okay ad'ers. ask me anything (but be nice! :))

Oceanblue7 said:
Here again, its really fasinating reading the questions asked by Jake and your replies regarding deaf/blind person. Have you been deaf/blind since birth? Did you go to a regular school or deaf/blind school? I read your currently in school studying social work, what made you want to study this field? I forgot to add, that your not the only member to mistaken to be guy , as I have been mistaken to be one also by other members. I guess its bec I am rabid NE Patriots football fan. I can only cheer for them and keep on adding pix on my signture and avatar hehe my current avatar is manga world its all girl bec I am one :giggle:
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my former hearing aid audis think my deafblindness may be congenital due to the fact that infants weren't given hearing screenings back in the late 60s/early 70s, so in that sense, i've been deafblind since birth -- or at least since age 3.

i've always attended public schools in a mainstreamed setting. from kindergarten through 12th grade i used to have an itinerant teacher for the blind who used to stay with me in my classes to help with assignments and transcribe print materials into braille. she also served as my sighted guide during field trips. sometimes i wish i would have gone to a school for the blind (wsvh - wisconsin school for the visually handicapped) because in some ways, it would have made my life so much easier. i also would have been able to make more blind and visually impaired friends. the only friends i met who were blind was at a camp here in wisconsin called lion's camp. i attended lion's camp from age 8 to 18 and i had some of my best summers there. :D

i'm currently in my final year working towards my bachelor's degree in social work. i didn't pick that major initially. before now, i switched majors several times from journalism to mass communication to advertising to education to medical transcription to social work. i loved journalism and mass communication. unfortunately, i was led to believe by an uneducated sighted-hearing person that i couldn't be a field reporter (a dream of mine) due to my blindness. i also dabbled in advertising for a bit, but ran into problems because of my inability to see advertisements. it was also difficult because i couldn't adequately describe to a sighted-hearing person how i wanted to create an ad because their perspective was so different from mine or perhaps i just had difficulty explaining what i wanted in words. i also tried education for awhile, but my hearing became so poor that i couldn't hear students well enough to communicate. the same was true for medical transcription. i was doing really well with it for awhile, but eventually had to quit since there would have been too much of a liability and risk of death if i made a mistake transcribing someone's prescription and/or health condition. after training at my local deafblind center, i decided that i wanted to work with other people with disabilities, so that's how i came to major in social work. i hope to work with the blind, deaf, deafblind and/or elderly population. i also plan to earn my master's and ph.d. in blindness rehabilitation and deafblind studies.

i'm glad i'm not the only one who has been mistaken for being male! :giggle: i think it's awesome that you're a pats fan! (go pats! :)) i'm also a football fan. i *love* the green bay packers and always have ever since i was a little girl. my father loved watching football every weekend, so the game became engrained in me. i'm a packer fan for life! :) even when i move to arizona next year, i will continue to follow the packers. as the saying goes, you can take the girl out of the green and gold, but you can't take the green and gold out of the girl! :laugh2:
 
by the way, if any of you would like to ask me about my favorite movies or tv shows, that's fine. i love to watch both. :)

i'm also open to questions about how i cook, clean or even match my clothes.
 
Hear Again said:
by the way, if any of you would like to ask me about my favorite movies or tv shows, that's fine. i love to watch both. :)

i'm also open to questions about how i cook, clean or even match my clothes.
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oooo yes yes - clothes... that i know. You have braille tags for that. I am curious about cooking and cleaning. Do tell us! Assuming you eat steak, how can you tell if it's sufficiently cooked?
 
Hi Hear Again, thanks so much for this opportunity.
I was wondering if you go to an art museum will they let you touch the paintings and sculptures?
 
Hear Again said:
i'm female -- although 95% of ad'ers think i'm male. :lol:

i'm not married at the moment, but i do have a wonderful sighted-hearing boyfriend whom i've been dating for the past 2 years. :D we're thinking about getting married sometime next year after i graduate with my bachelor's degree in social work.

i don't have any children right now. however, that's definitely part of my future plans. i hope to have 2 children -- one through natural childbirth and the other through an adoption (i'd like to adopt a deafblind, blind or deaf child).
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Me, too. I thought you are a male. Sorry! :o
Do SSP or Provider provides you assistance? like, they take you for your medical appointments, food shopping, shopping, school, etc, for example. I used to work with deaf/blind consumers for 3 years, whom I enjoyed to work with. (I forgot to add that on the other thread..) I will plan to work with them again in the near future. :)
 
JClarke said:
black is a color but when you can't see, its like 'pitch black' but dont worry, just out of my curioisuty.
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In her case, to get an idea what she sees, try to see beyond your peripheral vision (beyond the limits of your sight). Doesn't look black, it's just 'not there'. That's how she sees.
 
Jess said:
In her case, to get an idea what she sees, try to see beyond your peripheral vision (beyond the limits of your sight). Doesn't look black, it's just 'not there'. That's how she sees.
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that's a very good description, jess. :)
 
Sosie said:
Me, too. I thought you are a male. Sorry! :o
Do SSP or Provider provides you assistance? like, they take you for your medical appointments, food shopping, shopping, school, etc, for example. I used to work with deaf/blind consumers for 3 years, whom I enjoyed to work with. (I forgot to add that on the other thread..) I will plan to work with them again in the near future. :)
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prior to receiving ci's, i used an ssp.

however, since i'm now able to hear and communicate orally, i go clothes shopping, grocery shopping, to medical appointments and school by myself. my sister takes me grocery shopping during the winter months so i don't have to worry about traveling in the cold or accidentally slipping on the ice when pulling my shopping cart.

the only exception to my not being alone at medical appointments is with my neurologist. since he has an accent, i have alot of difficulty understanding him, so i use a tactile terp during our appointments.

i think it's great that you want to work with the deafblind! I wish you all the best! :D
 
Although I have an idea about your sight, your ability to use the internet still amazes me! :)
 
heartwheel said:
Hi Hear Again, thanks so much for this opportunity.
I was wondering if you go to an art museum will they let you touch the paintings and sculptures?
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yes. in fact, there's an art museum in the metro area where i live and the staff has always been great about letting me touch the displays provided they aren't behind glass or a barricade.
 
I'm not sure if you have been asked before, do you know any sign language?
 
typeingtornado19 said:
whats your braille reading speed? i would share mine... but... i dont want to embarrass myself...
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125 wpm.

i started reading braille when i was 4 or 5, so i had a chance to develop excellent speed.

my braille writing speed (on a perkins brailler or braillenote) is 100 wpm.

my slate writing speed, on the other hand, is 0 wpm. :laugh2: i HATE the slate!
 
Hear Again said:
125 wpm.

i started reading braille when i was 4 or 5, so i had a chance to develop excellent speed.

my braille writing speed (on a perkins brailler or braillenote) is 100 wpm.

my slate writing speed, on the other hand, is o wpm. :laugh2: i HATE the slate!
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the slate sucks!!!!!!!

i am so jealous!!!!! my speed is like 30, but i started learning a year ago. ok, on topic, question... hmmm

are you going to NFB convention next year, i think you told me already but...
 
Babyblue said:
How and when did you find out that you are bi polar?
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i learned i was bipolar (and schizoaffective) in 2006 after suffering a severe manic/psychotic episode. the manic/psychotic episode was caused by a combination of factors including sensory deprivation, stress of having 2 ci surgeries, loss of residual hearing (i.e. total blindness combined with total deafness) and anethesia (which can cause mania in people who are bipolar).

i experienced a manic episode in 2004 after my first ci surgery, but didn't realize how severe it was because i didn't know what the symptoms of bipolar were.

in 2006 following my second ci surgery, i had another manic episode in which i experienced auditory hallucinations, delusions, severe confusion, extreme agitation, high energy levels, restlessness and i didn't eat or sleep for 2 and a half weeks. i also suffered from paranoia and thought people were poisoning my food and watching me through cameras installed in my apartment. i know it sounds weird, but those are the kinds of things that happen when someone is severely manic.

two weeks following my second ci surgery in 2006 i stayed inpatient for a little over a month at which time doctors determined i was bipolar and schizoaffective.
 
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