Talking Books’ by digital download
Worldwide
  • Worldwide Kindle e-book readers: which is the right one for people with low vision?
  • Bookshare:
    • US BookShare: 300,000+ titles including all current and recent NY Times bestsellers; free for students, $50/year with $25 setup fee.  Subscriptions are available for organizations.
    • United Kingdom: similar subscriptions to that of the US site
    • India: for subscription prices, check the website
    • Bookshare International/Without Borders for 70 countries; check the website for the countries, available books & cost
  • Daisy (Digital Accessible Information System) offers audio books, magazines & newspapers:
    • DAISY books can be heard on standalone DAISY players, computers using DAISY playback software, mobile phones, and MP3 players (with limited navigation). DAISY books can be distributed on a CD/DVD, memory card or through the Internet.
    • YouTube video shows what their digital books look like
    • Source of Daisy books for Daisy reader, computer, tablet or smartphone
    • At the bottom of this page, there’s a long list of software that plays Daisy books
  • Worldwide Overdrive: borrow e-books & audiobooks from local librarie
  • Many countries of the world BookBub: Free and inexpensive e-books covering many genres
Sue’s pages about books
Did we miss any? Please let us know if we did.

 

Mr. Magoo!

Here we go with the crazy, preconceived notions again. I told you I was at my third job. First time in months but I understand. It is a major event to get me there and get me home. Anyway, a colleague there looked at me with my glasses and looked perplexed. She wanted to know where my big, thick glasses were!

Now this is an intelligent woman with advanced degrees. If she is thinking this, what are other people thinking?

Basic tutorial, just in case: corrective lenses, especially the big, thick ones, are for errors of refraction. Refractive errors occur in the front of the eye. There is a malformation of the lenses that causes the light to bend ‘wrong’ and focus either in front or behind the retina. The same thing can happen if you have an eyeball with the ‘wrong’ shape. Some eyeballs are long and ‘skinny’ and others are short and ‘fat’. In either case the light does not focus on the retina and things are out of focus.

Corrective lenses bend the light. They do it in such a way that the light will fall properly on the retina and we can see clearly.

There are two, main types of refractive errors. Myopia, or nearsightedness, makes it hard for us to see things far away. Hyperopia, or farsightedness, makes it hard for us to see close up. There are also astigmatisms. I don’t know a lot about these but I think they distort things because of imperfections in the lens. They can also be corrected with glasses.

Age-related macular degeneration, as most of our readers know, is a problem at the back of the eye. Bluntly put, our maculas are dying. Maculas are parts of the retina, located at the back of the eye. The only type of ‘corrective lenses’ that may help AMD are prisms. They relocate the image off the macula and on to a part of the peripheral retina, a part that should still be functional. [Lin/Linda: prismatic glasses don’t work for everyone with AMD. Click here for an article about them.]

So that is pretty much that. AMD is not a refractive error and is not going to be helped with ‘coke bottle bottom’ glasses. We are not all Mr. Magoo!

There are many, many different types of eye disorders. Most of them are not correctable with glasses, but the average person does not appear to know that. Once again it appears it is up to us to go out and educate people.

We are not all Mr. Magoo! Continue reading “Mr. Magoo!”

Can An Old Dog Learn Braille?

A reader made a suggestion I could learn Braille. At first it sounded sort of fanciful. I am 63 years old and she wants this old dog to learn new tricks! I am sure it is REALLY hard. I am sure it will take me FOREVER.

Then I thought I should practice what I preach. Turn the mind and be willing. I could at least look into it….besides, it is good for a page and I am running out of ideas. Anyone else out there willing to share? I could use a little more, wonderful help like we got from Lara, Jennifer, Rick and Andrea.

VisionAware has a page on All About Braille. They tell us Louis Braille invented the system in France in the mid-1800s. Braille ‘cells’ are made up of two columns of three rows. Each letter and symbols is made up of a pattern of one or more dots.

The letter ‘s’ is dots in the second column-first row, 1-2 and 1-3. U is 1-1, 1-3 and 2-3. E is 1-1 and 2-1. There! I spelled my name!

I probably would want to learn alphabetic Braille first. That is letter by letter Braille. There is also a form called condensed Braille in which whole words are represented by one cell of dots.

Being part of the special education system, I know a little bit about sign language for the deaf. American Sign Language is not just standard English you ‘speak’ with your hands. It is its own language with its own rules and specialized characteristics. Condensed Braille reminded me of that. It is also just one of a number of systems, just like ASL.

Problems with learning Braille as an older adult include finger sensitivity. Some people are blind because of complications of diabetes. Diabetic nerve damage may interfere with learning Braille.

Right now, I really don’t see Braille as an option for me. Not totally because it would be difficult and time consuming to learn, although those are factors. The major reason is right now I have options that work for me just fine.

I have magnification through my CCTV, reader and iPad, as well as ZoomText on my work PC’s. My computers and my phone also have options that allow me to be read to. I don’t use those options simply because they are so dang irritating! However, if I get to the point I cannot navigate around my desktop or my phone, I may be happy to have them.   [You can review how Sue uses these by going to her pages A Day in the Life and A Day in the Life: Work Day.]

And speaking of being read to, don’t forget my KNFB Reader. Then there are BARD books and the newspapers on my phone.

If I want to write as opposed to read, I do have a few touch typing skills. Speech-to-text is also available to me. Of course, we all know some of the things that happen there.

For example: I tried to speech to text the text “we find our adventures where we can” and the message my friend got was “we find our dentures where we can.” Took a while for her to stop giggling.

OK. Gotta go. I have a staff party tonight and I still have no idea what I am going to wear. Could be worse. At least I don’t have to find my teeth!

Click here for an article on how Braille is useful on the job in case Sue changes her mind. ::smile::

Continue reading “Can An Old Dog Learn Braille?”

About the ADA

There was an interesting comment this week on the website in response to my page One Year Anniversary: Part 1 What I’ve Learned.  I was asked why I would have to quit my job when my vision got worse. The reader asked if the school was not obligated to accommodate me. She cited ADA.

The answer to that question is yes, and no. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to provide “reasonable accommodations” to employees with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are defined as “necessary and appropriate modifications and adjustments that do not impose a disproportionate or unfair burden upon the employer.” The burden can either be financial or it can be in efficiency of getting the job done.

On the job I am already being given reasonable accommodations. If you look back in the pages, you will discover I have accommodations in pretty much all aspects of the job. When I do classroom observations, I wear telescopic glasses. I use my CCTV to do file reviews and learn my kids’ educational histories. When I test, I have my testing manuals loaded on an iPad so I can zoom in and read the questions easily. The tech department took days to do that for me! I use my CCTV again to record answers on the answer sheets. When I write reports with the assessment results I use ZoomText. Lots of reasonable accommodations in my work day!

When I become unable to see my kids to do observation, unable to read test questions to them or record their answers, I will have to stop working. Requiring the school to hire someone to do all that for me so I could ‘sort of’ do my job would be an unfair burden. I would not be doing my job, my helper would and the school would be paying two salaries. That is not fair not appropriate.

In basic terms, ADA does not require an employer to carry the dead weight of a disabled employee when she cannot do the job. What it does is allow those who can still function pretty well to keep working by changing just a few things.

The reader asked if learning Braille would not allow me to keep working. That is an intriguing idea and I may research and write a page on learning Braille as an older adult. Braille, however, would not let me keep my school job. Braille will not help me see what types of mistakes Johnny is making on his math papers. Braille won’t allow me to see how Susie is daydreaming in class. Those are integral parts of my job that require sight.

So, to summarize, ADA moves barriers off the playing field so the disabled worker can run down the field himself. Under his own power. ADA does not require the employer to carry the employee down the field on his back. I have reasonable accommodations per ADA but when I cannot fulfill my job duties using them, I am done. ADA cannot help me.

The learning Braille in my 60s idea? I will get back to you on that.

Continue reading “About the ADA”

A Day in the Life: Work Day

Sunday evening and I am getting ready to start another week. Wow. I was always told time goes faster as you get older but sometimes it is ridiculous!

I was also told time flies when you are having fun, so I guess I am having fun! And, yes, it is possible to have fun with AMD.

Maybe we can do a book or an infomercial on that: Fun with AMD. Sort of like Fun with Flags from the Big Bang Theory. Any thoughts on content?

Anyway, I went to my exercise classes and wrote a couple of pages yesterday. Walked Beastie Baby. Today was a haircut and a trip to the local warehouse store. Also actually wrote that report I was putting off. Sorted some laundry. Found an audiobook I want to listen to. Busy, busy, busy.

But for me, busy, busy, busy is better, better, better.  Not only do you distract yourself with activities, but you get to use your talents.  Sometime in Sunday school I learned we are supposed to use what we were given. It was never said you use what you were given until you start going blind.

So onward! Lin suggested I do a page on a normal weekday. Okey dokey. Monday.

The time I get up is determined by what time the crazy transportation company says it is going to pick me up. I have learned I also need to be ready about 15 minutes before they said they would be here because they are frequently early. Jeez. Flexibility is a virtue.

Monday is different from a weekend day because I have to really be sure my clothes match. I cannot slink home in humiliation in an hour or so because colors I thought were one thing are another and clash….badly.

OttLight

I have a small OttLite on my ironing board but the best bet is still natural light. If all else fails, I ask my husband “what color is this?”

If we were talking Thursday for the weekday, I have to make sure I have everything I need for the entire day. That means I get on transportation with CCTV, purse, briefcase, lunch, yoga mat and workout clothes. Having a good memory and a strong back are also virtues.

Justand V2

Back to Monday. At school I set-up my portable CCTV. I turn on my computer and ZoomText is soon up and running. These things are invaluable. At home I often crank the font size up to 28, but all that magnifies is the text. ZoomText does everything on the screen. If you are on your computer all day, ZoomText is worth the investment. Also LOVE my CCTV, but the price on that is salty and you can get similar results with an iPad and Justand.

Sue’s Eschenbach Smartlux Digital Magnifyer

I check for lunch choices with my handheld reader. I also read anything I cannot get to my CCTV with the reader. Something nice about the reader is I can hold it up to something slightly above my head and take a photo of it. Nice little feature.

Since I was always dropping my reader – slippery little devil! – we put a lanyard on the arm on the back. I can wrap the strap around my hand. It has gone on the floor much less since.

 

To review some of these devices, check out Sue’s page A Day in the Life.

Sue’s Telescopic Glasses

My telescopic glasses help me do student observations. I look like an alien, but the kids are used to it.

Books such as testing manuals have been scanned onto my iPad. My tech person at school did 90% of the work but I also scanned. It was a bit labor intensive but it allows me to read questions and score.

That is pretty much a work day. Questions? Continue reading “A Day in the Life: Work Day”

The Podunk Gazette

OK. I got my acceptance for National Federation of the Blind Newsline NFB-NEWSLINE. I called the toll free number and the system recognized me from my cell number. I had been given a membership number and security code but I did not have to use them.

The next thing I had to listen to was an electronic voice chastising some subscribers for sharing the service with others who are not impaired. I had to agree to never as in NEVER reveal my passcode to mere mortals – read sighted people – and to never rebroadcast from the service. Same sort of stuff I had to swear to get BARD books.

I guess if you are getting money to serve the visually impaired you need to have some accountability but the whole secret society thing strikes me as excessive.

I got a whole page of navigation menu items for the service. I was not sure what I was doing so I just picked the first option and listened for a while. The voice was, of course, computer generated and flat. Not much that can be done with that at present. With the lack of inflection I had some trouble understanding it and it seemed to go pretty fast. The speed you can do something about. There are commands for slowing and increasing speed.

If I go to option 4, I can get a list of participating Pennsylvania newspapers. They read them off in blocks of six and it seems like the list goes on forever. That is a testament to the newspapers of the state because it is my understand newspaper participate out of the goodness of their hearts and there is no financial gain. Kudos to every newspaper on the list!

I picked the Allentown paper and went to the local news section. There was an enlightening article about a prostitution bust in my old hometown! Nobody I know. Dang.

There is a whole heck of a lot to navigate around in this service. This branching menu is not one tree. It is a forest! However, they do offer a favorites option so if you are partial to the Podunk Gazette, you can go straight there. (I certainly hope there really is no such paper as the Podunk Gazette. Since Podunk is my code works for end of the line, one horse towns, I certainly hope there is no Podunk! Open mouth and insert foot again!) [Lin/Linda here: Sue, you are safe, there is no Podunk Gazette.  But there is The Podunk Poets, The Podunk Bluegrass Festival, and the Podunk Throwbacks. I stopped looking after that one! Interesting fact of where the word podunk came from: “By being spread through word of mouth, many people lost the true meaning of podunk and did not even realize it was originally used and first created for Poughkeepsie. The town of Poughkeepsie (“podunk” or “pough town”) and city has now become less rural and more developed. ” Learn something every day! ::grin::]

There it is. Free – wonderful word – news service on your phone. Provided your local newspaper participates, the local news gap can now be closed.

I subscribed by going on the National Federation for the Blind website. If you need help, NFB offers a real person. In Pennsylvania her name is Jasmine Hunt and her number is 215-988-0888. No clue about the other states. Sorry.

Enjoy your morning rag again. Sometimes it really is the little things. Continue reading “The Podunk Gazette”

All the News You Can Use

Being visually impaired is no walk in the park. However, things are getting progressively better. There is now a way to get your daily newspaper in a format you can easily access.

BARD books and magazines are great but not all that current. However, the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, the people who give us BARD, has teamed up with the National Federation of the Blind to bring you your daily news. Same day, current news.  It’s called NFB-NEWSLINE.

I just filled out the application form.

The page will pinch and zoom. (Have you noticed the number of sites “for the visually impaired” that don’t even do THAT much?)

The whole process took about five minutes. They require proof of vision status. I put down my standing, hopefully in good standing, with BVS and BARD. There is an “other” box so I imagine you could list your retinologist.

Supposedly – this is technology, remember – you can call from any touch tone phone in the United States. All you need for the first time you call from that line is your registration number. After the first time the system will remember you.

There is a 10-selection, branching menu. You can even pull up sale circulars and TV listings! Of course, with a branching menu, it is possible for someone like me to get hopelessly lost, but they do provide an overview of what is what on the webpage.

I checked the list of available publications and it is extensive. Several local communities have their papers available. The newspaper for my old hometown is available. The local rag for this town is not. Oh, well. We won’t discuss how often I look at a local paper.

Apparently, newspapers must express interest and sign up for the program. However, it looks like people are able to tell NFB which papers they want to read and NFB will contact that paper.

There was also something about funding. However, there was no mention of any direct cost to the actual consumers. That would be us.

So that is pretty much it. Use your phone to ‘read’ the daily news once again. Cool. Continue reading “All the News You Can Use”

Highlight: Can I turn my TV Into a magnifier?

This article describes what might be a good and inexpensive option for many of you.

TV Magnifier

The device is only $65.49 at Amazon right now (no, we still don’t get any money from referrals).

Carson ezRead Digital Magnifiers – Transforms your Television into an Electronic Reading Aide
Accessibility by WAH