Jeff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welcome to Blind Abilities, I\u2019m Jeff Thompson. Before we get to the story, coming out of Philadelphia, and the Keystone chapter, I want to remind everybody to subscribe to the Blind Abilities podcast. You can listen, download, and subscribe any place you\u2019re listening and getting your podcasts. And you\u2019ll get, and not miss, any of the demonstrations from the iPhone 101 series and all the Tech Abilities shows, covering all the tech tidbits and news from around the world from a blindness perspective. Plus, our success stories – you know, stuff like little Timmy down the street overcoming a little bit of Braille or something. We\u2019ve all got our challenges, we\u2019ve all got our Kilimanjaro, and we all try and help each other break through those barricades and brick walls we find along the way. We do it together, and we do it right here on Blind Abilities. Right now, we\u2019re gonna turn it over to Simon Bonenfant, and the Keystone chapter, talking about their second annual Believe You Can talent show coming up real soon. And now, without further ado, here\u2019s our host, Simon Bonenfant, and the Keystone chapter. Hope you enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hello everyone on Blind Abilities! We have a very special show for you all today. Today we\u2019re talking about the second annual Believe You Can talent show of the National Federation of the Blind in Pennsylvania, Keystone chapter. We have some familiar faces, and some new faces, so we have Harriet Go, the president of the Keystone chapter. How\u2019re you doing, Harriet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m doing great. How\u2019re you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good, good. Very good to have you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:
Thank you so much for having me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes. We have David Goldstein, who\u2019s a board member of the Keystone chapter, and also on the talent show committee. He\u2019s a new voice to Blind Abilities, how\u2019re today you doing David?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good, Simon, how\u2019re you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:
Very good. We have Lisa Bryant, of course, many of you remember her, from the past, how\u2019re you doing Lisa?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am great, Simon, and thank you so much for having us back on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Absolutely. And we have Stacie Leap, who is a new voice on the podcast, she\u2019s gonna be one of the hosts of the Believe You Can talent show, and she\u2019s also on the board of the Keystone chapter. Very nice to have you, Stacie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stacy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank you, Simon. Thanks for having me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Absolutely. So Harriet, why don\u2019t we talk to you first about Believe You Can? This is our second annual talent show, but for those who are new to it, can you explain what it is and all that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:
Absolutely. So, thanks Simon. We are so, so so excited to bring back Believe You Can this year. Believe You Can 2021 is a talent show. We got so much positive feedback from last year, from people who enjoyed the talent show, and wanted us to continue to do it and we got some great- I don\u2019t think we had any negative feedback from last year, so we are so happy to bring it back on again this year! And just a little bit about the background about it, so Believe You Can started out as an idea that we came up with during last year while we were all quarantining and we couldn\u2019t meet in person, so we had to figure out a way that we could do some outreach without actually being out in society, and then to also engage our community and also to really help people to see the potential of blind people and what we really can do, and that we\u2019re not just, you know, we\u2019re not always the receivers of services, that we can also contribute to our communities. So that\u2019s really how it all started, and then we came up with the idea of doing a talent show, and we made it virtual so that everybody and anybody could join, and that anybody and everybody could see it from anywhere, and that was such a great idea that we\u2019re glad that we ran with it, and we had about 17 performers last year, you know, everyone who came to the show really enjoyed it, and as another positive to the show, other than the excitement and the entertainment and also the ability to outreach to our community and teach people about blindness, we also were able to use it as a fundraiser. We were able to kill many birds with one stone, so that\u2019s really how it all began, and we\u2019re bringing it back again this year, bigger and better, and we have some people who have already purchased tickets, and we really hope everybody who is able and who\u2019s interested can really get on board with coming to the show, and seeing the great entertainment we have. We have a lot of new performers this year, and it\u2019s just an exciting time, and we\u2019re so thrilled that we can do this, and that we can do this for not just people in our organization but the greater public and the sighted communities that we all live in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, absolutely. So, listeners, you\u2019re gonna hear us mentioning the National Federation of the Blind Keystone chapter, I know I mentioned that at the beginning. For those who are unfamiliar, Harriet, can you give a brief summary of what the National Federation of the Blind is and how we\u2019re part of that group?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, absolutely. So the National Federation of the Blind is a national consumer-based organization, a non-profit organization, and it exists on three levels: the national level, the state level, and the local level. We have the national headquarters, which is based in Baltimore, Maryland, and within each state, we have an affiliate of the NFB, so where we are right now, we\u2019re part of the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, and within each affiliate, there\u2019s any number of local chapters, and really the heart of what we do in the NFB is really done by the work that\u2019s carried on at the chapter level. The chapter does the work that\u2019s really the nitty-gritty, get down, roll up your sleeves and get in touch with the community and really do that personal, one-to-one or face-to-face, or in our case, because of COVID, virtual connections with our society. We also have many divisions, and groups within the NFB, and also within each affiliate. For instance, we have a guide dog division here in Pennsylvania, a Deaf-Blind division, and parent division, and also National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania blind students. So we have all those kinds of things that help to carry out different aspects of what our organization believes in, and what we strive to achieve, which is ultimately equality for all people, especially for people who are blind, and every year, during the month of October, we focus heavily on equality. Traditionally October has been dubbed as \u201cMeet the Blind Month,\u201d however this year, our organization came up with a new name to really better capture what this month is all about, and it\u2019s called, with its new name, \u201cBlind Equality Achievement Month.\u201d So with that, that\u2019s really the thrust of why we are holding Believe You Can during the month of October, because October, we are particularly focused on reaching out to our communities and helping to reach equality for blind people through the work that we do, so through Believe You Can, we really want people to see blind people as equals, and individuals who can live the lives that we want for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, absolutely. And of course, October being this month and the positive impact for blind people that it has and that we try to show, that\u2019s something that the NFB strives to do all year round, am I correct in that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:
Absolutely. We do that all year round, it doesn\u2019t stop. October is just the month that, you know, we are making our collective efforts one month and stand stronger and stand taller, more on a united front, as a national organization, and history lends itself towards October, because White Cane Safety Day is actually October 15th, that\u2019s the foundation for why Meet the Blind Month came about, and it coincides with October, so both of those things go together, and it\u2019s just a more powerful way to emphasize what our goals and our mission is, by combining the fact that it\u2019s White Cane Safety Day and also Meet the Blind Month, or this year, and going forward, called Blindness Equality Achievement Month. And in fact, our Believe You Can talent show takes place on October 16th this year, at 7:00 pm, so just right after the heels of White Cane Safety Day. We don\u2019t want people to think oh, we just work on equality just in October, it\u2019s just, you know, we are having more of a collective effort during that month, but you\u2019re absolutely right, we do this kind of work throughout the year here at the local level, and throughout our affiliates and at the national level too, so we have various projects that we do in our chapter, but this is one of the ones that really has a powerful influence in many people\u2019s lives, I mean, not just for the performers who see themselves and see that oh, they can really do what they strive to be, I mean, a lot of these people are performing creative and performing artists, and blind people like anybody else need an avenue for which they can feel that they believe in their dreams and reach their goals, even if it\u2019s not to be a singer or a dancer, you know, just seeing others striving for their goals, that has a very powerful impact and can influence other blind people to believe in their goals and achieving what they want to do in life too. So, the positive impact is really, it\u2019s immeasurable, and you really don\u2019t know, you can\u2019t count, you know, whose lives you influence or how many people you touch by doing something like this, so it\u2019s all the more empowering for those in it and those watching it as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, absolutely. Now let\u2019s turn to David Goldstein now, David, you were involved in Believe You Can last year, you did a lot of the planning and I know that you also were the one that got the website going, as to what it is, and you\u2019re also the treasurer of the Keystone chapter. Can you talk about your experience in that, and your involvement in that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right. It is a lot of work to get everything up and running. The website took some time, the logo, which I actually did, you know, took a little bit of time, and we\u2019ve gotten into the habit of changing the logo each year, so, you know, moving forward, the star that is part of the logo is gonna be a different color each year to signify which year we\u2019re in, as far as the talent show. As far as that goes, and then as far as being the treasurer, I never imagined how much work it would be. Last year, you know, I try to answer any emails as far as, you know, when we get a notification of somebody buying a ticket, I thank them, send them an email. They obviously always get a response from PayPal for their payment, but I also respond with information about the show, and you know, also thanking them for their purchase, because it is so important that these folks who are coming and buying tickets and supporting the Keystone chapter, which helps us support all the different things that we do, and it is just a very busy time for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:
Yes. Can you give the listeners the web address where they can buy tickets and prices, and also maybe talk a little bit about how you got the web domain we have for the event?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure. The website is believeyoucan.live, so believeyoucan.l-i-v-e, and the reason that we took believeyoucan.live and not believeyoucan.com, that of course was taken, and some other popular, top-level domains were also gone, and when we looked around to see what was available, you know, we didn\u2019t know how Believe You Can was going to do, so I thought, when we were going back and forth with the domain, I thought, you know, if we get believeyoucan.live, and we chose live because it\u2019s gonna be, you know, it\u2019s a live event primarily, there\u2019s a few folks that send in an audio clip or a video clip, in case their connection isn\u2019t great they do that, but since it\u2019s a live event we thought this would be perfect. In the back of my mind, I thought well, you know, if it doesn\u2019t go over, if Believe You Can is a flop, which as Harriet mentioned, it was not close to being a flop, it was very successful last year, but I thought we would have a domain that would be of value if we wanted to sell it down the line, because it would have, you know, as it has now, it\u2019s got some decent back links, and it\u2019s got a great name, whether you want to do something live or a little more morbidly, if you run some sort of organization that has to do with suicide prevention, believeyoucan.live! And that, for me, was the driving influence of purchasing that domain, where we\u2019d be able to get something afterwards if believeyoucan.live did not go over well, and we stopped doing it. I just thought it would be a good way to take care of that. So again, you can go to believeyoucan.live, it\u2019ll talk about the things that we\u2019re talking about here, once we have a finalized list of performers, that will be up there, and you can also purchase tickets there. The tickets are $10.00 for an individual ticket, so if you\u2019re sitting at home, and you just want to watch by yourself that\u2019s fine, those tickets are $10.00. You can also buy what we call a watch party, and the watch party tickets are $25.00, so if you\u2019re gonna put it on and have a few folks watch, that is, you can purchase that, and again, obviously, we\u2019re not checking, so whatever price point you want to use, we really appreciate any purchase that you make, and the support of all the performers that come out and give their all to play in front of the, again, you know, a fairly large audience. And it is a lot of fun, like Harriet said, it is a lot of fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, and I know I mentioned it in last year\u2019s podcast, but one of the reasons why I like the website is if you take it as believeyoucan.live, it really reflects our philosophy at the NF- of blind people, and we believe that you can live successfully as a blind person, so I like it in that way as well. Lisa, I know that you\u2019re on the committee, and I know that you\u2019re tasked with organizing the talent sheets for the performers, and getting the order ready and all that stuff, can you give the listeners a little bit of a sneak peek? Why would listeners want to watch the show, what kind of entertainment are we gonna have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, I mean, the entertainment is top-notch, first of all. Last year, anyone who attended would agree that we had all kinds of performers. We had folk music, we had some who were like, I guess, semi-professional, we had a clogger, we had classical music, in fact our own Jan LaTuca, who will be performing again this year, won first place last year, performing a classical piece. So I mean, it\u2019s just great talent. It\u2019ll be a very entertaining show. My role is, like you said, I\u2019m the talent coordinator, so I put that call out for the talent. I receive all of the entry forms, I follow up with the people and you know, because sometimes there\u2019s a little more information that we need about the performance, this year we\u2019re also doing an individual sound check, which we did not do for everyone last year, and David, Harriet, you guys can correct me, but I don\u2019t remember doing it to the degree that we are this year, and that\u2019s just to make sure the show really runs as smoothly as possible, so that people know how to cue up their mic, their camera, we want to make sure the audio quality is good, we want to make sure that the video quality is good, in fact, I\u2019ve already am working with one performer, I\u2019m very excited about her act, so she\u2019s gonna be doing spoken word, and she wanted to send me a video of one of her performances, and I\u2019m glad she did, because the sound quality\u2019s not great, and the video was very blurry, which is unfortunate because from what I could hear, the talent or the performance is great. So things like that, we\u2019re trying to work out ahead of time, so we\u2019re not too caught off guard the night of the performance. It is a lot, you know, to be individually communicating with all of the talent, some people are very good about responding via email, some not so much, so there may be a lot of phone calls back and forth. Yeah, that\u2019s kind of my role, is I\u2019m like the contact for the talent. This year, again, we have a wide diversity of talent. Like I said, Jan is gonna be performing again this year- oh, something else we did, so when we initially announced the show, we first requested that any prior performers, so any of our performers from last year, we asked that they just kind of hold back for a moment and allow some new people to come in. So we did that for the first few weeks, and then when we realized, you know, we can open it up, we have, you know, quite a bit of roster left, so now we\u2019re getting some repeat performers, so Desmond Jackson, who performed a great piece, he\u2019s a jazz artist, plays the saxophone, and he will be performing again this year, Simon, you are back with us this year, we\u2019re very excited about that. So, I think folks will be very pleased again, because like I said, it\u2019s a wide variety. Yeah, it\u2019s definitely worth the $10.00 ticket, you\u2019ll have the opportunity to vote at the end, like we did last year, and we\u2019re working on making that process a little smoother as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, that\u2019s great. And Stacie, let\u2019s go to you now. This is your first year being involved with Believe You Can, and you\u2019re gonna be one of the hosts of the event, can you touch on that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stacie:
Oh, yes, definitely. So I\u2019ll be one of the few hosts that\u2019s on there, and I\u2019m just super excited, you know, just to introduce all the amazing performers that are gonna be on our platform, and just being able to just make sure that people have fun and kick it, you know? You don\u2019t want to just let people just see it and just view that without, you know, making it entertaining, so I\u2019ll try my best to make some jokes, to do some stuff, you know, if I have to do handstands and all that stuff I probably will have to do it, but you know, audio describing, of course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:
Yes, yes, I know. Stacie had hosted an event that we did back around six months ago, and it was really good, so Stacie will not disappoint, I can tell the listeners that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stacie:
Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:
Yeah! So now let\u2019s talk about another venture that has been going on recently, David and Lisa, you just launched a new podcast that\u2019s related to the blindness realm, it\u2019s called White Canes Connect. David, can you talk about how you got that started, and what people can find there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, it\u2019s kind of funny, Lisa actually got the ball rolling with that. We had been talking back and forth, and you know, she had approached NFB of Pennsylvania Lynn Heitz about it, and Lynn was on board, and we started putting some things together. It\u2019s actually, at this point, technically not a podcast, we are still waiting to get inserted into the podcast directories. Hopefully we\u2019ll come at any moment now, so you can just use your favorite podcast player to get them, for now all episodes are located on the NFB of Pennsylvania website, at nfbp.org\/whitecanesconnect, as well as on my website, if they\u2019re not up there right away. But you know, we\u2019re a few episodes in, and it was just something that I think when Lisa thought about it, and maybe Lisa can touch on it a little bit more, she was going to write some things about it, and then thought, as she and I were talking about her starting a podcast, I think she had the idea, hey, maybe it would be better if we did a podcast, did some sort of audio program that was presented by the NFB of Pennsylvania, and would be Pennsylvania-centric, but not exclusive to folks in Pennsylvania. Obviously we talk about things that are going on within the state affiliate and stuff like that, but we also touch on, we\u2019ve got an episode coming out soon where we talk to one of our members, Hope, who is an ambassador for Envision, and we also obviously talk to Karthik from Envision, so there\u2019s things like that out there as well, and we\u2019ll continue to bring on things like that, just to let the folks within the state of Pennsylvania, and again, if you don\u2019t live in Pennsylvania, I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a lot of value to some of the shows that we bring out. Some of it, again, is gonna be, you know, Pennsylvania-specific, but not all of them. You know, we did an episode a while back on blind bowling, we talked to two guys who are from Pennsylvania, you know, if you live in Texas I\u2019m sure you can look around and find the ABBA in your state, whether it\u2019s Texas or wherever, so you can get into bowling and bowl with a bunch of other blind folks and enjoy it, and get out, you get some social activity, you get a little bit of exercise, and you have fun doing it, and that was a great episode. You know, like Harriet was saying, it\u2019s all about living the independent lives that we want to live, and you know, to show people that blind folks can do it, it might inspire somebody to get up off the couch and get out there and go join the bowling league or you know, use a device or an app or whatever to help them do that, and I\u2019ve enjoyed doing it, Lisa and I have great chemistry, if anybody watched Believe You Can last year, I was also part of the hosting crew, and it just works well, we work well together, and again, it\u2019s a lot of fun. So it\u2019s a lot different from doing a solo podcast, which I\u2019m used to doing for a few years, so it\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, and David, you mentioned just now, about your podcast. Where can people find your podcast, and what do you talk about on there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My podcast is called The I Can\u2019t C U podcast, and I can\u2019t see you is just seven letters long, I, c-a-n-t C-U, so I Can\u2019t C U, it sounds like a whole sentence, it\u2019s only seven letters. You can go to icantcu.com, or to just about any podcast directory, and wherever you get podcasts it\u2019s probably there. Spotify, Apple Podcasts, IHeart, Odyssey, and the others. Basically, I always wanted to start a vlog, you know, but for people who can\u2019t see a vlog doesn\u2019t really mean anything. It\u2019s basically things that go on in my life, and most of them are blindness-related, whether I\u2019m travelling, or like anybody else who has a visual impairment or is blind, you know, just things that happen around your house when something goes wrong or if I\u2019m here by myself, how do I do this or that or the other, and it\u2019s just sometimes it\u2019s a funny story, sometimes it\u2019s not, and a lot of times when I think about doing something, whether it\u2019s travelling or not, you know, I always oh my gosh, what if I get on the wrong train when I\u2019m here at Penn station in New York, what if I get on the wrong, I worry about it for a second and then I think wait a minute, if I get on the wrong train, what a great episode that would be! So it\u2019s just, it\u2019s just you know, basically that. You know, I do have guests on, I\u2019ve talked to, and I know Jeff has interviewed Roy Samuelson, he\u2019s been on, I\u2019ve talked to Max Ivy, the blind blogger, and recently I talked to a couple of guys who have done a documentary about blind artists, so it\u2019s whatever is happening at the moment in my life or if somebody approaches me or I approach them, I see something and think, jeez, that would be interesting to have on, let me have them on, and like the two guys from Straight Off the Canvas, which is the documentary about the blind artists from New York, I\u2019m interested in art and you know, and I thought man, it would be good to have them on, so I had them on. So that\u2019s basically it, again, more so than not, more of a vlog type of thing, but I do have guests, and whatnot on there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:
Very good. Now let\u2019s go to Lisa, Lisa, I know it was your idea to start the White Canes Connect podcast, what gave you the ambition to start that and I know you also do some writing as well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah, and the two have a connection, like David said, initially I approached Lynn about doing, I called it for lack of a better word like a spotlight section on the website, and actually Stacie was who I wanted to start with, I wanted to do a little spotlight on her, her journey, coming to the NFB, and then I thought, there\u2019s so much already, not only on the website, but all of us are kind of inundated with text, and if you use screen readers, after a while you\u2019ve got that kind of robotic voice going on all the time, and you do get accustomed to it, but when it\u2019s something like somebody\u2019s personal story, it just loses the intimacy, the authenticity of it, and so I- actually, I think I might have run it by David and then went to Lynn, because with Lynn it was a spotlight on a printed sort of article on the website, but then I said to David, what if I do- actually, I didn\u2019t even use the word \u201cpodcast.\u201d I kind of described to David what I wanted to do, you know, have somebody on, they tell their story, it\u2019s somebody within our affiliate, and it was kind of another way to connect all of these chapters aside from either state convention or national convention, it was kind of like this interim way of gathering, and so David said, you know you\u2019re talking about a podcast, right? I\u2019m like oh, okay, you know, is that what it\u2019s called? So that\u2019s the backstory of it, and it\u2019s really taken off well, and again, Simon, thank you for allowing us to come on and talk about it, because one thing we really want people throughout the affiliate to pitch us some ideas. We don\u2019t want this to look too focused on one chapter versus the other. The whole point was to really unify or emphasize the unity that there is within the chapter. You want to show that representation of Philly versus Erie, or Pittsburg, or Harrisburg, or you know, wherever. So all of this is to really kind of showcase what\u2019s going on within our affiliate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:
Great, and you mentioned that you were gonna do a spotlight on Stacie, but I believe that you did a White Canes Connect podcast on her?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa:
She was our first interview, yep, she was the very first show, yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Very good. So for the listeners, if you want to find out the backstory on Stacie, head over to White Canes Connect, and you can do that, and I believe you also talked about Believe You Can on there as well, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, we did. That hopefully will be live this week, since the show is next week, so yeah, yeah, we had a great- you know, one thing that we haven\u2019t talked about, one of our performers this year is our very own Harriet is performing this year, we kind of let that cat out of the bag on the podcast, so I don\u2019t see any reason why we can\u2019t announce it there. We don\u2019t necessarily have to say any more, Harriet, we can let people just tune in and be very pleasantly surprised as to what you\u2019re doing, but when I got her entry form, I had to email her, I think I called you, Harriet? And I said, did I see what I thought I saw, is that your name, you know? Because Harriet can be a little bit of a prankster, so I didn\u2019t know whether, you know, is this for real? Am I being pranked, you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:
I actually sent it to you, and I said, here\u2019s a talent form that I received, so-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa:
Yeah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-so making you think it was, you know, another- I didn\u2019t want you to suspect in the slightest, you know, I did what I meant to do, and you know, so yeah, thanks for letting that secret out Lisa, which is not a secret anymore, and yeah, so I\u2019m actually performing for the first time on Believe You Can in our two-year stint, so I\u2019m really excited to be doing that and I really hope you all come out and support not just me, but all of our performers, and all about helping each other, so go to that website, believeyoucan.live, the show is October 16th, 7:00 pm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alright, and if someone wanted to contact someone about Believe You Can, they may have questions, who\u2019s the best person to contact or where can they send an email?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David:
We actually have a few different emails, but we set up a Gmail account today that I think would be the best place for folks to go, and that\u2019s believeyoucanshow@gmail.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Okay, very good! Well, we look forward to seeing all the listeners, and the Zoom audience of Believe You Can, we know it\u2019s gonna be a great show for you all to listen to, and thank you David, Harriet, Lisa and Stacie for coming onto Blind Abilities, we really appreciate it, and break a leg, as they say!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lisa:
Thank you, Simon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David:
Thanks for having us, Simon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:
Yes, thank you, Simon! And also good luck to you too, because, you know, you\u2019re performing in there too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:
Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harriet:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alright, believe you can, everyone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simon:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alright!<\/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\u2026<\/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
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<\/a> or contact her via phone at 651-539-2361.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities<\/a> Give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-9063 we would love to hear from you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check out the Blind Abilities Community<\/a>on Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page<\/a>, and the Career Resources for the Blind and Visually Impaired<\/a> group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Full Transcript Jeff: Welcome to Blind Abilities, I\u2019m Jeff Thompson. Before we get to the story, coming out of Philadelphia, and the Keystone chapter, I want to remind everybody to subscribe to the Blind Abilities podcast. You can listen, download, and subscribe any place you\u2019re listening and getting your podcasts. And you\u2019ll get, and not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6964","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P6rcRg-1Ok","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5855,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=5855","url_meta":{"origin":6964,"position":0},"title":"iPhone101: Adding an Alternative ID or Second Person to Face ID on Your iPhone. Note: If you pull your mask just below your nose area, your current Face ID should work)","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"May 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Jeff: Welcome to Blind Abilities. I'm Jeff Thompson. If you're wearing a mask, will your phone be able to recognize you using face ID? You can use your original face ID just by pulling your mask down to expose your nose, and that's all it takes, really. But\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":5211,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=5211","url_meta":{"origin":6964,"position":1},"title":"Getting Two Blind Brothers with One Stone! The Best Feeling Shirts You Will Ever Feel! Meet Bradford and Bryan from Two Blind Brothers. #NFB19","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"July 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Jeff Thompson:Check out the Blind Abilities community on Facebook, the career resources for the blind and visually impaired and the assistive technology community for the blind and visually impaired as well. Jeff Thompson:Welcome to Blind Abilities, I'm Jeff Thompson. Jeff Thompson:I was at a convention and met up\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":5791,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=5791","url_meta":{"origin":6964,"position":2},"title":"Apps and Resources for Students and a Perspective from a Parent of a Blind Teen Now Schooling from Home","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"April 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Transcript Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities, I'm Jeff Thompson. I'm sitting in the Blind Abilities studio and I want to send a message out to you that the team here at Blind Abilities is thinking of you. We want you all to stay well and to stay informed,\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":4801,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4801","url_meta":{"origin":6964,"position":3},"title":"CSUN2019: Earl Harrison from HIMS Gives Us an Overview of the QBrailleXL, BrailleSense Polaris, the GoVision Pro, the Handy Tech Products and Some Hand-Held Candy for Low Vision","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"March 27, 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":4990,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4990","url_meta":{"origin":6964,"position":4},"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":4745,"url":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/?page_id=4745","url_meta":{"origin":6964,"position":5},"title":"CSUNATC19: Verizon \u2013 Building Accessible Brands! An Accessible Experience for All. Accessible Fantasy Football Anyone?","author":"Blind Abilities Team","date":"March 18, 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":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6964","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=6964"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6966,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6964\/revisions\/6966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blindabilities.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Contact:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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