tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81663368798690003092011-11-27T15:38:21.323-08:00A blog dedicated to how I see the world as a 20 something blind woman, as well as news inportant to the blind community. Not all of my opinions will be based on my disability, but I hope to bring a new perspective to the blogging world.Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.comBlogger1411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-86734887908124819302010-11-19T10:47:00.000-08:002010-11-19T10:52:30.466-08:00

When I first heard about the 2 + 4 = 1 project, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I decided to have the editor of the book Kathy Nimmer interview me, and come up with a story for the book. The one that was chosen, and is included in the book is a funny story about me and my first guide dog Rico. Below is the press release about the book. Please spread the word and order yourself a copy to

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-87035310454938168462010-10-11T06:00:00.000-07:002010-10-11T06:00:09.087-07:00

It may seem like common sense to some that a blind person would be a good 911 operator, but actually their are very few working in that field. It is really hard to convince the city that we can do the job, and with the creation of new software, it is becoming even harder. Diane Garret though has been a successful operator in Tulsa for 8 years thanks to her knowledge of braille and her assistive

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-33472808236755637382010-10-07T06:00:00.000-07:002010-10-07T06:00:12.248-07:00

When I started reading braille in high school, I had very limited options of where I could go to check out books. There were certainly none in my high school library, but thanks to a donation of 150 books and magazines, the blind students of Escambia Florida will now get to check out books they can read.Heather Yasment, a graduate of Escambia high school decided to donate her braille book

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-278627693057224672010-09-21T06:00:00.000-07:002010-09-21T06:00:02.752-07:00

The iPhone as a device is amazing, but it's the apps that really make it one of the best phones out there for the blind. Each week I get at least one new app that either helps me have more fun or makes my life more simple. One of my most recent favorites is called "OMoby". OMoby was originally developed to help shoppers find deals for the products that they want to buy. Unlike the apps that read

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-55495327995553957722010-09-03T06:00:00.000-07:002010-09-03T06:00:05.243-07:00

Are you a parent that wants to keep track of your kids? Are you disabled, and want to be able to have your partner know where you are if you need their help? If you answered yes to either of these questions, than Whereoscope may be the right app for you. Whereoscope helps you know where your loved ones are using the built in GPS in the iPhone. I'm writing this review because I think it's a neat

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-71312615798741872042010-08-26T06:00:00.000-07:002010-08-26T06:00:07.443-07:00

As I was perusing the iPhone App store yesterday, I came across a free, yes actually free, turn by turn GPS option. It's called Skobbler, and it's totally free because it relies on an open source map program that is similar to wikipedia. So with excitement and hesitation I downloaded it, not knowing if it would work with VoiceOver at all. The good news is that most of the functions are completely

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-9233462354476885432010-08-19T06:00:00.000-07:002010-08-19T06:00:02.035-07:00

The great thing about science is that researchers are willing to try anything to solve the problem they're facing. When it comes to treating blindness, researchers are trying everything from artificial retinas, to stem cell therapy, to now drugs that are already approved for other diseases. Valproic Acid is a drug that is used to treat epilepsy, and now researchers believe that it can be used to

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-91632195938556302032010-07-29T06:00:00.000-07:002010-07-29T06:00:11.691-07:00

One of the most dangerous things that I face as a blind person are obstacles that are either just above my head or right in line with my face. Having a guide dog makes these objects slightly less dangerous if my guide sees them and warns me,, but guides are not always perfect and sometimes they don't see the obstacle in time. For my guide dog Midge, this is not one of her strong points, but it

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-75625588468708712132010-07-27T06:00:00.000-07:002010-07-27T06:00:06.635-07:00

There are many things that I love about my mac, but Safari Reader has to be one of my favorites. I am an avid reader of online news, but until the release of Safari 5, reading news online was often cumbersome and frustrating. The problem is that many news websites don't make their sites accessible to screen readers, and even the ones that do often have ads or other stuff mixed in with the article

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-85839582437258873912010-07-22T06:00:00.000-07:002010-07-22T06:00:07.472-07:00

Out of all the concerns that I could imagine happening if I were to become a parent, having my child taken away from me because I'm blind has never been one of them. I certainly didn't believe that in 2010 prejudice against the blind would still be so rampant that a blind couple could have their child removed from their care because a social worker believed that their blindness prevented them

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-2579555340748363512010-07-20T06:00:00.000-07:002010-07-20T06:00:10.588-07:00

One of my favorite features of the iPhone is Voice Control. This feature allows me to tell the phone to call someone rather than me typing in a number or finding the person in my contacts list. My only complaint is that if the application doesn't hear me right or if there is too much noise I can end up calling the wrong person. The flaw is that the application doesn't verify with you that it got

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-29732085533946528312010-07-02T06:00:00.000-07:002010-07-02T06:00:01.642-07:00

Last week I purchased my first accessible cell phone, and I can't believe I waited this long. I have been a cell phone user for over 8 years, but not until now have I been able to do anything but make and receive calls. You may be thinking that should be enough, but with all that cell phones can do, I was really paying for features I couldn't use. I couldn't even tell who was calling me or if I

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-72642005924577595702010-06-24T06:00:00.000-07:002010-06-24T06:00:05.455-07:00

I have had many dreams in my life, but being a published writer was not something I could ever imagine. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog for the past 2 years, and in that time I would never had imagined the opportunities that it would bring me. I've been recognized and interviewed by my local newspaper, a popular podcast, and a resource website for the blind. I thought these were

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-41582919138251259682010-06-09T06:00:00.000-07:002010-06-09T06:00:12.058-07:00

In an attempt to both serve blind tourists, and to educate the public about eye conditions such as Age Related Macular Degeneration AMD, the Royal National Institute of the Blind RNIB has created audio tours of 3 destinations in the UK. So the next time I find myself in London, Edinburgh, or NewCastle I'll be sure to utilize this great service. On my trips in the past I have participated in

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-76424359208398103422010-06-02T06:00:00.000-07:002010-06-02T06:00:11.988-07:00

In the last two months I have been approached not once, but twice by young men who want to cure my blindness by praying for me. I must first tell you that as a non-believer, this made me very uncomfortable. To be nice I allowed the prayers to take place. Both times the young man was surprised that my blindness had not been miraculously cured. These experiences have brought up some interesting

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-59403874414793725112010-05-20T05:00:00.000-07:002010-05-20T05:00:06.425-07:00

One thing that many blind people struggle with, including myself is finding safe ways to get exercise. There are ways to modify sports and other activities, but sometimes people aren't aware of how to make those activities accessible. For one fit grader, running by himself will no longer be an activity that he can't do. Thanks to grants and other donations, Hunter Hall can run on the school's

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-63390556003835868382010-05-06T06:00:00.000-07:002010-05-06T06:00:00.464-07:00

I have never seen a movie with descriptive video in the theaters, but that may change soon. A federal judge has ruled that theaters are violating the ADA if they don't accommodate their deaf and blind customers with close captioning and descriptive video. What I have to say to this is that it's about time. I think this issue is of extreme importance especially now that 3-d movies are becoming

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-69471898225312017452010-04-30T08:06:00.000-07:002010-04-30T08:11:14.738-07:00

There is a lot that the blind can tell about how someone is feeling based on the tone of their voice, but sometimes it's not enough. This problem has led to researchers creating a device that will allow the blind to see facial expressions of the people their interacting with through vibrations felt on their skin. The prototype device uses a web camera and a tactile display. In order to use the

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-56422759737317383022010-04-22T06:00:00.000-07:002010-04-22T06:00:03.912-07:00

Film making and photography are probably two things that the visually impaired are not associated with, but is that because they can't, or because no one has taken the time to teach them? This is a question that Kevin Bright, producer of "Friends" is taking on. He is currently teaching a film class at the Perkins School for the Blind. Through trial and error he is finding out ways to help those

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-19817504350728117972010-04-14T06:00:00.000-07:002010-04-14T06:00:12.465-07:00

As I was trying to decide what to write about, I realized that I've spent very little time talking about my awesome guide dog Midge. For the past few months she and I have been going for walks on some of our hiking trails around town. As far as I know guide dogs are not specifically trained to walk on trails, but Midge does a great job. She seems to understand where the edges of the trails are

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-2987345556138329672010-04-06T06:00:00.000-07:002010-04-06T06:00:04.963-07:00

Imagine if you could only read one line at a time. If you use a braille display this is currently your only option. Having access to only one line at a time makes browsing the web and using other applications challenging for the blind. The other problem with braille displays is their cost. They can range from $1,000 to over $10,000, which makes them out of the reach of most blind users. With

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-62610666990587744972010-04-01T05:00:00.000-07:002010-04-01T05:00:11.840-07:00

Thursday, March 26After a refreshing night's sleep that I so desperately needed, I started the second day of the conference. We had the free breakfast that was offered to conference attendees. It was good, but underwhelming. I've decided that part of staying at a business hotel is accepting that the "luxuries" really aren't, but I digress. After breakfast I manned the GPS Concierge table with two

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-61044972752385417452010-03-30T05:00:00.000-07:002010-03-30T05:00:05.018-07:00

Last week I attended my first Assistive Technology conference in San Diego. CSUN 2010 was an amazing experience. Not only did I get to represent Sendero, a company I'm proud to be an employee of, but I also got to meet some awesome people and tour the exhibit hall to see all the cool new gadgets. Since there is a lot to cover I'll break it up by day. Wed. March 24:This day started at 2:00 a.m.

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-82715554474288840392010-03-23T05:00:00.000-07:002010-03-23T05:00:07.234-07:00

As I was watching "Julie and Julia" last night, it got me thinking about my blog. I've been writing for almost a year and a half now, and it's not at all what I was expecting. When I started, my goal was simply to write about what I knew, which for me, meant that I would be writing about being a blind woman. Instead what it has become is a reflection on what's important to me.Before I started

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-66648883312763510462010-03-03T05:00:00.000-08:002010-03-03T05:00:08.941-08:00

On Monday I got my first accessible book player that isn't a tape player. I decided on the BookSense from GW Micro because of the great reviews I heard on twitter. After only a few days, I am giving it a thumbs up. I have successfully downloaded my first book from BookShare.Org onto the device, and am pleased with the TTS voice. Listening to fiction narrated by a computer is a little weird, but

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-14420242550576528462010-02-23T09:24:00.000-08:002010-02-23T09:27:23.283-08:00

Last August, the NFB started a project called "Let Freedom Ring: Letters to President Obama". The project would result in a book of 100 letters explaining why braille is important. I decided to submit a letter, and I found out yesterday that my submission was one of the letters included in the book. Along with my letter congratulating me, I also received a Louis Braille Silver Dollar which I

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-60361274775096718682010-02-12T05:00:00.000-08:002010-02-12T06:47:22.916-08:00

Currently there are two bills in congress that should directly benefit the blind if passed. One is in the house and the other is in the senate. THe house bill, HR 5433, Technology Bill of Rights for the Blind Act of 2010 is aiming to make mainstream technology accessible to those with vision problems. As technology continues to move towards touch screens and other non visual mediums, more and

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-35098107950163344772010-02-05T13:30:00.000-08:002010-02-05T13:46:24.561-08:00

This weeks lesson with mobile geo taught me about user Points of Interest (POI). One of the great things about mobile geo and Sendero GPS is that you can create your own POI's. I think in particular these will really come in handy on my college campus. Since the POI's built into GPS systems really only cover particular buildings, this may not be enough information for the blind to find where we

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-91349020093137461912010-02-03T05:00:00.000-08:002010-02-03T05:00:05.807-08:00

There has been a lot of talk about whether braille should still be taught and used. In a recent New York Times article, the author points out that braille really just costs too much. Another blogger, compared braille to Latin, and concluded that since text to speech is more prevalent and less costly than maybe braille should die out just as Latin has. The problem with both of these philosophies

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-21446622194870438712010-01-29T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-29T05:00:06.261-08:00

In November of last year I started working part time for Sendero Group. I am in charge of their social media, so if you're a fan of their facebook page, or you follow them on twitter, then now you know who is behind all that great content. I have really enjoyed learning more about the company and working with the team. Since I represent them online, it seems important that I learn how to use

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-78850593727023548152010-01-21T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-21T07:39:14.437-08:00

In Nebraska, the state legislature is considering a law that would require all visually impaired children to learn braille. As I've mentioned before, the NFB estimates that only 10% of blind children in the nation are literate in braille. I agree with them that this is a big problem, the question is, will mandating braille instruction solve the problem. One of Nebraska's state senators, who

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-65991250661897965022010-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-15T05:00:05.113-08:00

research is being done around the world to find a cure for retinal degenerative diseases like RP. I've told you about the artificial retinas being created in the states and Australia, as well as the possibility of using stem cells. Scientists in Germany are currently working on developing a micro-chip that will be implanted behind the retina.Last year researchers implanted the micro-chip into 11

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-89513602612558615112010-01-12T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-12T05:00:05.678-08:00

All I have to say is I'm really glad I'm only taking two classes. Although I have spent more of my life in school then I have spent out of it, getting back into the habit of doing homework and being prepared for class is still something that I'm going to have to get used to again. I am happy to report that I successfully made it to my classes the whole week, and I only got lost a hand full of

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-1202396667635083782010-01-11T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-11T05:00:05.016-08:00

One of my favorite podcasts that I listen to is a show called In the Loop. One of the reasons I like it so much is because they include interviews with their listeners, and they're always asking for our involvement in other ways. I was one of the featured stories on the show in June of last year, and this past week I got a chance to be on the show again. The episode this week focuses on what

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-63497195703672011342010-01-06T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-06T05:00:03.920-08:00

T.V.'s have lots of features, especially the new ones, but if you're blind you don't have access to many of these features due to inaccessible menus. This issue will soon no longer be a problem though thanks to the partnering of Ocean Blue Software and the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). Together they have created the first talking T.V., and they're unveiling this new technology at

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-53795494111290333992010-01-04T05:00:00.000-08:002010-01-04T05:00:06.486-08:00

It's been five years since I had homework, took an exam, or sat in uncomfortable desks, but starting today, I will have to remember what it's like to do all of these things. I got my bachelors degree in 2004. Since then I have tried to get into grad school with no luck. Since it appears that I needed to change my focus, I decided to look into a different masters program. The program that I'm now

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-48728125735998741832009-12-16T07:07:00.000-08:002009-12-16T07:09:11.684-08:00

Imagine if you lived in a country where there was no such thing as an eye doctor, and if there is one you don't know how to access them. This is the situation for millions of people around the world. The problem is that almost everyone will have vision problems during their life. If you live in the U.S. or another industrialized country, you simply go to a glasses shop and get fitted with a

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-70465119544488198072009-12-10T10:06:00.000-08:002009-12-10T10:09:30.533-08:00

About two months ago, Maurine from VisionAware.Org contacted me to ask if I would like to be a part of their sites "My Story" collection. I was honored by this request so of course I said yes. Here is a link to my article. VisionAware.Org is a one stop resource center on the web for those with vision loss. They cover everything from eye conditions and their treatments to how to adapt leisure

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-23103457141273853432009-12-08T05:00:00.000-08:002009-12-08T05:00:05.879-08:00

If you were wondering what the most tweeted thing amongst the blind community was yesterday, it would have to be that Amazon plans to be releasing a kindle that is accessible to the blind by summer of next year. According to the press release, Amazon is working on adding TTS to their menu systems so that those of us who can't read print can use the Kindle. It looks like with a little prodding, a

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-88097543126972302312009-12-04T05:00:00.000-08:002009-12-04T05:00:04.948-08:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm working on improving my braille reading skills. To motivate me, I am participating in the Braille Readers are Leaders program put on by the NFB. This is the first year they're allowing adults to participate.In that post I mentioned that I was reading Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. I am proud to tell you that I finished the book. It was almost 1000 pages in

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-18979599682380228002009-12-03T05:00:00.000-08:002009-12-03T05:00:00.771-08:00

Even though Apple has developed a way for touch screen devices to be accessible to the blind, some non-sighted and sighted people still miss having tactile feedback. I've recently come across two solutions for this problem. One is something you put on your IPhone, and the other is an emerging technology that could be used with any touch screen interface.For Iphone users that either don't like

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-42500259721336156012009-11-23T05:00:00.000-08:002009-11-23T05:00:03.116-08:00

As spammers and spam bots continue to get smarter, we will only have to work harder to prove that we are in fact human when we're filling out forms on the web. At this point, we prove our humanity by answering what are called "captchas", or what I like to call, " images that you have to have a super power to read and understand." For the sighted, these captchas are just an annoyance, but to the

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-14060260809953960322009-11-19T05:00:00.000-08:002009-11-19T05:00:03.350-08:00

I made an interesting observation last night that I felt like I had to share. I was trying to relax myself while reading my braille book, so I thought I would just close my eyes. Much to my dismay and shock, my reading slowed down and my eyes started twitching. I couldn't believe it, it appears that I can't read braille if I have my eyes closed. I have a hypothesis about why this happened. It is

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-56252164758762774762009-11-17T05:00:00.000-08:002009-11-17T05:00:09.387-08:00

I really have a love/hate relationship with Disney. Just two weeks ago I was telling you about the new descriptive audio offerings at Disneyland. Well now I have to tell you how Disney is one big contradiction. In the recent DVD release of Pixar's "Up" one of the features is descriptive video. As awesome as this is, it's only a feature on the DVD if you purchase it. That's right, Disney decided

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-71071929143850656052009-11-10T05:00:00.000-08:002009-11-10T05:00:08.061-08:00

In an article that I read recently, an advocacy group is up in arms because when Helen Keller's story "The Miracle Worker" returns to Broadway this winter, the lead role will not be played by an actress who is either deaf or blind. Instead the role of Helen will be played by Abigail Breslin who is best known for her role in Little Miss Sunshine. The question is, should the disabled community be

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-5752585911957416002009-11-06T05:00:00.000-08:002009-11-06T05:00:01.572-08:00

On Wednesday I read that one of my blind friend's in Utah just experience voting by himself for the first time thanks to his voting machine having built in text to speech. On that same day, I also read that the blind in Denmark not only don't get to vote by themselves, they have to have a council member present when they're voting. This rule was supposedly implemented to make sure that the

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-46645929847010557842009-11-05T05:00:00.000-08:002009-11-05T05:00:09.668-08:00

Pirates of the Caribbean has to be one of my favorite rides at Disneyland, but I remember that it wasn't as much fun the last time I was there. I think this is because I couldn't see what was happening around me. I could remember some things, but not enough to get the full experience of the ride. Thankfully I won't have this problem the next time I go since Disneyland and California Adventure now

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-30162811081625228092009-11-03T05:00:00.000-08:002009-11-03T05:00:05.197-08:00

Thank you to all of you who participated in last month's poll, your participation means a lot to me. The poll was intended to find out if and when my blind and low vision readers learn braille. I've mentioned before that the NFB estimates that only 10% of all blind children are literate in braille. With that information I wanted to see how that number would compare to people who read my blog.I am

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-66102694851591645612009-10-29T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-29T05:00:15.482-07:00

Last week the media got on the"doctors cure blindness" band wagon again because a small number of children with Lieber's Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) have had their vision restored thanks to gene therapy. As exciting as this is, I am sick and tired of the main stream media misleading the public about what it means to be blind and what can and can not bring our vision back. It is time that the media

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-51372534238681930392009-10-28T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-28T05:00:13.237-07:00

Imagine if you can what it would be like to watch a film with your eyes closed. For those of us who are blind or low vision, this is something we live with every time we watch a film at home or at the theater. For some, movies aren't much fun due to the fact that we miss so much whenever there is no dialogue. Thankfully though, there is a way to make films and television fun for the blind. It's

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-53498759227706900932009-10-22T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-22T05:00:00.230-07:00

So it turns out that the Social Security Administration is not above the law. According to The San Francisco Chronicle, a judge in California has ordered the SSA to offer accessible formats to blind and visually impaired clients. After four years of litigation, the ACB and the blind community can take a sigh of relief. No longer will the SSA be able to just send print correspondence to blind

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-38686450532473307002009-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-21T05:00:04.574-07:00

I have spoken in length about how the Kindle has TTS enabled on it, but yet it is still not an accessible device for the blind. Now that may no longer matter. I still want Amazon to do the right thing and make the Kindle fully accessible, but in the meantime Ray Kurzweil and the NFB have teamed up to design a free and accessible e-book reader. The software that still has no official name is set

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-51085446660975908922009-10-19T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-19T05:00:03.984-07:00

I recently watched a Ted talk that focuses on the idea that how we feel about something is totally based on our perception. It seems to me that in ore for us to improve braille literacy, we are going to have to change people's perceptions. Organizations like the NFB and ACB are already doing things to help change people's attitudes towards braille, but I think we can go even further.Many people

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-26928476807486591862009-10-15T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-15T05:00:04.202-07:00

Starting next month, I will be participating in the National Federation of the Blind's Braille Leaders are Readers program. This program is designed to encourage reading braille and increase braille literacy. This is the first year that they're allowing adults to participate, so in the interest of being a better braille reader, I've decided to participate.Part of the registration process was

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-72931626209769821242009-10-07T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-07T05:00:05.867-07:00

I am currently reading "Crashing Through" which has made me think a lot about the day when doctors are able to restore my vision. I have already told you about the artificial retina, which one day may provide usable vision for people like me, but this is not the only technique that researchers are looking at to restore vision. Another promising technique may be the use of stem cells.Recently,

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-65667745592512957632009-10-05T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-05T05:00:01.451-07:00

One of my more recent hobbies has been playing board games, and I'm not talking about the board games of my childhood. The games that my friends and I play take strategy, and usually require a lot of thinking. For a long time I avoided board games because after I lost the ability to read print, I felt like board games were no longer an option to me. This was my feeling until I was connected to

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-48682871227759980992009-10-01T05:00:00.000-07:002009-10-01T05:00:01.107-07:00

It is not often that I talk about really controversial issues, but I recently read a story that broke my heart. As many of you know, congress is deeply debating if and how we should change our health care system. Although I personally have never been without health care, or had medical debt, I still think there are fundamental problems with the system that must be changed. The problem the

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-52573973582541475982009-09-25T05:00:00.000-07:002009-09-25T05:00:10.970-07:00

Many of you know the ordeal that I had with the Social Security Administration (SSA). For those of you who don't, I was accused of being overpaid and asked to pay back over $9,000. The overpayment was caused by my misunderstanding of what qualified me for SSI. Most of that confusion was caused by the fact that in my 8 years of working with the SSA, I never recede any information or correspondence

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-26688103760720218862009-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:002009-09-23T05:00:11.621-07:00

It's 2009 and we still don't have flying cars, but apparently we might soon have cars that sound like those from the Jetsons. In Nissan's "infinite" wisdom, they've decided that instead of having their new electric leaf sound like a normal car engine, they instead want it to sound like something unique. I just listened to a sound file of the noise made by the Jetsons' car and frankly, I don't

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-37346399540653323202009-09-17T04:00:00.000-07:002009-09-17T04:00:03.827-07:00

After working for a short time at a company that specializes in making braille embossers that produce high resolution tactile graphics, I've been eager to learn about other ways that graphics can be presented tactically. I recently came across two programs that specialize in bringing pictures and books to life for the blind.The first is called Living Paintings, which is an organization in the

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-80174481122020980952009-09-14T10:08:00.000-07:002009-09-14T10:10:26.700-07:00

One of my biggest challenges as someone with vision loss is going to new places. This is a topic I've discussed before, but a new piece of technology may break down this barrier for me. The technology called the BlindAid allows you to explore where you want to go before you even leave the house.The BlindAid uses a piece of software combined with a joystick to provide tactile and audio feedback to

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-43051042020880843972009-09-10T10:19:00.000-07:002009-09-10T10:26:58.135-07:00

Some of my blind friends who aren't fans of Apple have told me that the only reason that Apple has built-in features for people wit disabilities is because they were sued. Well, my response to them is that, if the only reason they've included so many accessible features is because of a lawsuit, then they've obviously gone too far. They could have done the minimum and said that they were fully

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-44977012866084047842009-09-02T10:27:00.000-07:002009-09-02T10:37:22.875-07:00

As a pedestrian, I am acutely aware of how much drivers and car owners think that their cars are more important than anyone who tries to use the sidewalk. I personally live on a street that has limited parking because the driveways are too close together. Instead of my neighbors parking far from their homes, or using their garages to park their cars, too many of them choose to double park in

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-33799959123572887052009-08-27T04:00:00.000-07:002009-08-27T04:00:07.920-07:00

I am happy to report that it appears that the treasury department is actually considering making our paper currency accessible to the blind and partially sighted. They recently posted the results of a study to determine the best ways to alter our current currency. The plan is to incorporate their findings the next time they redesign the currency. Although there is no time table set as to when the

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-34881342222470225202009-08-18T04:00:00.000-07:002009-08-18T04:00:04.044-07:00

Have you ever noticed that calling someone blind is like calling them a four letter word? It's like being blind is so bad that we have to cover it up by calling people visually impaired or low vision because that is some how better than being called blind. I bring this up, because as I mentioned in an earlier post, braille literacy amongst blind children in the U.S. is only 10%. I feel, and

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-30825157453794286672009-08-03T04:00:00.000-07:002009-08-02T21:43:14.508-07:00

In this very sighted world that we live in, one may think that there are many professions that someone with limited or no vision can not do. Some examples might be a surgeon, a videographer, or even a police officer. And well I agree that I might not want my surgeon or video editor to be blind, I see no reason why the blind can't work in law enforcement, and apparently the Belgians agree.

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-65755214127936470692009-07-22T04:00:00.000-07:002009-07-22T04:00:07.983-07:00

Growing up my mother often told me not to touch things in stores. She didn't want me to break anything, but really she wasn't letting me see things. I don't fault her since I always wanted to touch the expensive and breakable stuff, but it is interesting to me that we have so many things in this world that we're not supposed to touch, we're only supposed to look at them with our eyes.In the world

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-57388993566969553872009-07-09T04:00:00.000-07:002009-07-09T04:00:06.765-07:00

It is estimated that only 10% of legally blind people in the U.S. are proficient braille readers. This is truly a tragedy. No one would tolerate such a low number for the sighted population, so why is it acceptable among the blind population? The truth is that it isn't, and I really hope that we can change that number to 100% or at least close to it.I personally learned to read braille when I was

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-34545674381475813032009-07-02T04:00:00.000-07:002009-07-02T04:00:23.187-07:00

I have discussed in length about the kindle not being accessible. I think that Amazon should do the right thing and fix this issue but I'm not sure if the ACB and the NFB are taking the right actions to make this happen. Last week I learned that these two organizations were suing Arizona State University, claiming that the ADA is being violated because the university is participating in the pilot

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-5868340702357258892009-06-29T04:00:00.000-07:002009-06-29T04:00:26.657-07:00

Who knew that one company could have so many cool products. I just finished my first week at ViewPlus, and with all jobs, my first week was spent learning. After all, how am I supposed to represent them on the web if I don't know about their products? So if I do it right, everyone will know as much as I do about ViewPlus when you're done reading this post. ViewPlus Technologies sells two kinds of

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-43156232029897925542009-06-23T04:00:00.000-07:002009-06-23T04:00:53.787-07:00

If you're looking for a way to learn about diversity, look no further than the blind/visually impaired community. Over the past couple of days I have been a part of a fascinating discussion on the NFB's Students list. The differences of opinions vary widely, and although having lots of different opinions is important, I worry that sometimes we're fighting against each other rather than fighting

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-81863528897515275192009-06-18T08:00:00.000-07:002009-06-18T09:46:04.933-07:00

Last week, one of my blind friends and I had an interesting discussion about accessibility. One of our topics was about audible signals. He believes that audible signals aren't necessary because the blind should learn how to listen to their traffic, where as I believe that they are necessary because they make all pedestrians safer, not just the blind ones. This brings up an interesting issue.

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-9995354683884426522009-06-15T04:00:00.000-07:002009-06-15T04:00:01.635-07:00

After nearly two years of unemployment I am happy to report that I just got myself a job. In a week I will become ViewPlus Technologies Social Media Intern. ViewPlus is a company that specializes in tactile graphics and braille embossers. They are also the only manufacturer of a braille embosser and ink jet printer combined into one machine. As their social media intern, I have been assigned the

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-72550045700669988132009-06-11T04:00:00.000-07:002009-06-11T04:00:00.451-07:00

In this month's Braille Monitor, a magazine from the National Federation of the Blind, there is an article "evaluating" VoiceOver (the screen reader on the Mac). I feel that their evaluation does not give VoiceOver the credit it deserves, and so I've decided to respond to it, and to attempt to correct some of the misinformation provided. For a more in-depth response to the article I encourage

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-57207242154024754042009-06-09T04:00:00.000-07:002009-06-09T04:00:02.104-07:00

At yesterday's WWDC conference, Apple announced some very exciting news for the disabled community. They have designed the first fully accessible touch screen cell phone. For all of you that are thinking that it would be impossible for a blind person to use a touch screen device, apparently it's not, or at least that's what APple is hoping. The new IPhone 3GS will have VoiceOver built in. Since

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-27862346361092576522009-06-08T04:00:00.000-07:002009-06-08T04:00:01.210-07:00

Last week I asked my twitter followers for some ideas for my next blog post. One of the really good suggestions asked me to explain what accessibility means to me. I think that this is a very valid question, since that word can mean different things to different people. To explore this question I will start with the dictionary definition, and than talk about what accessibility means to me as a

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-79813044090506988102009-06-04T04:00:00.000-07:002009-06-04T04:00:00.121-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I am a debit card user. I choose to use a debit card instead of cash or checks because it is easier and more accessible to me. That is, unless the debit card reader machine uses a touch screen. If this is the case, I either have to use my card as a credit card and sign a piece of paper, (which ultimately results in much frustration since most cashiers can't figure out

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-51100731840579094372009-06-02T12:00:00.000-07:002009-06-02T12:00:01.269-07:00

My May poll asked you, my readers, what topics interested you the most. Thank you to all that voted, and here are the results. Total Votes: 34Accessible Services: 1Assistive Technology/Devices: 10Blind/Low Vision Resources: 4Personal Anecdotes/Stories: 5I like reading everything you write: 14Based on these results, it looks like the majority of those that voted either like everything, or they're

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-88152655289757002502009-06-02T04:00:00.000-07:002009-06-02T08:07:45.806-07:00

About a year ago I was searching for new podcasts to listen to. One of the best ones that I came across was a show called In the Loop. In the Loop is a show that talks about what's happening in the world with a satirical twist. The show is known to have fun original songs about what's happening in the world, and news that wouldn't be talked about on any other show. A good example of this is one

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-53233741745459079222009-05-29T04:00:00.000-07:002009-10-28T15:02:53.705-07:00

If you live in the European Union and you live with RP, you will have for the first time, a therapy that may save and/or restore your sight. Over 2 million people in the world, including myself live with a disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative retinal disease that usually causes total blindness. Until now, there were no therapies to slow down progression, and certainly nothing

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-56842001441066184532009-05-26T04:00:00.000-07:002009-05-26T04:00:02.279-07:00

Last week I told you about a blind man driving the new Ford Mustang. As cool as that is, it isn't safe. Since the blind can't safely drive a car the National Federation for the Blind's Jernagan Institute has teamed up with Virginia tech to design and build a car that can be driven by someone who can't see. This program is called the Blind Driver Challenge. Here is a YouTube video to give you a

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-27494079854979002482009-05-21T04:00:00.000-07:002009-05-21T04:00:00.929-07:00

I can honestly say that I've only driven a car once in my life. My dad let me drive in an abandoned parking lot when I was 15. Ever since that day I've wanted to get behind the wheel again, but of course no one will let me simply because my vision isn't so great. Well this month Roger Keeney of Athens Georgia got to live my dream. He entered in an essay contest put on by Ford asking mustang

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-28167504586206591182009-05-19T10:52:00.000-07:002009-05-19T10:54:04.169-07:00

Like many other states, Oregon is facing a large budget shortfall because of the recession. Unlike the Federal Government, states are required to have a balanced budget. This means that there has to either be tax increases or budget cuts. Oregon is looking at both of these options. On Sunday I found out that one of the proposed budget cuts is to suspend funding for the Commission for the Blind.

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-11813402449827560122009-05-15T04:00:00.000-07:002009-05-15T18:07:01.592-07:00

As many of you may know from my previous posts, the Text to Speech, or TTS feature on the Kindle 2 can be disabled if a publisher wants it to be. For almost three months now there has been no word of any publisher disabling the feature. Well, I am sad to report that that is no longer the case. As of May 12th, according to Knowledge Ecology, Random House has removed the TTS feature from at least

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-39785190739015161162009-05-14T04:00:00.000-07:002009-05-14T04:00:00.783-07:00

As many of you may have noticed, people are relying less and less on paper. In my opinion this is a blessing. I am pretty sure that I am not the only blind person who hates paper. I don't hate paper in principle, but unless the paper has braille on it, then it is completely useless to me. I bring up this issue because last night I went to a function where about every 10 minutes I was asked to

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-21845836329910109862009-05-12T04:00:00.000-07:002009-05-12T04:00:01.029-07:00

Last Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Amazon was announcing that they were coming out with yet another Kindle. This new Kindle, called the Kindle DX has a screen about 2 and 1/2 times bigger than the regular Kindle, and is designed to make reading text books and news papers easier. The device will still come with the TTS that is on the Kindle II, which is still subject to publisher

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-23907945097393036272009-05-07T04:00:00.000-07:002009-05-07T04:00:01.358-07:00

ONe of the challenges of being a guide dog owner is learning how to deal with the public. If you're a cane user, it is not likely that strangers will be attracted to you, but once you have a guide dog everyone wants to say hi. Well they want to say hi to your dog, not necessarily you. Service animals/pets are like children, they're always cuter than you are. So now that everyone wants to say hi

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-10722429050965703812009-05-05T04:00:00.000-07:002009-05-05T04:00:01.339-07:00

Imagine if you will what something might look like if it were drawn on your tongue. This idea is the foundation of the BrainPort, an experimental device being developed to help the blind see the world around them. The BrainPort uses sensory substitution in the same way as braille, and the thought is that if the blind are able to read language using their hands, than they should be able to

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-67599566968781642082009-05-04T04:00:00.000-07:002009-05-04T04:00:00.958-07:00

One of the ways that researchers are trying to restore vision in people with retinal diseases is through artificial retinas. This is a very promising technology and possible cure because it will help people dealing with multiple diseases, not just specific diseases that gene therapy or stem cell therapy can target. This technology is especially good for Retinitis Pigmentosa or RP since RP has

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-43924510463233576262009-04-30T14:17:00.000-07:002009-05-01T10:47:23.746-07:00

One of the things I am most thankful for is that I had a chance to travel before I lost most of my vision. Now that I have very little of my vision left, I still want to travel, and hope to experience the world without the use of my eyes. Thanks to a company in the U.K. I have the option of traveling with ease knowing that my needs as a blind person will be met.After losing his site, Amar Latif

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-72871467260330190302009-04-28T11:44:00.000-07:002009-04-28T11:51:17.230-07:00

One of the greatest things that you can do as a citizen of a country is vote. For many years, voting has been difficult or impossible for people with print disabilities to do on their own, but the state of Oregon is changing that. Oregon is one of the few states in the country that uses vote by mail. This system allows them to make their ballots accessible because they aren't relying on machines,

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-90167788952717268282009-04-25T16:03:00.000-07:002009-04-25T16:14:52.907-07:00

Google is, and may forever be my hero. I say this not only because they are a great company that values innovation, but they also care deeply about accessibility. In February I told you in “Making the G1 Accessible”, how Google had created a program so that you could dial a number on the touch screen without having to look at the screen. Two months later they have expanded their library of eyes

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-30307961737490657172009-04-21T10:57:00.000-07:002009-04-21T11:00:53.688-07:00

First of all I want to say thank you to everyone who voted in the poll. I think that this is a very important issue, and based on the response I see that my rears also realize that making our money accessible is important as well. So here are the results. Total number of votes: 47Different Sizes: 33 Clipped Corners: 6Texture of Braille: 16Other: 4Based on these numbers, most people would prefer

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-50746742850984825522009-04-20T10:57:00.000-07:002009-04-20T11:05:45.580-07:00

Last week the Oregon House Committee on Education voted 8 to 2 to close the Oregon School for the Blind by this August. Sara Gelser, the head of the committee believes that the more than 3 million dollars being spent at the school could be better spent serving all the blind students in the state of Oregon, not just the 32 that attend the school. I've decided to write about this issue because I am

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-4613258203689569672009-04-13T15:30:00.000-07:002009-04-13T15:42:16.001-07:00

In the past seven years of being a guide dog owner I've only been asked to leave, or rather to leave my dog outside a hand full of times, and I'm pretty sure that I'm in the minority. Here we are in 2009 and there are still reports of gide dog/service animal owners being descriminated against. So would someone please tell me when all Americans are going to realize that service animals are allowed

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-11777622026308123972009-04-10T10:26:00.000-07:002009-04-10T10:28:46.498-07:00

One of my favorite hobbies for the past 4 years has been knitting. I really enjoy making useful and pretty items for myself and the people I love. A couple months ago I had the chance to finally teach two of my friends how to knit. They both told me that I did such a good job that I decided to see if I could spread my knowledge to the rest of my community. As luck would have it, I called my

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-71346485049882905492009-04-03T12:17:00.001-07:002009-04-03T12:28:25.300-07:00

Imagine if you can for a minute that you can't see how to get from point A to point B. This is a problem that the blind face on a daily basis. I've already discussed the process of learning "how to get to a new destination in my post “The Joys of Figuring Out Transportation to New Places”, but this mostly addresses the issues of simply arriving at my destination. Once I've learned a route to a

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-84688654557720569722009-03-30T10:16:00.000-07:002009-03-30T14:57:38.664-07:00

A few weeks ago, I read an article about a company in the U.K. that provides descriptive audio services to the blind. It's called Mind's Eye Professional Descriptive Audio Services. Instead of simply linking to the article in my post, I thought it would be really neat to ask the owner of the company, Anne Hornsby, about her company, and about what motivated her to make her living doing this kind

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-20830033406152867422009-03-26T11:20:00.000-07:002009-03-26T11:24:15.283-07:00

If equality is the ultimate goal, than wstill have a long way to go, but we're certainly on the right track. Everyday I read about how the main stream community is doing what it can to make their products, buildings, and recreational offerings accessible to people with disabilities. I have talked before about how parks, zoos, and museums are doing what they can to encourage the blind to visit by

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8166336879869000309.post-7202398700399150192009-03-24T10:19:00.000-07:002009-03-24T10:29:40.045-07:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am featured on the front page of my local newspaper the Gazette Times. The article talks about my life as a young blind person and what inspires me to blog. Visit the Gazette Times to read the article. Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter at blindperspectiv.

Alenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00211330152344649888noreply@blogger.com1