[nfb-db] Travel

Wed May 27 05:52:32 UTC 2009

The GPS from Sendero works pretty well. I can use it on the bus and be able 
to identify street names and other points of interest, eliminating the need 
for help should I not be able to recognize my location and where I am 
heading to. Scanning for points of interest from almost any location yields 
lots of points of interest and you will be able to navigate to the 
destination you found from the list of points of interest or through a scan 
of a specific destination. This works great for me.
Freedom Scientific will soon be incorporating Sendero's GPS for their PAC 
Mate. The JAWS script used in the PAC Mate for StreetTalk made it less 
effective to use StreetTalk, though StreetTalk is not entirely bad.
Mussie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Haben Girma" <habnkid at aol.com>
To: "NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List" <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, May 25, 2009 9:46 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Travel


> Mussie, you mentioned that you get around with a GPS. How well does that 
> work for you? Also, I thought you used a PAC Mate Omni but those don't yet 
> work with StreetTalk at the moment.
>
> Haben
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mussie <gmussie9 at hotmail.com>
> Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2009 11:34 PM
> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Travel
>
> John,
> Wow, that sounds like a movie to me. Or could it be an entirely different
> country? It makes me feel like I should go and live there. We constantly
> have accessibility issues here, and I am often involved in deliberations
> (usually privately) in trying to make things easier for the deaf-blinf. I
> wonder what our state is doing with all the money? Your state is way small
> in terms of economy (California is the #1 largest economy here in America,
> hands down). We have budget issues all the time and there is always 
> haggling
> between the governor and the legislature over how to allocote money for
> programs and services aimed at people with disabilities.
> We don't actually pay tuition at any CA community college if you have SSI 
> or
> are a client of Rehab (you fill out a Board of Governors' waiver form),
> which is why I stayed so long at the community college taking advantage of 
> a
> tuition-free learning environment that is very much intellectually
> rewarding. If I go to a university here, too bad I'll have to stay for the
> duration of my university studies required to complete a degree, plus I'll
> have to pay (Rehab covers most university tuition, but not dorm expenses).
> So, it is really odd that Texas and your state are considered the best in
> terms of accommodation. How is that the case? How do they get all the 
> money
> in spite of their economic woes considering their economies are smaller
> compared to CA?
> Paratransit in my area recently upgraded to allow same-day services 
> (called
> ParaTaxi) you can book online. They also plan to support text 
> message-based
> reservation management (including letting you know when the driver is
> there). But the main paratransit service that I use kind of sucks.
> Unfortunately for me, I live in a suburb that is very 
> deaf-blind-unfriendly,
> though I have learned my way around using my GPS and other tools. But
> same-day paratransit is making life easier, though it is only within the
> city where I live in (for outside the city trips, I use BART or the larger
> paratransit service).
> Thanks for sharing the info. I appreciate that! And oh, how come Seattle,
> which is considered to be the largest deaf-blind community in the US, not 
> be
> as accessible as your state?
> Mussie
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "John Lee Clark" <johnlee at clarktouch.com>
> To: "'NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List'" <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 9:42 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Travel
>
>
>> Mussie:
>>
>> To answer your question:
>>
>> Minnesota has three main sources of SSP services.  One is through your
>> county, if you are eligible for MA or MAEPD (MA for Employed People with
>> Disabilities).  You can also get equipment through this, plus vouchers 
>> for
>> transportation, so you ride buses and paratransit for free all the time.
>> SSP hours vary from client to client, but in Hennepin County, you're
>> actually required to use eight hours or MORE--you can log in TONS of 
>> hours
>> if you want to.  This is a strange p-olicy, requiring you to use MORE 
>> than
>> a
>> certain amount, instead of less than or up to that amount.  Some use six
>> hours a week, others sixteen,  Whatever.
>>
>> The second source is through the state's Department of Human Services.
>> The
>> legislature appropriates half a million dollars each year specifically 
>> for
>> SSP services.  I think it's up to seven hundred thousand dollars now.
>>
>> The third source is through the consumer-directed services, where you get
>> seven thousand seven hundred dollars each year and with which you decide
>> what to do.  You can use this for even more SSP hours on top of the above
>> two sources, but since the above two are more than enough, I use this
>> mainly
>> for equipment and supplies and occasionally for interpreters so I could
>> attend certain events that doesn't really have the means or appartus to
>> provide interpreters or not covered by ADA requirements.  Funerals,
>> homecoming and other games at my alma mater, informal literary events and
>> Critical Thinking Club sessions, etc.
>>
>> You also should be aware that there are many other great things.  For
>> example, Minnesota is number one in the nation for providing the most
>> ASL-interpreted, audio-described, and accessible theater performances,
>> with
>> an average of thirty plays a month that are made accessible and
>> interpreted,
>> and that includes providing two interpreters for each DB tactile signer.
>> The signing community here is good with providing DB interpreters for all
>> its organizations' events--most flyers, you'll notice this line about
>> requesting for interpreters.  Many of them are not even required to by 
>> ADA
>> but do it anyway.
>>
>> As for crowd and hassle of transportation, well, the skyways--if you live
>> in
>> either downtown--will dramatically reduce your need to ride the bus or 
>> use
>> paratransit.  I love, love, love it here.  If I am suddenly in the mood
>> for,
>> say, hot chocolate from Starbucks, why, I just elevator down to the 
>> skyway
>> level and walk through two buildings to where a Starbucks is.  Just that
>> instant, and I just do it.  No waiting for a bus, no calling ahead for
>> paratransit, none of that.  But it's not only hot chocolate, but
>> groceries,
>> clothes, shoes, hairstylists, whatever.
>>
>> And oh, did I tell you that Minnesota is one of two states, the other
>> being
>> Texas, that gives free college education to any deaf or blind students at
>> any one of its eight state universities?  The University of Minnesota in
>> Minneapolis and Metropolitan State University in St. Paul both are big on
>> accessibility issues and have won awards for best accommodations.  Both
>> will
>> soon unveil tactile maps and narrative maps as part of their universal
>> design efforts.  The U of M is very near downtown Minneapolis and MSU is
>> just across a bridge from downtown St. Paul, both very short bus rides,
>> and
>> what's more, both bus routes are ones where you don't even have to ask if
>> this is the right bus, because all buses will go there and back, and both
>> routes are such that you'll know where your stop is just by the bus's
>> turning.  So for those rides, you don't even need communication cards or
>> anything.
>>
>> We have a DB lady who just earned her MA here and another is studying for
>> her Ph.D.
>>
>> Sorry to go on so, but I just really, really love it here!  It is only
>> rarely that I remember that I am deafblind.  Most of the time, the ease
>> and
>> independence and quality of life is so high that I feel just like, well,
>> just a person.  Nothing special.
>>
>> My twin boys are clamoring for McDonald's now.  So I'll go now, but I
>> haven't decided which one of four of them on the skyways we'll go to,
>> because that would depend on where I want to grab my food from, and once 
>> I
>> decide that, we'll go to the McDonald's nearest to that place.  Maybe 
>> I'll
>> get my favorite wrap from D. Bryan or maybe I'll go for Chipotle.  Not
>> sure
>> yet!
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfb-db mailing list
>> nfb-db at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-db_nfbnet.org
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-db mailing list
> nfb-db at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-db_nfbnet.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-db mailing list
> nfb-db at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-db_nfbnet.org
>