Ana Sikhashvili Shines a Light on her Student Exchange Experience in the U.S. and Attending Minnesota Academy for the Blind and How She is Bringing it All Back Home to the Republic of Georgia

Full Transcript Show Summary: Ana Sikhashvili spent a year in Minnesota attending the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind (MSAB)through a student exchange program called, Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX). Ana is definitely a leader and her future is looking very bright as she is now attending University in the Republic of Georgia. Ana’s experiences in the United States and especially her experiences at MSA B and the programs she attended...

Around the World with COVID-19 – Episode 20: Breaking Out of Years of Self-Limiting Excuses, Nick D’Ambrosio Steps Out into the Pandemic with a Passion for Self-Determination

Show Summary: In the 20th episode in our series, Around the World with Covid-19 from a Blindness Perspective, we welcome back Nick D’Ambrosio, from Montreal Canada, with a special  follow-up report. We first heard from Nick in Episode 5 in which he shared his perspective on life as an essential worker in his Drug Store in Montreal. Now Nick returns with a clean and fresh outlook on handling Corona, now, in October 2020.  Rather than...

The Organizations of the Blind and Visually Impaired Series (Episode 1) – The Keystone Chapter Of the NFB of Pennsylvania and the Virtual Talent Show October 17 at 7 PM EST

Show Summary: In our first episode of the Organizations of the Blind and Visually Impaired series,  Harriet Go, President of the Keystone Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, joins Simon Bonenfant in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the Keystone Chapter, the NFB Philosophy and share the news of an upcoming event for all to participate. The event is called, “Believe You Can” - A Virtual Talent Show on...

GoodMaps: Making the World More Accessible One Place at a Time – Indoor and Outdoor Navigation in the Palm of Your Hand

Show Summary: GoodMaps CEO, Jose Gaztambide, and Chief  evangelist, Mike May, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the new app GoodMaps Explorer. An indoor and outdoor navigation application on iOS and soon to be on Android. With outdoor navigation being available through various GPS apps and Map apps, American Printing House for the Blind formed GoodMaps in an effort to take on the challenges of indoor...

Meet Tech Enthusiast Rita Howells from Rita’s iDevice Advice – Taking Accessibility Recumbent Style and Sharing 33 years of Tech Know-How

Show Summary: Rita Howells joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to tell us about her new Recumbent Exercise Bike, why a recumbent and how she gained access to the manual, the Electronic Screen and much more. Rita produces a column called, Rita’s iDevice Advice, and monitors a Tech Group e-mail list called, iDevices located through email at iDevices@Groups.io and you can keep up with her weekly releases as well as join...

Kristy Has Gone viral! YouTuber, Kristy Viers, Talks Braille Screen Input, Dystopia Beta, 3D Printing, College and a Little about Cats

Show Summary: Kristy Viers joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio and talked about her YouTube Channel Kristy Viers, her College Experience, Beta Testing Apps and Braille Screen Input on her iPhone. Kristy had a YouTube video go viral with nearly 30,000 people listening. Kristy had to shut down her notifications as every device was going off for a few days. Kristy is doing more videos with instruction and about being Blind and...

YouTube Creator, Musician and College Student, Gabby Mendonca is Breaking Down Barriers and Sharing Her Journey World-Wide

Show Summary: Gabby Mendonca joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about her inspiring YouTube Channel @GabriellaMendonca, her educational journey, white and pink canes and her upcoming guide dog adventure. Listen in as Gabby explains how living in New York during the pandemic has effected her home life, education and social interaction. With a Guide Dog in her future plans, Gabby tells us about the Guide Dog Foundation...

Around the World with COVID-19 from a Blindness Perspective – Episode 19: Manique Gunaratne, from Sri Lanka – Success is Not Inclusive for All

Show Summary: Welcome back to Episode 19 in our ongoing series. Thus far we have spanned the globe  with  blind citizens Around the world, from Australia and Malaysia, to the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and much more Our guest today is Manique Gunaratne, who  comes to us from Sri Lanka.  Manique’s story speaks of the situation that she and other disabled citizens    of Sri...

It’s Just Life… Now. Meet Hilda Dunford – Mother of a Child Who Happens to be Blind. @OurBlindSide on Instagram

Full Transcript Show Summary: Hilda Dunford is a mom with 3 children and with the distance learning being the virtual reality that it is, Hilda is fining more and more time to be with her children, learning, caring and growing together. I met Hilda through her @OurBlindSide Instagram account. Her Blog-like content gave me a peek into the life of Hilda, her family and her son who happens to be Blind/Low Vision. With the changes that the...

TechAbilities: After the Dust Settles in the Apple Orchard, Along Comes Serina, Raqi and Jeffy AppleSeed

Full Transcript Show Summary: 3 is company and we were feeling Pretty, Pretty Good once we got the iOS14 downloaded and up and running on our various versions of the iPhone. Raqi and Jeff virtually High-5 each other and Serina just shrugs. With the new iOS full of features that extend beyond the reach of the iPhone 10, there was a lot to talk about and the Time Flies event was nearly the opposite. Kind of a lack luster event unless you were...