Great things about being blind. Learning to type.

As sighted people could not read what I wrote, I learned to type when I was in grade four. I learned to touch type on a regular typewriter. I couldn't proof read my work but could type very quickly soon after beginning. I am typing right now on my bluetooth keyboard with my ipod touch and a blog booster ap. How times have changed. I'm so glad I learned to type all of those years ago.

My obsession with news aps for my ipod

I've always been curious. Wanting to know about things. Read things. Experience things. I used to wish I could skim through the newspaper like my parents did. They would read me articles if I asked or if they thought I might be interested. But, that meant they were filtering articles and I wasn't. So, when I got my ipod and even before that, I began reading news articles for myself. Picking what I would read. Now, I love RSS readers on my ipod that give me the articles. Then I can decide what to read. It is a freeing thing. That is why I have about three of them on my ipod. I know. I don't need three but I choose to have them and so I do. Happy news reading to all. Oh and I love reading blogs too.

Great things about being blind. Accessible technology right out of the box.

I have loved technology and how it has helped me to stay equal with my non-disabled friends and colleagues. I've been lucky to obtain funding and have money for some technology which can be very expensive if you have to buy it yourself. Up until recently, the technology I used was specialized. I couldn't walk into a store and buy it. I had to send it back to fix it. Last winter, I got an ipod touch. Totally accessible out of the box. The apple store people set it up to talk for me. Yesterday, it crashed. I paniced a bit. I have used it so much. I went to the apple store and he fixed it very quickly. They were courteous and kind. Knew what voiceover software is and fixed it easily and quickly. It had been refusing to talk but now chatters on. I am so grateful that I can walk into a store and get service for my technology just like everyone else. It's about time!

Great things about being blind. Taking video.

I  have had my ipod touch for a few months now. I knew that it took video footage but never really played with it until this week.  I thought that taking video would be easy and straight forward.  After all, when I do, the sound of my voice and of things around me is clear and easy to understand.  I took a video of myself and then my guide dog who was lying beside my chair.  A friend said that when I too the video of her, I actually ended up taking video of a restaurant in the food court behind us.  I thought I had the ipod right in front of the dog but it took what was beyond her instead.  I always forget that people can see much further than I can hear at times.  It is all a very interesting process.  I think that I will get my own youtube channel and I plan to put some videos up there.  In some ways, I don't mind if they're blurry etc.  I'm blind.  I take videos as a blind person.  Then, I took one while walking and it didn't look very good either.  I didn't know that while walking the video will be shaky and blurry.  The sound was good.  It is all very interesting.

Great things about being blind. Using my ipod right out of the box.

It might not seem like a big deal, but it is. Since I was very small, I would go into bookstores and wish I could buy books like everyone else. Up until very recently I would be sad in bookstores and libraries. It was like books were calling out to me but I couldn't read them. I had to wait for them to be put in alternative format. I had to wait for someone to read to me. And even when people read to me, they read as much or as little as they wanted. Not as much or as little as I wanted. The power was not in my hands and I hungered for information. I longed to just walk in and buy a book. Last weekend, I bought an ipod touch. Apple makes the ipod touch, ipad, and iphone accessible right out of the box with voiceover. Voiceover reads the touch screen elements. I went to ibooks and downloaded free folktales there. Then, I bought the books I loved as a kid. The lord of the rings and the hobbit. Of course, I loved all books but loved them so much and couldn't have my own copies. And so, there they were on my ipod and I could read them. I just need to be able to afford a braille display to pair with it and I can read them in braille. Yesterday a friend helped me with some things about the ipod when I was stuck. She has an ipad. She is sighted but we could compare aps, notes, and talk about this on an equal footing. Access technology up until now was something you had to buy extra, you had to add on and hope a product worked.
I hope this is just the beginning of accessibility for me right out of the box. I deserve it.