Reid My Mind

A situation very much related to my previous posting, the Philadelphia Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is greatly in need of increased funding. For several years the budget for this very valuable service has remained  flat. Increases to rent and other costs related to new technologies are jeopardizing the service.

The service is not specific to visually impaired and blind.

From the article…

"A lot of people hear ‘Library for the Blind’ and think, ‘I don’t know a blind person,’ " said Patricia Shotzbarger, library supervisor. "But we serve stroke victims, for instance. There’s nothing wrong with their eyesight, but they can’t hold a book, turn the pages, and read standard print.

"We have quadriplegics and paraplegics. It goes to a print disability as opposed to a visual disability. The other group that we also serve are learning disabilities, reading disabilities – something like dyslexia."

Take a moment to read this article and then call your local State Rep and ask them to support an increase in the libraries budget.

If you are not in PA, you may want to check on the funding of your state library serving this community.

I said it before, and I will say it again, I really enjoy gadgets. What is even better, is when a gadget fills a need.  Isn’t it great when you purchase something and you use  it just about every day? That’s so cool, it feels like you really got your money’s worth.

The Victor Reader Stream has to be my purchase of the year. (Full disclosure – I don’t purchase that many things. I am frugal not cheap!)

The Victor Reader Stream, let’s call her Vicky for short, is a device by HumanWare which allows print impaired people to read audio books in multiple formats. Not only that, but it has a few other extras.

An analogy for the sighted, imagine something like a device that allows you to purchase songs from multiple vendors like Apple, Microsoft , and any other music vendor that sells protected music. Right now, when you purchase music from Apple you can only play those tracks on a supported device like the IPod Classic, Nano etc. The Microsoft Zune similarly  plays songs purchased from Microsoft store.

A similar situation exists for the various reading options available for the blind. Here is a brief explanation of some of the options.

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (Talk about legacy names. However, a truly valuable service! )
The NLS provides free books known as “Talking Books” to those who are legally blind and or otherwise print impaired (Dyslexic, Quadriplegic and others who cannot use print books for various reasons). These books have gone from being produced on vinyl to cassette and now digital. Thousands of books on all subjects are available.  They even offer some major magazines.

When  a person signs up with the service and is approved, they are issued a 4 track cassette player. These special tape players allow you to play the 4 sided cassette tapes. (For those of you saying how the heck can there be a four side cassette, I’ll let you follow the link for explanation.) Not only are these cassette players bulky and therefore not considered to be portable by today’s standards, but I am told they are funny looking too.

Required device,1

Let’s ay you want to purchase off-the-shelf audio books on CD. Well that is an additional device.

Required device, 2

Another option, and a very cool one is known as Daisy books. These books allow for both  recorded and synthesized speech. For most people unfamiliar with synthetic speech, the thought alone of reading a full book  using this is annoying. For those of us who use synthesizers on a daily basis to access computers, it is something that we get used to. My preference for reading books is audio narration, but I can do fine with the right synthesizer.

Oh, yes and there are multiple Daisy formats.

Required device, 3

Audible.com
Another option for books is audible .com. These books work on specific players or you can burn to CD using a certain software package (that I hear has questionable accessibility at best).

Required device, 4

There are also audio books available from the public library system, that play on specific media players.

Required device, 5

Add to the list an mp3 player for playing downloaded music. Now if you are lucky, one of the above devices will also fill this role.

Well, my Vicky, she works for just about all of the above.

A small device (4.6 x 2.6 x 0.85 inches), that is really portable, easy to work and has so many features that I missed from physical books. This machine fits comfortably in my pocket and allows me to bring it everywhere I go. You never know when a opportunity to read will present itself. (If you know what I mean.)

Take a magazine, NLS provides several magazines like Sound & Vision (No jokes about only needing to read half the magazine please!). Using a cassette, I would read the table of contents and want to quickly jump to page 55. This page may be somewhere in the middle on side 3.  If I wanted to navigate to the article I would have to fast forward through half the magazine. Vicky gets me the article just by a few quick pushes of a button. Sweet!

Now there’s the NLS books  that are available for download. I can search their website for titles, which will grow once out of the pilot phase, and then transfer the files to Vicky. Vicky allows me to bookmark, make notes via her build in voice recorder and she will even shut off when I fall asleep if I tell her too. So Sweet!

Remember I said Vicky has synthetic speech, she can even read text files. So, if I have to refer to notes while away from my computer or note taker, Vicky is there.

I am not much of a television watcher. I enjoy listening to various podcasts. Yep, Vicky shows me love here too. I can download several podcasts and to my 4 GB SD card where I store the various books. Vicky plays them either through her built in speakers or headphones.

This technology provides me with the best reading experience I have had ever since losing my sight. I know there are many in the blind community who  believe these devices are deterring many from reading Braille. I truly want to become more proficient in Braille for my own purposes, but I don’t think I want to take 5 boxes of Braille into that place, well you know what I mean.

I’ll just take my sweet Vicky, thank you.

This year the family is keeping it simple. It’s just me and the girls. As I type this, my wife and daughters decided they wanted to put up the Christmas tree. My first reaction, "It’s too early." Then one of them said, "Why?" When I actually stop to think about it, I asked the same question. Is there a written rule somewhere that says you have to put up a tree after xx date? Even if there is a rule, if it makes them happy well, why not.

And that is what I have to be thankful about today. My family is enjoying themselves,we are all together and healthy. The icing on the cake, my mom is here too.

Real simple, just me and my girls!

I submitted the prior blog post to a Blog Carnival – featuring bloggers writing on the subject of disabilities. Ironically, one of the items I discuss in the post, CAPTCHA, almost kept me from submitting the article. I had to seek assistance from my wife.

So ironic, isn’t it. I will be contacting someone over at the site to see about making a change to be more inclusive.

For people experiencing some degree of sight loss, it appears a common question exists. “Will I be able to continue…?” Continue a career, hobby or some other activity. I personally believe, in just about all cases the answer is yes.

Technology, whether screen readers, note takers, book readers or cell phones, provide individuals who are visually impaired or blind with access to information. These devices provide the ability to compete with sighted peers. Possibly even more important, technology plays a role in the ability to transition into blindness.

For me, using the computer was a major concern. As a programmer, the ability to return to using the computer was a matter of not only continuing my employment, but also the ability to perform a variety of tasks independently.

For those non computer users, the ability to independently manage finances, purchase items and stay informed is an appealing reason to learn.

Technology often takes a less sophisticated form. Individual measuring cups can provide a baker with Macular Degeneration, the ability to continue baking. Tactile measuring tape enables a carpenter to continue wood working. In each instance, the ability to continue can be the proof an individual needs to realize that they can do exactly that, continue.

For many the thought of losing sight, is comparable to a death sentence. The truth as I see it is, feeling as though you no longer have the ability to make a contribution to society is far worse. Blindness is more like an annoying nuisance. Being visually impaired or blind isn’t necessarily the problem; it’s the inaccessible transportation, the misconceptions about blindness. And the reduced access to information that can stop a person from moving on.

Technology however, can play a major role in knocking down these barriers. As the blind community continues to become proficient with technology and job opportunities increase, eventually more people will have opportunities to have significant interaction with people who are visually impaired and blind.

Technology, at the same time a tool for knocking down barriers, it often presents new obstacles that we must overcome. Websites which give us access to unprecedented information and opportunities are increasingly becoming inaccessible to the blind community. CAPTCHA, the often graphical challenge –response test to determine if a computer is being operated by a human in order to prevent spam, is a fast increasing problem to the community of screen reader users.

While there are cell phones that allow visually impaired and blind people to operate certain functions as well as screen readers specifically built for cell phones, the need for specialized software and or specific models, keeps many from using this technology. With the advent of smart phones and an increasing popularity of web applications and the move to cell phone based computing, this presents another challenge.

Technology was a tool to assist my transition into blindness; I hope with all its advancements, it will be available for the next person who needs it.

Last year I attended my first conference of the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind. It was a new experience not only for me, but the entire chapter of MCCB. We all had a good time, but more importantly the majority of those who attended were motivated to return home and continue to work on growing the chapter and making changes to our community.

I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to become a member of the 2007 conference planning committee. MCCB decided to host the entertainment portion of the banquet. We wanted to do something different from what we experienced in 06. We brainstormed and found, Theater by the Blind in NYC. They performed excerpts from a variety of their stage presentations as well as conducted a Q&A session. The performance group was well received by all in attendance. We concluded the entertainment with a dance session that went well past the closing of the bar.

While I enjoy planning and executing these types of events, motivating others and making positive change in the community is what really makes me happy. After some discussions with some PCB members I respect, I decided to take a run for the PCB Board of Directors. I was made aware that getting elected to the board after less than two years of affiliation was not very likely.

I am very happy and proud to report that I am one of the new members of the PCB Board of Directors. I plan to bring my enthusiasm and creativity to this organization and play my role in improving conditions for people with varying visual impairments. In addition, I hope to make shattering negative images of the blind community a major part of everything I do as a board member. As with my local chapter I would like to assist in motivating people to become active and offer their skills as well as taking opportunities to develop personally.