I am frequently asked if I can visualize things, even though I can’t see them. And if I have a visual memory of what things look like from before I went blind. The answer is that yes, I do remember what most things that I have seen before look like. And yes, I can visualize my surroundings. That being said, I am not always correct in my visualization; and I do not by any means know what everything looks like. This gets me, as a blind person,...
Full Transcript Show Summary: Simon Bonenfant, a transition age student in high school and our Teen Blind Abilities correspondent, went to Washington D.C. to educate Representatives and Senators on the legislative goals of the National Federation of the Blind during the annual Washington Seminar. Simon took time to interview Gabe Kaiser, Manager of Government Affairs for the National Federation of the Blind. Gabe tells us about the 3...
Recently, I was asked to write about soft skills because I excel in that area. Oddly enough, I had never heard of soft skills and had no idea what it meant when they said I was good at them. So I did some research, and it turns out that yes, I am good at soft skills. They just come naturally to me, and are not something that I would necessarily define about myself. So, I want to share what soft skills are, and try to give some helpful tips on...
Full Transcript Show Summary: Serina Gilbert is always coming across great stories and this one from Erin and Bob at White Cane Coffee is as good as it gets. Taking a Bad Day and transferring that into the launching of a new company, Erin and Bob, a daughter and son team, tell us why they wanted to start White Cane Coffee and how they want to impact others with the opportunity through the affiliate program coming soon. You can check out the...
As a blind parent, people say and do things, that they otherwise wouldn’t to a sighted parent. They are trying to be helpful, or funny, and for the most part I don’t sweat about it. But there is one thing people say that tends to upset me, and I don’t know how to respond to it. It is when they say: “just wait until he realizes you can’t see him"; or “you’re in for a lot of trouble when your son realizes what he can get away with,...
Recently, I received an email with a question for me. As It seemed a simple enough question, I thought it should be an easy answer for me to give. As I started writing though, my answer kept getting longer and more complex. And I decided that it would be a wonderful topic for my next blog post. The question was: How do I feel/react when greeting someone by name, and they seem surprised I recognized them? ...
Someone suggested to me that I dedicate one of my blog posts to interactions with blind individuals. Initially, I thought that there was enough material about this issue already out there, and that this was an old topic. But recently I have been working as a counselor at a camp for blind youth, and it has come to my attention that there can never be enough written about this. It is, and should remain a hot topic. Blind Abilities Logo So many...
1. What is the worst stereotype that you would like to diminish? Answer: The unconscious comparison of blind individuals, or people with disabilities in general, to children. Most people don’t know they do it, but they do. Most able-bodied individuals cannot even imagine, or don’t want to imagine, what it is like to have a disability. They think that there is no way we could fend for ourselves, that we must be taken care of, much like...
As a blind person, sometimes I fall into that trap of feeling like a burden on the world. I am very independent; I cook; I clean; I take care of my son and pets. The only thing I really need help with is rides. I can walk places independently with my son, or dog, or both, but I do still need sighted individuals for transportation. So why then, do I still feel like a burden to society? I think there are many different answers to this...
Show Summary: Jim Justesen from Eye-Link North Dakota sits down with Aimee Volk, Vision and Independent Living Services Administrator for the Department of Vocational rehabilitation of North Dakota, and talk about the partnership that is bringing results to the older blind of North Dakota. We had Jim in the Blind Abilities studio back in July 2017, talking about Eye-Link Minnesota and North Dakota, and in this episode, Aimee tells us how...