New and exciting! Video conferencing

One never knows when a brand new experience presents itself and this is what happened in October 2018 when I appeared via video conferencing in front of the House of Commons Committee for Bill C81: the proposed Accessible Canada Act.

I have to admit that it was extremely anxious and nerve racking for me.  I was put into a room on my own and then I had to communicate with members of the standing committee who were grouped in Ottawa.  Here was the picture.

I was on my own in a room in downtown Toronto.
I was communicating with a group of committee members via video conferencing in Ottawa.
I had instructions to look into the camera whenever I spoke.
I, along with five others who were called witnesses, presented on that day.
We all answered questions from committee members.
The entire session was recorded and lasted for almost an hour!

Ah, yes!  Another new experience.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advisor, wishing you a terrific day.

If you would like to learn more about me as an author then I invite you now to visit
www.donnajodhan.com.

There you will not only learn about me as an author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide-eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.

And now my weekly podcast!
From recipes to apps, and 5 minute mysteries to tips for entrepreneurs and scam alerts!
www.donnajodhan.com/takeanother5.html

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

A pleasure to have worked with you: Good luck, Melanie

From time to time one is lucky to meet a very unusual person and this is exactly how I felt when I met Melanie Charron at Elections Canada.  She was unique because she understood and she knew exactly what to do.  She was innovative and insightful and she always seemed to know what to do before I asked her a question.

I met Melanie in February 2014 and had the pleasure of working with her until March 2018. It was a great experience for me and I learned a lot from her.

Whenever I traveled to Ottawa to attend one of the face-to-face meetings hosted by Elections Canada, Melanie was always there to lend a helping hand.  Her guiding techniques were first class and her commitment to attention was second to none.  Melanie knew how to communicate with me as someone who is vision-impaired.

At my last meeting she went beyond the call of duty to place a dongle on the door to my hotel room; a very thoughtful and innovative action.

Good luck, Melanie!  I am going to miss you!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advisor, wishing you a terrific day.

If you would like to learn more about me as an author then I invite you now to visit
www.donnajodhan.com.

There you will not only learn about me as an author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide-eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.

And now my weekly podcast!
From recipes to apps, and 5 minute mysteries to tips for entrepreneurs and scam alerts!
www.donnajodhan.com/takeanother5.html

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

A wonderful experience: Great volunteers

There are volunteers and then there are volunteers and this is what I discovered in September 2017 when I attended a conference hosted by the Canadian Human Rights Commission in Ottawa.

Each volunteer that I interacted with was definitely a cut above the best! They were well-trained when it came to rendering assistance to me as a vision-impaired person.  They communicated so well, offered assistance beyond the call of duty, and certainly helped to make my time spent at the conference a pleasurable and memorable one.

We need more of this type of volunteer to help improve communications between persons with disabilities and the sighted world.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advisor, wishing you a terrific day.

If you would like to learn more about me as an author then I invite you now to visit
www.donnajodhan.com.

There you will not only learn about me as an author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide-eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.

And now my weekly podcast!
From recipes to apps, and 5 minute mysteries to tips for entrepreneurs and scam alerts!
www.donnajodhan.com/takeanother5.html.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

A refreshing experience: An enjoyable train ride to Ottawa

In early February 2017, I took the train from Toronto to Ottawa on a very cold and wintry morning.  It was a typical Canadian winter's day but I was ready as I could ever be and I would say that I was pleasantly surprised when it came to my journey.

Courtesy of the Canadian Council of the Blind, I traveled first class to receive an award from them and it was first class all of the way.  The staff members aboard the train were so very accommodating and were so aware of my needs as a vision-impaired person.

They read the breakfast menu to me, told me exactly what was on my plate when they brought it to me, assisted me to the washroom whenever I asked, and helped me with my luggage on and off the train.  During the course of the four and a half hour trip they stopped several times to check on me.

Thank you Via Rail for having made my trip a super one.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day. 

If you would like to learn more about me as an author then I invite you now to visit
http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as an author but you will also gain insights into my campaign against bullying and why I strongly believe that you need to consider joining me in order to insure that the future of our kids with their wide-eyed smiles and infectious laughter is secured forever.

And now my weekly podcast!
From recipes to apps, and 5 minute mysteries to tips for entrepreneurs and scam alerts!
www.takeanother5.com
And available for download from iTunes and Google music play

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and at author_jodhan
And like me on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/donnajodhan and at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Why I Turned to Chess

Up until about six years ago, chess had just been a dream of mine; that is, all I wanted to do was just learn to play.  I had bought a slim Braille booklet on the basics and rudiments of chess back in the early 90s along with an adaptable chessboard but truth be told, I never really paid much attention to it until I lost most of my vision about six years ago.

 

Before turning to chess, I was very much of an outdoors sports person.  I was heavily involved with such things as ice skating, swimming, and skiing but upon losing my vision, I became very nervous about navigating outdoors and I had to really push myself to keep up with my ice skating.  However, I persevered and I am glad that I did but something was missing.  Something I wanted to add to my repertoire of hobbies to compensate for my vision loss.

 

I was born with very little vision but when I was a teen I received a cornea transplant that enabled me to gain a fair amount of sight but I was still considered to be legally blind.  With my new found sight I took the opportunity to explore and learn much and this included exploring possibilities to learn board games.  After buying my adapted chessboard I spent a wee bit of time with it but it was not until 2002 just before losing my vision that I really decided to get serious about entering the world of chess.  In that year I happened to meet a wonderful lady named Nadia Shishkina, a Russian lady, and a chess teacher.

 

It did not take much for Nadia to encourage me to start learning and just before losing my vision I managed to learn enough from her to get started with the basics.  I stayed in touch with Nadia and upon losing my vision it was she who encouraged me to get serious about my chess.  It took about three years after losing my vision for me to really get going and when I did I did not stop.  My first stop along the way was in Ottawa Canada with my friend Ray Barfitt.  He patiently started to coach me and mentor me and he encouraged me to buy some Braille chess books from the RNIB in order to improve my skills.

 

I also took the plunge to expand my circle of chess friends at a local chess club but this did not work very well for me as I ran into some chess instructors who felt that I should be playing with blind players instead of sighted ones.  Nadia and Ray continued to push me to keep on going and last year I took one big step forward when I signed up for the Hadley School's chess program.  This all came about when an acquaintance put me in touch with Alan Dicey, a truly wonderful man and a true motivator.  I completed the Hadley program in September and since then I have been playing in the Swiss division tournament as well as with others on the USBCA list.

 

Chess has opened up many doors for me.  I have and continue to make many new friends.  I am using chess to help me cultivate more patience, become more disciplined in my job as well as in my personal life, and most of all I am using it to help others.  I hope that I can find opportunities to travel to other countries in order to promote chess among blind persons.

 

I'd like to thank Nadia, Ray, and Alan for having been a part of my chess adventures and I look forward to meeting many others like them.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my blogs with the rest of the world.  Visit www.hadley.edu to learn more.

I Am Blind But I Can Smell

The other day I mentioned to a friend that I was thinking of traveling to Ottawa for the Tulip Festival. Every year during the first two weeks of May, Ottawa is ablaze with literally hundreds of thousands of tulips sent to the city by the government of The Netherlands. The tradition started as a result of a momentous event that took place during World War II and as part of its eternal gratitude to Canada, The Netherlands showers Ottawa each year with throngs of tulips.

According to history, during World War II the young Dutch queen of The Netherlands, who was pregnant at the time, was sent to Canada for protection from the Nazis. During her stay in Canada her time had come to give birth. In order to ensure that her child was born into the house of royalty of The Netherlands, her hospital room was declared territory of The Netherlands so that her child could be born on Dutch soil. The Netherlands has never forgotten this deed by Canada, and this is why it sends hundreds of thousands of tulips each year to Ottawa.

When I was able to see, I visited Ottawa one year for the Tulip festival and thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic sight of being able to admire all of those wondrous tulip. I vowed to return one day to enjoy it all again. This time, however, I would be enjoying it without being able to see it. So when my friend innocently asked me, "How could you enjoy it if you are unable to see it?" I was ready with a response. "I may not be able to see them now, but I can surely smell them!"

My poor friend was thoroughly embarrassed, but I quickly brushed it off and quietly told her that blind people sometimes use their sense of smell as a substitute to enjoy things that they cannot see. We both laughed it off.

If you would like to learn more about how blind persons can enjoy things that they are unable to see then please visit http://www.nfb.org/ or http://www.rnib.org/.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special-needs business consultant wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and educate the rest of the world that blind persons can definitely enjoy things by smell.