A Busy Day

[chelseajmunoz]

In case anyone wonders why I write about such mundane things as getting things set up in a new state I write about those things because I think it's important that the sighted public know what a crazy process it is for people who are blind to relocate to a new place. Because as blind people we're constantly having to problem-solve in numerous ways that sighted people never have to problem-solve in. As I've written in blog entries before, blind people have to plan everything when he or she wants to go somewhere (like how long he or she'll be gone, what method of transportation he or she's going to take, whether he or she should eat before leaving home or while he or she's out and about ETC). All of those things I listed are things that sighted people just flat out don't have to think about because sighted people can get in his or her car to drive wherever he or she wants or needs to go. A sighted person can use his or her car to put whatever things in it that he or she needs to take with him or her. Whereas a blind person has to carry a backpack, purse ETC with him or her because he or she doesn't have a place to put the items that are needed for the outing she or he's going to go on. So I think it's important to talk about the seemingly mundane things in my blog because people need to be educated about how life as a blind person is much different than life as a sighted person in some huge ways. Note that I used the word "different" rather than the word "harder." Everyone has struggles regardless of who he or she is. This morning I called the VRC who's in my area to talk to him about the fact that I want to go back to college. I told him that I want to be a therapist. He said he'd definitely open up a case for me with the agency that he works for but that he'd have to get back with me about when him and I could actually meet with one another. One thing he told me during his and my conversation was that he'd recommend I start going to school in the fall rather than in the summer because the course load for students in the summertime is much heavier than it is in the fall. During his and my conversation though another thing he told me was that if I go to a state school rather than a community college the agency that he works for would pay for my lodging. The fact that that particular agency would pay for my lodging would be great because I could have my own place again. Another thing he and I talked about was the fact that I'd like him to set me up with Orientation and Mobility (O&M) so that I can learn how to get around this new place. He then asked if I'd been to any type of training center before and I told him that I'd been to the Louisiana Center for the Blind. He then said something like "Well then you should have all the necessary mobility skills to get around anywhere, shouldn't you?" I then said "Well that's certainly the LCB's claim to fame but I have not found that to be true for myself." He then expressed that he had questions about that particular claim to fame of LCB's and that he'd definitely get me O&M services here. During his and my conversation he also told me that if I attend a state school rather than a community college the agency that he works for would be able to pay. for my lodging. Whereas if I go to a community college the agency that he works for doesn't have anything to do with a student's lodging. As he and I wrapped up our conversation with one another he told me that he'd need some time to get back with me because he needs to find a sighted person to help him and I fill out paperwork for that particular agency to be able to open up a case for me. I gave him a bit of a hard time about that because the agency he works for helps blind people get jobs or further his or her education. Yet said agency still fills out paperwork in print which someone who's blind can't read. He said he thinks that this sort of thing will always be a fact of blind people's lives and I agree to an extent. I agree with his assessment to the extent that society as a whole will likely never truly accept people with disabilities or people who are under any other minority group. However when it comes to the rights that people who are disabled have I don't at all think it's right for blind people to be resigned to the fact that we're always going to have to interact with print somehow or another. Because as blind people we have the same access rights as anyone else (this means that since sighted people have access to print materials so too do people who are blind.) While I was on the phone with the VRC in this particular area I received a couple phone calls. One of those phone calls was from Apple. I don't know who the other phone call was from because no one left me a message. Once I'd gotten off the phone with the VRC in my area though I read the email that the Senior Advisor who's handling my case at Apple had sent me. She just wanted me to know that she'd gotten in touch with Apple's Training Department and that she thinks that Apple is finally in the process of getting my refund back to me. After I'd read the email from the Senior Advisor at Apple I read a few emails from Bookshare. One of the emails from Bookshare said that I could get a free Bookshare membership if I was a patron of one of the local State Libraries for the Blind in this state. So of course I emailed the person who'd emailed me from Bookshare to let him or her know that I was indeed a patron of one of the local State Libraries for the Blind here. A few minutes later I received an email from the same person at Bookshare informing me that the State Libraries for the Blind here have multiple promotional codes that that agency's patrons can use. So I then called the Library for the Blind that I'm a patron of to find out from that particular agency which code I could use to have a free Bookshare membership. Unfortunately the lady I was put in touch with didn't answer her phone and her voicemail was full so I couldn't leave her a message. Fortunately though she was the one I'd received an email from when I asked that particular Library for the Blind about reactivating my library services. So I easily located her email address and sent her an email to ask her which promotional code she'd like me to use for me to have a free Bookshare membership. Shortly after I'd emailed her I Googled one of the state schools because I wanted to ask someone from that particular state school if I could just jump into going to a state school rather than having to attend a community college first. A little while after I'd sent those questions to a local state school here I Googled something like "Adnan, case update" because I wanted to see what the latest update was on Adnan's case. Because like I'd said in earlier blog entries the podcast Serial didn't talk about whether Adnan was still in prison to this day or not. Given how much of a fan I was of that particular story I wanted to be able to keep up on Adnan's case. What I ended up reading when I'd Googled "Adnan, case update" was that as of December 28 2017 Adnan was still in prison. That is just craziness to me! A while after I'd Googled Adnan I received an email from someone who works at the Library for the Blind in this state. In the email the person had sent me he or she wanted to know whether the fee had been paid for me to have a Bookshare membership. So I replied to said email to let the person know that no fee had been paid for me to have a Bookshare membership yet. Shortly after I'd responded to that email I received another response from the same person from the State Library for the Blind. The person gave me a link to a survey that I was asked to fill out before giving Bookshare the promotional code that I was given in the same email. So I filled out the survey I'd been asked to fill out. The survey asked questions like "How satisfied are you with the amount of materials that you are able to read right now?" to "How do you read things right now? On an iPhone? On a PC or Mac? ETC." After I'd filled out the survey I emailed Bookshare the promotional code that I was given by someone from the State Library for the Blind in this state. I then received an email from the Admissions and Records Department of one of the state colleges in response to the message I'd sent that particular state college earlier in the day. The person who'd responded to my inquiry told me that that particular state college has a year waiting list for students to attend said college. A little while after I'd read the email from the one state college I received an email from someone at Bookshare. In the email the person from Bookshare sent me he or she let me know that I could use my Bookshare account. So I downloaded Bookshare's app for my iPhone and set the app settings the way I want them. However I couldn't figure out how to read books using Bookshare's iPhone app so I asked a friend how to read books using said app. Hopefully she'll get back with me soon because if I can't read books using this app then I'm going to ask Bookshare to refund my money.