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

Wed Sep 5 21:38:17 UTC 2018

Afternoon, Cricket,

         I went to high school at Henry M. Gunn  in central Palo Alto 
so I appreciate  your commentary on Palo Altan architecture and the 
prevalence of fountains and other hazards as a unique yet quirky 
layer of the lay of the land!
Congratulations on your finding the glasses so helpful! 
Congratulations, too, for your having the opportunity of attending 
Stanford! Though currently a resident of Berkeley, most of my High 
School experiences did unfold around Palo Alto .
Carly
cell: 408-209-3239
:
>As a young professional I have been thinking  about Aira. You  make 
>some really good arguments. Thanks  so much for sharing your story.
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Jul 23, 2018, at 1:07 AM, Cricket X. Bidleman via NABS-L 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >
> > 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. :)
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > NABS-L mailing list
> > NABS-L at nfbnet.org
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
> for NABS-L:
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/carlos.montas%40att.net
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>NABS-L mailing list
>NABS-L at nfbnet.org
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NABS-L:
>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/carlymih%40comcast.net