The Influence of Parents

I do not believe that anyone would dispute the fact that parents have an almost exclusive stranglehold when it comes to being influential on their kids and this trend is probably not going to change anytime soon.  Speaking for myself, I will tell you that my parents definitely influenced me to keep on fighting the good fight.  They were most influential in molding me into a well rounded person; using the weapons in my arsenal to full effect.  They influenced me to adopt the philosophy that the world does not owe me anything as a blind person.  That in order to fit into a mainstream world, I need to be as mainstream as I can be. 

 

So what do I really mean?  My parents influenced me to use every resource at my disposal in order to build a good life for myself.  They taught me to develop a sense of commitment and obligation to help make a better life for blind and sight impaired kids of today and tomorrow.  They taught me that I should use my resources to help those less fortunate than myself and to do everything that I could to improve opportunities for my fellow blind colleague.  They influenced me to have respect for myself and for others, to be humble, and be honest always.  Above all, they taught me loyalty and a deep appreciation for life and to never forget that my religious beliefs should never be compromised. 

 

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 the rest of the world.  You can write to me anytime at donnajodhan@sterlingcreations.ca.

 

Those Little Dots Often Save Me

If you take a moment to look at your computer keyboard or even the keypad on your home phone or your cell phone, you should see that more often than not, certain keys are marked with either a dot or some sort of cut edge.  For the phone's keypad, there is often a raised dot on the #5 key and on several computer keyboards, there are cut edges placed on certain keys such as the f and j keys.  Some phone keypads may even have a raised dot on the #0 key as well and I do believe that some remotes are similarly configured; either with a dot, a raised edge, or keys of different shapes.

 

In the normal scheme of things, there are many blind persons who depend on these very subtle indicators to help them quickly locate keys on their keypads.  Keys with dots, cut or raised edges, and keys with different shapes often save me from pressing the wrong key and I am grateful for them.  Now, if only we could find a way to standardize all keypads in this way and if it is already a standard then I do apologize.  Blind persons need keypads to help them communicate with their devices; they are unable to use devices with touch screens.  What would be ideal is if manufacturers were to come up with accessible ways for blind persons to be able to communicate with touch screens.

 

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.nfb.org to learn more.

Christmas is for Me

I have had the good fortune to enjoy many wonderful Christmases; with and without vision and it does not matter!  Christmas is for me.  The smells and the sounds, the laughter and the merry making. 

 

When I had enough sight, I used to enjoy going out to window shop.  To see the bright colorful lights, the flickering candles in the Church, Santa's bright red suit, and streets crowded with throngs of folks of all ages.  I also loved to smell the scent of rich pine, cakes and goodies baking in ovens, and taste the various Christmas foods and drinks.  I also loved to walk in the snow and watch those big white snowflakes race each other to the ground but most of all, I loved to ice skate around those huge outdoor rinks decorated with Christmas lights. 

 

That was then and this is now but not much has changed for me.  True it is that I can no longer see the flickering candles, the colorful Christmas lights, and the big fat snowflakes, but this does not prevent me from enjoying this special time of the year.  My sense of smell is still in tact along with my sense of taste and I use my memories of years gone by to help me along.  I focus on the times when I could see and inter mingle those memories with the now.  I am blessed!  I am lucky!  With or without sight, Christmas is for me!  I am a kid at heart, playing with my talking games, playing my electronic keyboard, and my Christmas CDs. 

 

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, Joyeux Noèl, and Feliz Navidad to you all!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan.  Will see you again in the New Year.

 

I Must Not Give Up

This has been my motto ever since losing my vision in early 2004.  I must not give up, I will not give up, and I will pray every day for a miracle.  There are some who have said to me that I should not hope for miracles because it only brings heart aches each time something is suggested and then fails.  I know that this is partly true; heartaches are not easy to endure but for the fighter that I am, I will keep on fighting. 

 

So much keeps on happening in the world of medical break throughs.  Stem cell advancements are continually encouraging us to hope and for me the hope lives on.  This is why I still hold on to my large print crossword books, my close circuit TV, and all of my treasured scrap books.  Every night I rock myself to sleep with vivid memories of colors, shapes, scenes, plus so much more.  I must not give up for I do then I might as well die!

 

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.  You can visit me anytime at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

What Does Ugly Mean?

This is a question that many of my friends often ask me; what do I think when I hear the word ugly mentioned.  It's a very good question and through the eyes of a blind person so to speak, the word ugly takes on quite another connotation. 

 

In my view, here are my thoughts.  When I hear the word ugly, I think of persons who are unpleasant, vindictive, unkind, dishonest, self-centered, and thoughtless.  To me, ugly means when someone has done something to hurt another or when they have done something to the detriment of another.  Ugly to me is expressed through actions and words; actions that are not nice and words that are hurtful.

 

I do not think of persons as being physically ugly.  I do not think of an ugly animal, an ugly house, an ugly car, etc.  My world of ugly resides in the words and actions carried out by others.  Ah, through the eyes of a blind person; someone who does not see the physical side of things.

 

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 the rest of the world.  Visit www.afb.org to learn more about how blind persons view the world.

The Unexpected Child

Yes, that's me!  The unexpected child.  I was born eight hours after my twin brother Jeffrey.  Mom did not even know that she was having twins until Jeffrey was born and then the midwife gave her and dad the news.  From thereon in, almost everything in my life became unexpected.

 

First, I was born with a vision impairment; very unexpected indeed.  Then I somehow managed to surpass all academic expectations; quite unexpected.  Then at university I somehow managed to keep my unexpected record in tact.  I was one of the first blind persons to graduate with a bachelor's degree in Commerce from Concordia University in Montreal Canada.  My unexpected record grew to include being one of the first blind persons to graduate with an MBA from McGill University of Montreal in Canada, and one of the first blind persons in the world to graduate with certifications in Microsoft Systems Engineering, and Novelle network administration. 

 

I do my best to preserve my unexpected record; by motivating others to become as unexpected as me.  I motivate them to do the unexpected; surpass expectations.  I motivate them to think about things that are unexpected; things that leave others gasping for air.  That is, doing things that take them outside their comfort zone, things that make others sit up and take note, things that help to create positive attitudes and reactions.  It's all in the name of being the unexpected child.

 

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 the rest of the world.  Visit me any time at www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Technology Barriers for Blind Kids

As more and more toy companies continue to flood the market with new and improved ways for kids to learn and interact, the adverse effect could be said when it comes to the plight of blind kids.  For example, blind kids are unable to take advantage of all of those wonderful educational toys such as the ones that teach kids how to read, write, count, and spell.  Those wonderful pictionary games are out of the reach of blind kids, and learning by seeing is just not in the cards for blind children.

 

This is not really anyone's fault.  It is just how the ball bounces and it is practically impossible for us to hold technology back.  It could be compared to trying to pin a wave to the golden sand.  Not possible.  So, with all of this in mind, how can we make it a better world for our blind kids?  What can we do in order to try and narrow the gap?  A blind kid is no different when it comes to wanting to be a part of technology and play with technology.  They like their sighted counterparts yearn to learn, understand, and play.  They yearn to interact with the big TV screen just like any other kid and they yearn to be a part of the world of technology.

 

Progress has been made but we need to see more innovation on the part of all stakeholders.

If you would like to see what types of games and toys are available to blind kids then visit www.maxiaids.com to learn more.

 

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 the rest of the world.