[NABS-L] A technology recommendation for all of you

Roger Newell inscriptioelectronicaaustralia at gmail.com
Sat Jul 28 22:27:29 UTC 2018


I don't see the distinction between asking an RA for assistance or
using Aira. Visual assistance was required, so why not use a perfectly
good service?

On 7/29/18, Connor Mullin via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Cricket,
>
> Thank you for sharing your thoughts on AIRA. As a recipient of a NFB
> scholarship, I will also enjoy nine months of minutes. However, I would
> like
> to reflect on your story at Stanford.
> I am anticipating using AIRA for tasks that are best solved by
> self-directing visual aids, such as reading mail, reading library books for
> research projects, and identifying the colors of clothing to then label
> them
> tactilely. Yet, while I don't think relying on AIRA for travel assistance
> is
> some kind of unforgivable sin, I would caution people from generally
> recommending using AIRA in the way that you did at your first day at
> Stanford. That is, you were hesitant to approach an RA for directions, even
> though you knew they would be the most oriented, because you felt guilty
> about bothering them. And I think that is an important hurdle for everyone
> to reflect on, recognizing that fears of approaching people for directions
> and highlighting your blindness is something that should not be passed over
> when talking about being an independent blind person.
> Now, I'm not saying you never have, before or after that day, overcome such
> hesitations, nor am I saying that I have never psyched myself out of asking
> authority figures for directions. Rather, I'm simply saying that we should
> be careful not to inadvertently sell the benefits of AIRA as an alternative
> to building peoples' advocacy and nonvisual skills.
> Thank you once again for your thoughts.
>
> Connor
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Gary Wunder via
> NABS-L
> Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2018 10:28 AM
> To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Gary Wunder <garywunder at me.com>
> Subject: Re: [NABS-L] A technology recommendation for all of you
>
> What an interesting story. Thanks.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NABS-L [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cricket X.
> Bidleman via NABS-L
> Sent: Monday, July 23, 2018 12:07 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Cc: Cricket X. Bidleman
> Subject: [NABS-L] A technology recommendation for all of you
>
> Hi all,
>
> This is long. Please read it anyway. As of last July, I received the AIRA
> Back-to-School award. Basically, this gave me free minutes on AIRA for nine
> months, the last of which recently ended. (Endless thanks to Kathryn
> Webster
> for being instrumental in that process.) I'll admit I was a little
> skeptical
> because first of all, I didn't think I'd use it. I also knew they had
> basically repurposed Google Glass, and Google Glass in its original form
> was
> kind of a floppy failure... And then some.
>
> So Cricket, where's that "recommendation" you promised us? Well, here it
> is.
> I can say, through my own abundant use of the software in my first year of
> college, that I sincerely feel that AIRA is revolutionizing instant access
> to all areas of life. Accessibility is a huge issue for us as blind
> students
> and though it's slowly being worked on in general, sometimes it's necessary
> to have instant access to things. I'd call it "accessibility on demand" or
> something like that. One particular instance comes to mind.
>
> I was incredibly overwhelmed. It was my first day at Stanford, September 19
> of last year. My parents had just left me in a dorm full of people I didn't
> know, in a place I'd never been to. I was walking around, trying not to
> bump
> into things, when I mentally slapped myself for forgetting that I had an a
> capella audition, and then another one, and then a choir audition, and then
> a meeting with my pre-major advisor. I really didn't want to be the problem
> child constantly asking for help from the RA's who, quite frankly, had more
> than enough disoriented freshmen to deal with. So, because I'm so
> brilliant,
> I walked out of my dorm with my cane, wearing a black dress and high heels,
> into 90 degree weather. I made it all the way down the hill by my dorm and
> then I had to mentally slap myself again because I realized something... I
> didn't know the campus at all. I walked around a bit, and then got turned
> around, and then got lost, and then got even more lost. There were freshmen
> everywhere, but they were all lost too, and a bunch of them gave me
> atrociously  wrong directions. I called AIRA and in five minutes, they had
> me straightened out and going in the right direction. Turned out I was on
> the opposite side of campus from where I was supposed to be. Thanks, all
> you
> disoriented freshmen...
>
> Let me tell you something about Stanford campus. you know how like every
> sane person designing a college campus makes them arranged like city
> blocks?
> There are clear streets, buildings are arranged in grid patterns, they're
> in
> numerical order... Stanford's designer must have been crazy, because this
> campus is not like that at all. There are twists and turns everywhere and
> though there are a couple of main streets here and there, most of the
> campus
> isn't even nearly accessible by car, much less by some lost blind student.
> Google Maps doesn't really help, so my AIRA agent (Emma) was
> cross-referencing three different maps while trying to keep an eye on me so
> I wouldn't step in a fountain. Yes, that is a possibility here. People
> actually jump in fountains for fun. Emma is phenomenal, and managed to get
> me to my audition on time. Part of that was because, by some happy
> coincidence, I'd left three hours early, but even so I was rushing at the
> end. At least I made it, sore feet and all.
>
> Anyway since then, I've had many experiences with AIRA, and all of them
> have
> ended up positive. One time I was chasing down a Uber because it wanted to
> ditch me... One time I was cramming for a test with a textbook that I
> hadn't
> gotten in Braille on time since it was my first quarter here. One time an
> agent was reading Plato's Republic to me when I may or may not have taken a
> nap, and they may or may not have had to wake me up. They were really nice
> about it though. You know these people are awesome when they can even
> pronounce pars opercularis properly. I can't even do that. (That's an
> essential part of the brain involved in language processing by the way.)
> And
> once they were able to describe, in extreme detail, a brain diagram I was
> studying for psychology. I later got the Braille diagram, and it was
> nowhere
> near as detailed as the AIRA agent's description.
>
> So my point is, please do yourself a huge favor and get AIRA. You can get
> funding for it from the Department of Rehab. Or scholarship money can go
> toward it, or you can apply for their scholarships. I promise you it will
> be
> integral as you go through education and life in general. If my word isn't
> enough, and even if it is, I fully encourage you to check out this blog
> post
> by Jonathan Mosen. He's a technology consultant who has way more experience
> than me. He's worked with Humanware and Freedom Scientific, and for many
> years has run his own consulting company. He designs websites, travels a
> lot, runs several podcasts and a radio station, writes books, and is pretty
> much the kind of person many of us aspire to emulate in terms of success.
> He
> uses AIRA and in this post, talks about how powerfully this innovative
> solution has impacted his life. Please give it a read--I promise it will
> change your outlook. https://mosen.org/aira/
>
> Best,
> Cricket X. Bidleman (she/her/hers)
> Stanford University | Class of 2021
>
> P.S. If you have Emma as your AIRA agent, tell her I said hello. :)
>
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