At one point I wanted to collaborate with Sina on a book about being blind in the age of technology, where stories like your's and Sinas would make excellent examples throughout the book. Then I got busy at work, and now I'm more busy than ever. I still like the idea, though. Bill On Mon, Apr 8, 2013 at 7:17 AM, <acollins at icsmail.net> wrote: > Hi Bill and all. I think we need to keep in mind that as far as > blindness is concerned, each of us have different experiences when it > comes to learning to deal with our blindness. Some of us get lucky, and > find ourselves in contact with people who can teach us that blindness is > not the end of the world. Others have a more difficult time, and have > no one who can help shield them against the terrible attitudes that most > of the world has concerning blindness. My friend Keith Watson was a > draftsman engineer, before he slowly began to lose his sight. Like > Bill, he fortunately ran in to some of us on the Speakup list, who could > give him advice about what kind of help was available, and not allow him > to sit around feeling sorry for himself. He went back to school, and > his company moved him over in to their ip department. He has since gone > to work for a company monitoring the quality of accessible documents > they produce for the Social Seccurity Administration. > > On the other hand, there are guys like me, who have been blind all my > life. I went to the local state school for the blind here in Iowa. > Then because I was just out of high school, and didn't really know what > I wanted to do with myself, I attended a one year course at our state > comission for the blind, where I learned a lot of coping skills and > attitudes that I didn't pick up when I was in school. The upshot of it > all is that I went to tech school, got a job as a machinest, got laid > off, went to computer school, and got a job in tech support for one of > our state universities. I worked as a machinest for ten years, and then > worked as a tech support consultant for the university for 25 years. > > I think it behoves all of us to spread the word that being blind is not > the end of the world. Is it sometimes difficult? Yes, but so is life > in general. The glass is either half empty, or half full. Each of us > gets to decide individually. > > Many others here could tell similar stories. > > Gene Collins > > >I just posted the following to the Stargardts group on Facebook in > response > >to a post from a kid who was asked to write about what it's like to go > >blind, for a publication in Canada. She posted her opening, and asked > what > >we thought of it. I found it wanting. She said she could not see the > >professor's face. This is what I said: > > > >For the first two years, I lived in denial. Losing central vision meant > >losing my job, my house, and the ability to raise my kids. It paralyzed me > >with fear, and threatened everything I cared about. Yet I was lucky. > Losing > >sight meant losing my ability to program, which is the skill that has > >defined my value to the world. I found a blind mentor who showed me that > it > >is possible for the blind to be outstanding programmers. I began to > >contribute to software for the blind. I worked so hard at improving such > >software, that I sat too long at my computer and gave myself blood clots, > >which moved to my lungs and came close to killing me. Still, I was lucky. > >What is it like to slowly go blind? The world crashes down around you and > >you fight dragons every day to stay alive. That's if you're lucky, like > me. > >For the rest, possibly the majority, I fear it may be far worse. I was > >lucky in that I had the chance to build something I cared about > desperately > >before losing central vision. It gave me the will to overcome the > >obstacles. What is it like for kids losing vision while going to college? > >That's what really breaks my heart. They don't yet know what is worth > >fighting for. Not seeing the professor is no big deal. How many of you > >people out there with Stargartds have learned speed listening? Do you know > >the potential you have, and the value of the life you will lose if you > >don't fight for it? I'm lucky, because I got to build that life before > >losing vision. I grieve for all the kids who will never get the chance to > >know why they should fight so hard. > > > >I don't think any of the kids out there with Stargardt's will suddenly > >change their lives because of my post, but you guys, and especially Sina, > >have changed my life. Thanks for showing me that my central vision > >impairment need not cripple me, and for the chance to help write the > >software I need. I am using Speech Hub, Mary TTS, and NVDA just to write > >this email. Working together, we can build great tools like Speech Hub, > >and great organizations like the Accessible Computing Foundation. We can > >make a difference one vision impaired guy at a time, or at least try like > >Hell. > >Bill > >_______________________________________________ > >Speakup mailing list > >Speakup at linux-speakup.org > >http://linux-speakup.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/speakup > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at linux-speakup.org > http://linux-speakup.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/speakup >
