iAs I am aware of you being deafblind, just few interesting questions about that.
1 - Did you have frustrating times while you are being deafblind?
yes, i have had some very frustrating moments being deafblind -- especially during the first 2 years after i lost my hearing. for instance, i often had alot of difficulty getting around my neighborhood and would often veer into traffic until i learned how to follow the grassline with my cane. i also had problems boiling water safely until someone at my local deafblind center taught me how to touch the pan handle in order to feel the vibration and tell when it's boiling. i also ran into alot of communication problems with clerks at the bank and grocery store who didn't know i couldn't hear. of course, it didn't help that i wasn't completely comfortable at the time to ask them to use print on palm/pop, my telebraille (braille tty) or tellatouch. once i made these requests, they had no problems communicating using any of these methods.
2 - Do you think the technology improves a lot lately to provide what is necessary for the deaf and the blind, such as these things you have?
yes -- definitely! i started using computers in 1984 and it's amazing how far we've come since then. back in the mid 80s, i used an apple program called braille edit express (bex) which was a combination word processing program and braille formatting editor in which you could create braille files. in conjunction with bex, i also used a speech synthesizer called an echo. its speech was pretty crude compared to the software synthesizers of today. when i moved onto the ibm, i started using dos along with a voice synthesizer called dectalk. one thing that was cool about the dectalk was that it had several distinctive voices in which you could adjust the tone and pitch. it wasn't uncommon for me to write swear words repeatedly so i could hear how dectalk pronounced them.when i started learning windows in 1995, i used braille output only and found some websites inaccessible due to graphical information. today, one of the frustrations i have are visual captchas that one must use to register for services like yahoo! they do have audio captchas, but sometimes they don't work like they should. one of the neatest things i use is a pda for the blind called a braillenote. it contains a word processor, e-mail and internet capabilities, scientific calculator, braille games and gps. i love using its gps feature since it allows me to explore any city in the u.s. and know what kind of businesses are there.
3 - How do you communicate with people in the real life?
now that i have ci's, i primarily use speech. however, when background noise is an issue, i use a tactile terp or braille realtime captioning (a captionist's laptop is connected to my braillenote and i read everything she types on the braillenote's braille display). prior to receiving my ci's, i used a variety of communication methods including tactile sign, print on palm/pop, telebraille (braille tty), tellatouch (a device with a qwerty keyboard on one side and a single braille cell on the other. when a key is pressed on the qwerty keyboard, it appears on the braille display), screen braille communicator/scb (a device similar to the tellatouch except that it also has an lcd display, perkins/braille keyboard and an 8 cell braille display), braille/raised print alphabet card (my finger is placed on each letter to spell out words), typing information into msword or notepad and reading it on a braille display, communication card (identifies me as being deafblind and requests that people tap me on the shoulder when it is safe to cross the street), fingerbraille (tapping braille characters on one's arm, lap or back. the first 3 fingers of each hand are used to represent the 6 dot positions of a braille cell) and braille realtime captioning (described above).
4 - More coming later on.
cool!
Not a good idea, Brydie714!
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Anyway, Hear Again thanks for the interesting answers. More questions
1. How do you get around the house, do you memorize the area well? DO you not need any assitance when you go around. no?
i get around my apartment just like others do. the only accommodation i make for my blindness is to make sure that furniture is placed against walls and the coffee table is against the sofa so that i don't run into it. i also make sure to place anything that can spill on a coaster so that i can feel the edge of the coaster and not accidentally knock it over. yes, i'm very good at memorization. usually a sighted-hearing person only needs to describe a new area to me once or twice before i'm able to navigate it independently on my own. i don't need any sighted assistance when i'm in familiar areas (unless there is construction), but i do when i'm in unfamiliar areas. to find help, i listen for other pedestrians on the street, ask where the information or receptionist's desk is or walk into a local business and ask the clerk for assistance.
2. Do you read novels, that are printed into braille, or read books from the online book website?
yes, i do. in fact, i'm an avid reader. i love to read all kinds of books, but i especially enjoy novels and magazines that are in braille. some of my favorite books include murder mysteries, horror, autobiographical, political, adventure and romance novels. one of my favorite authors is stephen king. i'm also a huge fan of dan koontz. when i read books on the internet, i read them through eBooks or Bookshare
I can't think of more...
Jiro - I was the one who suggested Lisa to create one, so give the AD'ers a peace of mind to read interesting things about Hear Again
Sorry Hear Again, I couldn't resist.
I do have a question, are you a female or male? I take it you're a female based on the avatar? Are you married or single? Do you have any children?
we're thinking about getting married sometime next year after i graduate with my bachelor's degree in social work.