Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker 2:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Okay. So, state service has actually played a huge part in everything that I’m doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker 3:
Don’t be afraid. Get out there, meet people, be friendly. Nobody is judging you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker 4:
Think big. Look at what do you love to do, what do you enjoy doing, and then how can you turn that into getting paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker 5:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I use my Braille this way. I use JAWS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker 2:
Put on your cape, grab your gladiator shield, and go get them tiger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker 6:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don’t limit yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Career Expo 2019, such great opportunity for transition age students to meet up with professionals from a wide variety of professions. It was the opportunity for students transitioning from high school, to college, to the workplace to ask questions from nearly 25 professionals. What is their job like? What tools they use? And to receive encouragement about the possibilities that they too can achieve their dreams and get their career that they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson. I’m at the Career Expo in Roseau, Minnesota and I came to the table of Kayde Rieken. How you doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I’m all right. How are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Good. You’re a court reporter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I am. It is a challenging job but it is a lot of fun, at least for me because I’m a technology nerd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
You use one of those court reporter type of keyboard systems?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Yes, the steno machine. It’s a phonetic keyboard, so you type in sounds rather than words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Explain that a little bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
If I’m typing the word cat, I would do the K sound with my left hand. The short A with my left thumb, and then the final T with my right pinkie, and I would do those all at the same time. So, I can do a single word with just one press of the button. It’s sort of like playing chords on a piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Oh really? So, the audio is your music for the chords?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Yeah. Something like that, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
What it’s like to be in that situation where you don’t get to pick and choose the cases, you just-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
You just take the notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
You know, it can be super hard especially with the cases involving children because those are always hard, but then you can get funny ones about two old men arguing about whose stuff is whose. So, you just never know which ones you’re going to get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Well, great. How did you get started in that? What got your attention to get into this field?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I was actually listening to a podcast, believe it or not. Someone brought it up, not a podcast for the blind, but just I think it was a Harry Potter podcast to be super nerdy. Someone brought it up. I was like, “That sounds really cool.” I did a bunch of research into it, and I found an online college because there actually wasn’t a court reporting college in Nebraska where I’m from so I had to do it all online, which talk about learning time management skills let me tell you, like online school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Oh really?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Stenograph, they just don’t sell it at Walmart, do they?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
No. I had to find a company, look up which one I wanted. There were a couple other blind court reporting students that I got in touch with to ask what they use, and I did have to do like a rent-to-own program, took out some student loans, all that fun stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Great. When you were looking for a job, or actually probably when in high school transitioning into college, did you use a state agency?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I did. I used the Nebraska Commission for the Blind. They were super supportive, extremely supportive of what I did because I did actually change my major. I went to a four-year degree for a while. It wasn’t right for me. So I was like, “Hey, I’m going to change my career,” and my counselor is like, “Well, all right. Just whatever you need,” because she could tell I was serious about it and not just changing on a whim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
What was that process like? I mean, did you go through like how to do resumes? Did you get some education on job interviews or anything like that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I did, yeah. I attended a lot of student seminars, and career fairs, and things like that. My dad, he works in the food service industry. He needed some recruiting for a while, so he taught me how to do a resume as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Oh, that’s great. Nice to have him around huh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Yeah. I mean, he’s not a great speller, so I did the spelling and everything. He just made sure it looks right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
You did it phonetically, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
What advice would you give to someone that is in high school today that is looking forward to their future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Do a lot of research and don’t be afraid to just talk to people about things, and don’t be afraid to change your mind because it’s really never too late to change your mind if you don’t think something is working or not what you wanted to do. I mean, this is the rest of your life. So, it’s never too late to be like, “You know what? I’m going to try something else.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
What are your go-to tools for accessibility?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I use a braille display. I use a screen reader. What else? I mean, I just got a new Apple watch, so I’m learning how to use that. That’s not really for work though, that’s just for fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
A braille display, what kind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I use a Focus 5th generation because I use JAWS and they work really well together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Really?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Out of Freedom Scientific?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Well, great. Kayde, how do you manage transportation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I actually can walk to work. I live downtown and I work downtown. So, I can just walk a couple of blocks, and I do have a bus card through work, so I can take the bus and the light rail as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Cane, guide dog?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Yes. I do have a guide dog. She’s under the table being very well-behaved at the moment, at the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
I’ll be back just to check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
How do you like using the guide dog?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I like him a lot. It definitely is not for everyone, but I just prefer the traveling with the guide dog, but I definitely if you’re looking into a guide dog, I definitely recommend the research thing as well for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
There you go. Well Kayde, thank you very much for being part of the career expo and lending your experience and advice to all the students that will be here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kayde Rieken:
I’m glad to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:
Be sure to contact your State Services for the Blind, your voc rehab, and find out what they can do for you. Live, work, read, succeed. Big shout out goes out to Chee Chau for his beautiful music, and you can follow Chee Chau on Twitter @LCheeChau. Enable the Blind Ability Skill on your Amazon device just by saying, “Enable blind abilities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Music] [Transition noise] -When we share<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-What we see<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-Through each other’s eyes…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Thompson:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more podcasts with the blindness perspective:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Download our app from the App store:
‘Blind Abilities’; that’s two words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or send us an e-mail at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
info@blindabilities.com Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank you for listening! Check out the Blind Abilities Community<\/a>on Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page<\/a>, the Job Insights Support Group<\/a>and the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Full Transcript Jeff Thompson:Welcome to Blind Abilities. I’m Jeff Thompson. Speaker 2: Okay. So, state service has actually played a huge part in everything that I’m doing. Speaker 3:Don’t be afraid. Get out there, meet people, be friendly. Nobody is judging you. Speaker 4:Think big. Look at what do you love to do, what do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4489,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4973","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P6rcRg-1id","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4886,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4886","url_meta":{"origin":4973,"position":0},"title":"Vispero – Helping Blind and Low Vision Individuals Reach Their Full Potential. Meet Douglas Gerry and Hear What\u2019s Coming Up for the ElBraille and New Low Vision Solutions","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"April 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Speaker 2:\u00a0 If you're blind or have low vision, Speaker 3:\u00a0 Be My Eyes is a must have tool. Speaker 2:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No matter where you are Speaker 4: Or what language you speak Speaker 5:\u00a0 You can call up on-demand visual support in seconds. Speaker 3: In seconds.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"The TechAbilities Logo-Dark Sunglasses with TA and BA bold letters in each lens.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4893,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4893","url_meta":{"origin":4973,"position":1},"title":"Sprint is committed to working with phone manufacturers and the blind and low vision community to deliver user-friendly accessible phones – Meet Outreach Specialists Diane and Rob!","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"April 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Speaker 2:\u00a0 If you're blind or have low vision, Speaker 3:\u00a0 Be My Eyes is a must have tool. Speaker 2:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No matter where you are Speaker 4: Or what language you speak Speaker 5:\u00a0 You can call up on-demand visual support in seconds. Speaker 3: In seconds.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"The TechAbilities Logo-Dark Sunglasses with TA and BA bold letters in each lens.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4990,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4990","url_meta":{"origin":4973,"position":2},"title":"iPhone101: SeeingAI Update: Channel Switching and Exploring a Photo","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Jeff Thompson:Welcome to Blind Abilities. I'm Jeff Thompson. In this feature of iPhone 101 we're going to show you some new features from the Seeing AI app. We've done quite a few podcasts on the Seeing AI app, and if you check the show notes you can go\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4938,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4938","url_meta":{"origin":4973,"position":3},"title":"Eschenbach: Vision Enhancing Products for Every Aspect of Life \u2013 Meet Timothy and Two New Advanced Portable Magnifiers","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Speaker 2:\u00a0 If you're blind or have low vision, Speaker 3:\u00a0 Be My Eyes is a must have tool. Speaker 2:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No matter where you are Speaker 4: Or what language you speak Speaker 5:\u00a0 You can call up on-demand visual support in seconds. Speaker 3: In seconds.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"The TechAbilities Logo-Dark Sunglasses with TA and BA bold letters in each lens.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4768,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4768","url_meta":{"origin":4973,"position":4},"title":"CSUNATC19: Wearable AI Devices for the Blind \u2013 Meet the MyEye 2.0 and the MyReader from Orcam","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"March 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Jeff Thompson:Welcome to Blind Abilities. I'm Jeff Thompson, and welcome to our CSUN coverage sponsored by Be My Eyes. Speaker 2:\u00a0 If you're blind or have low vision, Speaker 3:\u00a0 Be My Eyes is a must have tool. Speaker 2:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No matter where you are Speaker 4: Or\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"BlindAbilities Logo A black square with white initials, B A.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Blind-Abilities-Logo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4927,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4927","url_meta":{"origin":4973,"position":5},"title":"Orcam: Maker of the MyEye 2 \u2013 The Advanced Wearable Device Which Reads Text, Recognizes Faces, Identifies Products and More!","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Bull Transcript Speaker 2:\u00a0 If you're blind or have low vision, Speaker 3:\u00a0 Be My Eyes is a must have tool. Speaker 2:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No matter where you are Speaker 4: Or what language you speak Speaker 5:\u00a0 You can call up on-demand visual support in seconds. Speaker 3: In seconds.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"The TechAbilities Logo-Dark Sunglasses with TA and BA bold letters in each lens.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blindabilities.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/TechAbilitiesLogo.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4974,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4973\/revisions\/4974"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities<\/a>
On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com<\/a>
Send us an email<\/a>
Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store<\/a>and Google Play Store<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n