[Ohio-talk] Check this out

Thu Apr 27 15:27:15 UTC 2017

Great job Eric. I read this article recently.

On Thu, Apr 27, 2017 at 10:48 AM, Richard Payne via Ohio-Talk <
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

>
>
>  <https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1704/bm170405.htm>
> ICYMI
> From the Braille Monitor:"What Do We Really Think of Sight?"
>
> In "What Do We Really Think of Sight?", Eric Duffy discusses the extreme
> emphasis that was placed on sight by the family who loves him, his own
> journey to learn and use nonvisual techniques, and his awareness that there
> must be a merging of alternative techniques and visual ones to live the
> life
> he wants. To read this article and others, visit the
> <https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm17/bm1704/bm1704tc.htm>
> April
> Braille Monitor
>
> What Do We Really Think of Sight?
>
> by Eric Duffy
>
> From the Editor: Eric Duffy currently works for the New Jersey Commission
> for the Blind and Visually Impaired as a technological support specialist.
> He is a former affiliate president, having recently served as the president
> of the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio.
>
> Many of us have come from backgrounds in which we were more dependent on
> vision than we now consider comfortable or necessary. We value the
> alternative techniques that give us independence, still realizing that from
> time to time we need the help of people with sight or, as is becoming more
> and more possible, the use of visually aware devices to help us. For some
> people this creates an internal conflict-how dependent must I be on vision?
> When am I using vision when I could rely on the nonvisual techniques I've
> worked so hard to master and to offer to other blind people as a way to
> become independent.
>
> In this article, Eric Duffy discusses the extreme emphasis that was placed
> on sight by the family who loves him, his own journey to learn and use
> nonvisual techniques, and his awareness that in a balanced life there must
> be a merging of alternative techniques and visual ones to live the life he
> wants. Here is what he says:
>
> At times in our lives many of us have had to consider how much we value
> sight. Sometimes we ask ourselves this question because of an experience we
> have had, and sometimes we ask because of a development in the medical or
> technology fields. Most recently I have found myself pondering this
> question
> because of a visual interpreting service offered by Aira.
>
> Through a special pair of glasses or the camera on a smartphone, one can
> connect to a live agent who is looking at a computer screen and who can see
> exactly what the camera on the glasses or phone can see. During an Aira
> session the agent also has access to GPS on the user's phone, Google maps,
> and more.
>
> Shortly before sitting down to work on this article, I went to a store that
> I had not been to before. I bought some storage bowls for my home and a
> coffeemaker for my son. That was the first time I have gone to a store and
> shopped without the assistance of a family member, friend, or store
> employee. How did I do it? I did it with the help of an Aira agent of
> course.
>
> I first heard about Aira at the 2016 National Convention of the National
> Federation of the Blind, where I saw a demonstration of the service. At
> that
> point I asked myself what I would be saying about me and blindness in
> general if I began using such a service. How would using it fit into my own
> beliefs about blindness and my understanding of the philosophy of the
> National Federation of the Blind, which are very much one and the same?
> These two questions and the questions of several of my friends forced me to
> examine closely my attitudes about blindness.
>
> So I asked myself how much I value sight. In large part the answer defines
> how I feel about blindness. I was one of eight children and the only one
> with a disability. I had very limited functional vision as a child. I did
> what I could to learn colors and to identify as many things as I could
> using
> that vision.
>
> When I accurately identified colors, my parents were happy because I could
> see. When I misidentified colors or objects, I could hear the
> disappointment
> in their voices. They weren't disappointed with me; they were disappointed
> because I couldn't see. That told me how much they valued sight. I went to
> an endless series of specialists in Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City,
> New Orleans, and too many cities to remember in Ohio, which is where I grew
> up. Although my mom didn't like to drive in big cities, she would do it if
> she had to in order to get me to an eye doctor. That told me how much she
> wanted me to see. Sight was quite valuable to her.
>
> As a child I loved McDonald's. If I got close enough, I could see the
> McDonald's Golden Arches. One night as we were traveling in the car, my
> little sister asked if we could stop at McDonald's. My parents said they
> might stop at the next one they saw. My sister was quick to point out the
> next one that she saw, but my dad did not stop. I told my sister just to
> elbow me gently the next time she saw a McDonald's sign, and she happily
> agreed. When she not-so-gently elbowed me, I excitedly said, "There, I see
> it. I see McDonald's!" We stopped at that McDonald's.
>
> On more than one occasion as a child, I found my mother crying. She told me
> that she was sad because I couldn't see. She said that she often prayed and
> asked God to let me see even if she had to sacrifice her sight so that I
> might see. I learned how steep a price she would pay in order for me to
> see.
>
>
> In junior high school I lost the little bit of vision I had. A doctor told
> my parents and me that he could remove a cataract and perform a cornea
> transplant and that I would get some vision back if he did so. My mom
> thought that the eyes were too close to the brain to take such a risk, so I
> learned that she feared my losing my life or something else happening to me
> and that her desire to keep me safe was greater than my having sight.
>
> What did I think? I wanted to have the surgery. I knew what my parents
> thought about blindness. I knew that even at the Ohio State School for the
> Blind those who had some vision were expected to do things and allowed to
> do
> things that the totally blind students were not. I knew how valuable sight
> was.
>
> How does all of this relate to Aira? When walking into a crowded room, most
> blind people I know don't think twice about taking directions from someone
> with sight when looking for an empty seat. Getting assistance from someone
> with sight is the only practical way to do shopping. How many of us take
> the
> elbow of a sighted person (or for that matter even a blind person with
> usable vision) when walking through a noisy and crowded room? How many of
> us
> are willing to accept sighted assistance when going through a buffet line?
> Most of us need sighted assistance when at a restaurant that does not offer
> Braille menus. Many of us have at one time or another paid readers.
>
> Many of us use apps on our smartphones to identify currency. There is an
> app
> that will let us know if the lights in a room are on or off. Working with
> our friend and colleague Ray Kurzweil, the National Federation of the Blind
> has developed an app that enables us to read the printed word, the KNFB
> Reader. To do these things we rely on the cameras on our phones and
> artificial intelligence. In short, we rely on artificial vision. Yet none
> of
> us question whether or not we should use these apps, and I think that is
> the
> way it should be.
>
> Recently I called Aira and asked them to perform a relatively simple task
> on
> the internet for me. A friend asked me why someone with my technology
> skills
> would use Aira to do something that simple. My answer was immediate:
> "Because I could." I said we both know that we have the skills and
> confidence to walk to some of the places to which we wish to travel, but we
> also have the ability to use buses and trains. We could ask someone to
> drive
> us. We could in fact hire someone to drive us in a taxi. In fact we usually
> find it more convenient and less expensive to use one of those new-fangled
> ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber. All of these solutions insert
> sighted people and technology between us and walking to our destination.
>
> After completing my shopping trip today, I told my son and Claire, the Aira
> agent, how happy I was to do my shopping without assistance from those
> around me. However, after discovering that I had left my iPhone in the Uber
> vehicle, I was delighted to have my sighted son go and retrieve it for me.
> I
> could have done it, but it was more convenient and less expensive for him
> to
> do it.
>
> Aira provides sight assistance only when you request it. It is available
> when you need it, and there is no waiting until later when it is more
> convenient for someone to provide the visual information you have
> requested.
> Aira has not made me more dependent on sight; rather, it has changed the
> way
> I do some things. As far as I am concerned, this is a change for the
> better.
>
>
> Media Share
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053