Questions and debates about blindness:

i had a miserable experience in elementary school, a so-so experience in middle school and a wonderful "best days of my life" experience in high school. if i could go back and relive my high school days, i would in a heartbeat!

throughout my public school education, i never had to fight for braille. it was always provided to me. every year i received my textbooks in braille and a perkins brailler was also available for my use.
 
I'll probably state this question on behalf of anyone else who were to suddenly need info if they/their child was blind one day.

I'd like separate responses from each one of you guys, so maybe it can kind of be open to more suggestions overall for the person to grasp.

From where you are now, what is it that you wish you had learned/received/gotten while you realized you were blind? Name 5 things you would do if you could start over again.
 
Hear Again said:
jolie and naisho, i hope you will accept my sincere apologies for getting this thread off to a negative start. i guess my emotions got the better of me. i'm sorry. :(
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That's fine. Apology accepted.

Understandably, You were only bringing up a point that a deaf/blind member should be answering the question which is fine. I was only bringing up a point that anyone can create a thread if they wish to regardless of their status. :)

I'm glad to see you're feeling better now.
 
naisho,

1. i would do everything i could to prevent discrimination based on one's blindness or deafblindness.

2. i would love to have the power to make people understand the capabilities of blind and deafblind people.

3. i wish i would have fought the public school system when i was misdiagnosed with a learning disability in 3rd grade. perhaps if i did, i could have taken honors courses in middle school instead of just high school and college.

4. i wish i would have stood up to my classmates who used to trip me in the hallway when i was in elementary school instead of saying nothing.

5. since i was the only totally blind student in my entire school district from preschool through 12th grade, i wish i would have had the opportunity to meet other blind children my age instead of being restricted to attending a summer camp for the blind from age 8-18.
 
Jolie77 said:
That's fine. Apology accepted.

Understandably, You were only bringing up a point that a deaf/blind member should be answering the question which is fine. I was only bringing up a point that anyone can create a thread if they wish to regardless of their status. :)

I'm glad to see you're feeling better now.
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i understand. :) thanks, jolie!
 
naisho said:
So since Nika and Typeing and dreama read text on monitors in the form of magnification, they are actually able to see in some form? Or is there something I'm missing? This just opened my eyes to realize that seeing is just as diverse as hearing, one step further.
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Yes, that's right. Most blind people can see a little. As far as I am aware hear again is the only totally blind poster at AD.

My magnification makes print 16 times the size of normal print. Yes, I can see that. The latest Zoom actually can enlarge print to 32 times. Some people feel after X4 it is better to use speech or braille but I tried that and went back to higher magnification of Zoom text.
 
Hear again. I'm glad you are feeling better today. How are your hands? Are you getting used to no CI?

How do you manage to use the internet with just braille? Does the problem with your hands get in the way at all?
 
typeingtornado19 said:
very ture, i know people who wear sleepshades because it hurts so much sometimes.
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Do you mean me? or are their others like this too? I have to wear sleepsades in most lighting conditions. I'm wearing sunglasses right now as I'd find the monitor too bright otherwise.
 
Deafteen90 said:
Did you all have a good experience at school? Or was it hard? did you have to fight to get the braille or other equipment you might have needed?
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I didn't lose my sight until after I left school. However I did have problems with people at college not being willing to provide large print. Then when I got myself a CCTV they wanted me to sit out in the hallway because they said I was distracting the other students.

I went to RNCB blind college after that. I didn't have problems with large print but they did seem to think that totally blind people have much more problem then people with low vision (even if they were HOH too) so they treated blind and low vision people differantly. I think that probably caused a lot of friction. I think they have improved now. I went back 13 years later. They were ok with me and I was low vision but then I was also profoundly deaf as well. I'm not sure how they treat their students who are just low vision.
 
dreama said:
Do you mean me? or are their others like this too? I have to wear sleepsades in most lighting conditions. I'm wearing sunglasses right now as I'd find the monitor too bright otherwise.
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dreama,

since you find the computer monitor too bright to read, do you use a braille display?
 
Hear Again said:
i apologize if it seems like i'm badgering nika. that isn't my intent. i don't know what or if he can see which is why i'm asking these questions. hope nika and everyone else understand.
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I'm ok about it now. My only problem before was people suspecting Nika and I didn't want to drive Nika away from All deaf. Since Nika seems ok about it now I don't see any problems with your questioning.
 
dreama said:
Hear again. I'm glad you are feeling better today. How are your hands? Are you getting used to no CI?

How do you manage to use the internet with just braille? Does the problem with your hands get in the way at all?
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dreama,

my landlord was able to increase the sensitivity on my processors to the point where i am now able to hear environmental sounds.

as of early this morning, the silence was no longer bothering me, but it's still nice being able to hear *something*. as you can imagine, being unable to see or hear anything can be quite a shock especially when you've been used to having ci "hearing" for the past 4 years.

i read braille with both hands, but ever since experiencing problems with my severe cts, i now only read with my right hand. since the cts in my right hand is only mild, reading is not a problem.

if the cts in my right hand ever does become problematic, i can always connect my 32-cell braillenote bt to my computer and use that instead which would create less wrist movement since i would be moving from left to right by reading 32 braille characters per line instead of 40 as i presently do on my braille star 40.
 
dreama said:
I'm ok about it now. My only problem before was people suspecting Nika and I didn't want to drive Nika away from All deaf. Since Nika seems ok about it now I don't see any problems with your questioning.
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thanks, dreama.
 
according to statistics (which unfortunately i can't quote directly from at the moment), only 3% of the blind population is totally blind. the remaining 97% have some degree of residual vision.
 
naisho said:
I'll probably state this question on behalf of anyone else who were to suddenly need info if they/their child was blind one day.

I'd like separate responses from each one of you guys, so maybe it can kind of be open to more suggestions overall for the person to grasp.

From where you are now, what is it that you wish you had learned/received/gotten while you realized you were blind? Name 5 things you would do if you could start over again.
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1. Tactile sign language.
2. Training in braille and mobility with the use of sleep shades. I did have training without them but when you are low vision you tend to do thing with your residual sight which totally defeats the objects.
3. More understanding.
4. Training in Tadoma. So I could carry on lip reading via touch as well as residual sight and hearing.
5. better overall communication.

Apart from that I think my needs as a low vision person were being met fairly well. Their just wasn't so much understanding about my needs as a HOH person and also my needs regarding my mental health issues. They tried to send me to this clinic for a 'break' but I refused to go. So I'm as much to blame in that respect as anyone else.
 
dreama said:
1. Tactile sign language.
2. Training in braille and mobility with the use of sleep shades. I did have training without them but when you are low vision you tend to do thing with your residual sight which totally defeats the objects.
3. More understanding.
4. Training in Tadoma. So I could carry on lip reading via touch as well as residual sight and hearing.
5. better overall communication.

Apart from that I think my needs as a low vision person were being met fairly well. Their just wasn't so much understanding about my needs as a HOH person and also my needs regarding my mental health issues. They tried to send me to this clinic for a 'break' but I refused to go. So I'm as much to blame in that respect as anyone else.
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dreama,

if you don't mind my asking, who is the "they" who tried sending you to a clinic for your "break?" (if you'd rather not answer here, you can send me a pm. it's also perfectly okay if you do not wish to answer my question.)
 
Hear Again said:
dreama,

since you find the computer monitor too bright to read, do you use a braille display?
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Sometimes. I have both a braille display and Zoom text.

I'm ok reading the screen with shades. To cut out the brightness.
 
Hear Again said:
dreama,

if you don't mind my asking, who is the "they" who tried sending you to a clinic for your "break?" (if you'd rather not answer here, you can send me a pm. it's also perfectly okay if you do not wish to answer my question.)
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I mean the college. RNCB. Also my shrink. I was seeing him once a week for councilling and he thought I could do with an extended 'break' at his clinic. Unfortunately I refused to go.

I was just afraid of going to a mental health place. It was a bit silly really as I ended up getting thrown out. Not just because of that but the reason they wanted me to go in the first place. If you really want me to go into details I'll send you a PM. But could you answer it this time?
 
dreama said:
Sometimes. I have both a braille display and Zoom text.

I'm ok reading the screen with shades. To cut out the brightness.
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what kind of braille display do you use and how many braille characters does it have? i use a braille star 40 with 40 braille characters. i used to have a powerbraille 40 until i foolishly sold it to someone on a buy/sell/trade list for the blind.
 
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