Some Dos And Don'ts For Interacting With Blind People, And Hopefully Making Progress

[chelseajmunoz]

A while before this month's train trip was to happen I downloaded a podcast onto my phone so that I'd have several hours of audio to listen to. Because if people who are traveling are by his or herself and the person doesn't have much to entertain his or herself with on the train ride, the train ride can get boring as hell for him or her. In fact whenever I've taken trains before, I've been bored out of my mind, especially because my iPhone 7 only has 32 gigs of space on it. However the fact that my iPhone only has 32 gigs of space made me look for other ways to entertain myself on the train this time around, especially given the fact that the music that's currently on my phone is not even my entire music catalogue. When I was on the train Thursday through yesterday morning I listened to several episodes of a podcast called Serial. The podcast Serial is a story about a guy from Pakistan who allegedly murdered a woman he'd dated in high school. Throughout Serial episodes though the person who's listening to that particular podcast has no idea whether Adnan (the main character in the story who's from Pakistan) actually committed the murder or not. I'm interested to keep listening to Serial because I want to know how that particular podcast actually ends. I'm told though that even when Serial ends, the people listening to that particular podcast don't know exactly how the story ends because the lady who created the podcast wants to let people come to his or her own conclusions about the story's ending. So we'll see what happens as I continue listening to the story. For anyone who hasn't checked out the podcast Serial I highly recommend you check it out. It's fucking amazing in the way that it hooks its listeners from the start of the story and keeps its listeners wanting to know more even as the story goes on. In the last blog entry that I’d written yesterday I forgot to mention that when I was waiting in San Antonio's train station early Thursday morning the friend who'd taken me to the train station planned to wait with me until the train was ready for people to board. However a little while after my friend had already been in the train station someone told my friend that he needed to leave. The guy who told my friend that he needed to leave asked if the car that was parked outside of the train station was my friend's vehicle. My friend said that the vehicle that was outside of the train station was indeed his vehicle. He then left the train station as the person had instructed him to. Not even five minutes later though there was an announcement that the train was about to let people start boarding. A lady who was also. getting onto the train asked me if I was going to get on and I said something like "Well I need to but this asshole just told my friend to leave. My friend was staying at the train station to help me because he knew that I'd need help getting onto and settling onto the train. Yet this asshole who didn't ask any question other than whether the vehicle outside of the train station was my friend's vehicle, told him to leave without even knowing why he was there in the first place. I use a cane in each hand and I have this heavy backpack to carry as well. So I really do need the help." The lady said that she'd make sure I had assistance getting onto the train. Fortunately one of the train conductors remembered me from the last time I'd taken the train so he knew that I needed assistance. As I was riding in a golf cart toward the train, the guy who had told my friend to leave came and apologized to me for making my friend leave prematurely. I told him that he should be sorry for doing that because that was really fucked up of him, especially considering that he could see with his eyes that I had two visible disabilities. I felt empowered when I stood up to that guy because in the past I would've just let something like that go without saying anything. Because as a woman I'm taught to not rock the boat or to not otherwise cause any trouble in anyone's life even if I feel wronged in some way. However in that particular situation I felt wronged and I knew that part of knowing my truths and sticking to those truths was for me to speak up about how I felt. That story was an example where someone demonstrated how being a dick does not get him brownie points or an "I'm sorry for being outspoken" from me. In the last blog entry that I'd written yesterday I also forgot to mention another story that's similar in nature to the example I just gave where the guy at the San Antonio train station told my friend to leave me there. This next story though took place when I'd gotten off of the Amtrak train at my destination yesterday. Once I'd gotten off of the Amtrak train my friend and I needed to get onto a train together that would take us to the city where his apartment was located. As he and I were standing near the area where the train would open up its doors to people soon a lady asked the two of us if we wanted to sit down. Considering that i'd been sitting for more than a day's time I told her that I was fine standing up. She then proceeded to tell me that I had more than half an hour before the train actually opened up its doors to people. Again I told her that I was fine standing up. In a grouchy tone of voice she then said "I was just trying to be helpful!" There's this perception among some sighted people that if a disabled person doesn't accept his or her help, the disabled person is a bitch or an asshole. However here is the thing: I'm the expert on what my body can and can't handle, not the sighted public who occasionally assumes that they know what's best for me because they have working eyesight and I don't have any eyesight. Hopefully through reading this particular blog entry of mine as well as the other blog entries I've written here, the sighted public will start to think about how the way they sometimes act towards people who are disabled is actually unhelpful to the disabled person rather than helpful to him or her. In the last blog entry that I'd written yesterday I also forgot to mention that I'd received a print letter from the Library for the Blind. That particular agency had mailed the letter to the new state I've located to, to let me know that my library services had transferred from Texas to the new state smoothly. Because a week or so before I'd left Texas I'd contacted the Texas State Library for the Blind to ask that particular agency to transfer my library services to the State Library for the Blind in the new state I'd be in. Anyway going back to the letter that I'd received from the Library for the Blind in the state I'm currently in: I was able to read the print letter that the Library for the Blind had sent me, by using what's called a Close Circuit Television (CCTV). Interestingly a CCTV is primarily used by people who have some usable vision and who are able to read print. The CCTV makes it possible for people to enlarge the print that's on books, pamphlets or pages of printed paper. However the CCTVs that are made nowadays also have a built-in feature where people who are blind can read printed papers by taking a picture of the printed papers with the CCTV's built-in scanner. How it works is that a person places the piece of printed paper in the middle of the machine. Then he or she presses a button that takes a picture of the printed paper. Once the scanner that's attached to the CCTV finishes taking a picture of the printed paper, the scanner on the CCTV then speaks the text of the paper aloud so that a blind person can know what the print item is that she or he's received. Before my friend showed me that particular piece of technology though I wasn't aware that something like that even existed. This piece of technology really makes me happy. Although I always get excited when I find new ways to further my independence! Now I'll write about a story where two people were willing to help me resolve a situation as best as they could. This morning I talked with Apple about the issue I'm having regarding trying to complete the AppleCare Technician Training as a totally blind person. At first I spoke with an Advisor who communicated that she'd need to put me on the line with an advisor who had more seniority than she did. I'd actually expected her to do that because when I'd communicated with Apple Support on Twitter last week, someone from Apple Support had let me know that I'd need to speak with a Senior-level advisor. So after I'd waited on hold for a Senior Advisor to get on the line, the first Advisor I'd talked to finally came on the line with a Senior Advisor. The first Advisor told the Senior Advisor what the issue was that I was running into regarding the AppleCare Technician Training. The Senior Advisor then repeated the problem I'm having as she'd understood it. I verified that she was correct in her understanding of the problem. She then asked me if I knew whether there were images in the training modules on Apple's training website. I told her that I suspected that there were modules on Apple's training website which VoiceOver couldn't read. I explained to her how I'd been navigating Apple's training website using VoiceOver on my MacBook Pro. She then verified through using VoiceOver herself that what I was running into was the images that VoiceOver couldn't read because VoiceOver is unable to read pictures of text. The Senior Advisor then told me that she was going to forward this particular issue to an engineer who works in Apple's Accessibility Department because he or she may be able to help determine how this issue can be resolved. She said that she'd need a few days to work on my issue but that she wouldn't mind calling me sometime next week to let me know the status of things. I told her that it would be great if she'd call me sometime next week even if it's just to let me know that Apple needs more time to work on this issue because if I don't hear anything from her I'd likely feel anxious at not knowing anything whatsoever. At least in the past where I've run into situations that are similar to this one, I felt anxious as hell when I didn't even have a general idea of what the status of the situation was. So anyway this particular story was an example of how Apple is willing to work with me to do what they can to help me be able to complete the AppleCare Technician Training that I'd purchased a month or so ago. That's one reason why I want to work for Apple at some point though: because for the most part Apple's customer service is top-notch. I want to be a part of something huge like Apple in the way that some people need to be a part of a religion that makes him or her feel comforted and loved. The reason I want to be a part of something huge like Apple is because I think there's a lot of power in people's self-expression. For me to be able to work in a field where I can grow as a person and also a field in where I can help brighten other people's lives and possibly even teach him or her something of value, that sort of thing would provide me with the comfort, security and feeling of a life well-lived that many people feel religion gives him or her. Before i'd talked with Apple this morning though I Googled "Library for the Blind" along with the state that I'm currently in because I wanted to find an email address for that particular Library for the Blind. I wanted to email the Library for the Blind in this particular state because since I've relocated from Texas my Library for the Blind services would need to be re-activated in the new state I'm in. Fortunately I found an email address for the Library for the Blind and I emailed that particular agency to let them know that I'd like to re-activate my library services. In the same email I'd sent the State Library for the Blind I also asked that particular agency whether they'd send me emails whenever they need to communicate with me. That way I can respond to things in a timely manner if I need to do so. Because if the State Library for the Blind sends me printed paper, it may take me longer to read said paper simply because I don't check the physical mail every day. Whereas with my email I check my email sometimes several times a day whenever I receive an alert that an email has come in to my email accounts. Hopefully the new State Library for the Blind will understand where I'm coming from in this matter.