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Kiana Khansmith
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YOU ARE THE REASON
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@myindey-blog
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mi4HpYA9jg)
My Indey provides personalized services to help adults reclaim vision independence with portable all-in-one tools you can use!
Android tablet packages and App training customized for each client. Place your order at http://www.myindey.com/#!complete-tablet-package/clf9.
Having a stand-out booth at an expo is an amazing way to get attention to your business
The goal as a booth exhibitor at any venue is to engage the attendees. Yes, conferences, conventions and expos can be boring, but it doesnāt have to be that way.
Quick visual overview of tablet launcher that's easy to use!
Check out @MyIndey's Tweet:
Echolocation: The Eighth Sense | DiscoverMagazine.com
Hereās an interesting article from Discover Magazine about echolocation for the blind. Me, Iām happy with a cane or dog alongside my senses of things like sounds and changes in air pressure.
We can only read part of it without a subscription.
Photo courtesy of Discover Magazine
Echolocation: The Eighth Sense | DiscoverMagazine.com.
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Exciting new Android tablet features of the future with the "capacity to adapt to individual users' experiences". Woot!
An Indian startup created smart shoes that can give the wearer directions without needing to look at a smartphone.
App wishlist?
Do you, a family member, or friend live with low vision? What kind of apps would make life easier and give you greater independence?
We take our business personally. Read why here.
Hi, I'm Kaitlin and I have a question that only another Blind/VI person can answer. I have been legally blind all my life and, I loved being blind, I love not knowing what people look like because our society only looks on the appearance of someone. But, I came to the realization that sighted people just seem to know who I am when they first see me. I guess my question is, how do you deal with this? How do you make sighted people realize that you are a real human too? Not just an inspiration?
Ugh. That drives me crazy, āyouāre an inspiration.ā Thank you but Iām just a human being living my life.
I wish I had a better answer for this but honestly, the only thing that I can think of to do is to continue to educate people. I donāt think that the responsibility lies solely in us though. I believe that some sighted people need to learn how to be more respectful and more accepting.
Sighted people, Invite us to your events, to hang out with you and your friends. Donāt be afraid of us. Talk to us. After saying that we are an inspiration, donāt just walk away, get to know us as human beings. We are not ethereal, magical creatures.
Low Vision Assistive Device - Wear it On Your Prescription Glasses
Low Vision Assistive Device ā Wear it On Your PrescriptionĀ Glasses
A new enormously expensive but wonderful adaptive device is now on the market to help people with low vision read everything from the newspaper to food labels. Itās super exciting, but before you dust off the Visa, know thisā¦
This device is $3,500
They just assume we all have an agency to pay for assistive technology OR that we all have deep pockets.
Low Vision Assistive Device ā Wear it On Yourā¦
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Samsung and The Carroll Center for the Blind Team Up to Test Television Accessibility - The Carroll Center for the Blind, a rehabilitation training facility that in 1984 offered the country?s first computer classes for individuals who are blin
To help visually impaired people navigate through subway stations, a team of engineers has invented a smartphone application that will provide audio directions through public buildings and public tā¦
Health officials say bad eyesight in the U.S. is most common in the South. A new report found the South was home to three-quarters of the U.S. counties
Photo credit: Joerg Sarbach / Associated Press
Low Vision ā Low IQ
Outrageous claim: I may be going blind, but Iām not a moron.
Iām in the middle of a heated debate with the leaders of a support group for people with retinitis pigmentosa. I was diagnosed with RP at age 13 and have been riding the line of legal blindness for about ten years.
Quick background: RP is a degenerative eye disease that causes light and color receptors in the retina (rods and cones) to die. It starts at the outside of the retina, so it affects peripheral and low-light vision in early stages. The result of this is severe tunnel vision, which manifests (at least in my case) as clumsiness and/or rudeness. (Iāve unknowingly snubbed many a handshake in my time.) Later stages bring about waterlogging in the retina, which blurs central vision. Progression of both of these eventually leads to total blindness, though the rate of progression varies from person to person. There is no cure.
The group in question recently posted an article on their blog about how to sign up for Twitter, which was the catalyst for this debate. The article makes no mention of RP (i.e., how to use social media to connect with organizations involved with RP or other RP patients). It is literally a Twitter instruction manual. I have been known to be sensitive about certain topics, especially where RP is involved, but I found the inclusion of this article on the groupās blog condescending and offensive.
I recently heard a story on NPR about Katherine Bouton, who discussed the effects of spontaneous deafness in one ear. She authors a book called Shouting Wonāt Help, and it really struck a chord with me. When someone has RP, itās not always obvious, which has pros and cons. On one hand, an RP patient may be met with situations that make them appear clumsy, rude, drunk and/or stupid, such as these things that have happened to me:
Tripping over an unsupervised toddler at the movie theatre and dropping a jumbo tub of popcorn
Failing as a floor hockey goalie when the opposite goalie threw the ball across the gym in my direction and scored
Appearing to ignore a new acquaintance, who held his hand up to high-five me in a poorly lit establishment
Routinely knocking over full glasses of wine/pop/water at restaurants
In broad daylight, falling off the curb and onto the street while walking with a new romantic partner
The upside is that I have learned from these things and can take necessary precautions. Just as a person with hearing loss might face away from light sources so that they are better able to lip read, I can make sure Iām walking on the inside of the sidewalk and put my drink in the same place every time I sit down so that I know where it is. The fact that I canāt see well isnāt outwardly apparent to most people, so I get to choose who I tell and when. Iām not nearly as scared of losing my vision as I am about how I will be treated when it becomes obvious to the world that I am blind.
Maybe not all people suffering from vision loss feel this, but I want to maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible. I might not be a good choice for the dodgeball team, but I can certainly figure out how to sign up for social networking sites myself. The fact that this is being featured on a blog for the RP community sends a message that members must not be smart enough to figure even the simplest things out for themselves. It assumes that RP patients are technology challenged and incapable of logical thinking. They might as well have posted an article about how to tie your shoe.
The author asserts that the article is relevant because another member asked about how to use Twitter, and if the information is useful for one, then others might find it useful as well. This may be true; however, I argue that, even if this is the case, there are FAR better resources available to help people use Twitter. Itās a support group, not a tech blog.
I was a member of an RP support group in London and only went to one event. I was 23 at the time and was the most junior attendee by at least 20 years. It was terrifying to meet a coffee shop full of people wearing sunglasses who had white canes and seeing eye dogs. I kept thinking, āThis is my future. This is whatās going to happen to me.ā
I was hoping that some people my age ā I know theyāre out there ā would show up and be able to share the concerns that I had. When is the best time to tell new boyfriends that I have RP? Is it worth starting cane training now? When should I stop driving? Which bars and clubs have good lighting, so that I can enjoy nights out with my friends? This is what Iād like from a support group.
In my mind, an RP blog that explains how to enter your email address into a web form is akin to being in the coffee shop for that first and only support group meeting. I want to belong to a support group that I feel comfortable identifying with. The difference is that I simply wasnāt at a stage that allowed me to identify with the group in London.
One of the responsibilities of a support group is to accurately represent its members. I have a lot of trouble identifying with a group that presents me as an idiot.
Some words on what itās like to be blind.
Bigger image:Ā http://i.imgur.com/C3GdIPy.jpg
via Reddit
Georgia O'Keeffe took up pottery at 71 when she lost her eyesight.
More phenomenal women artists here.Ā
