An interesting experience: The CATSA video

 A few months ago, I had the privilege and pleasure of having participated in the making of a training video for the Canadian Air Transportation Agency also known as CATSA.  It was refreshing and very interesting to see that this specific agency was going the extra mile to develop training videos for its staff so that they could better service Canadians with disabilities.

These days not many agencies and departments are really going out of their way to improve services to Canadians with disabilities and hopefully this will change as we go along.

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.

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She served me well: When the bundle buggy died

As the saying often goes: bad things usually occur in groups of three and this was the second thing that happened to me on this particular Friday morning.  

First, it was the cable box that died and now it was time for my good old faithful bundle buggy to leave me.  Unlike the cable box where my relation with said gadget was never a very friendly one, I loved my old faithful bundle buggy and it served me well for over three years.  

I will refer to it as a she! She was red, sturdy, and always there to carry my groceries. She never grumbled, just helping me out.  So, when she decided to say goodbye on this Friday morning, I did not complain.

She simply collapsed in the middle of the mall and Stephanie had to help me drag her along to a store where we had to buy a new bundle buggy.  After we had finished buying the new bundle buggy and placing my groceries into it, Stephanie towed my good old faithful bundle buggy to a garbage dump. We both felt so very sorry for her and Stephanie even took the time to watch from her apartment window to make sure that someone had come along and taken her away.  

I am sure that she is now in a new home but I'll always remember her.

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.

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

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Waiting for the cab

It is always fun and somewhat interesting each time I call a cab and then stand there waiting for it. I always tell the cab company that I am blind and that I need for the cab driver to come towards me and identify himself to me and to escort me to his cab.

For the most part this strategy works but there is the odd occasion when it does not. Once in a while the cab driver will sit in his cab and wait for me to approach his cab but this quickly changes when he realizes that I am blind. Or once in a while, and not very often at all, he will bang on the outer window if I am standing indoors to catch my attention.

I would say that things have improved greatly when it comes to cab drivers interacting with me as a blind person and it sure makes life a lot easier.

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

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This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heroes and role models are the ones who have made us proud; those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
If you truly care then you will certainly dare!"

Traveling alone

At the best of times, traveling alone for anyone could be a bit of everything; lonely, boring, scary, anxious, and so much more. However, when you are blind and have to depend on sighted assistance in unfamiliar territory, it sure makes for some very interesting challenges.

As for me, I would like to refer to myself as a fairly seasoned traveler but for all that this is worth, I still have a plethora of feelings each time I do it alone. I do my best to line up sighted assistance before I embark on my trip. That is, I notify the airline or train company that I am traveling with that I am a blind passenger and would need help. I have found that nine out of ten times it works, and staff at these companies are more than willing to help me.

The most anxious moments for me come when I have to go through security; they are not always very accommodating as they often tend to want to take my cane away from me without first asking or advising. Or when I am waiting to board either the train or plane. I sit there with fists clenched praying that they do not forget me.

I’m Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and asking you to go out there and share my thoughts with others. Visit www.traveleyes.org to learn how blind and sight impaired persons go about traveling the world.

Avoiding the Wrong Car

Now, here's a bit of humor for you.  How do I go about avoiding the wrong car?  When I had vision enough to see, I used to depend on color and size of the car but now that I have lost most of it and not enough to see the car, I have to use other methods. 

 

First, I listen for the sound of either the approaching or idling engine.  In almost all cases, I ask those picking me up to blow the horn a certain number of times when they come to meet me and this works very well.  However, if for some reason the horn strategy does not work and there is more than one car waiting out there, I then have to deploy different tactics and it comes down to teamwork between me and the one picking me up.

 

When I was able to see, and if it was dark, I had a prearranged light signal but now the one picking me up has to come out of their car and call to me.  If I am unlucky enough to walk towards the wrong car then I have to use my sense of smell.  That is, upon opening the door, I have to make sure that the smell is familiar enough to me.  Failing this, I have to use my sense of feel and touch to quickly seek out familiarity with regard to the feel of the car.  Things such as; the feel of the door handle, the seat belt, the seat itself, and anything else that would help me to identify things quickly. 

 

The strategies used to identify the right car to get into depend on the level of vision.  If one has enough sight to identify color and shape, then these are the strategies to use but if one does not have enough sight then strategies outlined above would surely work.   If you would like to learn more, then please visit www.nfb.org.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and share my blogs with the rest of the world.

Which Subway Stop Am I At?

For those with vision, it is not an issue for them to know which stop they are at when traveling on the bus or subway, but for me it is. If I travel by train there is no problem because the conductor announces each stop. Up until a year ago, blind and visually-impaired persons living in Toronto had to depend on several techniques to tell them where they were when traveling by bus or subway but since then -- thanks to the hard and tireless advocacy of David Lepovsky, a blind lawyer -- this has changed.

David had to lobby for over 10 years in order to get the Toronto Transit Commission to implement a system whereby stops along bus and subway routes would be announced. The TTC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting against, David but in the end they lost their case and David prevailed. This case should never have gone this far but I guess the TTC was determined to be stubborn. David prevailed against Goliath.

So, how do blind and visually-impaired persons overcome the challenge of knowing which stop is the correct one for them?

They can count the stops as they travel along. On the subway it is easier as the subway always stops at preset locations, but for a bus it is different because the driver does not always stop at the same location. If there is no one standing at a pre-designated bus stop as the bus approaches, the driver often drives by and moves on to the next stop. If this occurs, it is then difficult for a person without vision to know if a stop has been bypassed or not. Before David won his case, some bus drivers used to announce the stops but those without vision could not always depend on the driver to announce the stops.

Within the last few years, there have been some exciting breakthroughs in the form of talking GPS gadgets for blind and visually-impaired persons. However, they are not cheap and most blind and visually-impaired persons are unable to afford them. There are two specific ones that I am personally aware of and these can help a blind person to plot their route and familiarize themselves with their immediate surroundings. Blind and visually-impaired persons can use these devices to make traveling easier and more enjoyable and they can also become more independent as well. You can learn more about these exciting devices by visiting www.humanware.com.

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 spread the word that blind and visually-impaired persons can and do travel around on their own.