Remembering the toys

I can probably be described as someone who simply lives for those toys! Ah yes, toys that I played with as a child. In comparison to now, they were simple toys, no technology involved, no electronics. Yes, I did not grow up in the age of technology and to many this may probably date me but that's just fine.

In many ways, my toys were no different from those that sighted kids played with. Dolls, tea sets, bats and balls, marbles, teddy bears, and puzzles. Blind kids of today may probably not have the same equality of playing toys but that was my world.

I always enjoyed looking at the colors of my toys. I loved to match them up by color and each color was so special to me. I always preferred the brighter colors as I could see them much more clearly. I also enjoyed toys that were big in size but on the whole, size did not really make too much of a difference to me.

Ah yes! Toys, toys! What would my world be without them?

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and share my memories with others. Visit www.maxiaids.com to learn more.

The problem with skimming

In the normal scheme of things, I am unable to skim over materials as most sighted persons do. As someone who is blind, I have to develop my own methods of skimming, skipping, and searching. At first glance this could be viewed as a very daunting task, but once I understand what I need to do then the rest falls into place relatively easily.

So how do I do this? Well, I have to focus very hard on what I am looking for. Headings, titles, sections, and so on. I use and depend on the use of key words to help me find what I am looking for. Once I recognize that I could never be able to skim and skip as quickly as someone with sight then this is more than half the battle won.

It would be almost impossible for a blind person to be able to skip over things or even skim. The eye travels so much more quickly over screens of material than does someone who is doing this via screen readers and those using large print magnification. I have always been able somehow to survive these tasks and now with attending Law School, it is even more important for me to choose carefully what I need to look and/or search for.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to come by my website at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

She was my attentive listener

She never asked for anything. All she ever wanted was to sneak into the living room on her chosen afternoons to listen to me practice my piano lessons. Most of the time, she probably laid there and slept, snoring lightly at times. Nevertheless, I always enjoyed having her as my devoted audience.

She never complained whenever I played a bad note nor did she cheer whenever I played things correctly. Sometimes I could hear her coming, her feet pitter-pattering softly into the living room. Sometimes I did not even know that she was there as she somehow managed to sneak in. I would only discover her presence when I either heard her snoring lightly or I could smell her close by.

Yes, that was my dog, Yella! A fat golden Lab with a somewhat quiet disposition. She was not the most sociable of dogs but she was loyal to the end. She played on her terms. She dictated how things were to be and she showed me who the boss was. She, however, seemed to have a soft spot for me as she always seemed to move out of my way whenever she saw me coming. She knew that I was blind.

Yes, that was my Yella, my most attentive listener!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my stories with others. Come by any time and visit me at www.donnajodhan.com where you can listen to my audio mysteries at no cost.

When the jars got mixed up

Here is another piece of humor for you as I see it.

Not too long ago, I managed to get three of my jars all mixed up. They were of the same size, shape, and height. When I shook each of them, they all sounded alike. What to do?

With no sighted help to lend a hand, I decided to take matters into my own hands. First, I decided to guess and then set to work. How wrong I turned out to be. Pasta sauce was not pasta sauce; it turned out to be a jar of Chinese sweet and sour sauce and then the Chinese sweet and sour sauce turned out to be something entirely different.

My first reaction was to swear at myself but this quickly turned into laughter. It was not my day that day and that's just fine. Stuff happens and why not? All in a day's life for me.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.

Music and color

This is how I manage to spark my imagination whenever I sit down to write my detective stories or, for that matter, anything else. I think of a particular sound or song and then I build my creations by inserting color into this mix. It may sound crazy to you but trust me when I tell you that it works for me.

So, this is how it works. When I sit down to write one of my audio mysteries, I allow my imagination to think of either a sound or song. My imagination wanders around and searches far and wide. Most times I reject the first and second recommendations from my imagination, but it really does not take a long time before my imagination comes up with something for me that I like.

The song could range from anything such as a piano piece to a ballad by Andy Williams, Engelbert Humperdinck, Whitney Houston, or even Donny Osmond, Michael Jackson, or Mariah Carey. The sound could be anything from birds singing to water flowing, cars racing or children laughing.

After I have chosen my song or sound, I next move to filling in the scene in my mind with color and this is something that is very hard to explain. Finally the text of the scene, and I build this with memories or creations of my own. This is how I match music and color.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my thoughts with others. Come by any time and visit me at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Wearing the wrong jacket

There are times when I can only tell you that it all comes down to humor and over the years I have learned to take it all in with a grain of salt, so to speak. This is what happened the other day when I discovered to my chagrin that I had worn the wrong jacket.

With no longer being able to see colors, I have to depend on a few things to ensure that I wear the right clothing. First, make sure that I arrange my closet in such a way that I know where to find what I seek, and second to ensure that what I think I am wearing is really what it is.

I had put on a light fall jacket when I was going out with Mom to the hospital. I really thought that the jacket was my red one, my Montreal Canadiens hockey jacket. But lo and behold, it was not! It turned out to be the jacket to my ice skating outfit, a black and white jacket. How far off the mark could I have been?

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day. Come by any time and listen to some of my audio mysteries at www.donnajodhan.com.

The first big plane trip with my parents

I can still remember this trip. I sat in the middle with Mom and Dad on each side of me. We were on our way to Panama and I was just so excited. Scared, not really! Dying to know what was going on around me? Definitely.

Dad took my hand in his warm and gentle grasp and then proceeded to give me a detailed description of the scene surrounding our plane as it flew on. Deep blue skies with white puffy clouds floating by. The sun shining down on our plane and sparkling ocean below. He went on to explain all about air pockets, altitude, tail winds, and so much more.

Mom sat quietly and took it all in and then she did what she always does best; she gave me a detailed description of what other passengers were wearing and doing after dad had finished his description. By the time they were both done I had had a complete description of everything that I had ever wanted to know. What terrific parents taking the time to introduce me to the world of flying and air travel!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to visit www.nfb.org to learn more.

At conferences on my own

There used to be a time when I absolutely dreaded going to conferences on my own. I felt so alone as I struggled to do such things as carry my luggage upon arrival at the hotel, find my room, familiarize myself with my room, and then go out there and make friends.

I used to really be uncomfortable going down to breakfast on my own or doing the same at dinner time, alas! Time has been good to me though and with a bit of practice, motivating myself, and learning how to ask, things have improved greatly for me. The trick for me is to always make sure that I get to know the staff at the reception desk and to familiarize them with my circumstance. That is, to let them know that as a Blind person there are things that I would need help with.

So I make friends with them and then the rest for me becomes easier. My experience is that once you ask for help then help is there. Tell a staff member at the desk that you need help with navigating the remote for their television and help is rendered. Ask them to show you where the dining room is and they are always willing to be of service. Ask them to show you where the swimming pool is and bingo! They are only too willing to be of assistance.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Come visit me at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

All about a new vacuum

At the best of times, it is often a struggle to get used to a new gadget, device, or appliance, but for me as a blind person, ah yes! It could literally be anything! Exciting, maybe! Frustrating, sometimes! A breeze, sometimes! A new vacuum? Well, never a dull moment!

Not too long ago, I bought a new vacuum and for some odd reason, I had such a hard time getting used to it. My poor mom did her best to help but when it came to my understanding where that big red button was located, there is where I lost it all.

First off, I was unable to find that big red button because I am no longer able to see colors. Then I had difficulty trying to figure out a way to identify that big red button by touch. Finally I found a way and after this, everything just fell into place.

It is similar for me whenever I buy a new gadget, device, or appliance. I need to find ways to identify what a sighted person can through sight. Things are made identifiable through color and I just have to find ways to do the same but by touch. I use tape to do the job for me or anything else that I can use touch to identify.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to go out there and share my blogs with others. Come by anytime and visit me at www.donnajodhan.com.

Where is the opened car door?

Another humorous moment for me. I am constantly trying to figure out where the opened car door is each time I approach a car. If it is someone whose parking habits I am familiar with, then no problem.

In the case of my favorite cab driver, Gerry, I can almost always guess where to find the opened car door and it is the same for my friend Gabriella. However, whenever I am unfamiliar with someone else's parking habits, then here is where I run into problems.

What I need to do is this: I first need to figure out the direction in which the car is standing or parked. That is, to figure out the position of the front versus the back of the car and then go from there. It would just take a bit of concentration on my part. Very doable for me.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to share my blogs with others. Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.

My piano keys

In the majority of responses, a pianist or keyboard player would tell you that more often than not they rarely need to use their vision to play their piano or keyboard. This has always been the case for me, but somehow I still remember what they look like and I have a mental visualization of what is going on.

I can still picture in my mind where and how those black keys are placed. I can also picture the placing of the white keys and I can even assign sounds to each key. I can even picture each octave!

I keep promising to return to my musical passion, that being to compose and create my own music, and hopefully I'll be able to do this soon. Music is what makes me think better, write better, and on the whole be a better person. Music is my Soul and my piano keys are my stability.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility consultant, wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my thoughts with others. Visit me at www.sterlingcreations.ca anytime to catch up with me.

What happened in the shower!

Well, this is one of my lighter moments in life and one that I had to laugh at after it all happened. Let's just say that for a sighted person, and if they were paying attention, it would not have happened and this is why my memory needs to be on the ball at all times.

Here is the story. I hung one of my sweaters to dry on my shower's head. I went away and the next morning when I went to take my shower I turned it on as usual but somehow I found that the water was not running very heavily. My first thought was that something was wrong with the shower's head and that I had to call the plumber! Oh boy, more expenses for me! Then I realized what was going on here! My sweater was hanging on the shower's head and thus it was getting in the way of the running downpour of the water.

By the time that I had realized what was going on, my sweater was soaked through and had to be placed in the washer to be spun dried. For me as a blind person, it is important for me to remember where I have placed things so as to avoid such accidents.

Humorous, yes! Take it with a smile? Definitely so! Try my best to avoid it in the future? Most certainly!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day and inviting you to come by and visit me at www.donnajodhan.com.