Exciting times: Interview with Beyond Blindness

 Thanks to my associate, Carol Trapani, I am really looking forward to working with this California based group. 

My recent chat with Jacob Garcia gives me hope that I’ll be able to move my camp initiative forward. Whether it is through virtual seminars or through a face-to-face camp, it is looking very promising. My “believing is achieving” camp initiative is quickly gaining legs.

It is all in the name of helping those preparing to leave school and those entering the workplace for the first time to realize that they can own their own future! They do not need to depend on anyone else to take it from them!

If you would like to learn more about me as a sight-loss coach and author then I invite you now to visit http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as a sight-loss coach and 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.

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

Boy, did I learn so much! Course is over

 

And what a relief!  From April 02 – May 19, 2023, I and 5 other students participated in the Carroll Centre’s SRUTT course and what a wonderful experience it was!

I learned so much, worked alongside some great folks and at the end of it all?  I certainly enhanced my technical knowledge.  

Above all, I had the pleasure to have had Nick Corbett as my head instructor.  This unbelievable young man reminded me of the Energizer Bunny!  He kept going and never seemed to tire out!  He guided, advised, and taught with an unusually strong hand and committed spirit.

Now it’s time to put my training to work and I cannot wait!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly award-winning, sight-loss coach and accessibility advisor wishing you a terrific day.

If you would like to learn more about me as a sight-loss coach and author then I invite you now to visit  http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as a sight-loss coach and 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.

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

Great anticipation: Starting my SRUTT course

I had been waiting for this day for some time and on April 2 I started my screen reader user tester and training course at the Carroll Centre and I was not disappointed.

Nic Corbett, the head instructor, was extremely efficient; leading me and my class mates, managing our expectations, and making us feel comfortable.  His team was really wonderful and now I look forward to spending time to enhance my knowledge, to learn new things and to definitely rise above the blue learning horizon.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly award-winning sight-loss coach and accessibility advisor, wishing you a terrific day.
 
If you would like to learn more about me as a sight-loss coach and author then I invite you now to visit http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as a sight-loss coach and 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.

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

Important notice from Donna J. Jodhan
If you're looking for a quick and easy way to share news and or info about yourself or about others, then please read on!
Donna J. Jodhan can help you reach a rapidly growing list of over 12,000 readers and listeners and counting!
All you need to do is to give a listen to her monthly shows and if you like what you hear then here's how it works!
For the very affordable price of $25, Donna will feature your info and news on 2 of her monthly shows.
Once on the Ask Donna show and once on the Dining with Donna show.
Both of these monthly shows run weekly.
This means that your info will be featured twice for the month.
No more having to worry about posting to Facebook!  
You'll be able to engage with ready made readers and listeners!
Your payment of $25 will be prorated as a monthly payment.
So you can either pay monthly, or you can pay as you go.
Just send your info or news to Donna at askdonnaonblindlife@gmail.com
No more than 150 words.
Donna will then post your info or news as soon as you remit payment to her at paypal@donnajodhan.com
To give a listen visit https://www.donnajodhan.com/askdonna and https://www.donnajodhan.com/dwd
Take advantage of this very quick and easy way to reach a ready made audience!

Great anticipation! Getting ready for the SRUTT course

 This is going to be a very important course for me as hopefully it will help to enhance and solidify my Screen Reader User Testing and Trainer knowledge.  I have always wanted to do this as this is the point at which I started my career in the accessibility field so many years ago.

I am looking forward to meeting my classmates and to working with Nick and his team of instructors.  I am very fortunate, lucky, and privileged that I’ll be taking this course.

The Carroll Center For The Blind is a very prestigious training center in the US and I’ll be the first Canadian to be taking this course.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly award-winning sight-loss coach and accessibility advisor, wishing you a terrific day.
 
If you would like to learn more about me as a sight-loss coach and author then I invite you now to visit http://www.donnajodhan.com

There you will not only learn about me as a sight-loss coach and 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.

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

Important notice from Donna J. Jodhan
If you're looking for a quick and easy way to share news and or info about yourself or about others, then please read on!
Donna J. Jodhan can help you reach a rapidly growing list of over 12,000 readers and listeners and counting!
All you need to do is to give a listen to her monthly shows and if you like what you hear then here's how it works!
For the very affordable price of $25, Donna will feature your info and news on 2 of her monthly shows.
Once on the Ask Donna show and once on the Dining with Donna show.
Both of these monthly shows run weekly.
This means that your info will be featured twice for the month.
No more having to worry about posting to Facebook!  
You'll be able to engage with ready made readers and listeners!
Your payment of $25 will be prorated as a monthly payment.
So you can either pay monthly, or you can pay as you go.
Just send your info or news to Donna at askdonnaonblindlife@gmail.com
No more than 150 words.
Donna will then post your info or news as soon as you remit payment to her at paypal@donnajodhan.com
To give a listen visit https://www.donnajodhan.com/askdonna and https://www.donnajodhan.com/dwd
Take advantage of this very quick and easy way to reach a ready made audience!

All in a day's work: Communicating with a new cab driver

I can only say that whenever I am put in this type of situation, I need to start all over again.  I need to get used to him/her and he/she needs to do the same. So this is what happens.

I ensure that my new cab driver knows that I am vision impaired and that I require special assistance, meet and assist included.

I ensure that my new cab driver knows that he needs to leave his cab and come to meet me in the lobby of my condo building. That he needs to escort me to the door of his cab.

I train my new cab driver to escort me in and out of buildings. I also train him to help me with parcels whenever necessary.

In short, it is my responsibility to ensure that whenever I have a new cab driver, that he/she is fully aware as to how to provide assistance to those who are blind and visually impaired.

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
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 minutes mysteries to tips for entrepreneurs and scam alerts!
www.donnajodhan.com/takeanother5.html

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter!
'Let's Talk Tips' is my monthly resource for the most current and reliable informational tips available in the areas of Technology, Nutrition, Media, Business, and Advocacy.
http://bit.ly/ADJSubscribe

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

Can Blind People Travel?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions that I am asked and my response is this:  Sure, blind persons can travel and enjoy what the sighted world does.  However, we do things a bit differently.

Here's how I do it.

 

Whenever I travel by plane; I first ask my travel agent to notify the airline that I will need assistance and this has turned out to be not much of a problem.  Air Canada has been excellent to me and has provided me with first class services.  They have always provided me with end to end services that include checking in, boarding, in flight, and disembarking services. 

 

When I arrive at the airport in Toronto, this airport's special needs services department is ready to help because I have notified them before hand that I would need help from my cab to the airline's counter.  I do not know if other airports provide this type of service but if they don't, then I have to depend on sighted assistance for someone to bring me to the check in counter.  I find this a bit nerve racking but I have learned to live with it as I am a frequent traveler.

 

If I take a train, I usually notify the railway company in advance that I would need help so that they can provide me with boarding, in train,  and disembarking services.  Not a problem for me and whenever I get to a station in Canada, the "Redcaps" attendants are right there to help me from my cab to the ticket counter.  Bus services are similar.

 

So you see, it is not as difficult as you may think and if you would like to learn more about how blind persons travel, then visit www.nfb.org or www.afb.org.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and help educate the rest of the world about how blind persons can travel.

Doctor, I Can Hear You!

This is one of my pet peeves: Doctors who find it more efficient to talk over my head or to the person accompanying me to my appointment. You would think that part of their training would include teaching physicians how to interact with persons who are sight impaired, but it seems not to be the case. So many of my clients continue to complain about the total lack of bedside manners when it comes to doctors being able to interact with them. At the best of times doctors do not really know how to interact with their patients, but when you are sight impaired it makes things even more difficult.

As someone who has had to spend a lot of time in doctors’ offices, I can tell you that they really need to learn how to treat those of us who are sight impaired. Sometimes they create an impression of either not being able to communicate with us or they do not believe that we are capable of understanding. I have had doctors who prefer to talk to my mom rather than me, even though I'm an adult! I have had others who ignored my questions, and still others who have walked out of the office at the end of an appointment without even bothering to say that the appointment was over.

So many times I wish that I could say, "Doctor I am here! I am the patient and you can talk to me. I can hear you and I can compute!" I often wonder why is it that so many doctors have difficulty communicating with those of us who are sight impaired. At the best of times they have difficulty communicating with the mainstream patient but for us my opinion is as follows.

The eyes are what the rest of the world uses to communicate and when there is a situation whereby the eyes are unable to communicate, then all hell breaks loose and everything goes haywire. Blind and visually-impaired persons are unable to use their eyes to communicate. So, what is the solution? More education and more awareness training.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your accessibility and special-needs business consultant urging you to go out there and tell the rest of the world that they can communicate with blind and visually impaired persons in ways other than through the eyes. To learn more, you can visit www.nfb.org.