Seeing AI

Hi there. Anita here with you today. Accessible apps are becoming more and more common, and those of us who are blind and visually impaired are relying on them more and more. This week, we are going to explore the Seeing AI app.

Seeing Ai is from Microsoft. I hesitate to demo this app because most of you might already be familiar with it. But anyone new with it might enjoy this post along with anyone, like me, who has just discovered the color identifier channel. Practically all color identifiers I have used, including units specifically made for the purpose and apps do not do a good job at identifying color. One such unit I discovered that is very accurate is the one that comes with the Milestone, a sort of portable music player/recorder. And now, I present to you the one that is part of Seeing AI, and which is fairly accurate. 

Like all of the channels, the color channel has the menu, quick help, pause announcements, and channel preview  buttons. Some channels also have take picture buttons. To move to these buttons, simply flick left and right. Then double tap to activate a button, if using VoiceOver. When you take a picture or dive into the menu system, there is often a close button that you must double tap to reach the main screen again. 

What I like about Seeing AI is that it has a feature that causes it to automatically "see" what your camera is pointed at. If it does not, then I just touch the middle of the screen and it should work. So to figure out what color something is, navigate to the color channel by flicking right until you reach the channel selector  and then flick up.  Then just point your camera toward something. I tend to hold the phone about one or two inches above the surface of the item. If you are new to using your camera, I suggest you begin by learning where it is on your phone, a tip that helped me when I first began. If you hold your phone with the home button toward your tummy and the screen facing the ceiling, then the camera should be on its underside, at the opposite end of the home button, and in the right corner. Center the camera over your material or a printed page, if using a text channel. You might find it helpful to place the phone flat on a surface in front of you with the material beneath it. Place your elbows on the table, especially for reading text. Slowly lift your phone off the surface. This may help you with leveling the phone and with centering the camera. With practice, you will probably move away from this, but I still use it myself on occasion. If you find you still struggle, remember that the phone must be parallel with the material. If it slants, which it may do without your realizing it as a beginner, it will not see the whole page or perhaps any of it. Practice will help you, and finding someone who can help you with the feel of its position may be helpful as well. Note that any time you take a picture, you will need to double tap the close button to return to the main screen. 

Let's briefly return to the topic of color identification. Remember lighting plays a significant role in how well the identifier "sees", and thus,  can match the color with its database. Again, I will praise Seeing AI because it is doing good with different lighting, though brighter areas provide more accuracy. I highly recommend you test it by using items you already know the color of in different locations, lighting situations, and maybe even at different times of the day before you rely on it. And even then, you may find it isn't reliable for important color decisions. One negative I find is that it doesn't always agree with itself about the color of something. So ask someone with vision to play with it with you or ask someone the color of your "test" items. Have fun!

Now, I will briefly give you a tour of the rest of Seeing AI. When the app opens, you are in the Short Text channel. I love this channel. Use it to quickly read anything in print. It may not see all of the text. One time in a local pharmacy, I played with it and found it will be very useful for me in a store. If you flick all the way to the right, you can then flick up and down to the different channels. So if you do this  on short text, you must go up. 

You will land on the Document channel. This is one of the channels with the Take Picture choice. Use this channel to take a picture of text. If you hold the phone above the paper, the app will tell you to hold steady when it "sees" the page, which is nice because you know you aren't tilting it, and it will automatically snap the picture. Otherwise, double tap the Take Picture button. 

The next channel up is the product channel. Use it to identify products by their barcodes, for example, canned items, boxed items, CD's, bottles, and pretty much anything with a barcode on it. It is tricky to do this because you don't always know where the barcode is. If you find it, the app will cause a beeping sound, which gets faster the closer you are to the barcode, or so it claims. The beeping definitely means it sees a barcode. Barcodes are generally near the crease on a can. Ask someone with vision to show them to you so you can learn where they are. When searching for the barcode, I stand my phone on its end with the camera end closer to the ceiling and the home button end closer to the counter, if that makes sense. Again, it may be better to practice with someone's help at first.

Next is the person channel. Be warned; it may help you feel younger, but then again, it may tell you are much older and of the opposite gender, smiley. To use it, point it toward yourself or someone and flick left to the Take Picture button; then double tap. Be sure to ask before taking someone else's photo, and respect their decision. One neat thing about this channel is that you can teach it to recognize a person. To do this, flick left to Menu button. Double tap. Flick right to Face Recognition and double tap. This screen will provide you with an add button and also a list of recognizable people you have previously stored. Flick left and right to move among the choices. To add a new person's face, double tap add. Now, it will ask you to take three photos of the person. It recommends the person do this on their own. Follow the prompts, but after you take the pictures, I think it brings you to the screen where you type the person's name and then tap the save button. I cannot walk through it with you because I do not have anyone I can snap a photo of, except myself, but I already stored mine in there a while back. Anyhow, at any time, double tap the back or close button until you get back to the main screen, if you wish to cancel your choice.

It may automatically place  you here after adding your person. Now, if you point your phone toward them, it will call out their name the tell you where it sees them, for example, maybe straight in front of you.

Next, is the currency channel. Its purpose is obvious.

Next is scene preview. Instead of a person, you will take a picture of whatever is in front of you, and it will tell you what it thinks it sees. REMEMBER press the close button to return to the main screen.  

Next is color preview, which we have already discussed.

Next is handwriting preview. This is fun to play with, and can be accurate and useful.

Finally, there is the light channel. This provides tones to indicate how much light is present. I am not musically talented, but a very low tone seems to mean total darkness. I do have light perception, but if you don't, you may find this channel useful.

Outside Seeing AI, you can share photos with the app, and it  will describe them to you. To do this, just navigate to the share button and flick left or right until you hear "Recognize with Seeing AI", and then double tap. Flick left and right to hear the sceen preview and the description. If this choice is not available under share, then on the share screen, double tap more, the one all the way at the far right, and flick left or right until you hear "Recognize with Seeing AI." Double tap this choice to turn it on. Then, you should be set. I have not tried, but I think I heard somewhere it can also recognize PDF documents.

This is a basic overview of Seeing AI. To demo, I used my iPhone 7, version 11.4,  with Seeing AI version 2.2.0. It is a free app, and it is also an excellent app. I hope you choose to try it. And remember, I am saying iPhone because I am testing with my iPhone, but this app may also work with other devices.

Thank you for being with me today as we explored the Seeing AI app. If you have anything to share, comment below.

Faithful readers, you all have been awesome, and we really appreciate your loyalty over the months since this blog began. That is why it saddens us to say that after this month, we will no longer be posting on here. The blog and all its content will remain available to you, as well as our Facebook page, facebook.com/adkinsandwells. We hope you will come over there and join us.

There will be an interview this month on Thursday, Aug. 23, so be sure and come back for that. It will be our last post. If any you have questions, please feel free to get in touch, but we feel that we can no longer devote the time and effort that you deserve.

Until next time, be blessed.

On Apps and Babysitting

Hi, there. Welcome to the blog. Anita here with you today, and we’re going to talk about using apps to help in everyday life.

This week's blog might be short. My 22-month-old cousin, Alex, just climbed up on my lap to help me write it, and he even touched the braille as if he was reading. :) I will be babysitting him and his four-year-old brother, Drake, tomorrow while their parents work.

This makes me think of school and how all of my students have a toolbox of technology and adaptive devices. I, too, have a toolbox of apps on my iPhone. For example, I use Seeing AI and Cam Find both for identifying various items. I like Blind Square and Ariadne for my GPS apps. BARD Mobile, IBooks, and Kindle are all great for reading. And, when I asked Drake what to write about just now, he said, "It's raining today, and so we can't play outside in the sun.”

While it may be raining now (which Drake thinks of as today), it was sunny most all day. And, this reminds me I also have Weather Office and Deep Weather in my app tool box.

For recording, I use the camera app, and another great app called HT Recorder. Neither app is blind-specific. What I really like about HT recorder, though, is that it produces good sound quality, and I can record in different environments. I am always taking pictures of my cat, cousins, and such and sharing on Facebook with my friends, many of whom are family. But, I, too, want a way to remember happy times from the past, and pictures don't do that for me.

So let's take a brief tour of HT recorder since you, too, could use it to record family occasions and the like. Remember, it is polite to always ask before you record other people, and to respect the answer you receive. I like to get lifetime permission because sometimes I record people when they know it, but some of the best recordings are made when people forget they are on stage, so to speak. I also ask before sharing with social media. Many times, I just use the recordings for myself. One more thing to remember, before we begin, I am specifically talking about using this app with Voiceover on an iPhone.

HT recorder has a library where recordings are stored and where they can be shared. To reach it after launching the app, touch the bottom right edge of your iPhone screen and swipe to the left until you reach it. Then, double tap. Now, if you touch the top, right corner of the screen, you will hear the filename. This initially is a date and time of some sort. Swipe right to get to the share button. The compress, move, and folder buttons follow the share button. If you continue flicking right, you will reach the list of your recordings, and several other choices. Or, instead of flicking right, slide your finger straight down, and you should land on the "Show all Recordings..." button or words to that effect. Now, just flick right to reach your recordings.

If you decide to share a file, you can choose email, the one I use most often, or iTunes or Dropbox and maybe a couple more choices.

When you are in the library, the play button is now at the very bottom right of the screen. If you touch this and flick left, you will eventually reach a rename button, which is cool because it makes it easier to remember a special occasion if you name it something that summarizes the occasion.

If you keep flicking left past the rename button and beyond, you will reach the current audio mode. Doubletapping this choice will change your modes from conference room to auditorium, to music, to very close. These choices work differently in different environments, but I prefer conference room for recordings I make in my living room and auditorium for recordings I make during school performances or for church services. Note that sometimes during doubletapping to change modes, you might land off this button. So just touch the bottom right of the screen and flick left until you get to it again. Also if you continue flicking left past it, you will eventually reach a new button. I am not sure why there are two of them, but if you doubletap the button, you will begin making a new recording.

Note that thenow HT recorder acts like a phone, and so to hear VoiceOver, you have to hold it close to your ear, one of the few negatives of HT Recorder. After you press stop recording, VoiceOver will once again sound through the external speaker. There is also a play button so you can listen to your recording. Remember that if you press record, you are adding to the recording you have already created. To make a new recording, you must press new. If you do not select library, you see many of the same choices, but not your filenames. 

This app has more advanced features, such as editing your recording, but I won't get into those tonight, partially because I have to walk through the steps in the app as I teach you about them and partially because Drake is supposed to be going to sleep here in our living room campsite, but so far he has not. :)

I hope you give HT recorder a try, should you decide to play around with audio recording on your iPhone. Note that this app may also work on other iDevices, but as I only have an iPhone, I am referencing it. You can always check in the app store as it should tell you what devices and software versions and how much space a given app takes.

Thank you for joining us today. We hope you are having a fantastic summer. If you enjoyed this post or have a question, post a comment below. We would love to hear from you.

In two weeks, we will be back with another edition of Interviews to Empower, so mark your calendars for Thursday, July 26. You won’t want to miss it.

Until next time, stay cool and don’t be afraid to try something new.

Blessings.

Interviews to Empower Presents: Chris Westbrook

Hello and welcome! We are so glad you could join us today for another edition of Interviews to Empower where we all get to meet everyday folks, living everyday lives while blind or visually impaired. Our guest is one who will inspire you, so without further adue, allow me to introduce Chris Westbrook.

Q: Tell us a little about your self.

A: I am 34, and live in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. I am a computer programmer for an advertising agency. I am a christian and am very involved in my local church. I also enjoy playing violin and sometimes saxophone. In addition to my blindness, I have a hearing impairment so I wear two hearing aids. I also use a quad cane because one of my legs is weaker than the other one due to a herniated disk in my neck that developed later in life. Despite these challenges, I am still able to live independently and live a fulfilling life. I live by myself and have a lot of good friends. I like helping others, so I hope answering these questions will help someone.

Q: What is your eye condition, and how much vision do you have?

A: I was born premature and suffer from a detached retina as a result. I have no vision, not even light perception. I have been that way since birth. The hearing loss came on early as well due to some of the medicines I was given. I have worn hearing aids ever since I can remember.

Q: What blindness specific training have you had, and do you feel it has been beneficial for you?

A: I was pretty fortunate growing up that I had good parents who were able to incorporate daily living skills into normal life growing up for the most part. I did attend a local training center in Pittsburgh for a few weeks one summer that was modestly helpful, though it probably would have been more helpful if I had applied myself a bit better. I think any blind adult/adolescent should be able to take care of themselves and present with reasonably good appearance barring some other major special needs, and I am fortunate that my parents taught me to do this, even if I didn't always listen at the time. :)

Q: What about educational experiences?

A: I attended public school, though in the early years of my education I was in a special resource room for most of the day learning Braille, etc., which I think was helpful though I don't know if that is done much these days. Learning Braille has been extremely important to me. after high school, I attended a college hear in Williamsport for two years and then transferred to Juniata, where I received a bachelors degree in information technology.

Q: How do you compensate for your disabilities when it comes to hobbies?

A: I play violin. Even as an adult I still take lessons. I record either the lessons themselves or pieces my teacher will play for me on my iphone and then listen to them and learn by ear through the week. Sometimes the teacher will take my hands and show me things he wants me to work on like positionning, etc., but I don't think this is much different than a sighted person. Same goes for the saxophone, although I am not taking lessons with that anymore. I am involved in my church with youth ministry. If i am teaching a lesson, I write the bible verses I am going to use ahead of time in my iphone and then read them with a braille display as I am teaching. I also enjoy reading both with synthetic speech and with my braille display depending on what mood I am in and what I am reading.

Q: What kind of work do you do? What accommodations do you need for your job?

A: As I have said, I am a computer programmer for an advertising agency. I also write reports and deal with our employees if they have issues with our system. I can do most things independently except for designing the visual layouts of screens and sometimes reading screenshots people send me with error messages. Generally the accommodations I need are pretty trivial, and they can just be handled by other colleagues.

Q: Are you a member of any blindness specific organizations? Why or why not?

A: I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind. Though I am not particularly active because we do not have a local chapter around here, I do go to state conventions. I think it is important to associate with other blind people so you can help others and learn from others how they get along in the world and so you can advocate for things that need done to make our lives livable in this modern world. I also think it is essential that we have sighted friends and participate in the sighted world around us

Q: Could you share with us your most embarrassing Blindness experience or your most meaningful blindness moment?

A: I think looking back my most meaningful moment/time period was when I was able to get my own place and start living independently when I knew I could really live on my own.

Q: Do you have any advice for our readers?

A: Learn all the blindness skills you can. Learn Braille. Be kind to others. Fairly compensate those who help you, and allow others to help you at times even if you can do it yourself just to make things easier. Try not to become too dependent on any one person. That can lead to unhealthy situations. Above all, be thankful and be generous to others.

Thank you so much, Chris for chatting with us today. And, thank you, dear readers for being here. If you would wish to contact Chris, he has generously provided his email adress. It is westbchris@gmail.com. He says “I would love to hear from parents and/or students with questions, or other blind adults for that matter. I am concerned that younger blind students are not being allowed to be independent and do things for themselves, and I hope my answers here will allow others to see that they can live independent lives. Thank you for the opportunity, and I look forward to hearing from your readers.”

There you have it. :) We hope this interview has empowered you in some way. We would love to hear from you, as well. You can either drop us a comment or send an email to adkinsandwells@gmail.com. Be sure and come back each 2nd and 4th Thursdays of every month in order to catch all our posts.

Until next time, be blessed and enjoy your summer!

Seeing without Vision

Hello and welcome. We’re glad you are here. Anita talking to you this week, and today, I would like to talk to you a little about seeing without vision.

Recently, a friend and I went to a local pharmacy. She has low vision, and I only have light perception. While she was shopping for specific items, I was amusing myself with my iPhone and Seeing AI. Perhaps you have already heard of this fantastic, free app. I have had it for a while, and I feel it is one of my more used apps. It has a money identifier, a channel for capturing data about the scene viewable via the camera, a facial recognition feature, a  document scanner, and best of all, a short text recognition channel. 

Now, I want to step away for just a moment to say that it can be annoying when sighted people say something like how it must be so hard to be blind. In an educational setting, I would respond that it isn't hard; people without vision just do things differently. While this is true,  Seeing AI and another app called Aipoly Vision have taught me that some of the time, I am not always right. Aipoly Vision isn't always accurate, but if you select the general feature, it will call out what it thinks the camera sees.

My first glimpse of what it must be like to have vision came when it recognized my piano from clear across the living room in just a second. Sure, I already knew the piano was there, but the experience of hearing it was there from across the room was impressive for me. I didn't "miss" not recognizing someone from across the street until I viewed my piano with Aipoly Vision. I rarely use that app because its accuracy isn't real good, but it is still fun to play with on occasion, and can be accurate sometimes. Seeing AI does not recognize things real-time like Aipoly Vision, but when I was in that pharmacy, I was able to use it to identify items via its short text feature. Again, I was impressed. I found April Fresh Downey without even trying. I have been using barcode scanners for several years now. I love my Omni, and the one with Seeing AI is much better than Digit Eyes. However, it is still sometimes difficult to locate a barcode as quick as I would like. But, the short text feature not only told me what things were, as I was holding up my phone and walking randomly around, it even called out "As seen on TV" when I walked toward the shelf. It was an awesome experience! Again, I had a taste of what having vision might be like.

Yes, as a blind person, I can overcome most of the challenges associated with blindness. But, now I have a new attitude toward sighted people who fear blindness or who are "amazed" at everything we do. I will certainly still educate them and let them know blind people can be productive, happy members of society, but I will be more patient with them when they remark about how blindness is difficult or scary. Things we have not experienced can be scary. And many times, we do not know if something is difficult until we try it, or in my case, are allowed to see a small glimmer of a different world, thanks to revolutionary technologies.

Thanks for being with me today. Be sure and come back on June 28 for another edition of Interviews to Empower. If you have a comment or question, drop it below or send an email to adkinsandwells@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you.

FYI, all the apps mentioned can be found in the app store. Play around with them and see for yourself which works best for you.

Also, S. J. Wells has a new book out. It’s called, “Caleb’s Story”, about a young man who dove into a pool when he was a teenager and broke his neck. It’s available on Amazon. Just click on the following link.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFQ9LMD/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527807937&sr=1-1&keywords=Caleb%27s+Story%2C+S.+J.+Wells

Until next time, take a good look at the world around you and enjoy what you see.

Money, Money, Money

Hello and welcome! :) How is your spring so far? Anita here with you this time, and we’re going to talk about money and safe ways of using it as a person who is blind or visually impaired.

Recently, I had to suggest to one of my students that it isn't a good idea to announce in public that one has money in one's possession. As adults, most of us know that. But, as blind people, how often are we tempted to ask a stranger to help us with money identification? And, I also think about how using low vision or a money identifier in public to do this task is just the same as loudly saying we have money.  This tempts the less trustworthy of the general public to snatch it.

Summer is upon us, and I know I will be out and about. Fortunately for me, I do not often carry cash. When I do have it, however, I make sure to carry small bills. If I only have fives, then I don't have to worry about accidentally handing someone a 20 when I intended a five.

If you do decide to carry various denominations, then using a consistent money folding system is essential. I fold my 20s in half lengthwise, my tens in half widthwise and then half that, my fives in half, and leave my ones straight. Then, I can reach into my purse or wallet and pull out the right amount without pulling all of my money out. It is hidden inside, and I am also less likely to lose it. When the cashier hands me my change, I make sure I verify how she gives me the money. For instance, I'll place my hand on the top bill and say "This is the five, right?”

Usually change is given with the largest denomination on the bottom, but you can't always count on it. Don't rush; taking your time means you are less likely to lose your money. The person in line behind you will most likely be a patient person, and if not, they needs to learn patience anyhow.

I prefer to use my bank card for most purchases. I'm not fond of signing on the screens, and so I choose to accept the debit option, which requires me to punch in my pin number. Have you noticed that most of these number pads have a raised dot on the number 5 key? Remember as you type in your pin, hold your other hand over the one that is punching in the code so people can't see what you are pushing. However you pay, be the one in control of your money. It may be easier to accept help in identifying your money or punching in your code when in public, but doing so may result in your money being stolen from you.

Many ATM's have a talking feature, and a voice guides you through your transaction. The machine has a headphone jack so only you hear the speech. Also, the machines I've used have an option to darken the screen, which I always select. If you haven't used them before, ask a trusted family member or friend to go with you to show you how they work. Often, braille and tactile symbols are present to assist in your orienting yourself to the machine, and so be on the lookout for them. Until you are familiar with the process, listen to the audio guide and take your time. Using a talking ATM machine is similar to using the automated system on a phone in that it tells you which button to press for a given option. But unfortunately, my phone has never spit out any cash for me, smiley.

Speaking of using the phone, I also use it to pay bills and make purchases. A computer with Internet access can also be used for this. For example, I dial Penny Mack's toll-free number and use the automated system to pay my mortgage each month. I pay my Mom's insurance and a couple of other bills by having them automatically deducted from my checking account each month. And, I use the Internet to shop. Unfortunately, my EBay app on my cell phone is very accessible, and I shop there way too much. I have bought dolls I am collecting from my childhood, parts I needed for my Roomba vacuum cleaner, and more. I have even bought groceries from them. A friend uses amazon.com to purchase her groceries. These companies ship your purchases to your home. Remember, never give out your personal information over the phone, Internet,  or through email, unless you are the one who decides the company is legitimate. Companies will never contact you for personal information, such as your bank account number or social security number. Yes, I had to fill in bank and some personal information for EBay and Amazon, but I knew who I was giving the information to. Also, I will never respond to them if they request information from me, even if they tell me I am owed money or have won a prize. Doing so is not wise because a scammer is the one behind the request.

Be very cautious when handling your money and your personal information. And, enjoy your shopping!

Thank you for being with us today. We hope we have been a help to you. Drop us a comment below or send us an email at adkinsandwells@gmail.com, and let us know how we’re doing.

In just two weeks we will be posting another Interview to Empower, and you won’t want to miss it, so mark your calendars for May 24. Until then, get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Blessings.

An Update and Some Thoughts on Preparing for a Job

Hello, everyone. I hope this first, full month of  spring finds you well. Anita here with you today, and Spring has been a rather snowy and busy one here in WV. Goalball season has recently ended, and gives me a small break. Spring break has also allowed me a chance to rejuvenate for school, but I have been very busy at home.

My Mom, who lives in a nearby nursing home, came to spend the weekend with me. We played cards and fried potatoes. Ruth Ann, my cousin, stopped in to visit us as well. Then, Joy, my cousin came over to spend the night. Then, I went to her house to spend the night. While there I Took advantage of her WiFi and updated my iPhone. I  put Word Pro on my new MacBook, but at the moment, it is about to be thrown out the window. I couldn’t figure out how to save an article I wrote, though I did eventually succeed. So my brain is foggy just now.

During my break, my friend, Nancy, and I spent a day shopping at the mall. My bank account is way lower, but I have a couple of new bowls and a new kitchen gadget to play with. It is a rice cooker. I found a pasta rice cooker that is useful for all kinds of things a few months back, and I wanted another one. It is so frustrating when something I like disappears from the shelves at Walmart.

Anyhow, the point here is that I’ve been busy. Generally, I like to cook on vacation, but I haven’t had a lot of time for that. Currently, I have a hash brown casserole in the crockpot. When I was preparing it, I decided to add in bacon bits. I found a little bag that felt like the bacon bits. After opening it, I realized it was nuts. I had used Seeing AI, an app on my iPhone designed to tell me barcodes and read text, and while it couldn’t find the barcode, it did read something about almonds. I didn’t believe it because I don’t remember buying any almonds. I should have listened to it though because almonds they were. LOL

This blog post is really me ranting to you. I just wrote an article about "DUCKING INTO UEB", the book S. J. Wells and I wrote. In the article, I mentioned how I wanted to get a job like my sighted family members way back in the ’90’s. As blind people, obtaining a job is more difficult. It is important that we have the skills, training, and opportunity to do the job. Also, accessibility needs are important. Yes, the law requires that reasonable accommodations be made for us. But what does reasonable mean? And, it is a sighted world. A sighted person could apply for and potentially acquire a job in the local area easily enough, though it may be a minimum wage position. But a person who is blind requires accessibility to be included with the package.

I remember years ago in Parkersburg when I wanted to work at a call center. The software at the time was not accessible for screenreaders. Maybe nowadays, I could tackle the challenge of insuring such accommodations were met, but back then, I did not possess the knowledge or bravery. And, I’m glad I didn’t because working at a call center is not where I feel the Lord wants me to be. Still, I sometimes feel that a realistic job option be a consideration. What would I do if I was suddenly rifted from my current position as others have been? What skills and training would I need to acquire employment? Could I still live here in the town I consider as my home? Truth is that most people must relocate in order to be employed. But could their possibly be virtual jobs in the education field for me? Or, are there other career options I haven’t explored? I do not plan to leave my current position in the near future. But where will I be in ten years or so? If I want to make a career move, I need to plan now so I can be properly trained for the transition. And, if I decide to stay in this position forever, educating myself about other careers and even completing some of the training will not be a waste of my time. 

Part of my reason for bringing up this topic on this blog is because on one of my facebook lists, someone wanted to know what jobs are out there for blind people. There are not specific jobs for blind people. There are jobs in the field of blindness. There are companies that focus on hiring blind people, such as Industries for the Blind. But a person who is blind should really focus on their strengths and weakness and job interests. Filling out a job inventory is a great first step. Getting in touch with blind people in an interested field is also important, though not required. 

The ACB, www.acb.org and NFB, www.nfb.org both offer mentorship programs to people who are blind and visually impaired. AFB, www.afb.org also has Career Connect, a program that matches one with someone who has a job in the interested field. Finally, determining the accommodations is key. And, while the employer is required to make the reasonable accommodations, any accommodations we can make on our behalf will help to make us more successful candidates. Blindness skills training and training required for the specific career are also appropriate steps. Have fun searching! In the mean time, here is a link that will allow you to search virtual jobs. The site also allows you to search for jobs that require your physical presence. https://www.indeed.com/q-Virtual-jobs.html

That's it for today, but be sure and come back in 2 weeks for another edition of Interviews to Empower. Until then, be safe and remember to laugh often.

Valentine's Day, Assistive Technology and Growing Up

Valentine’s Day. As an elementary student I both loved and hated it. I loved the thought of giving special cards to my classmates, especially those I considered friends. I loved the thought of getting cards, especially ones from my friends. :) I hated the fact that I needed someone else to help sort and sign the cards for my classmates in order for them to be able to read them. I hated asking my sister or cousin or an adult to read aloud the Valentines that I received. By the time I was a teenager, my attitude toward Valentine’s Day was similar to Ebenezer Scrooge’s attitude toward Christmas— “Bah, humbug!” As an adult with children of my own, I get a kick out of listening to them sort their cards. This one goes to this friend, and that one goes to that friend. Then, when they come home with Valentines from their friends from church or youth group, I love to hear them tell me, “Soandso gave me this one, and so-and-so put this in their Valentine.”

Hello. S. J. Wells here with you today. I suppose some of my feelings toward the parties in public school were simply what happens when growing up, but the giving and receiving of print cards is not geared toward those with sight loss. So, today, we’re going to talk some about ways teachers, parents and friends can make Valentine’s Day a little more friendly for students of all ages.

1. Search the internet for brille cards. If you have a way to make your own, even better.
2. If braille cards are out of the question, make sure they are tactal. Glitter, ffelt, raised pictures, anything easy to touch.
3. Either use scented markers or let your child use them. All kids, and some adults, too enjoy scents.
4. Musical cards. You can buy them anywhere. Some you can even record your own voice in them. A few years ago, my husband bought me a musical card, and I loved it.
5. Instead of cards, try candy, flowers or balloons.
6. And, when all other ideas fail, tell your friend or special Valentine, “Happy Valntine’s Day.”

Trying to fit in is something all kids struggle with. Disabilities often make it that much more difficult. The enability to see colors makes it difficult to match clothes. Printed labels, cards, homework, signs, mail, all of these can add up to unnecessary stress. Thankfully, though, we live in the age of technology and a lot of these stresses can be avoided. Here are some ideas to look up online.

1. Braille clothing labels. You can pin or sew them onto tags.
2. Bar code readers. Yes, there are devices that will read a bar code. Omni bar code reader, Digit-Eyes, an app for iPhone and many more.
3. Color identifiers.
4. Money identifiers.

Many of these are simple apps that can be downloaded to an iDevice. Try Seeing AI, for instance. Google and see what would work best for you. One cool device is called, Pen Friend. Here is a link so you can check it out yourself. There is even a video. 

https://www.maxiaids.com/penfriend2-voice-labeling-system

Sometimes, there isn’t much we adults can do to ease those feelings of not belonging. Kids have to go through it and learn for themselves. But, I remember as a fifth grader, our school counselor suggested I read a book. It was called, “The Seeing Summer” by Jeannette Eyerly. You might find it on NLS BARD as a free listen for your student, but here is the link to it on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Summer-Jeannette-Eyerly/dp/067145661X

Another book you can check out is “Can You Feel the Thunder” by Lynn McElfresh. The link to it is

https://www.amazon.com/Can-Feel-Thunder-Lynn-McElfresh/dp/068982324X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1517852433&sr=1-3&keywords=Lynn+McElfresh

Thank you for being with me today. Growing up is hard, and it can seem especially hard for someone dealing with vision loss. But, growing up is something we all must do, and we must learn how to live in a sighted world. I hope these suggestions will be of some help to you, and I hope you will come back to visit us in 2 weeks for our next edition of Interviews to Empower. The month of February, we will be interviewing the authors of “Ducking into UEB”. That’s right, Adkins and Wells will be interviewing each other. We’re going to have fun, and you won’t want to miss it. Mark your calendars for Feb. 22. Until then, keep on keeping on and don’t forget to read that special Valentine meant just for you—the Holy Bible.

Blessings. <3

Interviews to Empower Presents, Conrad Bennett

Hello, and welcome to another edition of Interviews to Empower! Often, we look to those individuals whose names are well-known for inspiration. However, it is in the everyday living where miracles are born. This months interviewee is a regular guy doing normal things, and yet he is inspiring, because he does not let his disability stand in the way of being a regular, normal guy. Come with me and meet Conrad Bennett, a man who’s motto could be “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.

A: Well, I’m 32 years old, I love computers, and I love helping students. Actually, I love to help anybody. I consider myself to be religious, I’ve been married for 12 years, I have a son who is 12 and I am totally blind.

Q: What eye condition do you have, and how long have you had it?

A: I was born premature, and too much oxygen in the incubator caused my redness to not grow or attach. I’ve been blind ever since birth.

Q: What strategies, techniques and/or tools do you use to accommodate for your vision loss?

A: I use a computer with a screen reader, an iPhone with voiceover, my oven is labeled in braille, I use a guide dog and a cane, and I also have a touchscreen washing machine and dryer that is labeled in braille.

Q: Can you tell us about your post high school life, meaning about various jobs or other pursuits? Also, feel free to tell us about any non-work related activities—hobbies, etc.

A: After high school I worked at Blind Industries and Services of Maryland, BISM. Then, I worked from home doing data entry. After that, on the side I would help set up wireless networks for various people and businesses. Then, I began restoring and fixing computers. That is still a side hobby as well. Whenever I need to see the computer screen but can’t use a speech program, like with windows there are times when the speech can not work, I use my iPhone’s camera to read the screen. I really enjoy Apple products and love helping people learn how to use them, whether they are sided or blind. At present, I am a classroom aid at the WV School for the Blind.

Q: Are you affiliated with any organizations, such as Lions Club or a blindness-specific organization? Why or why not?

A: I am a member of the Lions Club. I joined this organization, because I like to see them out doing something to actually help people. They go out in their community and help folks obtain glasses, hearing aids and even help get glasses fixed. They are also active in supporting guide dog schools such as Leader Dogs in Rochester Hills, MI and Pilot Dogs in Columbus, OH, which is where I got my guide dog.

I am also a member of the American Council of the Blind, ACB. Actually, I am the current president of the Potomac Valley chapter of the Mountain State Council of the Blind.

Q: What keeps you going when life gets you down?

A: Well, when life gets too tough, I just remember to stop and say a prayer. That’s what gets me through.

Conrad, thank you for allowing us to interview you. It has been a pleasure.

And, thank you, dear readers for being with us today. Be sure and come back on the second Thursday in February, that is the 8th for more inspiration from your favorite writing team, Adkins and Wells. :) Until then, remember to say a prayer and keep on smiling.

For more information about the schools or organizations mentioned, below are links you can follow.

Blind Industries and Services of Maryland www.bism.org

West Virginia School for the Blind, www.wvsdb2.state.k12.wv.us

Lions Club, www.lionsclubs.org

Mountain State Council of the Blind, www.mscbwv.org

Leader Dogs, www.leaderdog.org

Pilot Dogs, www.pilotdogs.org

Blessings.

Interviews to Empower Presents: Dan Oates

Welcome to Interviews to Empower, where we feature inspiring individuals to encourage you to become lifelong learners. This month’s interviewee is Dan Oates, a man who’s tireless work has provided many opportunities for children who are blind and visually impaired.

Q: First, tell us a little about your self.

A: Currently, I am retired from the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind and living in Romney. I travel a lot speaking about Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students (SCIVIS). My goal is to interest more students in attending the program. My girlfriend, Jenny, lives in Oklahoma so I take every opportunity to go and spend time together.  We love to travel and see locally and nationally produced theatre performances.

I spend about four months a year now in Huntsville, Alabama.  During the summer I work as an Education Program Manager at Space Camp.  My job duties include managing 12-14 teachers who coordinate and lead the Space Camp Educators Program.  We host about 500 teachers from 30-35 countries attending Space Camp each summer.  I return in September to oversee the SCIVIS program for about 200 blind and low vision students from about 25 U. S. states and 10 foreign countries. During a two-week period in February and March, I return to Space Camp to assist with the Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy (HLCA).  These are two one-week programs for Honeywell employee’s children, ages 16-18, to attend a leadership-based Space Camp program.  I act as a corporate liaison between Honeywell and Space Camp. While at home I enjoy working on genealogy, local history projects and working out at the Wellness Center. I am also a member of the Board of Directors for the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation (NOAH). NOAH’s mission is to act as a conduit for accurate and authoritative information about all aspects of living with albinism and to provide a place where people with albinism and their families, in the United States and Canada, can find acceptance, support and fellowship.

Q: How did you get into working with children with disabilities, especially with blindness?

A: I have had a long history with the school beginning with my earliest years.  My uncle and mother worked at the school. My neighbors, while I was growing up, worked there.  I can remember going to school to visit my Uncle Bill Oates, who was a houseparent at Seaton Hall for secondary deaf boys.  I spent many days attending youth group meetings, Boy Scout troop meetings, and just hanging out there.

My mother was the superintendent’s secretary, when she passed away suddenly in 1979.  She always wanted me to work there because it was such a great place.  But my plans were totally different than what she wanted for me.  I had always told her, “those kids are weird!”

After graduating from Fairmont State College with a B. S. degree in Recreational Programming, I landed a job at the Mineral County Parks and Recreation Commission in Keyser, WV.  One of the skills I learned while working in Keyser was chair caning – repairing and replacing old seats in antique chairs.  Something I felt was a complete waste of my time.  I worked there until spring of 1979, when the Federal funding was cut.  During this time, my father had a serious heart attack and my mother died in April.   I returned to Romney without a job and to care for my father while he recuperated from his heart attack and loss of his wife.

During that time to make a living I caned chairs, stripped furniture, and sold antiques.

One day, Mr. Ralph Brewer, principal at the West Virginia School for the Blind, called and asked if I would be interested in a three-month job filling a vacancy.  He said, “I hear you can cane chairs.  Just wondering if you could teach a blind child how to do that?” I replied, “Yes I can!” I had no idea but I needed a job.

Those three months changed my life!  I soon realized that my perspective of “those kids” being weird was so wrong.  I didn’t understand them but soon realized they were no different than other children. 

Eventually Mr. Brewer called me to his office and offered to pay for my Masters in Education and Orientation and Mobility certification if I would return to school.  So off to the University of Pittsburgh I went.  At the beginning of the 1981-1982 school year, I returned as WVSB’s first certified O & M instructor.

In the end, my mother got her wish and as usual, mother’s are always right!  So interesting to me that a skill that I thought was a waste of time combined with a misperception of some really neat kids equaled a career!

Q: Let’s talk about your career. What are some things you have accomplished while working in the field of blindness? Also, what challenges did you, and do you still, face in the field?

A: During my thirty years I had two job titles.  I was an orientation and mobility instructor from 1981 to 1994.  From 1994 to my retirement at the end of the 2011-2012 school year I was an Educational Outreach Specialist.

Early in my employment, Mr. Brewer began sending me to the University of Virginia to take classes in low vision. This quickly became an interest of mine.  He asked me to coordinate a low vision clinic on campus.  I worked with a number of optometrists over the years for our clinics.

In 1993 I was asked to present at the Outreach Forum at the Indiana School for the Blind.  These are outreach professionals from all of the schools for the blind throughout the United States.  There I learned of a traveling low vision clinic in Iowa that I felt would be wonderful to have in West Virginia.  Upon my return from the Forum, I pitched the idea to our superintendent, Max Carpenter, and he denied the request.  When I became employed as an Outreach Specialist I pitched the idea again and Mr. Carpenter shot me down again.  Knowing the idea was a good one, I went to Dr. Terry Schwartz of the Department of Ophthalmology at West Virginia University and she was all for it.  Dr. Jim Jones, an optometrist at WVU, and I traveled to Charleston to the Lions Conservation Foundation and presented the idea.  They granted us $6000.  The low vision clinic was off and running.  It soon became apparent to Dr. Schwartz and myself that due to our current job responsibilities we would be unable to manage the program.  Dr. Schwartz found some funding through her department and we hired Rebecca Coakley as the coordinator of the project.  It was through her enthusiasm, vision, and tireless energy the Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Project (CVRP) was born.  Today that project has helped children from all over the world and Becky Coakley is one of the leading low vision educators in the world.  I’m very proud of my work in beginning that program.

During this time I was selected by the West Virginia Board of Education to accompany ten gifted students to Russia on a Space Exchange. These students were not blind but the top ten academic students in the state.  This was a very scary trip for me as I had only been on a plane once and never outside the United States.  Trips to Russia in 1993 and 1994 were so valuable to my maturity as an educator, allowing me to see other countries and educational systems.  As a result of the success of my first two trips, Mr. Carpenter and my office partner, Paula Athey, went to Russia in 1995.  While touring the school for the blind there, Paula was contacted by a parent of a child with an inoperable brain tumor.  Paula, myself, and many other state residents worked hard to allow Yelena Shilova to come to the United States for surgery in Huntington, WV.  Today, Yelena is alive and thriving in Russia.

My sixteen years working throughout the state as one of the coordinators for the INSITE program were probably the most rewarding.  Many times I was the first educator parents met after they had received the news of their babies diagnosis of vision loss.  I traveled all over our beautiful state and spent time in every county and met hundreds of families and educators.  I would like to think my knowledge in the field of blindness and low vision helped families begin to accept their child as a productive member of society.  

I feel my biggest challenge was staying current on all of the innovations in the field.  There was times that living in rural West Virginia limited me in this area.  I was fortunate to travel extensively within the U. S., Russia, Ireland, St. Lucia, and Australia to continue learning throughout my career.  I have always been blessed to work with professionals who shared their knowledge freely and I have always had a passion for learning.

Q: A lot of alumni of WVSB remember their experiences at Space Camp, from scuba diving to feeling what it is like on the moon to jumping off a 40 foot tower into freezing cold water And more! :) You were instrumental in getting that program off the ground. Can you please talk about that?

A: Contrary to popular belief, I had little to do with the initial program.  Edward Buckbee, the founder of Space Camp, grew up in Romney.  When he began to notice the desire of children with special needs to attend his program, he reached out to his friend, Max Carpenter.  Mr. Carpenter contacted Ralph Brewer, principal at the School for the Blind, and together they formed a committee to look into the possibilities.  I was a member of that committee but was not slated to go on the trip.  Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Brewer, Kathy Johnson (math teacher), and Michele Hooker Slocum (science teacher) drove to Alabama for the first meeting and overview of Space Camp in 1989. It wasn’t until the return of the committee that it became apparent that the services of a mobility instructor would be needed.  I was extremely excited about going and was so honored to accompany twenty amazing students on this trip in December of 1990.

Kathy Johnson was the early coordinator of the program and I was simply a chaperone who took orders, followed students to their activities, made sure everyone had low vision devices and knew where they were.  As the program continued and more students attended from other schools for the blind, I began to see potential for the program to attract hundreds of students.  Eventually, I approached Kathy with the idea of inviting students attending public schools and opening the program to all students with blindness and low vision.  My contacts through outreach made this possible.  Soon I handled all registration and contacting new students and Kathy handled materials and programming.  Our program slowly grew with Kathy always reining me in to slow down and make sure we were maintaining a quality program and not growing too fast.  By the late 1990’s and into the 2000’s, we were hosting between 150-200 students each year.  The program was named Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students (SCIVIS) sometime in the late 1990’s and continues to be known by that today.  Since 1990 over 4000 students have attended the program. Kathy continued to work with the program until she retired in 2007 and soon thereafter passed away in 2010.

In 2007, I was honored by being selected as an inaugural member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame.  I have often been referred to, as the founder of SCIVIS but that is not true.  Each year we honor Mr. Edward Buckbee, Mr. Ralph Brewer, and Mr. Max Carpenter as the SCIVIS founders.  During graduation we further honor Mr. Carpenter and Kathy Johnson by selecting a special graduate who has overcome many obstacles to receive the Carpenter/Johnson Award.  In my nomination for the Hall of Fame it was stated that I am the “heart and soul of SCIVIS”.  I’m comfortable with that!

Q: Do you have any advice for other professionals working in the field of blindness, or for anyone who happens to be blind?

A: My advice to any vision professional would be to seek out opportunities to learn from others, visit other schools for the blind and conferences.  I’ve always said, “I haven’t had an original idea.”

Also find your passion and work it.  I was unaware of the passion that I would develop working with blind and low vision students.  Fortunately, my mother, Mr. Brewer, and others saw it first and directed me “blindly” towards it.  I would say my success in the field was based on the resources I made.  I also discovered that I was better working for children than working with them.

Q: We understand that you have published a book about a Confederate soldier? What is the title, the story behind it, and how can readers obtain a copy?

A: Yes, the title of the book is “Hanging Rock Rebel, Lt. John Blue’s War in West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley Along with Other Writings”.

Lt. John Blue was a native born son of Romney. His adventures prior to and after joining the Civil War were detailed in weekly articles in the Hampshire Review from the spring of 1898 until April of 1901.  I have taken those first hand accounts of his story and placed them in a book format with accompanying pictures, chapters, and index, both last name and regimental.

The story of Lt. Blue intrigued me during my middle school years as I was blessed to have history teachers who valued teaching local history.  Upon discovering his writings in the local paper, I was amazed at reading a first hand account of over 300 pages; virtually unheard of!

The book is available in print for $22 and can be found at local bookstores or at http://www.fortpearsallpress.com.

Mr. Oates, it has been a pleasure interviewing you and learning more about you and the others who have made O&M and Space Camp some of our best memories at WVSB. Thank you so much for all you have done and continue to do to further the education of blind and visually impaired children.

A big thank you to our readers, too. This blog is about to become one year old, and we could not have made it this far without you.

We hope you will come back in two weeks for another post. We have some exciting news coming up about our new book, “ducking into UEB”, a braille manual for all students, children and adults who want a fun way to learn unified English braille.

Until next time, be encouraged, do something you’ve never done before and come like us on Facebook at facebook.com/adkinsandwells/