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<DIV><FONT size=3>Hey Delcenia, I enjoyed hearing of your life's story.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Before now it seemed that I was getting bits and pieces of
different list members questions without seeing both conversations or maybe I
missed the first ones. I wasn't particularly interested in small bits and
pieces that made little sense unless you were the one it was directed at.
But the stories of each life and how we cope and what our expectations are for
the future are very interesting to hear. And maybe we can have some
impact on one another in some way. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>I think you were fortunate to have been able to drive.
It seems like such a necessity today. I have never been able to
drive.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>What kind of work are you interested in? I missed that
post of your question. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>I can't blame you for wanting to spend your time visiting your
family. They should be the most important thing in your life.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>I'm from Florida. I live on an island 3 miles wide and
eleven miles long called Amelia Island. It was named this from the Spanish
King Ferdinan after his daughter Amelia. The biggest city is Fernandina
Beach. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Blessings to you, Cheri</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 3/20/2014 12:27:53 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
delcenia@prodigy.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>First
let me say hello to everyone on this list and happy belated birthday <BR>to
Trish. To those that do not know me which is most of you. My name is
<BR>Delcenia and I live outside of Cleveland, ohio area. I am a little new to
<BR>this list as of September 2013. Welcome Shadow. I do not normally
respond <BR>to anything other than the question regarding the voting issues
because I do <BR>not personally know any of you. After reading the last thread
I am compelled <BR>to say something.<BR><BR>I begin to wear one hearing aid at
the age of 10 in my right ear. Maybe 10 <BR>or 15 years later I
needed to wear two hearing aids in both ears. Now I only <BR>wear one hearing
aid in my left ear. I was diagnose with RP at the age of <BR>21.<BR>Many years
later I was told I had Usher Syndrom 2In 2005 I was told I have <BR>MS. . I
never had balance problems. I drove a car until I was around 28. I
<BR>have always excepted whatever condition I was dealt. however, I
never place <BR>myself into a category until recently. It was not because I
did not accept <BR>it, it was I felt like I did not belong because my
situation was unique and <BR>never heard any one else with similar problems. I
say this because until I <BR>joined this list I did not know you all exist as
far as having similar <BR>problems. Darlene I also enjoyed playing cards and
once I learned braille <BR>from Hadley I could still play just not as fast as
I use to. One of my <BR>question is, how did you and others get to go to
HK? Now after turning 50 on <BR>December 31, 2013 and my situation is getting
worse. I want to continue to <BR>take charge of my life. I
also want to work and this has been a challenge. <BR>I had place a question on
this list back in January 14 and no one responded. <BR>Maybe I am using this
list the wrong way as far as trying to post a question <BR>or comment. At the
time I was doing a 3 day assessment to see if call center <BR>setting would
work. I had post a question looking for suggestions on how to <BR>handle
the setting that I had at the time.<BR><BR>Could some of you when responding
or posting say what state you are from so <BR>that I and others would
know. Personally, I think this list is a good idea. <BR>I have learned a lot
from all of you since September 2013. I hope to meet <BR>all of
you one day. Unfortunately, it will not be the National Convention <BR>this
year in orlando. My oldest granddaughter who live in North Carolina <BR>turn
10 on July 3 and I want to spend time with her and my husband's family
<BR>reunion is in Detroit the same week. I will be stretching myself across
the <BR>border that week.<BR><BR>Meanwhile, Anna Trotman, I am grateful for
the I Can Connect program (ICCP). <BR>I am learning to use my IPAD, Iphone and
Braille Display. I can not wait <BR>for the training to began again.
Meanwhile the internet and Hadley has been <BR>a great tool for
learning.<BR><BR>So keep on keeping on everybody and remember with a little
determination we <BR>can accomplish a
lot.<BR><BR>Delcenia<BR>-----Original Message----- <BR>From: Darlene
Laibl-Crowe<BR>Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 10:51 AM<BR>To: 'NFB Deaf-Blind
Division Mailing List'<BR>Subject: Re: [nfb-db] About This Group
List<BR><BR>First, Shadow, I want to say 'AWESOME!' about the CI and getting
your best<BR>ear back. Yes, I understand what you say about one ear
being better than<BR>the other. Mine is the right ear. I have
heard many positive things from<BR>CI wearers as I have many friends who have
them. I found out when I began<BR>to lose more hearing that I was not a
good candidate for CI because I could<BR>still hear with a hearing aid...so
for now, I am bi-lateral hearing aid<BR>user. One day I might have to
become a CI-user but for now I do what I do.<BR><BR><BR>I got new HAs about
three weeks ago and they are great along with the<BR>Assistive listening
Devices I got with them! Unfortuantely there are some<BR>areas that need
to be worked out and that is the issue of background noises.<BR>Sigh! It
will get better as I know from experience technology is improving<BR>all the
time!<BR><BR>I really enjoyed Bernie's class, too! What did you do your
presentation on?<BR>Mine was called 'Laugh Out Loud' and everyone had a
blast. I recently used<BR>it for a speech at my local Lion's Club for St
Patrick's Day and the<BR>audience loved it. Everyone had a great time
laughing! It isn't stand up<BR>comedy, just pure laughter which is good
for the heart, mind, body and soul!<BR><BR>Did they have the leadership class
while you were there? I took that class<BR>because I wanted to know the
'right' way to advocate for myself. We learned<BR>a lot in that class
and it has helped me tremendously with all I do.<BR><BR>Well, gotta go, take
care of yourself!<BR>(smile)<BR>Darlene<BR><BR>-----Original
Message-----<BR>From: nfb-db [mailto:nfb-db-bounces@nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Shadow Wolf<BR>Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 10:37 AM<BR>To: NFB Deaf-Blind
Division Mailing List<BR>Subject: Re: [nfb-db] About This Group List<BR><BR>Hi
Darlene,<BR>Nice to meet you. I was at HKNC for 11 months. I took full
advantage of the<BR>training they offered there. I took up whatever classes
they offered besides<BR>just learning Braille, Technology, ASL-TSL-Haptic
Signs and Independent<BR>Living. I even took Sr. Bernie's presentation class
last fall prior to her<BR>retirement last Dec. after 34 or 35 years she worked
there. It was a great<BR>learning experience.<BR><BR>I first started wearing
hearing aids in both ears at 6 years old. I lost my<BR>hearing as a toddler. I
was told I had RP during my early teens once I was<BR>diagnosed. But I was
still driving up until I was 24. Then later on, around<BR>in 2010. I was told
I had Usher's type-2. I was confused about that, because<BR>Usher's also
affects balance. Whereas I do not have balance issues. In<BR>fact, I
think most people with Usher's type-2 do not have balance issues.<BR>On New
Year's eve 2000, I was involved in a really bad car accident.<BR>Although I
was not a driver but a passenger. I suffered head trauma where I<BR>also
suffered an ear fracture in left side. I lost my hearing in that ear 2<BR>days
later. For 9 and half years I was hearing with only 1 ear, a hearing<BR>aid.
My left ear was my better ear then. If you are a right hand person,<BR>writing
with a right hand, it was like losing your right hand and trying to<BR>write
with your left hand. Same with my hearing after that accident. I
had<BR>communication issues and kept to myself during most of that time. Until
one<BR>day in fall 2009, I got lucky and became a candidate in my state to
receive<BR>a Cochlear Implant. After all is said and done. After 3 months of
my brain<BR>trying to adjust to my CI and hearing in my left ear again. My
left ear<BR>where my CI is, became the better ear once again. I now understand
people<BR>best with my CI. It is loud and clear. The CI boosted my
communication<BR>skills and gave me a great deal of confidence. I am now happy
that I<BR>received the CI and I hold no regrets about it. It is medically
amazing that<BR>the CI can restore your hearing if someone suffered dramatic
hearing loss<BR>from an ear fracture. I admit I was skeptical at first when I
first sat down<BR>with CI specialists prior to my surgery. I didn't think it
was gonna work.<BR>But I was wrong. The CI did work for
me.<BR><BR>--S.W.<BR><BR>On 3/20/2014 4:49 AM, Darlene Laibl-Crowe
wrote:<BR>> Good morning, Shadow!<BR>><BR>> Welcome to the NFB DB
Division. I, too, have RP and am HOH. I wear<BR>> bi-lateral
hearing haids. But I did not grow up knowing that I had<BR>>
RP. I found out as an adult at the age of 28 and had to give up<BR>>
driving. I was able to see to read print and see people's faces
to<BR>> read lips to accommodate for what I could hear for about 22 years
after I<BR>was diagnosed with RP.<BR>> That means when I turned 50 almost 6
years ago, I struggled with what<BR>> to do as I could not longer see to do
things that I kept doing as a<BR>> sighted person.<BR>><BR>> Since I
grew up wearing hearing aids, I never considered myself a 'deaf'<BR>>
person and can remember someone telling me 'oh, you're deaf' when I<BR>>
told them I wore hearing aids. I quickly responded and told them
'oh,<BR>> no, I can hear something'.<BR>><BR>> So six years ago when
I began to struggle with vision loss, I finally<BR>> met many who were
dealing with similar issues and I recognized that I<BR>> was
Deaf-Blind. Once I was able to define this, I soon went to Helen<BR>>
Keller National Center (January 2011 -- September 2011) where I<BR>>
learned much about my specific needs. HKNC is a great place to
learn<BR>> all you can about resources and gives a great sense of
confidence.<BR>><BR>> Since returning home, I have continued to learn
and made great progress.<BR>> How long were you at HKNC? Also, if you
are home, are you learning<BR>> Braille through Hadley's?<BR>><BR>>
That was how I completed my Braille...through Hadley School for the
Blind.<BR>> The Braille teacher at HKNC was very good and so glad I got
the<BR>> beginnings of it there and the teacher at Hadley was also very
good.<BR>> I use Braille in my everyday life but I am not that fluent
because I<BR>> have not made myself sit and read as I should. Need to
get myself<BR>> back on track there. I use Braille in business
meetings, identifying<BR>> things in my home and I also use it often when
playing cards. My<BR>> family loves to play canasta and I missed
playing it. Now I can play<BR>> it again! (smile) My
sister (who is sighted) and I always play<BR>> partners against our spouses
and we win the majority of the time!<BR>><BR>> Take your time learning
Braille. It can be daunting as times but very<BR>> rewarding when it
is completed.<BR>><BR>> Anyway, This list is a good source for
information and sharing. I do<BR>> have a question...you state that
you have been Deaf-Blind all your<BR>> life. When did you find out
about your RP?<BR>><BR>> Have a Thrilling Thursday!!<BR>><BR>>
(smile)<BR>> Darlene<BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>>
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Wolf~*<BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>nfb-db
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