Great things about being blind. no more records.

Don't get me wrong,  music sounded good on vinal records.  Some say it sounds better than digital music or music on cassettes or cd's.  But I am so glad not to have to use records anymore.  Someone reminded me of this yesterday because we used to receive audio books on records.   And long books would have many many records.  And it was sometimes hard for a blind person to put the needle down in the right place.  Or the records would skip or get scratched right in the middle of a book.  When I attended school for the blind, when we had dances, I bet the DJ's hated us all because we were forever dancing and banging into their record players and scratching their records.
Books on tape were a slight improvement but again, you'd be right in the middle of a book and a tape would break and you would have no idea what happened and whether to read on or not.
I"m so grateful for my ipod and mp3 players.  For books available that I can scan and read or read from
audible.com
It makes reading and music listening so much easier.

Great things about being blind. The readers from the drama department.

The other day, I wrote about a particularly good reader for one of my audio books.  When I was in University, we didn't have as much helpful technology as we do now.  I couldn't access on line books or electronic books.  I didn't have a scanner and software that would allow me to scan a document and have it read back to me.  So, I had to find readers.  After much searching, I found one of the best places to get readers was the drama department of my university.  They loved reading out loud.  To them, it was fun and gave them a chance to practice their vocal skills.  I loved it too.  The only problem with them was that they often wanted to repeat scenes over and over.  They wanted to perfect accents and voices for characters.  They wanted to read with just that perfect dramatic flare.  Generally, this is entertaining for me.   But, when you need something read within the next day or two, when you need them to remember to spell names and say page numbers, you don't want them to perfect a scene.  You just want them to read and keep reading.  Despite some differences of opinion from time to time, they were always most excellent readers.

Great things about being blind. Being read to by great readers.

I love reading braille books.  But, I also use audio books.  I read them as I fall asleep, when I'm brushing the dog, exercising, cooking, doing dishes, etc.
I have a very good reader at the moment.  Having a good reader is such a pleasure.  Someone who reads naturally and does not over dramatize.  Someone who does not stumble over words.  Someone who seems and sounds interested in the book.  It used to be I think that people read to each other out loud.  That doesn't seem to happen so much anymore.  Maybe reading aloud is a lost skill.  Tomorrow, I will tell you about the search for good readers when I was in University.  Happy summer reading to all.

Great things about being blind. voice recognition

We were on a flight home yesterday. When the flight attendent came to do my pre-flight briefing, I thought she sounded very familiar. The pre-flight briefing for me involves them telling me how many rows of seats to each exit, where the bathroom is, where the oxygen mask would fall, about your life vest, where the call button is. One flight attendent showed me where the reading light was too. One time, they told me that if I had to slide down the evacuation slide, I should fling my dog over my shoulders so her claws wouldn't puncture the slide. I couldn't quite imagine how that would work. Sometimes they say if something happens, I should wait until everyone else has left and then they will help me. If I'm ever on a flight in trouble, I won't be doing that!
Anyway, I thought her voice sounded very familiar as I said before. Then, I remembered taking a flight once where one of the flight attendents told me that she read books for the CNIB library service. These are audio books for people who cannot read print. You can borrow them. So, last night, I asked her, "Are you the one who reads books for CNIB?" And she was. She thought I had such a good memory and I do I guess. But, her voice just sounded so familiar, I was sure I had heard it a lot in the past.

Great things about being blind. The novelty of braille.

I was going to write about something else today. I had it all picked out and everything. But, you'll have to wait for that entry as I saw in my inbox a message from a friend about great things about having friends who are blind. She said, practicing and learning braille. Everyone is fascinated by braille. they want to touch it which is good as that is what you are supposed to do with braille. People always say, "How can you tell the difference between those dots? They are so small?" When I first touched braille in grade one, I was shown my name on a card and told it was my name. I thought, "No way. They all feel the same." But I learned braille quickly as I've always loved to read and to write and that was the way to go about it. I loved and still love braille. These days, although I use a computer with screen reading software (my software reads what is written on my screen and what I type) and although I listen to audio books from the CNIB library
http://www.cnib.ca/
and from
http://www.audible.com/ and although I am adicted to podcasts from
www.cbc.ca/podcasting
http://www.bbcworldservice.com/
selected shorts from PRI
the tobolowsky files,
the newyorker fiction podcasts,
http://www.serotalk.com/
I am especially fond of the Ouch podcast on bbc about people with disabilities
www.bbc.co.uk/ouch
I love to read braille and to write with braille.
When I am creating a story to tell or an article, I like to edit and write using braille when possible.
I have a braille notetaker but would dearly love a braille display for my computer all the time so I can read everything in braille.
They are very expensive though.
But in the beginning, we had huge bulky braille books.
One book could be from six to twenty fat volumes of braille.
When traveling to and from school for the blind, or on vacation, I carried heaps of books.
When finishing highschool in my home community, I didn't have a locker. I had a storage cupboard filled with books.
Many of my friends have wanted to learn braille and some have done so. I am always touched when they hand-braille a card for me.
One time in University, all of my residence floor mates had those little message boards outside their room doors. They used to leave notes for each other. "Are you going to dinner at 5?" Etc. I complained jokingly that I never got any messages. I went off to study and when I returned, found a piece of paper taped to my door. It had bumps on it. But they didn't seem like braille. Not having a brailler to use or even slate and stylus, they had punched holes with a pin and used a ruler or something I don't know.
I couldn't read it. They said, "You'd better figure it out. It took us hours to do." I tried my best.
Another friend once borrowed a brailler and brailled me a short story for christmas.
It took him many hours.
I read it in about five minutes and said, "That was a good story."
"you're done already?"
I appreciated the time consuming effort it took.
My mom learned braille when I did and put notes for me on the fridge, wrote me notes from Santa, the easter bunny (I never figured out how a rabbit could actually hop around on those brailler keys) and even the tooth fairy.
I am touched when I am handed braille business cards.
I hope all young children who are blind will always learn braille.
I hope that braille displays come down in price so everyone who wants one can have one.
I love braille.
Thanks Louis Braille for your wonderful invention.

Great things about being blind. The audeo book experience.

I had a bit of a stressful day yesterday. When I climbed into bed, I took my audeo book with me. I love reading braille but also love listening to books, to people read, and to podcasts now. Audio book players have gotten smaller. Braille displays mean that you can read braille that isn't so bulky too. As I listened to the amazing british reader reading my audio book, I felt almost immediately much more relaxed. Then I thought, no wonder I love storytelling. I've been listening to words, voices, stories all of my life. Both of my parents read to me from a very young age. Before I could read, I told stories. Once I could read, I read everything I could literally get my hands on and still listened to audio books. I can listen to an audio book while exercising (except in the pool) while doing dishes, laundry, brushing the dog, etc. Part of my path to storytelling came through audio books and being read to. And still when I feel wound up, stressed, or upset, those voices of readers, or storytellers, calm me down and put me in a world of words. If anyone wants to find out more about my own storytelling performances and workshops, feel free to contact me.