[Ohio-talk] Check this out

Mon May 1 17:23:28 UTC 2017

Chris, please give Mom my e-mail and phone number. Heather Liderman and
Sheri Albers are the coordinators and Debbie Baker and I are the teachers.
I will be happy to answer any questions she has.

On Mon, May 1, 2017 at 12:15 PM, CHRIS TOLLE via Ohio-Talk <
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> I have a young man, Noah, who I met at the Cracker Barrel  in Fairfield.
> He is a cane user & is all of 10 years old.  He works with Katie through
> HRC.    He is in that middle age where he is blind but wants to be
> “Normal”.  What is normal… but boring.    He would be a GREAT FIT for the
> BELL program.
>
> How can I help Mom get him hocked up?
> > On May 1, 2017, at 12:06 PM, Tammy Smith via Ohio-Talk <
> ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Marian,
> >
> > I had some questions to ask about the summer bell program camp in
> Columbus,
> > Ohio.  How far is it to get to the blind scholl?  Do you prefer gray
> hound
> > bus and how much it cost?  Do we provide the suppies for the kids?
> Please
> > let me know as soon as possible.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Tammy Smith
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Ohio-Talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Marianne
> > Denning via Ohio-Talk
> > Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 11:27 AM
> > To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> > Cc: Marianne Denning <marianne at denningweb.com>
> > Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Check this out
> >
> > 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
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> >> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> >> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> >> Ohio-Talk:
> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/
> >> marianne%40denningweb.com
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
> > Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
> > (513) 607-6053
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ohio-Talk mailing list
> > Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> > Ohio-Talk:
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/
> tammysmith%40zoomtown
> > .com
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ohio-Talk mailing list
> > Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/
> tollebooth%40yahoo.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ohio-Talk mailing list
> Ohio-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Ohio-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ohio-talk_nfbnet.org/
> marianne%40denningweb.com

-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053