From b.butterfly at comcast.net  Wed Apr  8 21:33:30 2026
From: b.butterfly at comcast.net (Becky Frankeberger)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 14:33:30 -0700
Subject: [Blind-Rollers] close one
Message-ID: <039901dcc79f$591f6730$0b5e3590$@comcast.net>

The tip bar in the back of my wheelchair. I love them and hate them. I will
tell you why I hate them, first. I back up and bam those wheels beat up my
walls.

 

Now I will tell you why I love them. We are not pointing fingers, but
someone forgot to tie down my front tires. We rounded a corner and the
wheelchair went back then stopped so I was able to throw myself forward to
right my chair. The man driving couldn't stop fast enough apologizing the
whole time. Boy howdy, thank You Lord for taking care of me.

 

The first time this happened was at Walt Disney World a good ten years ago.
My wheelchair started skittling sideways. The driver had to be persuaded to
stop by a bunch of very angry passengers.  

 

Anyone have horror stories to share? I will take great stories also, smile.

 

Becky 

From eemcrew at gmail.com  Wed Apr  8 22:21:16 2026
From: eemcrew at gmail.com (Ellana Crew)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 18:21:16 -0400
Subject: [Blind-Rollers] close one
In-Reply-To: <039901dcc79f$591f6730$0b5e3590$@comcast.net>
References: <039901dcc79f$591f6730$0b5e3590$@comcast.net>
Message-ID: <D7054C2B-A2E1-4699-912B-9496A6840708@gmail.com>

Oh, I definitely relate to this. I don’t have problems with smacking my anti-tippers into things, but I definitely choose to keep them on at a pretty low setting because of issues like what you are describing with transportation. I take paratransit frequently, but my house is on a hill, so once I get into the vehicle I am on a steep incline. Many of the drivers like to try and strap the back half of my chair down first, and when the front isn’t secured yet, that can make the chair tip backwards if they pull too hard which they have definitely done many times. I keep my anti-tippers on mostly for this reason honestly. I would love to be able to take them off or at least flip them up higher so I can do wheelies better, but I honestly just don’t have the patience to teach every single paratransit driver that you should secure the front of the chair first on an incline.

I am very diligent also about making sure they strap the front down very securely, because they love to do a very loose front tiedown and leave me rocking back-and-forth the entire ride. They always seem to think that strapping the back down even tighter will fix this for some reason, and I am constantly having to bat their hands away from doing that because all that achieves is tilting me back into a permanent precarious wheelie  for the ride and shifting my entire center of gravity. I have gotten so frustrated with this issue within the first few weeks of taking paratransit in my chair that I have started just reaching down and tightening them myself because I can bend far enough to do it and some of them just don’t listen when I say it’s still too loose.

> On Apr 8, 2026, at 5:34 PM, Becky Frankeberger via Blind-Rollers <blind-rollers at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> ﻿The tip bar in the back of my wheelchair. I love them and hate them. I will
> tell you why I hate them, first. I back up and bam those wheels beat up my
> walls.
> 
> 
> 
> Now I will tell you why I love them. We are not pointing fingers, but
> someone forgot to tie down my front tires. We rounded a corner and the
> wheelchair went back then stopped so I was able to throw myself forward to
> right my chair. The man driving couldn't stop fast enough apologizing the
> whole time. Boy howdy, thank You Lord for taking care of me.
> 
> 
> 
> The first time this happened was at Walt Disney World a good ten years ago.
> My wheelchair started skittling sideways. The driver had to be persuaded to
> stop by a bunch of very angry passengers.  
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone have horror stories to share? I will take great stories also, smile.
> 
> 
> 
> Becky
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Rollers mailing list
> Blind-Rollers at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-rollers_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Blind-Rollers:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blind-rollers_nfbnet.org/eemcrew%40gmail.com

From b.butterfly at comcast.net  Thu Apr  9 02:33:13 2026
From: b.butterfly at comcast.net (Becky Frankeberger)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2026 19:33:13 -0700
Subject: [Blind-Rollers] close one
In-Reply-To: <D7054C2B-A2E1-4699-912B-9496A6840708@gmail.com>
References: <039901dcc79f$591f6730$0b5e3590$@comcast.net>
 <D7054C2B-A2E1-4699-912B-9496A6840708@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <049501dcc7c9$37b84790$a728d6b0$@comcast.net>

Ellana, it would be a great idea to make an appointment with the person who teaches the drivers OPS Manager. Explain the problems you are having with the drivers. He or she can teach them proper tie down procedures on hills. Trust me you are not the only one who is having this problem. You are the one who can get it resolved, warm smile.

We had a guy on our transit system with an odd scooter. He talked to the OPS Manager and the problem was fixed. My chair has loops. Took a little while to remind everyone not to tie down the frame, but to use the loops. I am much easier as they load me flat. Personallly would not have realized to tie down the front wheels, then do the back wheels for people on hills.

You can do it! Warm smile.

Becky   

-----Original Message-----
From: Blind-Rollers <blind-rollers-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ellana Crew via Blind-Rollers
Sent: Wednesday, April 8, 2026 3:21 PM
To: blind-rollers at nfbnet.org
Cc: Ellana Crew <eemcrew at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Blind-Rollers] close one

Oh, I definitely relate to this. I don’t have problems with smacking my anti-tippers into things, but I definitely choose to keep them on at a pretty low setting because of issues like what you are describing with transportation. I take paratransit frequently, but my house is on a hill, so once I get into the vehicle I am on a steep incline. Many of the drivers like to try and strap the back half of my chair down first, and when the front isn’t secured yet, that can make the chair tip backwards if they pull too hard which they have definitely done many times. I keep my anti-tippers on mostly for this reason honestly. I would love to be able to take them off or at least flip them up higher so I can do wheelies better, but I honestly just don’t have the patience to teach every single paratransit driver that you should secure the front of the chair first on an incline.

I am very diligent also about making sure they strap the front down very securely, because they love to do a very loose front tiedown and leave me rocking back-and-forth the entire ride. They always seem to think that strapping the back down even tighter will fix this for some reason, and I am constantly having to bat their hands away from doing that because all that achieves is tilting me back into a permanent precarious wheelie  for the ride and shifting my entire center of gravity. I have gotten so frustrated with this issue within the first few weeks of taking paratransit in my chair that I have started just reaching down and tightening them myself because I can bend far enough to do it and some of them just don’t listen when I say it’s still too loose.

> On Apr 8, 2026, at 5:34 PM, Becky Frankeberger via Blind-Rollers <blind-rollers at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> ﻿The tip bar in the back of my wheelchair. I love them and hate them. 
> I will tell you why I hate them, first. I back up and bam those wheels 
> beat up my walls.
> 
> 
> 
> Now I will tell you why I love them. We are not pointing fingers, but 
> someone forgot to tie down my front tires. We rounded a corner and the 
> wheelchair went back then stopped so I was able to throw myself 
> forward to right my chair. The man driving couldn't stop fast enough 
> apologizing the whole time. Boy howdy, thank You Lord for taking care of me.
> 
> 
> 
> The first time this happened was at Walt Disney World a good ten years ago.
> My wheelchair started skittling sideways. The driver had to be 
> persuaded to stop by a bunch of very angry passengers.
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone have horror stories to share? I will take great stories also, smile.
> 
> 
> 
> Becky
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Blind-Rollers mailing list
> Blind-Rollers at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-rollers_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Blind-Rollers:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blind-rollers_nfbnet.org/eemcrew%40g
> mail.com

_______________________________________________
Blind-Rollers mailing list
Blind-Rollers at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-rollers_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Blind-Rollers:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blind-rollers_nfbnet.org/b.butterfly%40comcast.net


From b.butterfly at comcast.net  Sat Apr 18 15:01:48 2026
From: b.butterfly at comcast.net (Becky Frankeberger)
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:01:48 -0700
Subject: [Blind-Rollers] robot guide dogs
Message-ID: <00e201dccf44$48eadeb0$dac09c10$@comcast.net>

Sounds like a great answer for us in wheelchairs.

Becky Frankeberger

This was posted on a technology list.  There are of course some errors
especially the comment on how many commands a dog can understand. These
AI-powered guide dogs don't just lead, they talk [These AI-powered guide
dogs don't just lead, they
talk]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__scx2.b-2Dcdn.net_
gfx_news_2026_these-2Dai-2Dpowered-2Dguide-2D1.jpg
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__scx2.b-2Dcdn.net_gfx_n
ews_2026_these-2Dai-2Dpowered-2Dguide-2D1.jpg&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b
7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=mwNE7gBVeB_MtW0z4mnUY5g3p8nTwxSX7M3yLQkN2lw&m=9Uo
bxlIXS0bHNbBUGR62-cqgOH1VnSASGYLXXYOek-psiPkc6wKIc_krQpClwcQO&s=gvTPwNQxhVRS
zx_0QZ89otk_bKaUeOMljKEqxnYZtcM&e=>
&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=mwNE7gBVeB_MtW0z4m
nUY5g3p8nTwxSX7M3yLQkN2lw&m=9UobxlIXS0bHNbBUGR62-cqgOH1VnSASGYLXXYOek-psiPkc
6wKIc_krQpClwcQO&s=gvTPwNQxhVRSzx_0QZ89otk_bKaUeOMljKEqxnYZtcM&e=>

Scientists at Binghamton University have developed a robot guide dog system
that communicates with the visually impaired and provides real-time feedback
during travel. Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

Guide dogs are powerful allies, leading the visually impaired safely to
their destinations, but they can't talk with their owners-until now. Using
large language models, a team of researchers at Binghamton University, State
University of New York has created a talking robot guide dog system that
determines an ideal route and safely guides users to their destination,
offering real-time feedback along the way.

The paper, "From Woofs to Words: Towards Intelligent Robotic Guide Dogs with
Verbal Communication," was presented at the 40th Annual AAAI Conference on
Artificial Intelligence (AAAI
2026<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__aaai.org_conferenc
e_aaai_aaai-2D26_
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__aaai.org_conference_aa
ai_aaai-2D26_&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=mwNE7
gBVeB_MtW0z4mnUY5g3p8nTwxSX7M3yLQkN2lw&m=9UobxlIXS0bHNbBUGR62-cqgOH1VnSASGYL
XXYOek-psiPkc6wKIc_krQpClwcQO&s=440m8F7SE1m-Emn6c8Ck6VF-q7kvdZ8IQFwh_rjsFjc&
e=>
&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=mwNE7gBVeB_MtW0z4m
nUY5g3p8nTwxSX7M3yLQkN2lw&m=9UobxlIXS0bHNbBUGR62-cqgOH1VnSASGYLXXYOek-psiPkc
6wKIc_krQpClwcQO&s=440m8F7SE1m-Emn6c8Ck6VF-q7kvdZ8IQFwh_rjsFjc&e=>), held
January 20-27 in Singapore. It is also
available<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__arxiv.org_abs
_2603.12574
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__arxiv.org_abs_2603.125
74&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=mwNE7gBVeB_MtW0z
4mnUY5g3p8nTwxSX7M3yLQkN2lw&m=9UobxlIXS0bHNbBUGR62-cqgOH1VnSASGYLXXYOek-psiP
kc6wKIc_krQpClwcQO&s=v7H3ARD1MdenBiJ9znxRmhqHVIAwWRArSgB9r3g3xhs&e=>
&d=DwMGaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=mwNE7gBVeB_MtW0z4m
nUY5g3p8nTwxSX7M3yLQkN2lw&m=9UobxlIXS0bHNbBUGR62-cqgOH1VnSASGYLXXYOek-psiPkc
6wKIc_krQpClwcQO&s=v7H3ARD1MdenBiJ9znxRmhqHVIAwWRArSgB9r3g3xhs&e=> on the
arXiv preprint server.

 

