[nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home Makeover -blindcouple in OH

Mon Dec 6 18:51:05 UTC 2010

If there's a light, it's not difficult.  A car is just as likely to hit you
in a lighted intersection with or without an audible signal.  If the
crossing is done without stop signs or some other type of traffic control,
then I agree something is required, but I think audible signals should be
enhancers if used, not requirements.

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing 

-----Original Message-----
From: John Heim [mailto:john at johnheim.net] 
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 1:32 PM
To: jsorozco at gmail.com; NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home 
Makeover -blindcouple in OH

She didn't say it was too much of a challenge to cross the street. She 
demonstrated how difficult it is.  Sometimes, it is difficult. 
There are 
intersections where having an accessible pedestrian signal makes it way 
easier and way safer for a blind person to cross. Its impossible to say 
whether an accessible pedestrian signal was really necessary on 
that corner 
but I see no reason to doubt it. I say when in doubt, put the signal in.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home 
Makeover -blindcouple in OH

> You know, if they were willing to give me all them there 
gifts, I'll be 
> glad
> to accept them and simultaneously correct their misconceptions of 
> blindness.
> A win/win!  LOL  I'm just curious to hear what it is they 
counsel people
> about empowerment if the street intersection is too much of a 
challenge?
>
> Joe
>
> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up 
their sleeves,
> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rovig, Lorraine
> Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 12:02 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] [NFB-talk] Here We Go Again: Home
> Makeover - blindcouple in OH
>
> Here We Go Again: Home Makeover Extreme Edition - blind couple in OH
>
> Well, I watched it. It was pretty bad and it could have been worse. It
> could have been a lot better too.
>
> Their original bathroom -- a sink fell off the wall once when Jasmine
> washed her hands so they had no bathroom sink; the old toilet would
> swivel left and right about 20 degrees either way if your toe 
pushed it.
> Other parts of the old home and front porch were dangerous.  
The part of
> the old house facing the street appeared to be two-rooms wide, small
> rooms, and I do not remember if it was two-story.  They were given a
> two-story, large, modern home with all new appliances in the kitchen,
> laundry room, every other room, and etcetera.
>
> This is an African-American family, the Andersons of Maple 
Heights, Ohio
> (near Cleveland). I do not know if either one has a job; both 
appear to
> be in their early 40s.  The mother, Jasmine, states she is visually
> impaired. She uses a folding cane with a fat white tip that I 
think is a
> marshmallow tip.  Husband, Andre, pronounced the French way, 
is totally
> blind and uses a guide dog named Valentine. The show gave the dog a
> heart-shaped bed.
>
> Jasmine gave a tiny monologue stating she lost enough sight to be
> visually impaired and was depressed for awhile but then she became
> "courageous" like she is now. They never charge for their [untrained]
> counseling and encouragement of other people with disabilities. They
> give lots of speeches to educate the community how to make life easier
> for blind people and people with other disabilities.
>
> The couple told us they are in danger every time they cross a 
street and
> the camera mike was held close to trucks and cars as vehicles 
zoomed by
> on a city street. Jasmine said she was hit in the shoulder by a moving
> car one time. Ty Pennington, the shows' big-hearted hero,
> furniture-designer and designer of his own line of linens and other
> goods for the home, excellent carpenter and TV show leader, went on
> about how dangerous it is for blind people every day when they are
> outside the home. He got installed for the Andersons a fancy talking
> device at the single crossing nearest to their home at their bus stop.
> Jasmine told us "we're not the only blind people living here, 
you know"
> and, she said, this will help people with other disabilities that live
> in their neighborhood too.
>
> The show gave her a CCTV rigged to a lady's dressing table so she can
> see to put on her make-up and not have to ask her son if she did it
> okay. She got choked up that she can see her nails now and can paint
> them as she could not see to do before, and for the first time she
> exclaims, as we watch her look at it, she can see the 
beautiful ring her
> husband gave her.
>
> In the old house, Jasmine shoved up the sleeves on her dress 
to show Ty
> and us the many burns on her arms that she got from using her
> conventional electric 4-burner stove and oven.  The show gave her
> "induction heating" which does not give out any heat except to a metal
> pot placed on the burner, and she got a wall oven so her oven is at a
> better height for her to use. The house got a talking 
temperature gauge.
> On the plus side, so the two wouldn't get lost, nothing odd was built
> into the kitchen or the walls and floors.  Also on the plus 
side, except
> for the induction oven, normal if fancy Sears's appliances were placed
> in the home for the kitchen and the baths.
>
> Both Andre and Jasmine got computers that I think had JAWS 
installed on
> them. They got a home theatre room with one "Sound Dome" over 
both their
> heads that directs the sound directly only to them, and lets them hear
> the SAP channel along with the show. They have two very helpful,
> respectful sons (one may be age 12 and the other is a young teenager).
> Ty stated the older son got a vacation from verbalizing what is on
> screen plus he got the SAP thing with words running below the screen
> when folks talked (which he needed but I missed the part that said why
> he did). The younger son is sure he wants to grow up to be an 
eye doctor
> so he can cure blindness, beginning with his mother's visual 
impairment.
>
> Both Jasmine and Andre got brand new, fat-bodied, folding canes that
> have built-in sensors to inform them of obstacles by their head and at
> their feet, and, said Ty, "these aren't even on the market yet." Andre
> expressed their gratitude.
>
> They got a huge main room that runs from a living room 
grouping through
> an empty space of floor to a dining room grouping to a kitchen with no
> barriers or changes in floor, so they do not have to worry 
anymore about
> running into posts or walls, as they did run into in their cramped
> original home.  I noticed they are both bulky overweight 
people and the
> original house doorways were older and appeared smallish, plus a post
> was inconveniently placed, especially for any overweight people trying
> to get past it to the bedrooms and bathroom.
>
> The mortgage company paid off and tore up their mortgage; the local
> branch of the state college gave them 2 college scholarships for the
> boys; Sears gave the four of them enough clothes and shoes to 
fill some
> of their new closets; the local basketball team called The Cavaliers,
> gave the teen-aged son a closet-full of their clothes plus 
3-shelves of
> their basketballs with its metal rack. The building company gave them
> $50,000 to a fund to handle their home maintenance.
>
> Braille got a "shout out" as the modern lingo has it. Ty 
added palm-size
> wooden "dots" to their bed's headboard to spell out in grade 
one, "Love
> is Blind."  Large print got a "shout out" too, with their top 
bed quilt
> decorated with "Love is Blind" sewn on as stuffed, raised-up
> hand-writing.
>
> (For me, I keep wondering how they and other Ty Pennington-show
> homeowners can afford their new taxes on their giant gifts of money,
> goods, and a huge new home.)
>
> The Andersons were so very grateful for all they received from Ty and
> Sears Company and ABC. Tears all around.
>
> You can view the entire episode on the Anderson Family via computer,
> here:
> http://abc.go.com/shows/extreme-makeover-home-edition
> Anderson Family
>  | Full Episode
> A visually impaired couple devoted to helping the community receives a
> home makeover, complete with technologies that help people with
> disabilities;
> EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION - "Anderson Family" - Andre and Jasmine
> Anderson have never allowed their visual impairment to slow them down,
> but rather have faced it head on, and established the Disability
> Awareness Center in Maple Heights, Ohio, to help others who are
> struggling with sight loss. The couple and their sons learned 
they would
> be recipients of a home makeover while aboard the public bus that they
> ride every day. The "EM: HE" team surprised them on the bus 
and revealed
> plans to give them a new "smart" home, equipped with technologies that
> support people with disabilities. This episode of "Extreme Makeover:
> Home Edition" airs SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC
> Television Network. (ABC/MIKE CROUCH) ANDERSON FAMILY HOME - AFTER -
> BEDROOM
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org
> 