Job Insights: Accepting Blindness, Job Readiness and Building Confidence… Let’s Get that Job!

Podcast Summary: Full Transcript In this Job Insights episode, Serina Gilbert and jeff Thompson welcome Sarlie Drakos to the Job Insights Team. We are excited to have Sarlie on our team and excited to bring back the Job Insights show after a 2 year hiatus during the pandemic. In this episode of Job Insights we will talk about how accepting ones Blindness, job readiness and confidence can play an important role in one’s job and career search....

Introducing Polly! Combine learning and gaming for a fun braille adventure! To Be Available from  APH in Partnership with Thinkerbell Labs

Podcast Summary: Thinkerbell Labs CPO, Shivam Agarwal, joins Simon Bonenfant in the Exhibit Hall to talk about Polly, the new Braille device that makes learning Braille fun! Polly is an electronic Wi-Fi enabled device that will assist users in learning and reinforcing braille concepts. With many components for both input and output, Polly can provide practice and gamify the braille learning process for students.  In addition to learning...

The BlindShell Accessible Cell Phone with Tactile Buttons is Growing to Meet the Needs of the Blind and Visually Impaired. Yes, Tactile Buttons on a Smart Phone!  Did we mention Aira? Yup, Aira!

Podcast Summary: Full Transcript our guests in this episode Come to us from BlindShell USA and are here to talk about the latest update to the BlindShell Accessible Cell Phone Classic 2. Bari Azman, President and CEO, and Diane Ducharme, Senior Program Director join Jeff and Pete to explore the latest iteration of this smart phone, the original of which intrigued many blind and visually impaired individuals due to its practical smart phone...

Speaker, Consultant and Author, Christy Pruitt-Haynes: A Voice Well Needed for the Marginalized Communities Releases a New Book, “I Have to Pay for This $H!T”.

Podcast Summary: Full Transcript Christy Pruitt-Haynes joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to announce her new book, "I Have to Pay for This $H!T?" Pre-orders are open and the book is officially being released on August 2nd, 2022. This is Christy's first family focused book and after meeting her, I am looking forward to reading this book about the excitement and emotions of becoming an Empty Nester as her daughter leaves to...

Tech Abilities: Bunnies, Elephants and Rabbits, BATA Bada Bing Bada Boom. Clusiv, PC/Mac, Twitter Alt Text, Back Tap, Zoom Invites and more Tech Tidbits and News

Podcast Summary: Serina, Callie and Jeff cool down in the Blind Abilities Studio and dive into Clusiv, PC/Mac, Google Workspace, Fruit Freshness and expiration dates. Twitter's Alt Text reminder launched and a lot more Tech Tidbits and news from around the scorching planet Earth. Hopefully, you are staying cool and enjoying this latest episode of Tech Abilities. Here is a list of some of the topics and links mentioned in the show: Is Clusiv the...

The LyriQ Assistive Reader, The Patriot Pro and the Patriot ViewPoint: Combining the most state-of-the-art technology with usability for all sorts of tasks

Podcast Summary: The Team from Magnifying America which makes the Patriot brand of AT products joined Simon Bonenfant outside the Exhibit Hall at the NFB2022 Convention.  John Palmer, President and Founder of Patriot Vision Industries, along with  his team give us an overview of the new OCR Scanner, the LyriQ Assistive Reader. This is a camera operated flat folding device that is portable, fast and accurate. Within seconds the...

Clusiv: Accessible Learning Platform – The Future of Work Just Got Accessible! Meet Clusiv Founder and CEO Lukas Simianer.

Podcast Summary: Lukas Simianer joins Simon Bonenfant in the Blind Abilities Studio to introduce us to Clusiv, an all-new platform for learning the skills needed for new employment. Learn about the extensive courses that were built to  enhance your opportunities for employment and help build your skill set for a lifetime of rewards.  We have not experienced Clusiv or it's program but listening to Lukas makes us wonder why this...

Student Seminar Alert! The Atlantic Student Seminar is August 12 through the 14th! Register Now! Meet Nanahil Jafri and Logan Stenzel from the National Association of Blind Students (NABS).

Podcast Summary: Announcing the 2022 in-person Atlantic Seminar! Reflect, Reequip, Reimagine: Raising the Bar for Blind Students! The National Association of Blind Students (NABS) and the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland invite you to the 2022 Atlantic regional seminar, a fun-filled weekend brimming with opportunities for professional growth, confidence building, and mentorship from Friday, August 12 (6:00 PM) – Sunday,...

Sarlie Drakos – Disability Employment Coach: Helping people get past their limiting beliefs and get their dream jobs!

Podcast Summary: Sarlie Drakos is a Disability Employment Coach helping people around the world reach their employment goals. Not just finding them any job, but teaching them how they can pursue their dream job.   Sarlie has experienced losing a job through sight loss, and the limited expectations people around her put onto her resulted in her becoming a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and fighting harder to better...

Tech Abilities: To Delve or Not to Delve, Aira Announces Lots, Apple Fever, Mobility and Guide Dogs, Text Selection,, 3 Finger Quadruple Tap. and the Rotor Organization Demo!

Podcast Summary: Serina, Callie and jeff dig into some news and tech tidbits that have been getting a lot of attention. Callie delves into the Guide Dog dream and is mobility going to be the ice breaker? How about Blind Pride, hmmm, to each at their own time probably, We got a lot of topics through out this episode and some really good tips on copying text and arranging your rotor actions for efficiency. Here are just some of the topics and...