Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind the source for blindness news and information since 1907

I don’t need to remind all of you about how expensive adaptive products for the blind can be.  I’ve often theorized that the problem has to do with basic supply and demand, but even so, there is still the matter of affordability on the part of the consumers that these products are meant for.

Just when I thought there were no more adaptive products that are overpriced, I was surprised today to learn about the cost of a brand new talking HD radio for the blind.  I am sure that the radio itself is manufactured like any other radio, except for the necessary adaptations added for the blind.  These adaptations, in my opinion, should not increase the cost of this desk top radio to $249.  I have to compare the features in this radio to the circuitry of a regular calculator.  Think of all that goes into a regular calculator.  There are microchips in the calculator which make it perform square routes, exponentiation, scientific notation, etc., and with all the sophisticated engineering that has to be manufactured in order to make this particular calculator work, you only spend $10 in a store.  Am I supposed to believe that one simple adaptation to a desk top radio will increase its cost by nearly $100, just so the blind can use it better? We’re not exactly asking the radio to perform advanced calculus for us. We’re only asking it to talk.  I can get a talking watch for $14.  Why is a $25 desk top radio ten times more expensive just because it talks?

I will say this again: If we blind people want to be as independent as the sighted, companies that manufacture adaptive products need to lower their prices so we can afford to be independent.  Do you want to spend nearly half of your disability check on a desk top radio designed especially for you? What about your rent, your grocery bill, your utility bill, your transportation needs, etc?

Though I understand the concept of supply and demand, it doesn’t apply in this case.  Blind people, for whatever reason, usually live on fixed incomes.  It’s true that many are qualified to make lots of money if they are given a chance to work, but if they aren’t allowed in the work force because of discrimination or any other obstacle, they still need to live a life, so they must be able to afford to do it.  These practices are holding us back.

What do you think?

It was almost Christmas day in 2005 and I was overwhelmed with responsibilities–one more Avon order to ship out and many gifts to wrap for my family.  Baking was simply out of the question.  At the last minute, I thought of the ice-cream replica of a desert enjoyed in a Boston restaurant.

I could make my microwave fudge which took little time and with Christmas music playing, I assembled the ingredients for the ice-cream pie.  You have to let the ice-cream soften for about 20 minutes too long, leaving it a semi-soupy texture.  I quickly blended it, adding hot fudge sauce and topping it with ice cream bars. It was refrigerated overnight and nicely survived the trip to Gardner.  I had wrapped it in foil and plastic wrap to make transition easy. Christmas Eve day I quickly finished making the fudge, refrigerating it until our trip to Gardner.

The pies and fudge were a big hit with everyone gathered at the table Christmas day.  “How did you make it?” and “We love the ice cream bars on top,” were responses to my culinary delight.

So, if you wish to add a new dessert to your table this year, here are the two recipes for ice cream pie and microwave fudge.

Ice cream pie:

Ingredients: 

2 pints coffee ice-cream, two pints chocolate ice-cream, two graham cracker or Oreo pie crusts, one jar Friendy’s or other fudge sauce, and two chocolate-covered ice cream bars.

Directions:

Grab a large mixing bowl and metal or large plastic stirring spoon and have handy paper plates and paper towels. Soften four pints of ice-cream for ten minutes, stir with spoon for 2 minutes and then add hot fudge sauce for one minute.  Spoon into pie crusts, and top with broken up ice cream bars.   Put pans on paper towel-lined disposable plates. Place in freezer. Let freeze until solid–this will take eight to twelve hours. Partially thaw in refrigerator for half an hour and serve.  Your family will love it!

Microwave fudge:

Ingredients: three sticks real butter, no substitutions, one pound powdered sugar, one-and a half cups unsweetened cocoa, a pinch of salt, one square bitter sweet or unsweetened chocolate, vanilla to taste, a 12-ounce package semi-sweet chocolate bits.

Directions:

You’ll need a 2 quart glass or plastic microwave safe dish, or a plastic bowl, a sturdy plastic wooden or silicone spoon.   You’ll also need a 9 by 9 baking dish or foil pan, plastic wrap, and margarine to grease pans.

Put the butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, and salt in the large dish. Whisk to combine for 30 seconds, adding chocolate bits.  Microwave on high for two minutes and thirty seconds, remove and stir for a minute, adding vanilla and chocolate chips.  Then, microwave for one minute and thirty seconds. Remove and stirring until creamy enough to be placed in baking pan or foil pan and refrigerate for up to eight hours.

Note: do not make fudge in humid weather, it does not harden enough. 

I hope you enjoy these recipes and have a wonderful holiday!

We come back to the interview with Charlie Collins right after he accepted the position of Vice President at the motorcycle dealership.

“I sold a lot of motorcycles and made a lot of money, and it was great.  After a while though, I realized that even though I had accomplished many goals, I wasn’t completely happy.  I felt like something was missing, I wasn’t feeling whole.” Charlie realized that individuals with vision impairments and other disabilities can achieve their goals. Coming from a past of depression, and overtime learning how to overcome obstacles and use adaptive devices, Charlie wanted to help others realize that they could do the same. “I wanted to start doing something to help other people,” he said.  “So, I decided to leave the motorcycle business to find a career doing something to help others.”

In 1997, Charlie opened Vision Dynamics, a store filled with products and services designed to help people with low vision, blindness, and learning difficulties.  “I asked my father, George Collins, if he would come by and help me hang slatwall and he has been working with me ever since that day!  With Vision Dynamics, I am working with people who are going through much of the same things I did.  We are able to provide them with tools to help individuals learn to be successful and independent.  Our staff is also able to help them overcome the negative attitude and to understand that they too can accomplish great things in their lives.  If the needs of a customer become such that they need the help of a low vision doctor, we have Dr. Randy Kinkade available at our facility to address those needs.”

Charlie also travels around the country sharing his experience, strength, and hope with others.  “It doesn’t matter if the people in the audiences are visually impaired or not, we all have struggles in our lives, these struggles give us choices.  We can choose to let the negative side beat us down, or we can choose to turn the negatives into positives and work towards accomplishing our goals.” 

When I started to write this article, I realized that I heard two voices from Charlie.  When we discussed his life before he found his calling, I heard a low and quiet tone to his voice.  When we discussed his career at Vision Dynamics, I heard a loud and enthusiastic voice. 

Collins said, “We don’t see with our eyes, we see with our brains and with the correct attitude and outlook we can accomplish anything!” The last thing Charlie said was, “Although my sight may be bad, I have clear vision–hence, Vision Dynamics, the clear vision company.”

If you would like to know more about the products and services offered at Vision Dynamics, you can reach them in one of the ways listed below:

Vision Dynamics
470 West Main St.
Cheshire, CT  06410
Phone 203 271-1944
Web:  www.visiondynamics.com
Email: Charlie@visiondynamics.com

We come back to this story right after Johnson was taken away from his captors.

Once Johnston started school, he did begin learning Braille, but his next difficult battle was right around the corner. He contracted tuberculosis, which hospitalized him for three months, but it was there where he would be introduced to another guardian angel. “They brought this lady into my room, who worked with families in the United States that wanted to adopt kids,” Johnston said. “When they told her what happened to me she started crying, and then she told me she would find a place for me.”

After leaving the hospital, Johnston lived in two orphanages, and approximately one year later it was time to board a plane headed for the U.S. His flight brought mixed emotions though, because the experience was like no other. “When it took off and started going up and down I started crying because I thought I was going to die,” said Johnston. “I did calm down after the turbulence, and when I got a slice of cake and soda I thought America was going to be great.”

He would settle in St. Louis, Missouri, with his new family that went from having ten kids when he first arrived to eventually twenty-one. Although there was no abuse, life was still difficult with factors such as the language barrier, school, and missing his biological family. But things really began changing for him when he attended the Colorado Center for the Blind, a rehab center run by the blind that offers independent living skills training to blind people of all ages.

Johnston became a full time student of the nine month program four years ago, and was flabbergasted with the way students and staff cooked, cleaned, and traveled.

Johnston remained in Colorado after completing the program, but for all of his newfound happiness there was still a missing piece. He often cried when he thought about his family in Ethiopia, always promising himself that he would make it back to see them someday. That opportunity eventually did come to fruition, unfortunately not without more heartbreak though.

A friend, who had a nonprofit organization in Ethiopia that helped kids without families, once surprised him with a picture of his biological mom. By then it was fifteen years since he had last seen her, so the initial astonishment was overwhelming. After collecting himself, he asked about his younger sister, only to hear that she lost her life years earlier to tuberculosis.  “Any time I talk about her I cry.” said Johnston. “Her dad was mean to me and my mom, so that made me be mean to her, and I always wanted to explain myself and say I’m sorry.”

Eight months after receiving the photograph of his mother, he was on a plane to Ethiopia, finally making it back in June of 2009. When the car he was riding in arrived to the village, it was flagged down by a woman walking in the road. “She asked why we were there,” said Johnston. “Then when the translator told her who I was she dropped her bags, ripped open the back door, and started screaming and kissing me.” He did not remember her, but it was his cousin who knew all about him being taken sixteen years earlier. Her jubilance commanded enough attention that people began inquiring about what was going on, and word spread through the village like wild fire. The vehicle never quite made it to his mom’s house because a spontaneous parade broke out with most of the village dancing and singing while marching down the hill. The avalanche of people seemed endless, but one tiny lady finally made it through, and he still recognized his mom’s voice all these years later. “She almost knocked me down,” said Johnston. “She said my world is here and she was just bawling.”

They spent the next week catching up, because she knew nothing about his story, not even that he was blind. In fact she actually thought he was dead, telling him that she cried uncontrollably at every funeral. He needed her to know that it was not her fault and life is great in America today. Actually, Johnston said, despite what he went through, he would do it all over again. The one issue that he has with his path is the fact that he will never see his sister again, saying, “I would have done anything to trade places with her.” Since trading places is not an option, he is determined to make a difference in his homeland, and has already made tremendous progress.

Today he is a part of a nonprofit organization that works with blind kids in Ethiopia, assuring them an opportunity for an education. He wants them to know that their condition does not mean life is over, helping them to understand that it actually can be a new beginning. He wants to use the strength he acquired from the Colorado Center as a guide for accomplishing his mission. In accordance with that mission, he vows to keep a promise that he made to his mom just before he left to go back home to Denver–”I will be back in four years,” Johnston said. In the meantime, he is working on his under graduate degree, with thoughts every day of how his life changed so drastically eighteen months ago when he was reunited with his mother.

Joe Monks lost his sight in 2002 from complications with diabetes. However, the former comic book writer not only wrote, but recently directed a film which will be released in 2011.

According to sources in Cape Coral, Florida, where the film was shot, the film will receive international distribution once the final touches are made. The film took five years to reach this historic point.

“We had a zillion things go wrong,” says Monks of his directorial debut, “The Bunker.” “Everything from reshoots, to footage being ruined because someone clueless was standing next to our cameras with his cell phone on vibrate, to rescoring the entire film after receiving an offer for international distribution. I’ve had to dump a lot of dead weight along the way, but with the path finally clear, ‘The Bunker’ should be out in 2011.”

Monks has also distributed the film by putting it on kickstarter.com to generate more financing. Those who pledge will receive a credit in the film.

When Monks first lost his sight, his first challenge was learning how to type using the keyboard. He also uses Jaws for Windows to perform many of the tasks on his job.

Monks lost his sight in an eye operation on a Friday, but the following day he was up and living his life as a blind person. After first learning how to type without looking at the keyboard, he began using narrator, a speech program manufactured by Microsoft. Then he looked in to Window-Eyes, but eventually found out that Jaws was more suited to his needs.

Not at all phased by his new condition, he continued writing his comics and prepared a script for “The Bunker.” He then pitched his idea to film industry executives, and the rest, they say, is history.

Monks is among the many successful blind artists who share their work with the world today.  He also wants his film to be made available to the blind population and is going to great lengths to make sure that the film will be described for the blind in the near future.

Source:  http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-tampa-bay/blind-filmmaker-puts-finishing-touches-on-debut-feature-the-bunker

My sister and I grew up in a single-parent home but somehow our mother always managed to provide what we thought was a beautiful silver tree (albeit artificial) with oodles of wonderful toys underneath.  That glorious tree appeared seemingly by magic.  As we grew older, we all trooped out to find the annual tree.  Back then, Christmas trees lined the curbs of every other block.  Our job was to pick out one that was full, yet inexpensive.  We also had the honor of carrying it home between us.  Later, we would actually visit a Christmas tree lot where there were dozens of trees in all price ranges.  That was an enchanting experience and the scent of pine throughout the living-room was simply splendid.  We decorated it with the ubiquitous red, green and gold round ornaments and garland. It was topped off with a multi-colored star.  Real trees are exquisite but the pine needles require a massive amount of sweeping.  That, too, was our job.

Why is it that putting up the holiday tree can be the source of great angst?  Aren’t we supposed to be filled with peace, joy and love?  Ba Humbug! As Maria and I put up our tree, we found it to be a sometimes stressful but often hilarious venture and we have some audio to prove it.  Picture us hunting around for a stand we know we have but cannot find to save our holiday lives.  Or, imagine us completely entangled in the chords for the lights.  One year we purchased an artificial tree that came in sections and we had to number each branch with large-print so that we would put it up correctly.  We relied on the aid of one of our trusty security guys to help us with that inaccessible task.  Another year, we put up a table-top tree on our piano, which I called our Charlie Brown tree for it was truly made pretty by Maria’s gracious ministrations.

Let’s not forget the ornaments that adorn those majestic trees once they are standing reasonably well.  I once purchased our ornaments from a local Hallmark store, but changing jobs ended that tradition.  We’ve managed to acquire a multitude of instruments and other unique baubles.  I have since seen some that I really want, including the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, a Space Shuttle, and many more.

Thanks to this article, we were spurred on to put up our white fur tree with green accents and lights. It’s quite lovely and will be even more so once we add ornaments.

Have you ever wondered why your sighted peers can’t understand what your screen reader is saying? Well now science has figured it out. Like many other changes that our brains make when one sense stops working, research has now discovered how the blind are able to listen to speech at a rate that most people consider incomprehensible.

Scientists in Germany studied this ability by having a blind person listening to synthesized speech, which can be increased to a faster speed than humans can talk, lay in a Functional Magnetic Imaging machine or FMRI. What they found was that a part of the brain previously only thought to be used to perceive light was being used in the blind participants to understand speech at an extremely high rate. This is just another demonstration of how the visual cortex in the brain of a blind person ends up being used for non-visual tasks.

I know when I started using screen readers and audio books as my primary ways of reading, I had to speed up the rate in order for me not to become bored. I felt like I needed to listen to something at the rate that I was able to read with my eyes. This experience was really interesting, especially when book readers weren’t able to speed up the rate without turning the reader into a chipmunk.

So the next time a sighted person asks you how you can possibly understand what your computer, cell phone, or book reader is saying, just tell them that it’s just one of your many super powers.

To read the full article about this fascinating research, visit this link. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-can-some-blind-people-process

Occasionally, while traveling on the paratransit bus, I’m provided with a tidbit of inspiration disguised as an ordinary comment. In fact, a while ago, I was on the bus with an older gentleman named Sol. It was the first night of Passover and he was being driven to his daughter’s home for Seder. We chatted, flitted from topic to topic. After a few minutes, I could tell he was an intelligent, sensitive man and got the feeling he’d seen more than his share of tragedy and disappointment.

At one point he asked me about my family. I described my marriage and vision loss.  He was quiet then, so I let our talk drop.

We didn’t pick up the conversation until we were closer to his destination.  Sol turned to me and said, “You’re very lucky that your husband stayed with you when you became handicapped. My ex-wife couldn’t handle it. Now I only see her on holidays. Being handicapped is lonely.”

Before I could even attempt some kind of futile sympathetic reply, he rolled his chair into the lift and was on the ground. I managed a short goodbye as he left.

As we bumped and swayed toward home, Sol’s last words stayed with me, sticking like cold oatmeal to my heart’s cereal bowl. No matter how much I scrubbed, his words wouldn’t come off.

Now, I’m writing about our interaction because I can’t forget what he said and why I am bothered by it. So, in the interest of writing, I’m counting on the creative process to discover the message within, to reveal the meat of things.

Sol’s remark hit me in the gut, reminding me that disability can be isolating, an element I’d like to ignore. Was I going to end up like Sol? Would my husband one day decide my blindness was too much to handle and leave? Would my children and family members only come to see me because they pity me? Worst of all, he used the word ‘handicapped’ to describe his disability. The word should be scrubbed from our vocabulary because it implies a person with a disability is unable to care for or make decisions for him/herself. It is a crippling word that perpetuates dependence, not independence.  

Sol’s disparagement affected me on many levels, but the result was that through him I felt my fragility. If I wasn’t careful, I, too, could, one day, turn into a female version of Sol.  The thought scared me.

I want to avoid the congealed feeling of isolation as much as possible. I do, however, have a propensity to crave it and often find myself questioning how much time being alone is enough, or vice-versa. To be limited as to how much love I can give and receive by others due to being disabled provokes a very dark feeling inside my soul. There are times when I want the door bell to ring and times when I want to retreat from friends and family.

Meeting Sol that day gave me pause and made me think about my role in relationships. I’ve come to the conclusion that my desires are arbitrary. For instance, one day I can crave writing time more than a chocolate bar. Other days, I just don’t want to be alone. I also recognized that my moods haven’t anything to do with being blind. It’s who I am as a whole that matters, not just one aspect which identifies me.

I wanted to tell Sol that his words changed something for me. I hope to one day tell him. Maybe it’s in our cards to meet again on the short bus. I’m thinking of going on a campaign to re-name it the ride into the human condition.

Hello Everyone,

To start, I’d like to wish everyone a happy and healthy upcoming holiday weekend.  I hope that you all have plans to see your friends and family.  I also hope that, unlike me, you’ve got all your shopping done.  This Christmas has essentially snuck up on me and I’ve still got gifts to buy.  I’m not a fan of last minute shopping, having to battle the hoards of crazy shoppers and long lines filled with people who, like me, may have said, “Oh, Christmas is still weeks away, I’ve got plenty of time.”  Now they’re tearing through the mall, the wheels of their shopping carts squealing around corners as they quickly navigate the labyrinth of people all around them.  I swear, this time of year, if you’re a shopper you need to be part ninja to make it out of the big stores alive.

Moving on to the more important news, I’d like to remind all of you that the November audio edition of the magazine is available on our website under the ‘Audio’ tab, and those of you who subscribe to the audio edition should have received your emails last week. 

Also, I’d like to fill you in on our magazine schedule.  At this point, I’m planning on releasing a magazine next week on Monday, December 27.  Due to the holidays, I will set everything up this Thursday and it will automatically go out the following Monday morning.  If you have any special notices or pen pal ads, please send them to me before then.  There will not be a magazine released the week of January 3.

That should cover everything for now.  I hope you all have a great week.  Take care, and thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Ross Hammond, Editor

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening, half butter

half cup granulated sugar

half cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Half teaspoon salt

Half teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  In large bowl, with electric mixer, cream butter and sugars till fluffy.  Add vanilla and egg and beat for about 30 seconds.  Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Put enough water in a small dish to cover the bottom.  Place red or green colored sugar in another dish.  Form dough into walnut-sized balls.  Dip top of each ball in water just enough to moisten, then dip tops in colored sugar.  Place, sugar side up, two inches apart, on ungreased baking sheet.  Do not press down.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool for at least one minute before removing from baking sheet.  Makes about three dozen.