[nfb-db] Question

[Alicia Richards]

Hello, all.  I am totally blind, and fully hearing.  I learned the manual 
alphabet about two and a half years ago.  I personally did not find this 
difficult to learn.  I started out finger spelling, fairly slowly, but it 
did not take me  long to pick up speed with this.  It did, however, take a 
long time for me to begin reading other people's hands.  I can only really 
do this fluently with one person, and I'm still far slower at reading than I 
am spelling.  When I worked as a cashier for a BEP vender, we had quite a 
few sighted but deaf people who worked in the building.  I used my finger 
spelling with most of them.  Some acted as if using the manual alphabet was 
beneath them, but most were willing to be patient enough to communicate with 
me that way.  It took me longer to read their hands, but I could do it. 
Most recently, I have met a woman whom I cannot read at all.  This is 
because when she communicates, she tends to use a combination of the manual 
alphabet and tactile sign, which I know nothing of.  I understand that the 
manual alphabet is slower than tactile sign, but RJ, it's not as slow as you 
might think as you get used to it.

In the case of the woman who uses a mix of tactile sign and finger spelling, 
had I been thinking clearly, communicating via Braille would have been most 
helpful.  I had my BrailleNote on me, I just did not think to use it.

I see no problem in using technology to communicate with someone who is 
deaf-blind.  As Scott said, if there is to be a lot of communication over a 
longterm period, then it should not be the primary method, but what is the 
problem with using it to bridge the initial gap?  At least it would mean RJ 
and Amanda could have more privacy and intimacy in their communication. it's 
better than someone not being willing to make an attempt at communicating at 
all.

RJ, I agree with Scott.  I don't think a VR agency would help you with this, 
since you are not a deaf-blind consumer. But if Amanda chose to learn 
Braille, they would likely help her.  I'm a strong advocate of Braille for 
any blind person, but it seems to be significantly more important for 
someone who is deaf-blind.

I know I say all this as a hearing person, and I cannot know what it is like 
to live with deaf-blindness.  I just wanted to throw in my two cents.

Alicia