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Show Summary:
Guest in this episode: Michael Babcock, Coquille, Oregon
Every day we are inundated with reports about COVID-19: statistics, new cases, and worse. Every day we hear of how the coronavirus has impacted people all over the world, but we rarely if ever hear specific reports of its effect on blind and visually impaired individuals.
Thus far we have spanned the globe, introducing blind guests from Around the world, from Australia and Malaysia, to the united kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and the US. We stay in the US as we hear a first-hand report from Michael with his unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him and his family in one of our western-most states.
Michael is a production Assistant living in Coquille Oregon. He joins Blind Abilities to share his perspective on how the Corona virus and COVID-19 have impacted Oregonians, his employment, and subsequent furlough from a company that owns multiple radio stations in his area, and his recent experience with collecting unemployment benefits from the state and federal governments.
Michael also shares how his two younger brothers and his son have been impacted by the closing of schools.
He provides a timeline of the progress of the Corona virus in Oregon, pointing out that the state experienced its largest outbreak to date on July 11th, prompting the governor to issue further restrictions on indoor gatherings and mandatory masks in some outdoor situations.
Michael is unable to forecast the path of the pandemic but is looking forward to spending time with his 10 year old son Nicholas who lives in Alaska, being able to teach him some tricks such as using keystrokes in Zoom to perform some of the more common Zoom meeting actions.
Michael now has time to study for his
Technician Class Amateur Radio license”, and is able to spend more time on his podcast, The Your Own Pay Podcast, (available at www.YourOwnPay.com), and other projects.
Through all of this, Michael maintains an upbeat outlook, encouraging listeners to remain positive, wash our hands, don’t touch our face and keep in touch with loved ones, either personally or virtually. Michael reminds us that we are “…not guaranteed tomorrow, so make the most of today while you can! Good advice for everyone!
As usual, Blind Abilities has inserted excerpts from real news stories to enhance the report and paint a tine-line for you to better understand the sequence of the COVID-19 progression.
special thanks go out to Chee Chau, for his beautiful song and titled wayfarer.
Be sure to tune in to more informative episodes to hear how your BVI counterparts around the world are coping with and adapting to cOVID-19.
Contact Your State Services
If you reside in Minnesota, and you would like to know more about Transition Services from State Services contact Transition Coordinator Sheila Koenig by email or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361.
To find your State Services in your State you can go to www.AFB.org and search the directory for your agency.
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