Sorry about the lack of posts of late. Aside from the Thanksgiving week break, during which I was gone for a 6-day cruise with my family, I’m also working on a couple of projects. Both of these undertakings are similar in that they involve me teaching assistive technology.
First, I have recently begun working with a local school district to teach their blind and visually impaired students how to use the JAWS screen reader and some other assistive technologies in which I’m well versed in. I’m so impressed with the range of skills the students possess, not to mention their desire to learn. I’m doing this a couple of days a week with students from elementary to high school age. The teachers and administrators keep thanking me for doing this, but I keep feeling that I should thank me for being able to contribute to the education of these kids. Maybe I’m idealistic, but what I teach them might be the very skill that helps them excel in college or land that job they want. Only time will tell what dividends are realized out of my time investment with these students.
The second undertaking I’ve been working on is a structured curriculum for teaching VI professionals on how to teach their students how to use JAWS. I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by a VI professional from another school district. He asked if I could teach him and a fellow colleague on how to instruct their students on this. He said that they have to know several different technologies to fit a variety of skill sets and visual acuities, but doing this usually means being a jack of all trades and master of none. To teach JAWS, though, one must have more of a skill level than what they have and he said that the practical experience I have is a very sought after skill.
Doing both of these teaching projects has sparked an inspired fire within me. Using JAWS and other assistive technologies are skills I’ve learned out of necessity, but mastering these and staying up to date on latest innovations in assistive technology was a self serving method for me to maximize my experience and abilities. However, I’ve realized that I have become a resource on using various technologies that many of my friends who are also users of these turn to when they need help or looking at purchasing new equipment. It is that realization mixed with a desire to help that have pushed me to embark on my latest efforts.
The down side of all this is that I’m winding up with less time to write here on Access Ability. Don’t worry, though. I’m still here and will be tending this fire as well. It may be a bit less frequent, but writing here will definitely be something I continue. After all, it was a passion to share resources that drove me to begin this blog in the first place, and that fire still burns.
I just feel that I needed to let regular readers of this blog understand why I’ve been a bit absent of late.
More soon…
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Friday, December 05, 2008
Friday, November 07, 2008
Interview on No Limits 2 Learning Live
Pardon me, but its time for a little self promotion.
On Wednesday, I was interviewed by my friend Lon Thornburg
On his
No Limits 2 Learning Live
BlogCastRadio program If you enter on the link above, the webcast will stream, but there is also an option to download the program if you prefer to listen to it later.)
On this program, Lon asks me about a variety of issues from personal adjustment to blindness to what it takes for a blind student to prepare for college. I get to discuss some of the issues most important to me, most particularly planning, self advocacy, and accessible texts.
I first met Lon through a comment left here on the Access Ability blog and we’ve gotten to know each other through email correspondence since then, but this is the first time we’ve actually talked to one another. I hope its not the last! Lon is a well qualified assistive technology expert in Oregon whose passion for helping shines through in everything he does. I’m truly proud to call him my friend.
Be sure to keep up with Lon's regular writings and reflections on his
No Limits 2 Learning
Blog. He writes on a variety of assistive technology matters and ties in some of the most important and compelling aspects of working with students.
On Wednesday, I was interviewed by my friend Lon Thornburg
On his
No Limits 2 Learning Live
BlogCastRadio program If you enter on the link above, the webcast will stream, but there is also an option to download the program if you prefer to listen to it later.)
On this program, Lon asks me about a variety of issues from personal adjustment to blindness to what it takes for a blind student to prepare for college. I get to discuss some of the issues most important to me, most particularly planning, self advocacy, and accessible texts.
I first met Lon through a comment left here on the Access Ability blog and we’ve gotten to know each other through email correspondence since then, but this is the first time we’ve actually talked to one another. I hope its not the last! Lon is a well qualified assistive technology expert in Oregon whose passion for helping shines through in everything he does. I’m truly proud to call him my friend.
Be sure to keep up with Lon's regular writings and reflections on his
No Limits 2 Learning
Blog. He writes on a variety of assistive technology matters and ties in some of the most important and compelling aspects of working with students.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
On beautiful homes, cars, and wildflowers
On a recent evening, I was talking with my father-in-law, who was telling me about a new neighbor who had recently visited their home for the first time. The neighbor commented, “This is just beautiful in here, its like a museum. From the outside, people would never know just how beautiful it is in here. You should invite people in and let them see just what a beautiful home you have.”
It immediately dawned on me that that man’s words apply just as well to people. From the outside, strangers don’t know what lies inside. If they are not invited to come inside, they’ll never come to know what beauty lurks just out of view.
I think of my group of friends and how each one is such a unique person, with his or her own, distinct attributes, and how easily these would be overlooked by anybody who does not take a moment to get to know the individual. Several of my friends have various disabilities and I know how socially isolating having a disability can be, which only serves to magnify the matter of being closed off from the outside world.
Too often, life is like the world is a car speeding down the highway and not noticing the pretty, lone wildflower idly sitting there. The world will never notice if it doesn’t slow down and look.
But, maybe if there were a flagman signaling the car to stop and directing the world’s attention to that bloom, then the world might notice it.
While that wildflower doesn’t have a flagman to bring attention to it, we as people do. We can let people know who we are just by inviting them into our world.
Because the important thing to note here is that, in actuality, you are that wildflower.
Open the door to your life and say hello to people. Let them know who you are. Let the world see the beauty that lies within, the museum of who you are.
I don’t mean that you have to be an open book and talk to every person you meet, but when presented with the opportunity to have a conversation, don’t be afraid to be the person to initiate it. People are social beings and we thrive in the company of others. Its lonely without outside interaction.
Open your personal doors, invite your neighbors in, and let them see just how beautiful your home is.
It immediately dawned on me that that man’s words apply just as well to people. From the outside, strangers don’t know what lies inside. If they are not invited to come inside, they’ll never come to know what beauty lurks just out of view.
I think of my group of friends and how each one is such a unique person, with his or her own, distinct attributes, and how easily these would be overlooked by anybody who does not take a moment to get to know the individual. Several of my friends have various disabilities and I know how socially isolating having a disability can be, which only serves to magnify the matter of being closed off from the outside world.
Too often, life is like the world is a car speeding down the highway and not noticing the pretty, lone wildflower idly sitting there. The world will never notice if it doesn’t slow down and look.
But, maybe if there were a flagman signaling the car to stop and directing the world’s attention to that bloom, then the world might notice it.
While that wildflower doesn’t have a flagman to bring attention to it, we as people do. We can let people know who we are just by inviting them into our world.
Because the important thing to note here is that, in actuality, you are that wildflower.
Open the door to your life and say hello to people. Let them know who you are. Let the world see the beauty that lies within, the museum of who you are.
I don’t mean that you have to be an open book and talk to every person you meet, but when presented with the opportunity to have a conversation, don’t be afraid to be the person to initiate it. People are social beings and we thrive in the company of others. Its lonely without outside interaction.
Open your personal doors, invite your neighbors in, and let them see just how beautiful your home is.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Happy Rebirth Day; A matter of attitude
Okay, I’ve already acknowledged today’s date in my first post. For anybody who doesn’t know me, today is personally significant to me. It was this date, 15 years ago, that changed my life forever. It is the reason I’m writing this blog today. It is the day I was involved in an auto accident that blinded me and caused a ripple of events in my life that changed the way I do so many things.
Today is also the day I mark as my rebirth day. I was reborn that day in almost every aspect, short of a trip down the birth canal. I had to learn to walk and talk again after a two-month coma. I had to learn how to eat again, only this time I couldn’t look at my food as I got it onto the fork or spoon—a real feat when eating jello for the first time! I also had the chance to rethink my education and career choices. It was a freedom to start all over again and that is how I saw the events in my life, a real opportunity.
I truly believe it is that attitude of seeing that change in my life as an opportunity, not a curse, that has led me to find the level of fulfillment and success in life that I have. I’ve had many academic and personal achievements, but the best thing I’ve done is to find my wife of almost ten years as the result of that fateful day.
I am very happily married to a darling woman and we have the best 6-year-old son anybody could hope to have. I might add that I never would have met my wife if I hadn’t been through the changes of 15 years ago. I was speaking at a youth conference and talking about making good choices following my accident, and she came up to me afterward to follow up on something I had said about learning how to cook while blind. She is a high school Foods teacher and had a 10th grade student who was blind and wanting to learn how to cook. On that day, more than 11 years ago, we began a strong friendship that is the foundation for our marriage today.
The day of my accident, October 9, 1993, isn’t only significant to me. It was also the same day that
Marcus Engel,
A young Missouri man in his first semester of college,was also involved in an auto accident. Marcus went through more surgeries in the next year and a half, most of these above the neck, repairing the effects of a drunk driver when he struck the vehicle Marcus was traveling in.
No matter how good those surgeons were, though, they couldn’t save Marcus’ sight. Yes, that’s correct…he was blinded in an auto accident on the very same night I was. We were in accidents separated by a couple of states and about three hours, but our fates were joined on that same date.
And, continuing down that idea of fated pathways, we met about a year and a half later, when we were both at
The Seeing Eye,
In Morristown, New Jersey, getting our first guide dogs together.
We became friends and created a bond there that has kept us in touch with each other in many ways since then and I continue to count Marcus as a good friend. We have both also progressed a long way from those early days of adjusting to the blindness and the changes in our lives. We are both now married and have created well-balanced lives that I don’t think either of us could have ever foreseen 15 years ago.
In my life before that auto accident, back when I was a Texas prison supervisor, I used to tell my staff at shift briefing that the quality of their day will very likely be the result of their individual attitude. I believed that statement then, and believe it even more so today. Life really is all about attitude.
I don’t know what your plans for today are, but I will go out with my wife and son this evening and celebrate today. For me, it is special, but, then again, that is just my attitude.
Today is also the day I mark as my rebirth day. I was reborn that day in almost every aspect, short of a trip down the birth canal. I had to learn to walk and talk again after a two-month coma. I had to learn how to eat again, only this time I couldn’t look at my food as I got it onto the fork or spoon—a real feat when eating jello for the first time! I also had the chance to rethink my education and career choices. It was a freedom to start all over again and that is how I saw the events in my life, a real opportunity.
I truly believe it is that attitude of seeing that change in my life as an opportunity, not a curse, that has led me to find the level of fulfillment and success in life that I have. I’ve had many academic and personal achievements, but the best thing I’ve done is to find my wife of almost ten years as the result of that fateful day.
I am very happily married to a darling woman and we have the best 6-year-old son anybody could hope to have. I might add that I never would have met my wife if I hadn’t been through the changes of 15 years ago. I was speaking at a youth conference and talking about making good choices following my accident, and she came up to me afterward to follow up on something I had said about learning how to cook while blind. She is a high school Foods teacher and had a 10th grade student who was blind and wanting to learn how to cook. On that day, more than 11 years ago, we began a strong friendship that is the foundation for our marriage today.
The day of my accident, October 9, 1993, isn’t only significant to me. It was also the same day that
Marcus Engel,
A young Missouri man in his first semester of college,was also involved in an auto accident. Marcus went through more surgeries in the next year and a half, most of these above the neck, repairing the effects of a drunk driver when he struck the vehicle Marcus was traveling in.
No matter how good those surgeons were, though, they couldn’t save Marcus’ sight. Yes, that’s correct…he was blinded in an auto accident on the very same night I was. We were in accidents separated by a couple of states and about three hours, but our fates were joined on that same date.
And, continuing down that idea of fated pathways, we met about a year and a half later, when we were both at
The Seeing Eye,
In Morristown, New Jersey, getting our first guide dogs together.
We became friends and created a bond there that has kept us in touch with each other in many ways since then and I continue to count Marcus as a good friend. We have both also progressed a long way from those early days of adjusting to the blindness and the changes in our lives. We are both now married and have created well-balanced lives that I don’t think either of us could have ever foreseen 15 years ago.
In my life before that auto accident, back when I was a Texas prison supervisor, I used to tell my staff at shift briefing that the quality of their day will very likely be the result of their individual attitude. I believed that statement then, and believe it even more so today. Life really is all about attitude.
I don’t know what your plans for today are, but I will go out with my wife and son this evening and celebrate today. For me, it is special, but, then again, that is just my attitude.
Getting back into the groove
Today is October 9, exactly one full month since I made a regular, non-hurricane post here. To regular readers, I say, “I’m sorry about that prolonged absence.”
I’ve been out of sorts here. First, there was a water pipe which burst inside the guest room closet of our home that upset the apple cart. That took about a week and a half to get things situated, preparing for the repairs to the sheetrock, baseboards, and carpet. Then, this hurricane appeared and smashed that apple cart, leaving way too much in its aftermath. The hurricane set off the house repairs to our home for a few weeks, and only last week did we get our final repairs finished when the carpet company installed the new flooring.
My problem is that I am a creature of habit and work great within structure. I thrive in a routine and that’s exactly what has been lacking around here of late.
I suppose, though, since my son went back to school last Monday, and the home repairs are all finished, that it is time to get back to business here at Access Ability. So, I’ll be working to post more diligently in the coming days. I sometimes take a little effort to get going once I fall out of my routine and a month off is a long time. Bear with me, though, and we’ll get there.
I’ve been out of sorts here. First, there was a water pipe which burst inside the guest room closet of our home that upset the apple cart. That took about a week and a half to get things situated, preparing for the repairs to the sheetrock, baseboards, and carpet. Then, this hurricane appeared and smashed that apple cart, leaving way too much in its aftermath. The hurricane set off the house repairs to our home for a few weeks, and only last week did we get our final repairs finished when the carpet company installed the new flooring.
My problem is that I am a creature of habit and work great within structure. I thrive in a routine and that’s exactly what has been lacking around here of late.
I suppose, though, since my son went back to school last Monday, and the home repairs are all finished, that it is time to get back to business here at Access Ability. So, I’ll be working to post more diligently in the coming days. I sometimes take a little effort to get going once I fall out of my routine and a month off is a long time. Bear with me, though, and we’ll get there.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Dancing around the issues: Ted Poe's reply about the ADA Restoration Act of 2007
The purpose of Access Ability is not to be a political blog, but is focused on pursuing interests relating to the world of Disability Support Services. However, there are times when the goals of Access Ability and politics collide. The following is the account of such an intersection.
What is one to make of his congressman when given lip service? Sure, it was politically correct, but it was still lip service.
Case in point is the reply I received from my Representative
Ted Poe, R-TX,
In response to my email asking him to sign on as a cosponsor of H.R. 3195, the
ADA Restoration Act of 2007.
In his response, Rep. Poe gave me a rundown of the bill’s assignment for review and he followed this up by thanking me for sharing my concerns with him.
However, at no time did he acknowledge my request for him to sign on as a cosponsor, nor did he ever state whether he would or wouldn’t sign on as a cosponsor of the legislation. However, by his omission, I’ll assume he’s declining my request.
Rep. Poe's reply and obvious omission harken back to Charles Durning playing the Texas Governor in the movie Best Little Whorehouse in Texas when he busts into a jig, singing “I Dance A Little Sidestep.”
Nice move, Mr. Poe. Was that a cha-cha or just a flat-out hustle?
I understand politics and try not to take them personally. However, I take the ADA personally. It is the backbone to so many aspects of things I enjoy and understand today. If it weren’t for the ADA, I shudder to think what my college experience might have been, much less what might have been in several other facets of my everyday life. So, I take it personally that Rep. Poe has slighted my request.
I now need to think through how to proceed from here.
Okay, I’ve shared my experience of contacting my congressman in support of this legislation. I have three questions for you.
1. Have you written your Representative and done the same?
2. If so, what was your Representative’s response?
3. Any suggestions on how to proceed with Rep.Poe?
What is one to make of his congressman when given lip service? Sure, it was politically correct, but it was still lip service.
Case in point is the reply I received from my Representative
Ted Poe, R-TX,
In response to my email asking him to sign on as a cosponsor of H.R. 3195, the
ADA Restoration Act of 2007.
In his response, Rep. Poe gave me a rundown of the bill’s assignment for review and he followed this up by thanking me for sharing my concerns with him.
However, at no time did he acknowledge my request for him to sign on as a cosponsor, nor did he ever state whether he would or wouldn’t sign on as a cosponsor of the legislation. However, by his omission, I’ll assume he’s declining my request.
Rep. Poe's reply and obvious omission harken back to Charles Durning playing the Texas Governor in the movie Best Little Whorehouse in Texas when he busts into a jig, singing “I Dance A Little Sidestep.”
Nice move, Mr. Poe. Was that a cha-cha or just a flat-out hustle?
I understand politics and try not to take them personally. However, I take the ADA personally. It is the backbone to so many aspects of things I enjoy and understand today. If it weren’t for the ADA, I shudder to think what my college experience might have been, much less what might have been in several other facets of my everyday life. So, I take it personally that Rep. Poe has slighted my request.
I now need to think through how to proceed from here.
Okay, I’ve shared my experience of contacting my congressman in support of this legislation. I have three questions for you.
1. Have you written your Representative and done the same?
2. If so, what was your Representative’s response?
3. Any suggestions on how to proceed with Rep.Poe?
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Request for feedback
I have a request of any of the readers who are willing to take a moment and share your thoughts with me.
The Access Ability blog has been in operation since late July, 2006 and I have personally written and posted 118 posts here. In all that, I have received minimal feedback on what is posted here. Specifically, I have received, minus the several spam replies, less than five comments to these posts.
I seek feedback from you, the readers that I know are out there. I understand that the comment method here on Blogger is not the most user-friendly way to share your thoughts. In that light, I am asking for you to
Email me your comments.
Please share your thoughts with me concerning this blog. I would like to know what types of news or resources you have found most helpful or would like to see more of. I can’t read your mind, so hit that link above and it will instantly bring up an email message ready for you to fill out. I promise that I will not share your email information with anybody.
I sincerely appreciate the readership that has grown steadily since I first launched this blog just over nine months ago. I am working in a vacuum, though, and am only writing about those things I believe might interest you. Take a moment and let me know how to better serve you.
Thanks,
RG
The Access Ability blog has been in operation since late July, 2006 and I have personally written and posted 118 posts here. In all that, I have received minimal feedback on what is posted here. Specifically, I have received, minus the several spam replies, less than five comments to these posts.
I seek feedback from you, the readers that I know are out there. I understand that the comment method here on Blogger is not the most user-friendly way to share your thoughts. In that light, I am asking for you to
Email me your comments.
Please share your thoughts with me concerning this blog. I would like to know what types of news or resources you have found most helpful or would like to see more of. I can’t read your mind, so hit that link above and it will instantly bring up an email message ready for you to fill out. I promise that I will not share your email information with anybody.
I sincerely appreciate the readership that has grown steadily since I first launched this blog just over nine months ago. I am working in a vacuum, though, and am only writing about those things I believe might interest you. Take a moment and let me know how to better serve you.
Thanks,
RG
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