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

authentic said:
If you are deaf-blind, how do you reply everyone's questions in here? :hmm:
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i use a screen reader (window-eyes) and a braille display (braille star 40). the screen reader sends information that appears on the computer screen to the braille display. it can also announce the same information in a synthetic voice.
i'm able to move up, down, left, right, character by character, word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph and page by page. I give the screen reader and braille display various keyboard commands to move around the screen. I'm able to read e-mail, text documents, forums/message boards and the internet.

for more information:

what is a screen reader?

what are braille displays and how do they work?

window-eyes

braille star 40
 
meyag2 said:
My question is do you watch TV? So, do they have special TV for the blind just like closed caption on TV for the Ddeaf/Hhoh. That's what I wonder and how?

I've seen blind people who listen to voice on tape or braille anywhere on books, computer and elevator (I'm sorry I couldn't spelling braille, correct me if i'm wrong).
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you spelled "braille" correctly. :)

no, i don't have a special tv and there aren't special tv's for the blind.

however, some public tv stations do carry what is called dvs (or descriptive video service). dvs is a service that narrates what is happening on the screen, what characters are doing, what they are wearing and their facial expressions. this is all announced during pauses between dialogue in the program.

to learn more about dvs, click here

i love to watch tv (in fact, sometimes i watch too much of it!). some of my favorite shows are the ones i listed in an earlier post.
 
heartwheel said:
What's your earliest memory?

Do you have any heros or figures that you admire?
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1. my earliest memory was not a good one. i was 3 years old at the time and being hospitalized to have surgery on my forehead (to correct the indentation that was left behind by the pressure of the respirator mask in the nicu). i remember several things about this moment that were very disturbing to me including the strong, sterile smell of the operating room (i hate the "clean" smell of hospitals. i'm chemical sensitive due to allergies and have been since childhood), the surgeon placing the oxygen mask over my face without explaining what was going on or why (i remember crying hysterically and couldn't stand to inhale that g*d awful smell of "rubberized" gas which left a nasty taste in my mouth) and waking up in my room vomiting repeatedly because of the anethesia. several days later, i remember the surgeon removing the stitches, but he used a type of alcohol that stung like crazy and when he pulled out the stitches, i cried out in pain. it was awful. :( the last memory i have regarding this is wearing a HUGE pressure bandage around my entire head. it was so uncomfortable i couldn't wait for it to be removed. so as you can tell, that wasn't a very pleasant memory for me. :(

2. i have alot of heroes and "ordinary" people i admire: jfk, mlk, patty duke and former wls chicago radio talk show personality jay marvin (who both lived with bipolar), beethoven, stephen king (for his tenacity in writing book after book after book), obama (for his character, ability to rise to the challenge of being the first african-american to attend college despite being poor, not making an issue of his race and inspiring americans to be the best they can be), ronald reagan ("the great communicator" who also had a wonderful sense of humor), marlee matlin (for not allowing her deafness to stop her from achieving her dream of becoming an actress), kenneth jernigan (a leader in the national federation of the blind who always encouraged blind people not to let negative stereotypes of the sighted get in their way of accomplishing their goals), a deafblind woman i met while in training at my local deafblind center (she was the one who told me i had two choices: i could either learn to accept my deafblindness as it was or continue living my life in anger), the former director of the deafblind center (she was totally blind and had severe-profound hearing loss yet served as the director of the center, facilitated a support group for the deafblind and reached out to the greater community to educate others about deafblindness. she was also the one who strongly encouraged me to learn tactile sign after i lost my hearing.) and my dear, beloved mother (who faced a tough battle with pancreatic cancer yet didn't complain once about how sick she was or how much pain she was in. she told me that pancreatic cancer was one of the cards she was dealt by g*d and she would learn to live with it one way or another.).
 
That sounds like a really traumatic memory. I would cope well with someone covering my mouth and nose, without an explanation!

I too am very sensitive to chemical smell. Funny because I thought of you when I was in Walmart yesterday. I really hate the aisle with all the rubber plastic bins, I think it is very toxic and I imagined that you would be very sensitive to that. I also wonder if your migraine and sneezing isn't an allergic reaction, did you bring anything new into your home? I'm sure you have already considered this...

My mother passed in 2000 of pancreatic cancer, it all happened within six months. She had diabetes and had a lot of laser surgery done on her eyes, she was terrified of going blind.

I am especially curious about the deaf and blind people you listed. I am going to research them. I just recently re-read an account of Helen Keller's life, she was quite the world traveler, I didn't realize that. Very adventurous spirit.

Thanks again for sharing.
 
heartwheel said:
That sounds like a really traumatic memory. I would cope well with someone covering my mouth and nose, without an explanation!

I too am very sensitive to chemical smell. Funny because I thought of you when I was in Walmart yesterday. I really hate the aisle with all the rubber plastic bins, I think it is very toxic and I imagined that you would be very sensitive to that. I also wonder if your migraine and sneezing isn't an allergic reaction, did you bring anything new into your home? I'm sure you have already considered this...

My mother passed in 2000 of pancreatic cancer, it all happened within six months. She had diabetes and had a lot of laser surgery done on her eyes, she was terrified of going blind.

I am especially curious about the deaf and blind people you listed. I am going to research them. I just recently re-read an account of Helen Keller's life, she was quite the world traveler, I didn't realize that. Very adventurous spirit.

Thanks again for sharing.
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you're welcome! those were excellent questions. :)

i'm not sure why, but i'm very sensitive to textures and smells (the latter i know is due to allergies). i've always been this way for as long as i can remember. hmmm.

as for my migraine and sneezing, no, i haven't brought anything new into my home -- although i did try to think back if i did or not. the er doctor said it's not allergies i'm experiencing, but an upper respiratory infection. allergies do cause sneezing, but i don't have a rash or hives on my skin. i was also vomiting and extremely sound sensitive, but i don't think those are signs of an allergy either.

i'm sorry to hear about your mother. :( my mother survived for 5 months after her diagnosis. as painful as it was to see her struggle with cancer, one consolation i have is knowing that she didn't have dimentia or alzheimer's to the point where she couldn't recognize me. if that would have happened, it would have broken my heart and i don't know how on earth i would have been able to cope with that. i'm also glad that she passed away in her sleep. that was the way she had always wanted to leave this earth and her wish was granted. :)
 
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Hear Again said:
you're welcome! those were excellent questions. :)

i'm not sure why, but i'm very sensitive to textures and smells (the latter i know is due to allergies). i've always been this way for as long as i can remember. hmmm.

as for my migraine and sneezing, no, i haven't brought anything new into my home -- although i did try to think back if i did or not. the er doctor said it's not allergies i'm experiencing, but an upper respiratory infection. allergies do cause sneezing, but i don't have a rash or hives on my skin. i was also vomiting and extremely sound sensitive, but i don't think those are signs of an allergy either.

i'm sorry to hear about your mother. :( my mother survived for 5 months after her diagnosis. as painful as it was to see her struggle with cancer, one consolation i have is knowing that she didn't have dimentia or alzheimer's to the point where she couldn't recognize me. if that would have happened, it would have broken my heart and i don't know how on earth i would have been able to cope with that. i'm also glad that she passed away in her sleep. that was the way she had always wanted to leave this earth and her wish was granted. :)
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oversensitivity to textures and not likeing some textures is common among blind people. i can tell you that one from experience. some textures are gross.
 
I wondered that too. If you fear touching something gross. I would. I don't like the texture of memory foam pillows, I think it's the fabric that covers it that grosses me out, sends a chill of repulsion.
 
typeingtornado19 said:
i am sorry about your first memory. what led you to get a guide dog?
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thanks, typeingtornado. :)

i decided to get a guide dog because i was getting tired of using my cane. i hated how it always got caught in cracks, stuck in doors, jabbed me in the stomach everytime i came in contact with an object and how my folding cane collapsed into several broken pieces while i was on my way home from school. i had enough and decided to look into getting a guide dog. at the time i was also experiencing further hearing loss, but it wasn't profound by any means. if i remember correctly, it was moderately-severe or severe at worst. at the time i was also traveling downtown to go to school and didn't feel comfortable traveling with my cane. there was a specific street i had to travel on which had alot of homeless people and gang members. fortunately, nothing ever happened to me, but i wasn't going to take the chance of continuing to walk down that street as a blatent target. i received my first guide dog, sugar, a 65 pound golden retriever in january of 1991. i was the youngest student in class and had a blast while in training. the trainers were great, the students were awesome (most of them came from texas, btw) and i felt right at home and as if i were a part of a close-knit family. it was wonderful. :D i received my second guide dog, tigger, a 45 pound yellow labrador in 1997 from the same school (leader dogs in rochester hills, michigan) and had the same trainer. by this time, my hearing loss was considered profound in the left ear and severe-profound in my right. i used an fm system during training and there was a trainer on staff who knew asl and tactile sign in case i needed to use it. tigger and i worked extremely well together. it was a match made in heaven. even my trainer told me during the second week that if he could have sent me home right then and there, he would have because he knew tigger and i were ready to go out into the real world and travel on our own. the next time i get a guide dog, i will be going to the same school and requesting the same trainer again. he was so caring and compassionate -- and even volunteered to work with me in 1997 because he wanted to learn more about what it was like to work with a deafblind student. the next time i go back for training, i will definitely request this trainer again. all in all, i couldn't have asked for a better trainer or four-legged partner. :D
 
typeingtornado19 said:
oversensitivity to textures and not likeing some textures is common among blind people. i can tell you that one from experience. some textures are gross.
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really? i didn't know that. there *are* some textures that really repulse me and i can't explain why. i guess i just don't like the way they feel. i don't know about you, but i'm always nervous about touching new textures or objects unless i'm familiar with them. it has nothing to do with germs, it's just that i hate touching things i haven't touched before. i know, i'm weird. :laugh2:
 
Hear Again said:
really? i didn't know that. there *are* some textures that really repulse me and i can't explain why. i guess i just don't like the way they feel. i don't know about you, but i'm always nervous about touching new textures or objects unless i'm familiar with them. it has nothing to do with germs, it's just that i hate touching things i haven't touched before. i know, i'm weird. :laugh2:
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ohh yeah, a lot of blind people are like that. i had a friend that couldnt stand some food textures, i myself cant stand lotion, grass, and cotton balls.
 
heartwheel said:
I wondered that too. If you fear touching something gross. I would. I don't like the texture of memory foam pillows, I think it's the fabric that covers it that grosses me out, sends a chill of repulsion.
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i also hate the feel of memory foam pillows. it literally freaks me out. i guess what i'm creeped out by most is how the foam comforms to the shape of your hand (or whatever you put on it) and how it remains that way until you bend the pillow or place something else on it. just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable. :laugh2:
 
typeingtornado19 said:
i understand, i also cant stand chalkboards... (shudder) and mud..(eeeeeeew blah)
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me either! every time i think of a chalkboard, all i hear is a scraping sound of someone running their nails over it or a teacher squeaking the chalk as they write. <covering both ears>
as for mud, it's just plain disgusting. :barf:
 
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