I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) Visions conference is worth its weight in gold. All the networking and knowledge gained regarding sight impaired living and hope for the future is priceless. I have no doubt that Visions 2012 in Minneapolis this June will be no exception and will prove to be the most exciting conference they’ve held to date. If you haven’t been paying attention, things are coming together in the world of research for treating retinal degenerative diseases as well as some other vision impairments. In January, I wrote of two legally blind individuals who have shown improved vision in an ongoing stem cell clinical trial. Since then, there has been promising news with additional participants. Dr. Stephen Rose, the Chief Research Officer at FFB also has some exciting news to report from the recent ARVO 2012 Annual Meeting he attended, chronicled in the Eye on the Cure blog.
To get an idea of what you can learn at Visions 2012, check out this year’s diverse session schedule. I wouldn’t miss a thing from the “Welcome Lunch” on Friday, June 29th to the always-inspiring “Closing General Session” on Sunday, July 1. If you’d like to capture the flavor of the show, read about the eye opening experience I had at last year’s Visions conference. A huge part of this conference is also sharing strategies for coping with vision loss, overcoming obstacles, and having fun while mingling with others who know what it’s like to be in your shoes.
Speaking of strategies, don’t forget to stop by the Ai Squared booth #16 in the exhibit hall to say hi to Becca and me and check out ZoomText 10, ZoomReader, and ZoomContacts in person, as well as our new i-loview portable electronic magnifier. I hope to see some of you there, either physically or virtually, as you can follow me on Twitter. I will be chasing the cure as I track down some of the conference speakers, top dogs in the retinal research field, who are always approachable and willing to answer your questions. Catch me if you can.
If you haven’t rediscovered the world of talk radio after your last transistor radio died, or you think there’s nothing out there that you can relate to, listen up. Rodney Edgar of Tech Access Weekly, Jeremy Curry of GW Micro and yours truly have teamed up to test out our chat-ability in a new pilot podcast called “High Contrast” on the ever-popular Serotalk Podcast Network (SPN). The three of us all live with varying degrees of sight impairments and we talk about some of the nuts and bolts of living with low vision and some of the tricks we’ve learned along the way.
In this first episode, we talk about several things: the unique aspects that come along with exercising with low vision; Jeremy’s participation at the recent CSUN 2012 accessibility conference; as well as what we all think of the new iPad from a low vision perspective. Listening to SPN while doing dishes, or walking around town has become part of my daily routine – they feature some great shows and topics for the blind and low vision. The niche we hope to fill with “High Contrast” is that gray area of seeing but not seeing. We have big plans on future episodes and interesting guests to speak with, so listen up and let us know what you think.
There are three easy ways to listen to the show:
Listen within a web browser on any computer – Select “Listen To High Contrast Episode 1: Three iPads for Three Hosts”.
Download the free iBlink Radio App on an Android or iDevice. Once you download it, open the iBlink Radio app and you’ll see the “High Contrast” episode.
Download the file to an mp3 player such as the Victor Reader Stream:
Did you know that today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day? This event is a community-driven effort with the goal to devote one day in the hopes of raising the profile of digital (web, software, mobile app/device, touch screen kiosk, etc.) accessibility and people with different disabilities. It really fits that today Becca and Maurie are in Hartford, CT giving a ZoomText all-day workshop!
To participate, post your thoughts on the idea of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on their Facebook wall or follow @GblA11yDay on Twitter and use the #gaad hashtag in your own tweets. You can also email globala11yawarenessday@gmail.com with your thoughts and ideas.
Funny things happen when you mingle at the church coffee hour. My friend Martha Thompson, the chief church supper organizer and cook, mentioned that she wanted to give me a copy of the large print cookbook that her sister Ellen had assisted in compiling. I took it home and read the introductory letter in amazement. The author, Nancy Rezendes, was stricken with Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and knew what it was like to develop an eye condition and not know what to do. But she doesn’t dwell on herself; instead, she gives a roadmap for people like her and the things they could do to help get back to a normal life. And of course cooking is a big part of that. Using her own advice, she used ZoomText on her computer and started typing recipes in bold 30-point font. She handpicked recipes that would fit on an 8 ½ X 11 inch paper in the extra large font because she knew firsthand what it was like to be overwhelmed by an excessively long ingredient list. Thank you Nancy!
You can order Nancy’s cookbook for $30 plus $10 shipping in the continental U.S. by giving her a ring at 508-228-1623. This would make a thoughtful gift for anyone who is tired of straining their eyes while flipping through that cookbook on the counter. And here is Nancy’s cookbook introduction that I mentioned:
Turning 100 is certainly cause for celebration, but Dana Jackson took that to the next level when she married Bill Strauss on her centennial celebration back in February.
Bill is blind but that certainly doesn’t stop his excitement: “I never thought I’d get married again but I found one that’s just as nice as can be,” says Bill. “It’s pretty hard to be blind… when she comes down the aisle,all I can do is imagine it because I won’t be able to even see her til she’s just a couple of feet away.”
I hope this video makes you smile as much as I did:
From the left: Cathy's sister, Cathy's mom, and Cathy herself!
Over the past dozen or so years, I’ve spoken to countless daughters who’ve called Ai Squared on behalf of a parent diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Today the shoe is on the other foot… while visiting my parents over the weekend, I inquired about my mother’s recent trip to the eye doctor and received the answer of “well, it wasn’t good.”
Across the span of the living room, a place that has always been filled with sunlight and signifying comfort in my life, descended a bit of a shadow as mom told me she has moderate stage macular degeneration. Her doctor gave her a print out that suggested that she take a certain vitamin regularly and he also gave her an Amsler grid. An Amsler grid is not only a tool used by eye doctors to detect vision problems, but it’s also a handy way for someone at risk for eye diseases to easily monitor their vision at home. Both pages were folded in her pocketbook so she can have the vitamin information with her when she goes to the pharmacy. I read the vitamin suggestion, and then carefully flattened the Amsler grid so that I could hang it up in a spot where Mom would see it every day.
Rounding the corner to the kitchen, I spied the blank refrigerator. Oh, that’s right, I should probably mention that my parents are in the midst of downsizing. Their home is on the market; my mother’s always neat-as-a-pin home is now to the level of hospital operating room clean and is sparsely decorated. The myriad of trip mementos and grandchildren’s pictures that once magnetically graced the refrigerator are now hidden away. No problem, I’ll use tape to affix the grid to the fridge. Rounding another corner, I enter my parent’s office/exercise room to see two wooden desks, each devoid of as much as a particle of dust! OK, Mom, where did you hide the tape?
Armed with tape, I hang the Amsler grid on the side of the refrigerator. I’m telling myself it’s so that parties who come to view this wonderful old farmhouse will not see the grid first thing upon entering the open kitchen/dining area. In reality, that’s secondary to keeping me from seeing the grid as I walk in the door. I don’t want to be reminded that Mom is aging. Still, I’m glad for my experience at Ai Squared; I know that while life with AMD is a challenge, I also know there are a vast array of products and services that make the challenge bearable. Deep down, I know my mom is up to the challenge and our tight-knit family will be there to help her every step of the way.
I’d like to introduce you to Sue Martin. Sue works for The United States Department of Veterans Affairs as a Section 508 management analyst. One of her current projects is insuring that VA employees who use assistive technology, including ZoomText, have a smooth transition as the VA rolls out Windows 7 enterprise wide.
Prior to taking the position with the Section 508 team, Sue was the subject matter expert for the computer training section at one of the VA’s blind rehab centers. Sue not only taught veterans with visual impairments to use ZoomText, she also taught her colleagues how to teach it. The VA blind rehab center in Tucson needed more staff members who could teach ZoomText, so they sent one of their instructors to work with Sue for a week. It didn’t matter that Sue’s level of vision dictates that she accesses the computer via a blindness screen reader rather than a screen magnifier. It also was no matter that the instructor from Tucson was totally blind. With a can-do attitude, Sue sent her colleague on her way as a confident teacher of ZoomText.
Jason Pierre-Paul stormed onto the football scene last year, single handedly saving the New York Giants season, and propelling them to their second Super Bowl win in five years.
This past February, Jason’s father, Jean Pierre-Paul, went to his very first professional football game… just so happened to be Super Bowl XLVI. What makes this story even more interesting is that Jason’s father is blind and had never seen his son play. After each playoff game preceding the Super Bowl, Jean would relish in the victories with his son, exhorting the team and his son’s efforts over the phone, much to Jason’s surprise since he was only able to listen to games on the radio.
Last year, I blogged about a new restaurant experience that was coming soon in New York City – one where everyone dines in the dark and is served by waiters who are visually impaired or blind. Dans le Noir? is now open for business! Here’s what they have to say on their website: “Dinner in [...]
Just a reminder that our two-day intensive ZoomText workshop is coming up around the corner – it’ll be held in Hartford, CT on May 8th and 9th. There is still time to sign up! We reduced the registration fee to $400, you get a free ZoomText Large-Print Keyboard, and you get entered into the drawing [...]
Did you know that we offer FREE WEBINARS on ZoomText? Here's a list of the ones coming up soon but we can also customize one for you! If you have a group of at least 5 people, we'll work with you to create one that fits your needs. Just send us an email to training@aisquared.com.
Check out the training page to sign up for one of our free "getting started with ZoomText" or "What's new in ZoomText 10?" webinars. They run for about a half hour with an additional 15 minutes for questions. We'd love to see you there!
Advanced Webinars
An In-Depth Look at the New ZoomText 10 Camera Feature
Date: May 22nd, 2012
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Cost: Free
Target Audience: Beginning and intermediate ZoomText users
Summary: This one hour webinar will present a comprehensive look at the new ZoomText 10 Camera feature. Some of the topics to be covered will be: how to set up and use the camera; available configuration settings; and hotkeys.
Given by: Product Support Specialists James Jandzinski and Breton Knight.
How to sign up: Click this link to sign up. Copies will be available after the presentation.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) Visions conference is worth its weight in gold. All the networking and knowledge gained regarding sight impaired living and hope for the future is priceless. I have no doubt that Visions 2012 in Minneapolis this June will be no exception and will prove to be the most exciting conference they’ve held to date. If you haven’t been paying attention, things are coming together in the world of research for treating retinal degenerative diseases as well as some other vision impairments. In January, I wrote of two legally blind individuals who have shown improved vision in an ongoing stem cell clinical trial. Since then, there has been promising news with additional participants. Dr. Stephen Rose, the Chief Research Officer at FFB also has some exciting news to report from the recent ARVO 2012 Annual Meeting he attended, chronicled in the Eye on the Cure blog.
Get smart with the