Another Week Finished

I've completed another week at Vision Loss Resources, so I thought I'd post a quick report.

Braille remains very hard, but I have moved into Class II very quickly. Sandy, the instructor, says very few students move into class II so fast.

Keyboarding is almost a joke for me. It was a simple matter to learn to touch-type because I already had the necessary finger coordination needed for touch-typing. I am slated to take a time test next week. I intended to stay with the class until I can reach a speed of about sixty words a minute.

Technology and Cyber are also going well. I have just about mastered JAWS for Windows, and I am learning to use my ears as the primary sensory input instead of my eyes. It takes a little time to re-wire the brain to change the way it receives and processes information, but I am getting there.

Leisure Ed and Woodworking are both nice breaks from the hustle and bustle of the more mentally draining classes. I have almost finished my little trinket box in Leisure Ed, and I have finished my birdhouse and am nearly done with my kitchen shelves in Wood. I plan to attempt to build an adirondack chair next.

I plan to drop Recreation and Physical Fitness soon. I get enough exercise walking from the bus to school, from the bus to home, and by wandering around during Mobility and Orientation class. I spend about two hours plus walking every day.

Speaking of Mobility and Orientation, that class has been one of the most interesting. It's hard to imagine what it is like to motor around with a white cane and your ears as your primary means of being secure, while moving through space you can't see, until you've actually done it. Today I walked around between Lyndale and Blaisdel going north-south and Franklin and Twenty-sixth street going east-west. My instructor started me at the northwest corner of Garfield and twenty-second, put the blinders on me, and sent me all over the area. He would say something like, "Go to the southwest corner of Pleasant and twenty-fifth," and off I would go. Yesterday he handed me a bus pass and a ten-dollar bill and said to go to the Farmer's Market on Nicollet Mall and pick up some strawberries. Then I was told to wander around the skyway for awhile, then come back to the school. It was fun. Next week we plan to do Uptown with the blindfold on.

Techniques in Daily Living and Cooking are also proving more fun than I thought they might. I can now thread a needle and sew on a button without looking, I am learning all kinds of ways to adapt stuff around the house to low vision equipment, and who would have thought I could make such good chicken enchiladas using adaptive technology. And hey, the microwave speaks in a pleasant British accent, so what's not to like.

I have also been exposed to described video, and over the next few weeks I get to start some new stuff. Next week we start a support group called Living With Blindness, which is a more formal version of what happens around the lunch table everyday. I am also going to check out free-standing lighted magnifiers, and CCTV for reading print. Eventually I plan to learn about the Guide Dog program.

The classes are great, but what is really amazing is the community. The clients who have been there longer are helpful to the newbies. The counselors are great people, who work hard to keep the clients engaged. The general feeling of friendship and camaraderie is strong. The unspoken motto seems to be that we are all in this together, each and every one of us. The level of understanding and support is high. After only being there for four weeks, I've already found myself being one of the people who give encouragement to newer clients. There is a very positive culture at Vision Loss Resources.

I plan to start agitating a little to get State Services for the Blind to help me acquire some of the adaptive technology to use at home, such as JAWS for Windows, a pocket 4-track cassette player/recorder, and maybe a CCTV to read with.

That's all for now!
Michael

Another Week Finished

I've completed another week at Vision Loss Resources, so I thought I'd post a quick report.

Braille remains very hard, but I have moved into Class II very quickly. Sandy, the instructor, says very few students move into class II so fast.

Keyboarding is almost a joke for me. It was a simple matter to learn to touch-type because I already had the necessary finger coordination needed for touch-typing. I am slated to take a time test next week. I intended to stay with the class until I can reach a speed of about sixty words a minute.

Technology and Cyber are also going well. I have just about mastered JAWS for Windows, and I am learning to use my ears as the primary sensory input instead of my eyes. It takes a little time to re-wire the brain to change the way it receives and processes information, but I am getting there.

Leisure Ed and Woodworking are both nice breaks from the hustle and bustle of the more mentally draining classes. I have almost finished my little trinket box in Leisure Ed, and I have finished my birdhouse and am nearly done with my kitchen shelves in Wood. I plan to attempt to build an adirondack chair next.

I plan to drop Recreation and Physical Fitness soon. I get enough exercise walking from the bus to school, from the bus to home, and by wandering around during Mobility and Orientation class. I spend about two hours plus walking every day.

Speaking of Mobility and Orientation, that class has been one of the most interesting. It's hard to imagine what it is like to motor around with a white cane and your ears as your primary means of being secure, while moving through space you can't see, until you've actually done it. Today I walked around between Lyndale and Blaisdel going north-south and Franklin and Twenty-sixth street going east-west. My instructor started me at the northwest corner of Garfield and twenty-second, put the blinders on me, and sent me all over the area. He would say something like, "Go to the southwest corner of Pleasant and twenty-fifth," and off I would go. Yesterday he handed me a bus pass and a ten-dollar bill and said to go to the Farmer's Market on Nicollet Mall and pick up some strawberries. Then I was told to wander around the skyway for awhile, then come back to the school. It was fun. Next week we plan to do Uptown with the blindfold on.

Techniques in Daily Living and Cooking are also proving more fun than I thought they might. I can now thread a needle and sew on a button without looking, I am learning all kinds of ways to adapt stuff around the house to low vision equipment, and who would have thought I could make such good chicken enchiladas using adaptive technology. And hey, the microwave speaks in a pleasant British accent, so what's not to like.

I have also been exposed to described video, and over the next few weeks I get to start some new stuff. Next week we start a support group called Living With Blindness, which is a more formal version of what happens around the lunch table everyday. I am also going to check out free-standing lighted magnifiers, and CCTV for reading print. Eventually I plan to learn about the Guide Dog program.

The classes are great, but what is really amazing is the community. The clients who have been there longer are helpful to the newbies. The counselors are great people, who work hard to keep the clients engaged. The general feeling of friendship and camaraderie is strong. The unspoken motto seems to be that we are all in this together, each and every one of us. The level of understanding and support is high. After only being there for four weeks, I've already found myself being one of the people who give encouragement to newer clients. There is a very positive culture at Vision Loss Resources.

I plan to start agitating a little to get State Services for the Blind to help me acquire some of the adaptive technology to use at home, such as JAWS for Windows, a pocket 4-track cassette player/recorder, and maybe a CCTV to read with.

That's all for now!
Michael