[NFB-DB] Convention Advice

Wed May 1 19:06:31 UTC 2019

Hi 

I am also deaf blind. I’ve been blind since I’ve been six months old and I started losing my hearing when I was 11 years old. I loved ASL sign language when I was little from my stepsister. And I started learning braille back when I was 18 years old. And I travel town to town when I feel like it. But I choose not to travel on an airplane. I only see light and without my hearing and I’m considered profoundly deaf but with my hearing aids I am concerned of profoundly hard of hearing. Am I here in a car turned up so loud where you can hear the feedback when you hug me but for me to hear people talking I have to have them that long and when I go to certain doctors are use sign language interpreter just for certain doctors.

Ineko Gary 

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 1, 2019, at 11:31 AM, Scott Davert via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi Lisa.
> As of now, I'm planning to be at convention and give a presentation at the NFB DB meeting. i'm in a similar situation as you are, in that I'm always advocating for better braille access. I'm not quite sure who all  is going, but if you'd like to meet at convention, feel free to contact me offlist. I still need to confirm with Marsha about my presentation, but I am planning to be in Vegas regardless.
> As for a face to face communication option, there is no all in one device on the market here in America that allows you to communicate with a sighted and hearing counterpart. A  Dutch developer created the Screen Braille Communicator back in the 90's and they can still be ordered if you live in the EU. Which isn't helpful to us, but there have been issues with this device. If you happened to get one, you'd have to send it back to the Netherlands for repair. Anyway, about the best you can do for portable use is to pair a braille display and tooth keyboard to an iOS or Android device and give the person you are trying to communicate with the keyboard.
> As for losing hearing on top of being blind, I find it's an adjustment that is almost always in progress for me. I have very very basic signing skills myself and often rely on the manual alphabet when in noisy situations... such as convention. ALD's help as well, and the NFB does make them available at convention. The amateur radio division used to be in charge of these, though I'm not sure if that's still the case. I have not been to convention since it was in Dallas in 2012. One reason I go to convention is to visit a city I do not regularly get to. Orlando isn't on that list, and my professional career between 2012 and last year didn't easily permit me to attend anyway. I was in Vegas in 2014 for the first International DB expo, but that was the only time. Medical circumstances prevented me from enjoying it fully. I'm looking forward to this year's convention!
> 
> Hope to catch you there,
> Scott
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On May 1, 2019, at 4:54 AM, Heather via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I am in the same boat, not sure if I can attend the convention. I do not travel out much because of my hearing loss and kind of afraid to travel alone as I cant hear my surroundings. I can connect only gave me a braille display with no training and I cant get any other services from DARS.  I hope you have a wonderful time up there. Cheers Heather  
>>  
>> "Blindness is a characteristic, not a handicap!" Dr. Kenneth Jernigan 
>> e-mail:
>> kd5cbl at gmail.com
>> sites:
>> National Federation of The Blind:
>> www.nfb.org
>> An Accessible Online Library:
>> www.bookshare.org
>>  
>> From: Lisa Ferris via NFB-DB
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2019 3:52 AM
>> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
>> Cc: Lisa Ferris
>> Subject: [NFB-DB] Convention Advice
>>  
>> Hello!
>>  
>> I will be attending the NFB convention in Las Vegas for the first time as a DB person. I did attend once before in the early 90s (New Orleans) but I was only mildly hearing impaired then and really only identified as blind.
>>  
>> One of my goals is to meet as many of you in the DB division as possible and see what the division does, because I don’t really know. I have been more active in my state with DB folks, but they come from an ASL Deaf Cultural perspective. This has been wonderfully interesting to learn about, and I have appreciated getting to know them. My ASL is very basic at best, I am in a period of transition, trying to figure out how to go from blind to DB, while many of them who have Ushers are comfortable with Deafness but trying to figure out how to be blind. I am wondering if the NFB DB division comes from more of a blind perspective?
>>  
>> I’m not saying one is better than the other, just learning here and strive to be all inclusive. But one thing I would like to work on is better access to Braille, via better, more robust displays and devices to better communication solutions for the DB. (Using braille for in person communication or telephone communication.) But my Oregon DB peeps are largely unfamiliar with braille at all, and many struggle with written English, so it isn’t a solution they are very enthusiastic about.
>>  
>> Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to anyone that will be at the convention, and also am interested in DB events and ways to deal with the convention as a DB person. So, I would welcome any information or advice you might have, and hope to be able to meet some of you there.
>>  
>> Lisa Ferris
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>>  
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