No need to ask mom

This is something that I have written about on several occasions and continue to write about. It's all about sales persons who seem to feel that when speaking to me, they feel more comfortable doing so by asking my mom or whoever is with me at the time.

A few weeks ago I went shopping with mom, and as we started to choose some clothes for me to try on the sales lady came up beside us and proceeded to start asking, "What does she like? What are her favorite colors? Would she like this jacket, you think?"

In the normal scheme of things, I would have said something but on that day my tongue seemed to have frozen and I let it all go. When we got home, I asked my mom for her observations and she agreed with me that she would not have appreciated the sales lady doing this to her. I guess that the reason that I may not have spoken up was that the sales lady did not seem to
realize her insensitivity. She was very nice and extremely polite.

This is really not an excuse for my not having spoken up. If I and my fellow blind and sight-impaired brothers and sisters hope to change things, we need to speak up and do it consistently, politely, and gently. Educating others is the only way to do it and hopefully the by word of mouth technique will do the rest.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and help spread the word. Visit www.afb.org or www.acb.org to learn more.

Blind Twin Sighted Twin

Yes. That's me and my twin brother Jeffrey. He was born first and he was sighted. Then eight hours later I made my appearance into this world and I was blind! Truth be told, my parents had no idea that I was on my way. They never knew that mom was having twins. So what a shocker when they were told that another baby was on its way after my brother was born, and then? Mom knew right away that I was blind!

My mom has always told me that when family and friends heard that she had given birth to twins, they all wanted to see us. But when they heard further that I was blind, well, a double reason to want to visit us and see for themselves! Growing up with a sighted twin has never been a problem for me. Both he and my elder brother Robert were always very protective of me. They let me play with their cars and trucks. I played hide and seek with them, swam with them, and did everything else with them. Playing with them was never a problem. I was never made to feel that my blindness was problem.

I can't really tell you how my parents really felt having a sighted twin and a blind twin, I can only speak for myself. What I can tell you though is that they did everything to treat us equally, but in minor instances they balanced things whenever they had to if they felt that my blindness would be a drawback.

I have met at least two other set of twins, one sighted and one blind and for the most part their stories have been similar to mine. Nothing really to it; just that one sees and the other does not.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my story with others.

Someone Else's Eyes

You got it! Whenever I perform certain tasks or go shopping or go socializing, I need to depend on someone else's eyes. The minute I step out of my home, I need to depend on someone else's eyes. I need someone else's eyes to help me find my groceries in the supermarket and pharmacy. I need the eyes of sales persons to help me choose my clothes and electronics. I need the eyes of family friends to help me out whenever I am unable to decipher things for myself.

If I am in unfamiliar surroundings, I need someone else's eyes to describe them to me; objects, people, and so on. If I am in a restaurant, I need someone else's eyes to read the menu to me if it is not in Braille and if I am at the beach I usually depend on someone else's eyes to help me navigate my surroundings.

This is the reality of life for me as a blind person and I have learned how to take advantage of someone else's eyes whenever I need them. Most persons are only too willing to lend their eyes and I just need to determine for myself how much help I need, how much of the information being proffered I want to use, and what I store for future use. All in a day's work.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and tell others how blind persons take advantage of someone else's eyes. Visit www.acb.org to learn
more.

The frustration of depending

For me, it often becomes a real frustration when I have to depend on others to get things done and it is especially so in the world of technology. So many times I feel as if I am at the mercy of others because I have to depend on them to assist me with tasks that I am unable to do for myself.

I know that as a general rule of thumb we all need to depend on each other for one thing or another from time to time, but when it comes to technology, here are some of my challenges, for what it is worth.

I need someone to help me make changes to my website when necessary and this would include ensuring that the website is esthetically pleasing to the sighted world. Whenever Google makes changes to its blogging process, I need help to institute the necessary changes.

I need assistance to download certain pieces of software whenever I am unable to gain access to the website where the software is, if the website in question is not accessible for blind and partially sighted persons. That is, if there is not a textual interface for me to interact with. Screen readers for blind and sight-impaired persons are unable to interact with graphical interfaces.

There are more examples that I can give but if you would like to learn more about some of the tasks that blind and partially sighted persons need to depend on sighted assistance for, then visit www.afb.org.

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

Thanking my lucky stars

I always do my best to thank my lucky stars. That is, be thankful for what I have and thankful for being able to help others. There are many in our society who often feel that blind persons may not be able to make a worthwhile contribution to life but I am here to tell them that this is definitely not the case.

We contribute in so many ways that would surprise many. There are things that we can do for others such as just simply listening to someone when they need a friendly ear. A few months ago for example, I learned this in great terms when my cousin Robert had a heart attack! As my mom and I advanced into his room at the hospital to visit a few days after his attack, my first thought was what could I do to help him.

I could not see him as I approached but as I heard his voice in greeting it dawned on me that yes indeed! There was something that I could do to help my beloved cousin. I could listen to him and do my best to comfort him in his time of great need and distress and it is exactly what I did then at that moment and continue to do.

It is difficult for me at times because I wish so much that I could see his face as I was able to some years ago. However, I have memories of his image and I use it to help me help him in whatever way that I can.

Im Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day.

Living in the suburbs

As a blind person, there are definite challenges to living in the suburbs as opposed to living down town.  For what it is worth, here are some of my challenges.

 

If sidewalks are not clearly identifiable, I have difficulty finding my way.  Malls and other buildings are more spread out. 

Some streets may be quieter than the downtown ones but I need to exercise much more caution in that I have to ensure that no cars would sneak up on me if there are no traffic lights.

 

Finding people to help me on quiet sidewalks are more difficult than down town.  I may not have too much trouble avoiding crowded sidewalks but that's the trade off for not being able to get help as readily as if I were living down town.  During the winter, sidewalks are not always cleared of the snow on side streets and there may be the odd snow bank to deal with; not as bad as living down town.  If there is no direct transportation to malls, and if they are not within walking distance, I need to take a cab.  In short, transportation in the suburbs is often more of a challenge than down town. 

 

Socializing is also more of a challenge when you live in the suburbs because it takes a blind person longer to get to their destination when they are unable to drive and have to depend on public transit.  There are different challenges to face for a blind person when they live in the suburbs as opposed to down town.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and tell others about the various challenges faced by blind persons who live in the suburbs.  If you would like to learn more about how blind persons find their way around, then visit www.nfb.org or www.rnib.org.

The fight for independence

What does this really mean?  In my opinion; it means being able to do as much as I can on my own.  To access information on the Internet with no sighted assistance.  To be able to complete forms online without any assistance.  To be able to read information in alternate formats thus not having to depend on someone else to read it to me.

 

The right to make my own decisions without having someone else speak on my behalf; be it in the supermarket, in the pharmacy, in the shopping mall, or anywhere else.  My independence would also include not having anyone else speak on my behalf at such places as restaurants, at the bank, or at airports.  No one should be placed in a position to have to speak on my behalf and I should not be subjected to have to put up with clerks and attendants asking my sighted friend or family member something like "What would she like," or "Is she okay," or "Can she sign her credit card bill?"

 

There is a huge difference between someone wanting to be helpful and someone assuming that a blind person is not independent enough to speak or act for him/herself.  Blame it on society's attitudes or our unwillingness to speak up for ourselves; a bit of both maybe.  We as a community need to speak up and speak out.  We need to fight hard to maintain our independence and we need to do it in an affirmative yet positive way.  No need to snap at those who mean well or those who do not know any better.  We can become teachers of independence to the mainstream world.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and tell others that yes! Blind persons also need to fight for their independence.  Visit www.nfb.org to learn more.