[nfb-db] Communication Options and Technology

Fri May 15 19:33:40 UTC 2009

Haben:

Macalester College isn't in downtown St. Paul, but I know the area.  Next
time you visit Minnesota, let me know and I'd be glad to give you a tour of
BOTH skyway systems, St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Another reason I have various devices here at my dispoal is because
Minnesota offers a consumer-directed service for DB people.  You get seven
thousand seven hundred dollars each year.  Not in your name, but a third
party will dispense the money for you.  You're in full charge of this money
and you can use it for any reason related to your DBness.  You can hire your
own SSPs and interpreters, decide the rates, buy equipment, get training in
something, buy supplies and goods such as batteries, Braille paper, canes,
whatever.  

This program is great for closing the gaps in between the great services
that already exist.  If I go to school, of course the school has to
accommodate me.  But if I go to a funeral, say, it's a different situation.
Or I want to go to the homecoming football game at my alma mater--nobody is
really responsible for providing SSPs or interpreters in those situations,
right?  That's where I can turn to this fund.

Understand that we already have two other sources of SSP services in the
state, and since I use both, and since I don't need that many hours, I tend
to use this fund mostly for equipment and goods.  So I get new stuff
regularly.  At one time, I had five Braille displays of different kinds.
But now I'm down to two plus the SBC.  

I know that in many states, the VR is the only place to go.  Not here.  VR
is just one of many resources.  This is great for the DB here whose cases
are closed or who don't want to work.  They still can get computers and
stuff anyway.  I love it!

John

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Haben Girma
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 2:12 PM
To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Communication Options and Technology

John, wow. I was actually in St. Paul for four days to check out 
Macalester College. I hadn't noticed the skyways. They sound fantastic, 
it's great that you can go to so many places without crossing a street! 
I understand now why a SBC works great for you. You mentioned that some 
of them do have good keyboards, so I'll have to check them out again.

I hadn't even considered a USB cable possible, but it occurred to me 
that both the keyboard and the braille display have mini USB ports, so 
perhaps a USB cable might work. I'll find out.

Haben

John Lee Clark wrote:
> Haben:
>
> I understand your dilemma.  
>
> I've known different SBCs to have different qualities in the Qwerty
keyboard
> part.  Mine happens to be good.  So if you get it and find that they
> keyboard isn't good, you should send it back and get another one.  
>
> I haven't noticed the keyboard being an obstacle, except when the other
> person cannot type or write in English.  
>
> Yes, most of the conversations I have on the SBC are brief.  That's the
way
> I like it.  I don't want long conversations with anyone using any kind of
> device.  I prefer ASL for in-person conversations.  
>
> But often I'd be approached by strangers wanting to talk with me.  They'd
> seen me using it with the waiter, for example, and they'd come over, tap
me
> on the shoulder, and gesture typing to indicate they want to talk with me
> via the SBC.  The other day, at Trattoria da Vinci, a man sat next to me
and
> made the typing gesture.  I was annoyed because I was trying to eat and
also
> was enjoying my Braille magazine on my lap.  He typed to say "You're hot."
> In my mind, I rolled my eyes.  Not again.  But I typed back "Thank you but
> I'm not gay."  This has happened quite a number of times, with both women
> and men.  One woman who did this was even the owner of the restaurant, and
> her hands were all over me and she was typing stuff that made me blush,
but
> I told her to back off, and I've never went to her place again since.
>
> I guess it depends on your needs.  If you do want to meet new people, the
> SBC wouldn't be an obstacle, though it may be a bit slow, but at least you
> can read what they're typing at the same time, live, or you can use the
> buffer mode.  If you want longer, more social conversations, then maybe
> you'll need a better system.  I dunno.  But me, I don't want to meet new
> people who don't sign.  I have a full social life in the signing community
> and make new signing friends all the time, so when I go out I just want
> practical conversations to get things done or get what I want, nothing
more.
> Maybe if I was single, I'd welcome others hitting on me . . .  Smile.
>
> Haben, your trips are also probably very different from mine.  I live din
> downtown St. Paul, and it has done of the world's three largest, most
> extensive skyway systems.  Minneapolis and Montreal are the other two.
> Skyways are enclosed bridges between buildings, on the second floord, so
> walking through one, you are going above the street under you.  Most of
the
> buildings here leave their street and second levels for stores and stuff
and
> the third floor on up would be apartments or officesd or the like.  Pretty
> much everything I need are accessible by skyway, meaning I don't need to
> cross a single street.  There are countless restaurants, delis,
> confectionaries, coffee shops . .  And Macy's, several food stores,
> convenience stores, chiropractors, dentists, hairstylists, Radio Shack,
> spaces that have different bazaars going on year round, art galleries,
> bookstores.  Banks, brokerages, relators, job search agencies.  YMCA,
> private fitness clubs, members-only spas and such.  Social Security
> Administration, the Department of Deaf, Hard of hearing, and Deaf Blind
> Services, and the Minnesota Commission Serving the Deaf, Hard of Hearing,
> and DeafBlind are also accessible by skyways.  In my own building, the
> Kellogg Market, a shoe repair place, a CPA firm, the Prada Café, Quiznos,
> and Senor Wong restaurant.  I just elevator down to the second floor, and
> I'm on the skyway level and can walk to any one of many locations without
> crossing a single street.  Yesterday, I took the boys to the Science
Museum.
> Today, we'll go to the library.  Tomorrow, we're meeting up with friends
at
> the Children's Museum.  All accessible by skyway.  
>
> So you understand, I have access to a great many things without even using
> the good bus system here.  I do use it, and it's easy to use, but my point
> is that I don't need it much.  I don't need to pack a lot of errands into
> one trip, and I don't wait much, because I can just get to where I want to
> and get right back home.  So I guess in this context, carrying nothing is
> often the way to go, or I'd just need the SBC.  I won't have the time to
> read books on the Wave or anything like that.
>
> Hey, I wonder if it'd work to use a USB cord and an adapter so that you
can
> detach the Qwerty keyboard from your Braille display and they're still
> connected, so that you can turn the keyboard around to face the other
> person.  And you'd be able to navigate around the text the other person is
> typing by using the Wiz wheels.  Do you know if this will work?  I threw
out
> my old Pac Mate some years ago, so I can't test that.
>
> John 
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf
> Of Haben Girma
> Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 11:17 AM
> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Communication Options and Technology
>
>
> John, you've really drawn out the virtues of the SBC. It does really 
> seem like the best item out there so far.
>
> My dilemma is that I already have a PAC Mate and don't think I have the 
> shoulder strength to carry around both my PAC Mate and an SBC. I like to 
> take my PAC Mate everywhere so that I can read books while riding buses, 
> subways, planes, and when I'm waiting for a friend to arrive somewhere. 
> The PAC Mate's keyboard is comfortable to use and I could just instruct 
> people to type on it. Unlike the SBC, though, I wouldn't be able to read 
> what they were typing until after they finished, thereby prolonging the 
> interaction, which might not be desirable in certain settings (i.e. a 
> long line). I also feel like the SBC's small keyboard discourages 
> people, to a small extent, from communicating with the DB person. I've 
> heard that the keyboard is uncomfortable to use, making it a sort of 
> obstacle people desiring to communicate with a DB person would have to 
> overcome. You mention that you primarily use it for brief and quick 
> encounters.
>
> It would be great if Freedom Scientific would create a device like the 
> PAC Mate where the braille keyboard could be optionally maneuvered from 
> in front of the keyboard to behind the keyboard. The brailel display on 
> the PAC Mate is detachable, so another option would be to have the 
> braille display communicate with the main part of the PAC Mate 
> wirelessly, or through a reasonably lengthed cord.
>
> So, I'm wondering whether most people in the public would rather 
> communicate with me on my PAC Mate or on a cell phone connected to my 
> PAC Mate. Typing on the cell phone has the disadvantage that such 
> conversations could only be slow. There's also the risk you mention of 
> someone wanting to steal the cell phone. My PAC Mate, on the other hand, 
> has a nice keyboard that would be easy to type on. The question is: 
> Would people feel comfortable not seeing what they were typing (the PAC 
> Mate doesn't have a visual screen), and would it really be faster with 
> the PAC Mate when I wouldn't be able to read what they typed until after 
> they finished and passed the machine back to me?
>
> Haben
>
>
> John Lee Clark wrote:
>   
>> Haben:
>>
>> There are three other options I know of.  
>>
>> One is to use a cell phone and a Braille display that connects wirelessly
>>     
> to
>   
>> it via Bluetooth.  You hand the other person the cell phone, which you've
>> already set to the notes program.  I've done this before with my Nokia
>>     
> cell
>   
>> phone and my Braille Wave.  There are two disadvantages to this, however:
>> One, the cell phone may be a desirable, famililar item the other person
>> would be tempted to steal from you; and two, it requires some time to set
>> things up--turning on both devices, waiting for the cell phone to boot
up,
>> then setting up the notes program . . .  Whereas with the Screen Braille
>> Communicator, you can just turn it on and it's ready to go right away.
>>
>> Another option is the Tabli, which you can connect to a HandyTech device
>> such as the Braille Wave.  The Tabli has a Qwerty board that connects to
>>     
> the
>   
>> Braille Wave through one cord, and a screen, which is separate,
connecting
>> to it through another cord.  The screen will show in text whatever is
>>     
> going
>   
>> on in Braille.  Turning on the Wave, you go to File, then New File.  Then
>> whatever you type on the Wave will show.  Whatever the other person types
>>     
> on
>   
>> the Qwerty board will show up both on the screen and on your Braille
>> display.  However, you have four separate things to assemble here: Wave,
>> Qwerty board, a cord, and the screen.  Worse still, the screen has two
>> triangles on its back that makes sit stand up on an angle.  This makes
>> packing it hard, with these two large triangles pointing, and they cannot
>>     
> be
>   
>> removed.  This requires a surface, on which everything can rest.  The
>>     
> Screen
>   
>> Braille Communicator has a huge advantage over this because it's just one
>> piece--I know it has different parts, but still it's functionally one
>> piece--and you don't need a surface, and you can use it while standing on
>> the middle of a sidewalk, asking someone for directions or whatever.
>>
>> Finally, there is the DeafBlind Communicator.  This option is almost like
>> the first one I listed, with the cell phone replaced by a small
pager-like
>> device with a keyboard and a screen.  Since this item is not a cell phone
>> and is not a familiar commercial object, I don't think it'd be a target
>>     
> for
>   
>> theft.  And I believe it turns on right away, leaving only your setting
>> things up on the mPower display.  However, the DBC is far more expensive
>> than the SBC.
>>
>> What I use depends on the situation.  I use the SBC most often for
>> communicating with waiters, cashiers, salespersons, et al.  Most of the
>> conversations are brief, often only one turn, in which I order something
>>     
> or
>   
>> ask for something, and that's all that's needed.  For others, the SBC is
>> mainly an opportunity to communicate with me if they want to or need
>> to--such as letting me know that they're out of something or to let me
>>     
> know
>   
>> what time tomorrow the barber has an opening.  So the Qwerty keyboard
>> doesn't get much use.  It's nice that I can just turn it on, anywhere,
and
>> it doesn't require a table or anything.  It's easy to pack or just carry
>> alone.
>>
>> On more extended trips on which I want the Wave with me anyway, for
>>     
> reading
>   
>> and texting with my wife or others, I don't need the SBC.  But the main
>> reason I am bringing the Wave and the cell phone is not to communicate
>>     
> with
>   
>> people, though that is a bonus.  
>>
>> Traveling out of the state, I usually bring both Wave/cell and SBC.  
>>
>> I often go out with nothing but my cane.  I can just ask for a pen and
>>     
> paper
>   
>> and write.  That works most of the time.  If the other person needs to
>>     
> tell
>   
>> me something or ask something, it's easy to do print on palm.  The
>>     
> alphabet
>   
>> glove is also extremely reliable.  
>>
>> Around here, I am well known, and often Ii just walk in the place and
>> everything will be ready for me without my writing anything at all.  At
>>     
> some
>   
>> places, it's a simple gesture that will do.  For example, at D. Bryan's,
I
>> always get either a cheeseburger or a chicken cranberry almond wrap.  I
>>     
> sign
>   
>> hamburger for the one and sign chicken for the other.  Most places here
>>     
> have
>   
>> Braille menus, and sosme of them have print alongside the Braille, so you
>> just point to the item and the waiter can see what it is.  At several
>> restaurants and stores here, people can sign or at least fingerspell.
>>
>> Yes, I wish there was a better version of the SBC--one piece, just switch
>>     
> on
>   
>> and go.  It's nice that some companies are adding stuff to their existing
>> displays, but I really want a device like the SBC with just one purpose.
>> But for now, the SBC is better than a lot of stuff for many kinds of
>> situations.
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>>  
>>
>> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
>> Checked by AVG. 
>> Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.12.11/2089 - Release Date:
>>     
> 4/30/2009
>   
>> 5:53 PM
>>  
>>
>>
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