Podcasts about san francisco lighthouse

Denise will present in the first half hour from 8 to 8:30pm Eastern and Raquel will present in the second half hour from 8:30 to 9pm Eastern. Speak To Me Catalog We are happy once again to welcome back Denise Russell the Founder of Speak To Me Catalog. This fine company was founded in July of 1994. Denise and her late husband and dear friend Seth worked tirelessly over the years to expand this fine company. This year once again, Denise will discuss her products for the holiday season. San Francisco Lighthouse Store The store is located at their San Francisco headquarters at 1155 Market Street, on the 10th floor and is called Adaptations. Adaptations Online is where their producsts can be purchased online. Raquel will discuss their available products. Presenter Contact Info Speak To Me Catalog Website: www.speaktomecatalog.com/ Email: customer.service@speaktomecatalog.com Phone: 800-248-9965 San Francisco Lighthouse Store Email: rgomez@lighthouse-sf.org Website: https://adaptations.org/

BCK? Right. We get to learn all about that during our conversation this time with Milam Miller. Milam began life in Texas, but has moved around quite a bit over his life. He always has had some interests in sports as he will tell us.   During his time in New York years ago he dreamed of securing a job with his favorite baseball team, the New York Yankees. He decided that he didn't really want to see “the behind the scenes” of the Yankees or any other team. He ended up more on the sales and promotions side of sports.   His jobs eventually took him to the UK, but eventually, the pandemic happened. For the first two years of the pandemic, he went back to Texas. In 2022 his wife's job caused the two of them to move to Toronto Ontario where they are today.   As he looked for things to do at the start of the pandemic he hit on what became for him a watch phrase, “BCK”, (Be Confident and Kind) As he describes, what was a watch phrase for him has grown not only into a coaching business for him, but an actual movement. I leave it to Milam to tell us about that. I think why I say that there is no doubt that Milam is definitely unstoppable.     About the Guest:   “Be Confident & Kind” (or BCK) was a personal mantra that Milam Miller created in July 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Life was uncertain and he knew one thing to be true–showing up in a confident & kind manner kept his inner light burning bright.   What was once a private motivating statement is now a public movement. Milam launched BCK in order to offer his whole self to organizations looking to invest in its people.    BCK believes in a confident and kind approach to work, in which people are put before profits. A coachable workforce - that is already skilled and, hopefully, well trained - will, in fact, yield higher profit margins. Milam is an expert in encouraging leaders and cultivating collaboration amongst teams, especially innately competitive sales teams.   When he's not facilitating in the boardroom or on 1:1 coaching calls, Milam can be found teaching in the yoga studio. One of the greatest gifts in life is to be able to move somebody - whether that be physically, mentally or emotionally - to a place of transformation.     Ways to connect with Milam:   Website: https://www.bckconsulting.org/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/milam-miller-bck Instagram: @milamrmiller   About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes      Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, howdy, everyone. I am Michael Hingson, sometimes known as Mike Hingson. We were just having a discussion about that our guest and I because if I say Mike Hingson People always want to say Kingson instead of Hingson. A little factoid but it's actually Hingson with an H. So I've learned to say Michael Hingson took a while to figure that out. But here we are. Anyway, I would like to welcome you to unstoppable mindset, where inclusion, diversity in the unexpected meet. We've got a lot of things about a lot of that today. I really appreciate you listening in and hope that you like what we have to go through today. I'd like you to meet our guest Milam Miller, who lives in Toronto, be confident and kind. And he's going to tell us about that as we go through the hour or so that we spend. But for now, Milan, I want to welcome you and thank you for joining us.   Milam Miller ** 02:13 Yeah, thank you, Michael for having me. I'm very happy to chat with you this evening. My time here in Toronto. I have learned how to say that Toronto, they kind of the words mumbled together. I'm getting better at it. I'm practicing.   Michael Hingson ** 02:27 It's not like in Maryland is Baltimore.   Milam Miller ** 02:29 That's right. That's right. Yeah, Baltimore. So yeah, it's a pleasure to be with you. I love your story and what this podcast is all about and anxious to dig into to BCK and what that means to me. And hopefully anyone listening today that might be intrigued by our mission.   Michael Hingson ** 02:48 Of course everybody always wanting to be different and all that. We know it's not pronounced Worchester in Massachusetts, it's Wista.   Milam Miller ** 02:56 There you go. I don't know that one. I haven't been there yet. But maybe someday I'll get oh, you should   Michael Hingson ** 03:00 go. It's less. It's actually Wister. But of course, when you live in Massachusetts, it's Wista.   Milam Miller ** 03:05 Wisdom is the same as is, as in Texas, we say wish to share sauce is like the Western sauce is the same thing or no.   Michael Hingson ** 03:14 Well, same spelling, but yeah. But in Massachusetts, it's when you live there, wisdom,   Milam Miller ** 03:21 wisdom. Okay, let's   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 see, you're gonna make it you might make it as a Massachusetts person yet. Well, thanks again for being here. Why don't we start by you telling us a little bit about you growing up and kind of the early myeloma and all that sort of stuff?   Milam Miller ** 03:35 Sure. Happy to, you know, rewind the clock. So I tell everyone, I am a Texan in Toronto. Originally, from the big great state of Texas, I grew up in a small town. I was actually born in a town that everyone knows called Waco, Texas. Unfortunately, it's made headlines for not always the best of reasons. Although I'd like to think Chip and Joanna Gaines and other people in the Waco communities have really put it on the map for delightful things like making your home more, more enjoyable to be in. So it's Chris, did   Michael Hingson ** 04:12 you ever know Chip and Joanna, you know, I   Milam Miller ** 04:14 can't say I haven't met them. So if this podcast reaches them, hey, Chip. Hey, Joanna. i Let's let's meet old friends. I love what you've done in the community. Yeah, I still have family in Waco. My grandparents had been married for 70 years. They're both in their 90s now and sharpest attack. I'm very grateful to have them in my life. They highschool sweethearts met at Baylor. My father comes from that side of the family. He also went to Baylor met my mom there and then here Here I am. So you would think that I would have gone to Baylor but we decided to move south to Central Texas and I became a Longhorn a proud one at that. So I bleed orange, the School of Matthew McConaughey and many others.   Michael Hingson ** 04:59 So I voc several years ago, or a couple of meetings at the San Francisco Lighthouse, excuse me, the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. And the CEO is from TCU. So I obligated to talk about Go Frogs, you know,   Milam Miller ** 05:16 there you go. That my mom is from Fort Worth and my in laws, actually, my sister in law and brother in law are both TCU alum. They were at the national championship this year. So I was happy to see them so much as it hurt a little bit that Texas wasn't back there. I was happy to see a Texas school make it that far.   Michael Hingson ** 05:35 Yeah. Well, I was disappointed that USC didn't go all the way. But you know, we try. There you go. There you go. There is next year.   Milam Miller ** 05:42 That's right. There's, you know, that's what gives Dallas Cowboys fans hope. There's always next year.   Michael Hingson ** 05:47 In Massachusetts. I lived there for three years. And I remember, every year when the Red Sox started their season. In the first game, if they lost, everyone started saying wait till next year. Hmm. Tough crowd. Tough crowd. That's right. So anyway, so you became a Longhorn? That's right.   Milam Miller ** 06:09 You've got it. I studied finance at Macomb School of Business at UT Austin. And I gotta be honest, Michael, it was not for me, I hated it. Without a shadow of the doubt, I, my dad was a finance guy. And I remember I recall a time there being a lot of pressure. Within the McCombs community, it had the top rated accounting program in the country. And it was a big pipeline to go to the big four accounting firms. And then many people, of course, studied finance, too, and wanted to go work on Wall Street. Coincidentally, I was in college in 2008, during the financial crisis, the big collapse. And I didn't honor that gut intuition that told me finance wasn't for me, I thought I wanted to do manage mix, I love people. And I was told that was too woowoo, or maybe not practical enough. And marketing, I found really interesting, but again, also was told there's so many marketers out there. So I didn't, didn't honor my own intuition. And that was a great learning lesson, in my own life, to, to get in touch with my intuition and not neglect it like I did at that point in time.   Michael Hingson ** 07:24 You know, we all too often tend not to, to pay attention to our intuition. To our own consternation, I love to use the example of I watch or not watch, but I play a lot of Trivial Pursuit. I haven't so much lately, but invariably, both for me and for other people. While we're playing it. Somebody asks a question. And the answer pops into a person's head, whoever's having the question asked of them, and they go, No, it can't be that easy. And they don't answer it that way. And invariably, what popped into their head was the right answer. Mm hmm. And that happens so often. It's all because we really do know more than we think we know. We just don't always tend to want to pay attention and recognize that maybe our intuition and God and all that are are really giving us the answers. So I'm glad that you learned a lesson from that.   Milam Miller ** 08:21 That's right. That's right. And I will say this, I don't know if I knew the right answer that point. But I knew what it was. And I knew it wasn't finance, right and it takes doing the work you're doing the classwork because I got a D in that class, if I recall correctly, that I was like this, this this thing for me. So it was a great experience to set me on a path that was more in alignment with my childhood dreams and aspirations, which ultimately led me not into finance, but into the sports career. And that's where I got my start.   Michael Hingson ** 08:54 And so what did you do in the sports world?   Milam Miller ** 08:57 Yeah, thank you for asking. Good question. So bad news. I'm a Yankees fan. I heard you mentioned the Red Sox earlier. And you're wearing my favorite color red today. So if you are a Red Sox fan, I apologize. My I'm a Dodger fan, but that's okay. Well, that makes more sense. But to all the Red Sox listeners out there, they've won a couple championships. You know, since then, you know, the the rivalry is, is maybe not as heated or the curse as it once was. Right. But I grew up in big Derek Jeter fan. And also being a fan of the University of Texas, Roger Clemens came over to the Yankees. And I still remember when I was a kid sitting right field behind Paul O'Neill, and just being in the bleachers, and I was like, This is so epic. And they were winners. They were they were a team. And there were so many great leaders on that team. Yeah. And I've always been enamored by by leadership and and teamwork. So I thought I'm gonna move to New York and work for the New York Yankees, done, signed, sealed delivered very clear and specific ambition. What unfolded for me was not that As our life life journey happens i Upon graduating ut I, my criteria for a job was twofold. Live in New York City and work in sports. My entry point into the industry was actually through an agency that did sponsorship activation. So if if modells is a sponsor of the New York Yankees, I know a lot of people know that retailer in the New York area. Or let's say it's Miller Lite as their official beer. I was handling a lot of those contracts, but more specifically in the golf space. Yeah. And what else? I'm sure you're thinking, Yeah, I've maybe I've got you on the edge of your seat. I actually had a colleague who worked for the Yankees, and she had come over to our agency and hearing her firsthand accounts of what it was like to to work for a family run business, this time burners, right and kind of the change of power at that time from Mr Steinbrenner passing away to his sons. I decided I made the conscious decision at that point in time. That that was my passion. And a lot of my favorite players I mentioned Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettit, they were all retiring and I didn't really want to see under the hood of the business side of things my passion in a lot of it I you know, it's come out in recent years the captain the the Docu series about Derek Jeter just about his his contract negotiation as he was aging. I thought maybe it's better I keep that my passion and I can go there and ignorance is bliss. And I cheer on my team without knowing the politics and inner workings of it being my my employer. And so, yeah, I was open to opportunities in New York's a great market to be in if you're open to opportunities,   Michael Hingson ** 11:46 yes. And so what did you do? Who,   Milam Miller ** 11:50 so what did I do? I did the work I was responsible for activating omega the or omega however you pronounce it the luxury timepiece company. I always tell people this is a fun case study. People know of omega from the Olympics. They've had a long standing association with the touchpads in the pools when Michael Phelps fingers hit the touchpad and he wins gold. Or when you same bolt leans across the line and wins yet another gold. So from a marketing perception, a lot of people thought of omega as a timekeeping company right there. They're accurate, precise, but they didn't think of them as a luxury timepiece, business. So trying to pull away market share from Rolex Omega decided to sponsor golf and activate around the major championships. So I would literally go around Michael and be wearing a red polo such as your own, because that's omegas brand colors, and I would set the Swiss clocks, and I'd put them on the first tee potensi the putting green and I had to make sure that they were on time and the most. The irony in all of this, Michael is that I am not a punctual person at all, I am chronically late, despite best efforts getting from point A to point B I always underestimate time. So it was kind of a running joke in my close circles and family. How the heck did you get that job, you are never on time. You got to just stretch and grow. That's it. That's it. And it did stretch me I was fortunate to travel all across the US to very remote golf, country clubs, golf course locations, and I loved it. It was it actually taught me to be on time. So I think I was on time for our call today, which is good news. It's more when transports involves that I struggle, but I've gotten better over the years so that was a good learning lesson for me.   Michael Hingson ** 13:44 So you went around to golf courses all over the country and set time pieces and made sure they were on time right? That's right I may go see   Milam Miller ** 13:53 Yeah, manage their brand identity and it was a wonderful program to work on. But it was very much rinse and repeat and I'm a type of person that there's a time and place for certainty but I also crave variety and while there was variety in the the the courses that these tournaments were held at, I was looking for a little bit more of a way for my extroverted self or outgoing self to be on actually the sales side and not just on the fulfillment side activating and managing but actually having a seat at the table negotiating the rights because I got to see what rights they got on and it got me curious a core value man like Well, why didn't you negotiate rights to that or why does this sponsor have that and we don't and so that's when I realized I wanted to make a jump into in a very niche and sponsorship sales in sports but really just working on behalf of a team are right told her similar to the Yankees but not the Yankees again, they're my passion, but somebody else and all that to say it is me being open to opportunity. I got connected with a gentleman and who owns a professional football club, aka soccer team overseas. And he sold me on his vision, which was to build a modern day Coliseum in Rome. That's where the team played. And coincidentally, I had gone there when I was 15. My sister graduated high school she was 18. And we did a trip for city I ever stepped foot in Europe, capital city, and the Eternal City at that. And I didn't even know the team existed when I was 15 years old. So to hear this owner laying out his vision for a new stadium I was I was bought in I was I was drinking quite literally from you know, the Roman Aqua docks, I was like, I want to take your your vision to market and sell that on your behalf and was fortunate to do so.   Michael Hingson ** 15:46 So when did this happen?   Milam Miller ** 15:49 So I went to work for the ownership group previous one of AS Roma spoiler alert, back in 2016. No, excuse me, actually, 2015 and 2015 is when I went to work for them. I moved abroad in 2016.   Michael Hingson ** 16:05 And how long were you there?   Milam Miller ** 16:07 Yeah, so there specifically is a tricky answer. Because I didn't actually move to Rome. I spent the majority of my time in Rome while I was sorting out a British visa. But this was around the time the Brexit vote happened and getting a visa was a very complex process. I also unfortunately did not speak Italian. So me being in Rome, was not the wisest business move being on the commercial side of the business. However, many European football clubs Manchester United being in Manchester, they had a commercial office in London and we saw an opportunity in the market to be the first Italian team to plant roots in London and so that's where I relocated to   Michael Hingson ** 16:53 Wow Well, that was was easier as long as you can speak the language so you you didn't have to learn how to do New Jersey Italian you know, forget about it and all that sort of stuff.   Milam Miller ** 17:06 That's right. That's right. I   Michael Hingson ** 17:07 learned didn't learn good Italian.   Milam Miller ** 17:09 Yeah, perfect, though. Everything was perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 17:11 That's a nice thing. Yeah. So how long were you over there? Because you're not there now.   Milam Miller ** 17:21 That's right. So I'm, I can hear my wife saying my lawn, land the plane, hurry up, move abroad. 2016 And, again, did the work you gotta you gotta be in it, live it to Yeah, to figure it out. And a lot of life happened in those years. And my sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2017. That a lot of the forward progress I was feeling it kind of stopped it to be president and attend to those needs. In 2018, we made a really deep run in the UEFA Champions League, which is the top teams across not only Italy, in Germany and France and Spain, really all across Europe. They're they're playing one another so it was outside of our domestically. And we beat Barcelona they had a player you may know a guy named Lionel Messi, who today announced he's going to take his talents to South Beach, like another athlete did about a decade ago. And so Messi Messi is headed to inter Miami David Beckham's club. And we beat we beat FC Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals only to get knocked out in the semi finals by Liverpool, which also had a Boston based owner, my my, our ownership group was out of Boston as well. And so it allowed us on the commercial side of the business to really capitalize on the performance side, the momentum the team was having, almost going to the Champions League final to secure some sponsors. And that was a really, really fruitful time for us commercially. And we were still riding that wave until 2020. And you know what happened then?   Michael Hingson ** 19:02 Yeah, those little bugs started escaping from somewhere.   Milam Miller ** 19:07 That's right. That's right. Now there were other like challenges that the team I'd be remiss not to mention, but that's the nature I think   Michael Hingson ** 19:14 it's the nature I think any team and it's got its ups and downs,   Milam Miller ** 19:18 or any business for that matter. Even Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 19:20 yeah. So where were you living at the time?   Milam Miller ** 19:23 So I was still in London when the pandemic hit and you know, I think about the, the rate with which my life the speed with which my life was moving at my goal, the travel we were doing living in London on Europe's back doorstep. I think that March, my wife's birthday is in early March. We had a ski trip planned and that ski trip did not happen at least for us. We we canceled I know some people ended up going and getting stuck and that's a story for another day. But yeah, we we were in the proper UK lockdown. On from middle of March until July when they lifted it and then there was a whole start stop situation from then on.   Michael Hingson ** 20:08 Yeah. And, of course, there were additional lockdowns and all sorts of challenges, because we were still learning a lot about COVID. I think we're still gonna continue to learn a lot about COVID. But we are a lot better situated than we were.   Milam Miller ** 20:24 Absolutely, absolutely. It was a time of unprecedented change. And I think, you know, from my, my story change is something that collectively we as humans went through, at least on this planet, the collective human experience of dealing with COVID. And it impacted us all in unique ways, different ways. And changes is hard. It's scary. And it's it's I think some people are still wrestling with the Yep, permanency of changes that cause myself included, my career changed drastically from that point onward.   Michael Hingson ** 21:03 Well, so when did you leave London and I guess, move to Toronto, or excuse me, Toronto?   Milam Miller ** 21:10 Yeah, there was an intervening step. We hopped home to Texas for two years, 2021 and 2022. This Toronto opportunity came about through my wife's employer, the same one she had in London, they've been very good to us and grown her. But Toronto is new. We've only been here since the start of the year. And I I've been at my own business for the last year, it was something I launched following a pandemic pivot that didn't work out. And then really realizing it was time to trust my gut instincts and that intuition that I got connected with in college. And by this point in my career, I was like, it's time to bet on myself and take a leap of faith. And so that's the you. That's how I got here.   Michael Hingson  21:57 So I have a couple questions, because I really want to get into change and all that. But I'm just really curious. Sure. It was announced a couple of days ago that the PGA and the other organization what is it? Live golf? Yeah, live golf. Yeah. have merged. What do you think about that, given especially all the furor over the last year, you've had enough connection with golf, and I assume you got to know, golfers and things like that. But what do you think   Milam Miller ** 22:24 about that? Yeah, you know, great question. This will be it's all still so fresh that yeah, that news was announced yesterday. I got. I saw it first. I get Wall Street Journal, email alerts. And I think I spit my coffee out, Michael. I was like, wait, what?   Michael Hingson ** 22:39 I saw it on a CNN alert. Why what?   Milam Miller ** 22:44 Yeah, yeah, I posted it on my Instagram pretty immediately, because I just was so recent. I do have friends who are played golf in college are professional caddies. I am friendly with players on the tour. I don't have close friends. But obviously it's you know, it's humans that do extraordinary things. And that's what they're out the golfers that are out there are all human and we're all on a work in progress. So what do I think about it? I think that it's really unfortunate if I'm honest, that again, I my calling card is leadership. I believe in dynamic leadership and servant hearted leadership. And without calling out certain names, I think there was pressure by the tour as a as a body a governing body and entity, not one person in particular. But I think the the tour is a collective as a unit, to keep people loyal because of the history and legacy of the body and to deter them from moving to a new flashy, different format that paid better or paid well, with also questions about where that money was coming from. And it was, in fact, sports washing. So it's for them to turn a blind eye now to that argument around sports washing, and is it clean money or dirty money to then take the money? It feels? Feels a little disingenuous, like I would if the PGA Tour were on this call or was listening to this. This podcast, I would say, what are your core values? What are your corporate values? And how did that influence or impact this decision making process?   Michael Hingson ** 24:26 I'll be anxious to see how it goes over time because I think we're only starting to hear the different sides of this and what it's going to do. But I know that the whole issue of flipped Golf was was all about money. And the the problem with a lot of professional sports, it seems to me is it's way too much about money. I appreciate that players and so on do need to earn a living and they and the better they are the more they ought to earn. But I also think that there is just so much based on money, that we're losing sight of the games And then the activities themselves. And it's just kind of the nature of the beast, I think it's coming into the NCAA now with of course, the better players who can now get money in, we're going completely away from the sports. And it's just becoming much more money oriented, I'm sure that there will be people who will disagree with me and yell at me, and, and so on. But when do we get back to the basics of the competition of the game, you know, in the Olympics have done the same thing and so many same things in so many ways to that. It's been be it's become very political with some countries and organizations have turned a blind eye to it. When do we get back to the basic core values, as you just said,   Milam Miller ** 25:46 Well, there's there's so many stakeholders involved in sport as we know it today. And as somebody who worked closely with sponsors for years, I can only imagine if I been representing either entity, pitching from a PGA Tour perspective of, you know, us, this is what we're about, as opposed to live golf, hey, we're new, we're going to do things different, we're going to do it better for you sponsors, we're gonna give you better access to players or whatever it may be, you know, they've, they've been at odds. So now that now that the two entities were competing against one another, now that they're, they're merging, let's think of it as a classic m&a deal. It's two different corporate cultures, it's two different sponsorship sales. Now, it's two different. So there's going to need to be a learning and development function or core curriculum to really refer to these two bodies, and also do it in the name of caring about your people, your employees, not just the players on the tour, that maybe you feel wronged because a lot of them do. But I just I worry that there could be layoffs in the name of efficiency and productivity. And that's so unfair for either entity and and skilled people that have talents that they could bring to grow the game, because I do think at the end of the day, some fans will be happy, this is a way to grow the game in a way that's that's centralized or organized. Sure. But there's a lot of stakeholders, again, that are going to be impacted by this. So just approaching it from a place of care, I think is really important.   Michael Hingson ** 27:24 I agree, I think it's going to be very interesting to see how golf as an overall sport, now changes. So we have one entity again, but it's a completely different entity by any definition. And I hope that it changes for the better, but I don't know enough to be able to comment on that. But I've hope that in the long run, or as they say, at the end of the day, that that people will find that it really was an improvement for golf. And that has to be by actions, not by words. So we'll see what happens.   Milam Miller ** 28:02 That's right. Time will tell. Time will tell. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 28:05 But you know, you, you talk about change. And we've we've both experienced a lot of change. And I hear people say all the time, the change is all around us. It's there. But yet, as you said, it's very hard. Why is changed so hard? What is it that we have learned or not learned? That makes change so hard? Especially even in the light of the fact that it's all around us all the time?   Milam Miller ** 28:35 Hmm. Yeah. It's such a good question. One thing I have Michael, I think people find change hard or exhausting or challenging is because it's outside of our comfort zones. As simple as that may sound, we we get so accustomed to doing something a certain way or conditioned to do it a certain way that it's, it becomes second nature, just what we know. And if that is taken away from us, or we're told there's a different way to do it. There's a bit of resistance or agitation. I'd love to know your perspective on this just given up being on this planet, you have a little bit more wisdom than me. Some years, you're a couple years ahead of me. But I yeah, I find that change is hard for people. Because once we get good at something that will that feels nice. And so to to change it up. If it's not serving us, we start to second guess or wonder if we've made the wrong decision, instead of sitting with the discomfort and agitation to a place of actually growing our comfort zones. And I think that that's really where where growth happens is out of our comfort zone.   Michael Hingson ** 29:46 Yeah, I think the the issue is that our comfort zone needs to be broader. So I remember after September 11, I've talked about it here a few times. I started hearing people We'll say we got to get back to normal, we got to get back to normal, we got to get back to the way normal was. And I remember that I always reacted to that I always bristled at it, I didn't like it. But it took me a long time to finally realize that the reason I didn't like that comment was because normal would never be the same again. And we really need to recognize that that's really what change is all about. And so what we need to do is not necessarily look for a new normal, but instead, recognize that normal is evolving. And while we're comfortable doing things in a certain way, we get used to doing things in a certain way. If we don't explore how do we enhance that, and make that different way, or that way that we do things better, then we're going to be stuck in the same old way of doing things. So even talking about live golf in the PGA. Is that a good change? Is it a bad change and time will tell? It's a change? And rather than necessarily condemning it unless you know something that others don't? The bottom line is with any kind of change, we need to really explore and think about how we enhance because of change. And oftentimes, how do we be the ones to bring change into the world because something has to be better. I was the program director at our radio station. And one of the things that I did at the station when I was program director at K UCI when I was going to college was listen to all of our DJs. And some of them really sounded horrible. They just didn't sound good. And I thought, How do I deal with that? How can I get them to be better? How can I make them change? And I something that dawned on me is that I'm listening to them, too. They listen to themselves. And I went to them and I said, Look, I want you to record your shows. And I want you to go off and listen to them. And they wouldn't do that. And so what we did was to set up a system, I did it with Dave McHugh, our engineer, he set up a recorder in a locked cabinet. Because we had the locked cabinets where all the equipment was anyway. But anytime the mic was activated, the recorder would turn on. So we were able to make recordings of what the people said we didn't really worry about what's the music that wasn't what what we were worried about not evaluating but dealing with, we wanted the announcers to get better. And I would give them each a cassette member cassettes you don't hear you're not I don't know if you're old enough to remember cassettes. I'm a CD guy. There you go. So yeah, they're gone. But we would give them a recording of their week shows. And I said, You've got to listen to the shows. If you don't do that, then you're not going to be able to continue to be here. But you know what? People started doing it. And they started hearing what they sounded like. And by doing that, I was actually very amazed at the quality improvements in most people by the end of the year, when they decided that they would at least think about the change. And then they embrace the change. Because they started hearing themselves the way other people heard them. Some of those people went on into professional Radio One went to NBC and there are people Yeah, that was really great. But we we really, you're right, we get locked into our comfort zone. But the part of it that is the problem is we do get locked into our comfort zone. And we don't think about or explore ways to enhance or improve and maybe stretch our comfort zone. And that's kind of my thought.   Milam Miller ** 34:04 Totally I love that word enhance and also improve. I'm curious, what was the number one thing they changed? Or rather was there a through line of changing pitch tonality? What in perhaps there wasn't a through line? It was it was uniquely individual, but I I'm I want to know what that feedback you gave them resulted in.   Michael Hingson ** 34:28 It was different for different people, probably for most people, they started seeing a whole lot less, they actually started completing sentences more. They spoke in a more consistent way into the microphone. They became better speakers by any standard because they heard themselves and everyone was a little bit different. But those are the basic things they really became better speakers. And one of them actually is this is the main guy who does a lot of the work at one of the local planetariums. And he met was a good speaker anyway. But everyone got better when they started hearing themselves. When I speak, I listen to myself, because I want to hear what I say. And even today, I will listen to recordings of my talks. Sure, so that I can figure out anything that I can do to improve and we all don't like to hear ourselves talk. But I've learned that I'm also not my own worst critic, I think that's also a negative way to look at it. I'm my own best teacher. Because no one else can teach me I've got to be the one to teach myself, even if it's getting input from instructors and all that. I'm the one that has to teach. And so when I take the time to do that, I will get better. And as a result, of course, what that really means is, I change   Milam Miller ** 35:55 what a beautiful reframe not I am my own worst critic, but I have the power or capacity or potential to be my own best teacher. I love that. I love that. I love that. I think when we can also reframe change as being hard as being a means to you said the through line is they all got better changes a means for us to recalibrate, reevaluate, to improve, enhance or get better than we've become more willing to embrace it and build the new and improved or enhanced and evolved version of whatever it is,   Michael Hingson ** 36:29 right changes is something that is around us. And the other part about change is if we really look at something that is trying to get us to change whatever it is, if we truly recognize that there is a something there, then we can analyze that. And so I say to ourselves, do I really want to change this? But then you make it a real conscious decision. Now, things happen that we don't have control over. Did we have control over the World Trade Center terrorist attacks happening? No. Should we have I'm not convinced yet that we would have been able to know that. But it doesn't really matter. I didn't have control over it. The other people who were there didn't have control over it. But what we did have control over was how we chose to deal with it after it occurred.   Milam Miller ** 37:20 Amen. Amen. I love that. Just for anyone who's listening in my community, can you quickly share what you experienced on that day 911?   Michael Hingson ** 37:32 Well, I worked in the World Trade Center on the 78th floor of Tower One. And I was in the office because we were going to be conducting some seminars that day, to teach our reseller partners how to sell our products, when the plane hit the building actually flexed. Because tall buildings are like Big Springs, when it got vertical, again, a colleague's I'll fire above us. But I have spent a lot of time in the the year and a half before actually, September 11 happened, I spent a lot of time learning what to do in the case of an emergency and learning all about the World Trade Center. Because I was the leader of that offense. So I had to be able to function like any other leader would, which meant I had to know what to do and where to go. And even more so than most people because I didn't have the opportunity to rely on signs. So I learned at all. But what I realized much later was that was also helping me develop a mindset that said, you don't need to be afraid if there's an emergency, you know what to do. And you know what your options are as to where to go based on whatever the circumstances are. So don't panic. And I never realized that I learned that but I did. And so I was able to go down the stairs. I had my guide dog at the time Roselle and we traveled down the stairs all 78 floors. Mathematically if I recall, right, it was 1400 63 stairs. Wow. But you know was at least we were going down right?   Milam Miller ** 39:07 That's nice comic relief. I love that. But the   Michael Hingson ** 39:09 issue is that we we went down and we got out and then we were very close to tower two when it collapsed. That was a little bit different session situation because there I think I started to panic a little bit. But as I wrote in Thunder dog things happen that that helps to deal with that. And we did write a book later about a called Thunder dog the story of a blind man has guide dog on the train from Trust, which is available anywhere books are sold. So hopefully people will will get that and keep my current guide dog Alamo and kibbles we appreciate that. But you know, the the issue is that I discovered during COVID and I want to talk about your changes in COVID. And I discovered that while I talked about not being afraid I never really spent any time helping other people learn how to control their fear and as I put it not being blinded by fear when something unexpected happened So we're writing a new book about that. And it'll be out when it comes out. But the whole idea is to say you do have the ability to deal with whatever comes along, you can choose to create a mindset that will allow you to do that and not allow your fear to overwhelm you. It isn't to say, you aren't afraid, I guarantee you, we were afraid going down the stairs. But I used it as a positive motivator to be more observant to encourage my guide dog to go down the stairs. And the job of a guide dog, of course, is not to get lead, but to guide so the dog doesn't know where I want to go and how to get there. That's not the dog's job. But the dog's job is to keep us safe. But I knew that my dog was going to sense all the fear of everyone going down the stairs. So I had to encourage her to focus and do well. And we did, we got out. And we survived. And I've been a speaker, traveling the world talking about trust and teamwork, and dealing with change, and the human animal bond and moving from diversity to inclusion, one of my favorite speeches, but doing a lot of talks around the world ever since. So I'm a full time public speaker, and in addition to working for accessibility, so as a plug, and of course, to any of your friends who might need a speaker, let me know we're always looking for speaking opportunities. And it's been a while since I've been to Toronto, so I gotta get back there.   Milam Miller ** 41:22 There you go. Well, I I just, I think your stories so remarkable, Michael, and that you've used it to be of service to others across all those buzzwords that carry a lot of significance, right, and they hold real meaning to people. When 911 happened for me, I was in the fifth grade. And it was a year of change for me because it was actually the first year I transferred from private Catholic school to public school. And, you know, there's, there's a, what's the word I'm searching for, there's something in an 11 year old boy or girl, whomever at that age, that is striving to find themselves in a new environment, right. And so, when we talk about mindset, the mindset of a child at that time is hate. transferring schools, it's, it's maybe there's some grieving a sense of loss and welcoming in that and there's an opportunity to gain new friends are widening your circles, you know, bridge the gap between the two schools. So I just, I love that in the midst of all that adversity and things that you couldn't control. Your mindset was one in which it stayed calm and was able to self regulate is also I think, what came up for me is, is be able to get yourself to a place of, of safety.   Michael Hingson ** 42:49 My equivalent to your story is that when I was 13, I was in the eighth grade and was in November of 1963. And President Kennedy was shot. And we had to deal with all of that. Sure. It was a little bit more removed, of course, than being in the World Trade Center. But the next summer, I went and got my first sky dog and then went into high school and had to do the same sorts of changes that you did. And I did embrace it as I get to go into a whole new world. And I think that's the issue is that we learn to be so negative and pessimistic about things, rather than recognizing maybe life is an adventure. And we should really embrace more of the adventure. The internet is a great treasure trove of knowledge. And I love the net, I realized that there's a dark side to it, which I've never visited and don't have any need to. But it's like artificial intelligence and chat GPT and so on today, again, we can always look for the negatives. But why do we need to be negative about everything? Why don't we look for the positive things, recognizing that there are negative issues that we might have to deal with, but if we approach it the right way, one will take care of the other.   Michael Hingson ** 44:12 Of course, just because there's real issues going on doesn't mean they need to be approached from a negative mindset or Outlook i i think negativity is such a dream killer for lack of better word and um, if you can't tell already big glass half full kind of guy I on my report card, probably even that same fifth grade year, my teachers or whatever, enthusiastic, that was my calling card. I use enthusiasm as fuel, to embrace change to build the new and instead of fighting the old, how do we navigate this with more? Or how do I navigate this with more confidence and how do I navigate it with more inner kindness the way I'm speaking to myself in my own developmental journey, navigating the new so that's it I guess that fast forwards is back to present day what what happened during COVID. And the result of it Bck, my private coaching, speaking and consulting practice is the football club, I was working for Roma, we sold it during 2020 year. And I mentioned I made a pandemic pivot into sports media tried something out, I thought at that time content is king, everybody's at home. You know, this is a good place to be to negotiate live sports media rights. But unfortunately, that wasn't my reality. And you mentioned having agency to choose, I think that's so important. And if I could have gone back to college, and knowing that I had agency to choose a different major than I would have, and I would have done it with discernment and confidence. But in this case, it was the first time in my professional career that I realized, I have agency to walk away from this because I'm destined for something greater. And so I, after one year of of learning the business, I stepped away, I resigned, and it was actually empowering. Instead of I think so many people feel that quitting is a bad thing. And I, I like to think of do you need to grit through this? Or do you need to quit this because it's not in alignment with what makes you feel alive? And so in my case, I'd done all the grading I could do. It was time to quit not grit, and I started my own business BCK, which stands for be confident, and kind.   Michael Hingson ** 46:30 How do we get people to be more confident in a time of change or when they're when change comes to them? Sure.   Milam Miller ** 46:39 It's such a good question. I think in my own experience, and there's probably other perspectives on this. In the midst of so much newness, I like to find slivers of sameness. So whether that's a fitness modality that serves you, so in my case, I love going to a yoga class or a spin class or a Barry's Bootcamp class, a format that I know. And that brings me confidence that when I'm done, I know I'll feel better. In the midst of so much newness lean into things where you can have just like a little sliver of sameness, it will remind you that you are an expert in some things. And even though you may feel a beginner in whatever it is, I feel like a beginner finding the new grocery store in my neighborhood in Toronto. But in time, you will grow more confident of I prefer this one over that one, or it's worth the extra commute to go to that one, I know how to navigate it with confidence, get my groceries get in and out. So I tell my clients that confidence is a doing energy, it's action oriented. And if you're taking actions or steps, it will build your confidence in time, you just have to be moving in forward direction in a direction that's serving you. Because if you're languishing, then you're going to stay in that stuck or stagnant place.   Michael Hingson ** 48:01 Right. And it's all about moving. And as you're moving, thinking about what you're doing. The other part about it is really analyzing what we do, I'd love to tell people that I think one of the most important things we can do is at the end of the day, take a little bit of time just to do self examination, looking at what happened during the day, and even the good things. Could I have done it better. How did that go? Why did it go the way it did the bad things? Not? Why did I do so badly? But what do I do to make sure that that doesn't happen again? Or what really happened? self examination is such an important thing.   Milam Miller ** 48:44 It is Do you journal Michael?   Michael Hingson ** 48:47 No, I don't write things down just because, you know, it's, I write it down, it's still out of sight out of mind, I have to make a very conscious effort to then to go back and look at the journal. So I just tend to remember things a lot. Well, let   Milam Miller ** 49:00 me let me clarify, because that's probably good for listeners, do you Digital Journal or have any sort of voice memos that you record? And like listen back to kind of going back to the feedback thing or on the radio station? Or is it purely just a mental exercise for you,   Michael Hingson ** 49:16 me it's more of a mental exercise, I find that that works pretty well. If if something comes to mind, and I feel I need to to write it down somewhere, then I will record it. I'll make a note. And I have done that and gone back to it. Or if I want to remember something in six months, I will create a reminder, so it will remind me so I do some of that. But mostly, I just think about things at the end of the day. And I've learned to but I've learned to do that right? Sure. So I'm not saying that journal doesn't help. Journaling doesn't help, but I've learned to do it mentally. And so for me that has worked pretty well,   Milam Miller ** 49:56 of course and what a great way to get pushing yourself to to do that self examination that mindfulness practice. I work with my clients to have a very clear evening routine to set them up for success, so to speak the next day and then a morning ritual in the morning asking, what's my intention for the day, and then in the evening, Am I satisfied. And because I think so many people, their head hits the pillow, and they're thinking about what they didn't get done, which is a lack mindset, as opposed to being grateful for the things they did. And so a gratitude practice is something during the pandemic, I actually had to, I started experimenting with and writing down three things. I'm grateful that the sun came out today in London, I'm grateful I got to read 10 pages in my book, I'm grateful that we cooked a delicious home cooked meal, you know. And it's, it's those little simple things that remind you have how abundant and special your life is, even if you're living in lockdown in a global pandemic. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 51:02 And the reality is that we can take a much more positive approach to anything that we do. But it's a conscious decision to do that. And there's no reason for us to be so negative. The problem is, we also do have so many political leaders and other people who we regard as role models who are very negative, and that doesn't help either. And so we have to be able to learn to step back and say, Wait a minute, do I really want to model that when it's so negative? Or do I want to look at alternatives and that doesn't mean that you look at things through, as they say, rose colored glasses, but it does mean that you need to recognize that there is much more value in positive advancement than running things down and being negative?   Milam Miller ** 51:50 Absolutely. I think being able to discern what works for you, is so important in life. And that goes back to my own gut instincts. It's great for things to be modeled. But that doesn't mean we can carbon, copy everything, we have to really get curious and play scientists on ourselves to figure out what works for us. Because I think sometimes if we look to too many role models, we lose sight of our own intuition. And we're no longer operating according to our code of conduct, but another and it leaves room for disappointment when they let us down or judgment. And we're not being discerning of our own experience in the fact that we're all human. We're all figuring it out.   Michael Hingson ** 52:34 Well, you talk about inner kindness, and it's, it's an important thing. We need to learn to be kind to ourselves, and we yeah, we don't do that.   Milam Miller ** 52:46 So I call myself a recovering perfectionist Michael, releasing a lot of the Type A expectations of myself the shoulds. And speaking kindly of you said it best earlier I can be my own best teacher, instead of I. I'm speaking critically of myself. So I remember the first couple months I moved here in Toronto, it might have been the first couple weeks in fact, I had taken one of those blender balls, you know, like a protein shake with me. And it was so cold out I didn't have gloves on. And I dropped it and of course the way the water bottle hit it cracked and my protein shake went everywhere. And I thought oh man, I just cracked my my blender ball like I'm gonna have to go buy another one and I noticed this negative self talk I was engaging in and then I caught myself I just said oh, well you know next time wear gloves. It's it's it's a thing it can be replaced. All good. Yeah, your hands are sticky, but you still have your fingers like Oh, well. And so embracing the oh well. Like I'm I'm not perfect. I wasn't intended to be perfect has been so liberating in my own journey. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 54:00 We we need to recognize all sides. But we need to really remember that. We have control over how we deal with things. And that's that's ultimately it, you know that there are some changes that are very overwhelming. I mean, the World Trade Center, the pandemic and so on. How do we deal with protecting our own mental health during these kind of incredible seasons of change?   Milam Miller ** 54:28 I love that question. Just as a as an advocate for mental health, especially for men, because I find women do a really good job of asking for help. Opening up being vulnerable men have a tendency to wanting to be stoic or not show any cracks in the facade, hold it in or playing to traditional gender norms. I need to be the provider. I can't show any emotion just just do. And so we all have Mental taking care of our mental health is important to everyone. And in times of change, it can seem on the surface like this is overwhelming. This is a lot. But really when we look underneath I almost think of like the tip of an iceberg asking ourselves, what am I really experiencing? What am I feeling, and taking measures that calm that anxiety, whether it's going on a walk, cooking yourself a nutritious meal, I find that you know, past seasons of life, when I when we moved him to Texas, during the pandemic, we were so excited for fast food for Chick fil A and things that maybe I've been deprived of for a year. And then I started noticing my mood, and I tell friends, clients, food affects your mood. So it's taking care of ourselves with what we're eating, how we're, we're moving is so important, I think not just for what may seem like physical health on the surface, but really, it actually does impact our mental health too.   Michael Hingson ** 56:05 Well, you you've said it several times, doing things like taking a walk, and so on. The reality is that we do better again, when we step back, we're in the middle of something, we feel overwhelmed. If we can step back and gain perspective, then we learn how to deal with it. And that's the other part about it. We're so conditioned to work hard work all the time, and not do any kind of self analysis that we don't learn to step back when the people who do best are the ones who truly can step back unplug. One of my favorite stories is when BlackBerry was still around the BlackBerry device and so on. Sure, the company one day, had a server failure, and everybody's blackberries died, they didn't work, Research In Motion, just wasn't getting anything to anyone. And I heard a few days later that there were even people who committed suicide because they couldn't connect at 12 o'clock at night. You know, and they didn't have any control over that we don't learn to step back and deal with some of those issues and put it in perspective, which is what it's all about. Well just change her mental health. Do you think?   Milam Miller ** 57:28 Before I answer that, I want to address that case study you share because I find that fascinating and present day. I'm hearing so many Gen Z, the cohort below my millennial cohort are purchasing razor flip phones and other sort of non smart devices which I want to be clear I think is great if that if taking that measure helps protect your mental health go for it. Because we live in such an instantaneous society, what you call stepping back, I call reconnecting to myself, disconnecting from my smartphone and reconnecting to myself. It's as silly as it sounds, we learn it on the playground, I think or in some family, some households, like take a deep breath. You know, if we take three deep breaths, we it's scientifically proven and back that we will feel a sense of calm and can come back to our sense of self or reconnect ourselves. So all that to say to answer your question, do I think change is bad for our mental health? Absolutely not. I'm gonna go with with false that's that's fictitious. And I'll tell you why. Change is scary. And it's it's, it's it's not intended to be. But that's our brain trying to protect us and keep us in that comfort zone. And like we talked about earlier, if we can realize that the brain is actually just trying to be our friend and whatever, freeze fight flight mechanisms going off. It's saying proceed with caution. But it's not saying don't proceed at all. It's saying, try on the change, see if it works and in time, you'll grow more comfortable with it, you'll see if it's if it's if it's if it's working for you. And then worst case, you can always change your mind and go back I think in society, we forget that part two if, if maybe we get it wrong, or we want to go back there's no shame in doing that. And so kind of releasing the expectation of, of changes incessant, it's, it's, it's around us, and we can always change our mind again.   Michael Hingson ** 59:33 And there's nothing wrong with that. That's right. The The reality is that the whole idea behind change is you can you can look at it and as you said you can then change again and go back to the way it was or you'll probably never go back to exactly the way it was because even if you discover that whatever change you tried, doesn't really work. It still gave you more knowledge. So you're still a different person than you were Oh,   Milam Miller ** 1:00:00 absolutely 100%.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:03 And I think that's really kind of important to, to remember, it's something that we we need to learn. I, I've had a lot of changes happen in my life. And you know, we all have my latest probably huge changes my wife passed away last November, I didn't really see it coming until very close to the time that it occurred. But now I live alone. Except I have a cat who wants to be petted every time she wants to eat. So I get her ministrations every day. And even in the middle of the night, she'll wake me up saying Phoebe. And I'll do that once. I've told her you only get it once a night. And I have of course, guide dog Alamo. So I have some company here and other people who come and help. But it's a it's an incredible change. And I've heard other people when they had a loved one pass? How could you do that to me, I'm mad at you for doing it. And I cannot say in any way shape or form that I resent Karen's passing, I didn't like it. I'm very sad about it. I also tell people that I will not move on from Karen, I will move forward. But I won't move on. Because I'm not going to forget her. And I'm sure that she's watching from somewhere. And if I misbehave, I'm going to hear about it. So you know, I have to do that. But the reality is that it's still a huge change. And what it really did for me, was caused me to learn to remember and use tools that I didn't have to use so much while we were married for 40 years. And that now I might have to use some of those skills in a different way. Sure. But, you know, change happens. And one of the things that I feel is important is you can't be angry at change, you decide what you want to do with it.   Milam Miller ** 1:01:57 How do you want to respond to it? Yeah. What a beautiful way to to honor your your wife, Michael, Your late wife, I am curious, the new tools, or rather maybe old tools that you've had to revisit by by doing it on your own and moving forward? Not moving on from her? Has that brought you a sense of newfound confidence or self efficacy? If I can? I don't, I wouldn't. I don't maybe I don't want to do it alone. I would prefer to have her here. And I'm confident and every day taking a new step. And you're actually I'm curious what that looks like for you?   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:34 Well, I think you just described it very well, the reality is that I also did travel a lot while she was alive. So I'm used to not always being home. But the the other part of it is that I'm reminded that I do have the skills to be able to function and do things and be able to live and move and grow. And I'm going to continue to do that. And I think in part that's also honoring her.   Milam Miller ** 1:03:04 Yeah, amen. live, move and grow. I love that.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:09 So it is kind of an important thing to do. So   Milam Miller ** 1:03:14 thank you for sharing that. Michael. I know it's grief is so complex. And it's it's not a linear process. So I really commend to you for opening up in this forum. It's it gives people permission to open up about similar loss. Well, thank   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:30 you I you know, I will always honor her and remember her and that's the way it ought to be. Amen. If there were one thing that you could change in the world, what would it be?   Milam Miller ** 1:03:42 Hmm, how long can my list be? I know you said one one thing I'm thinking of Christmas like Hey, Santa Claus, I want world hunger. Where do we start? You know I I've always been fascinated by people and human connection. What makes the Earth Spin on its axis isn't super heroes like spinning planet Earth. It's It's It's we make the world go round with the decisions we make. And not just the things we do but the the way in which we embody doing it like our actual beings. So I think I would, I would love for there to be more harmony that starts, from leaders from leaders around the world. And that may sound a bit like woowoo like world peace, but I really believe that if we lead from servant hearted leadership, if everyone believed they had the capacity to lead and tapped into cultivating confidence and kind to actions, then this would be an even better planet planet to live on.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:56 Well, I absolutely agree with you if we really want would go back to the whole idea of servant leadership, servant hearted leadership, and truly brought that into being around the world, it would be a much better thing. But unfortunately, you know, right now we've got too many people who are in it for them. And, yeah, they're not, they're not recognizing how much better they would be if they truly learned to be the servant leaders that they probably could be. And if they can't do that, then they really shouldn't try to be leaders. And we need to recognize that and feel empowered to say to them, if you can't really be a servant, to lead appropriately, then we're not going to accept that, and we're not going to acc

As a California and San Francisco Bay Area resident, we rely much on our San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit or BART. NBC Bay Area reports that the BART system is increasing accessibility for its blind and visually impaired train riders in the San Francisco, California area. The agency just recently held a workshop on the topic. BART Manager of Customer Access Bob Franklin and San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired Community Outreach Specialist Sheri Albers join us to talk about the agency's increased accessibility efforts.     Ways to Connect to Speaking Out for the Blind Amazon Alexa enabled device (RECOMMENDED) “Alexa, Ask ACB Media to play Media 1”. (1 = stream number).   PC / browser access (RECOMMENDED): Visit acbmedia.org at http://www.acbmedia.org/1 (1 = stream number). The site has a built-in media player and there is no need to install or use a media player on your device. Hit the play button and the stream will begin playing immediately. Smart device Access (RECOMMENDED): Download “ACB Link” from your app store. Find “Radio” along the bottom of the screen, then “Menu” in the top left corner. Select “Live Streams” and then choose “ACB Media 1 - Mainstream.” Double tap the play button. Victor Reader Stream Access: Navigate to “Internet radio library” in the “online bookshelf”. Locate the Humanware playlist. From the playlist, select ACB Media 1 (1 = stream number) and hit play. Alternate Dial-In access Dial 1 (518) 906-1820. Listen to the menu prompts and press 1. IMPORTANT NOTE The ACB Radio Tuner is no longer supported. If you used the tuner in the past, you may access all ACB Media streams from acbmedia.org (see above) If you are using alternate ways to access ACB Media streams than those above (such as Tune In or Winamp using acbradio.org URL's, we kindly ask that you use one of the methods above.    Facebook page is at Speaking Out for the Blind and Twitter page is at SpeakOutfortheBlind (you may also access this at SpeakOutBlind).

20230225-3 American Council of the Blind of Maryland-2023 Annual Convention Originally Broadcasted February 25, 2023, on ACB Media 8-Braille, Games No Confusion, Just Inclusion Panel: Braille: Touching the World o Dorlyn Catron, Facilitator, ACB community's Weekend Braille Together and Braille Room, Laurel MD o Vileen Shah, Facilitator, I Love Braille, East ?Bay Center for the Blind, Berkeley, CA o Frank Welte, San Francisco Lighthouse, San Francisco, CA Panel: It's game time! o Lucy Edmonds, facilitator, ACB community's Games to Play with Lady A, Lansing MI o Herbie Allen, Houston, TX, to tell us about Dice World o Andy Borka-Entrepreneur o gamer" and Jason Fayre, Assistive Technology Specialist, to show us an accessible flight simulator. Find out more at https://acb-events.pinecast.co

20230202 I Love Braille Originally Aired February 2, 2023, on ACB Media 5 Frank Welte spoke about "Braille Challenge" to be held on March 4 at San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. Sponsored by East Bay Center for the Blind Access I Love Braille Archives Subscribe to I Love Braille email list. Email Vileen Shah

PR Newswire reports that the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco, California is welcoming a new Chief Executive Officer. Her name is Sharon Giovinazzo. And Sharon joins us to talk about how she's going to lead the organization into the future. Ways to Connect to Speaking Out for the Blind Amazon Alexa enabled device (RECOMMENDED) “Alexa, Ask ACB Media to play Media 1”. (1 = stream number).   PC / browser access (RECOMMENDED): Visit acbmedia.org at http://www.acbmedia.org/1 (1 = stream number). The site has a built-in media player and there is no need to install or use a media player on your device. Hit the play button and the stream will begin playing immediately. Smart device Access (RECOMMENDED): Download “ACB Link” from your app store. Find “Radio” along the bottom of the screen, then “Menu” in the top left corner. Select “Live Streams” and then choose “ACB Media 1 - Mainstream.” Double tap the play button. Victor Reader Stream Access: Navigate to “Internet radio library” in the “online bookshelf”. Locate the Humanware playlist. From the playlist, select ACB Media 1 (1 = stream number) and hit play.   Alternate Dial-In access Dial 1 (518) 906-1820. Listen to the menu prompts and press 1. IMPORTANT NOTE The ACB Radio Tuner is no longer supported. If you used the tuner in the past, you may access all ACB Media streams from acbmedia.org (see above) If you are using alternate ways to access ACB Media streams than those above (such as Tune In or Winamp using acbradio.org URL's, we kindly ask that you use one of the methods above.    Facebook page is at Speaking Out for the Blind and Twitter page is at SpeakOutfortheBlind (you may also access this at SpeakOutBlind).   For more info related to this week's show, go to: https://speakingoutfortheblind.weebly.com/list-of-episodes-and-show-news/for-more-information-episode-310-san-francisco-lighthouses-new-ceo

In this episode of the BOA podcast, host Amy Chavez talks with Maud Rowell about her new book Blind Spot: Exploring and Educating on Blindness (404 Ink, 2021). Maud is a freelance journalist and writer from London. She went blind at 19 while traveling in South Korea. Two months later, she went on to begin a four-year degree in Japanese Studies at University of Cambridge including one year at Doshisha University in Kyoto. She trained in journalism at City, University of London, and over the course of the pandemic, wrote her first book Blind Spot: Exploring and Educating on Blindness published by 404 Ink in November 2021. In the summer of 2021, she won the Holman Prize run by San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and received a grant to travel around Japan and write about her experiences.

Bryan Bashin was born fully sighted, but over time he lost his eyesight. Like many such people, he tried to hide his blindness. Bryan was, in some senses, different than many. Because as he began to discover that other blind people were leading full and successful lives, he decided that he could do the same. He received training and then began to seek employment and attained a most successful career.   Bryan would tell you that he loves learning and advocating. He is an extremely inclusive individual although he clearly does do a powerful job of advocating for blind and low-vision persons. Oh yes, not vision impaired, but low vision. You will hear about this during our conversation.   For the past 13 years, Bryan Bashin has been the CEO of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. He has proven to be quite an innovator due to his philosophical orientation concerning blindness. You will hear of his accomplishments.   Bryan announced his retirement from the Lighthouse earlier this year. His future plans are typical of Bryan. Come along with us and hear Bryan's story and then please give us a 5-star rating wherever you listen to this podcast episode.     About the Guest: Bryan Bashin, CEO, reports to the Board of Directors and supervises the directors of Communications, Development, Operations, Programs and Enchanted Hills Camp and Retreat. Mr. Bashin has served in this position since 2010. Mr. Bashin's extensive professional experience includes Executive Editor for the Center for Science and Reporting, Assistant Regional Commissioner for the United States Department of Education: Rehabilitation Services, and Executive Director of Society for the Blind in Sacramento. Mr. Bashin has been blind since college and from that time has dedicated a substantial part of his career to advocating for equality, access, training and mentorship for individuals who are blind or low vision. He serves or has served on numerous committees and organizations, including California Blind Advisory Committee, VisionServe Alliance, San Francisco State University's Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, World Blind Union, National Industries for the Blind, and California Agencies for the Blind and Visually Impaired.         About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes UM Intro/Outro  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Welcome to unstoppable mindset. And I am really excited today to have an opportunity to talk with Bryan Bashin, the CEO of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. And you will see why as we go forward. Bryan is a very interesting and engaging guy. I've known him for quite a while. And I think we've both known each other we like each other, don't we, Bryan?   Bryan Bashin  01:44 Yeah, we have traveled in the same paths. And we have been on the same side of the barricades.   Michael Hingson  01:51 And that's always a good thing. So you're doing well.   Bryan Bashin  01:57 I'm doing great. This is a this is a good time for me and Lighthouse after 13 years, thinking about sort of a joyous conclusion to a number of projects before I move on.   Michael Hingson  02:10 Wow. Well, that's always a good thing. Well, tell me a little bit about you before the lighthouse growing up and stuff like that, so people get to know about you a bit.   Bryan Bashin  02:20 Sure. The short version I grew up as a sighted boy started becoming blind when I was 12 became legally blind when I was a sophomore at UC Berkeley. And like all newly blind, low vision people tried to hide it for as long as possible, and really failed. I didn't have role models, then, like my Kingson. I didn't really know what was possible in blindness. That pivot came later in my life. And so I just did what a lot of low vision people do. Hide, try to pass all of that. So I did that in my early 20s. I started my career in journalism. I my first job out of Berkeley was at the CBS television affiliate in San Francisco KPI X, API X. Yes, Gen five and the news department there. And I worked there for a couple of years that I wanted to move up in the world. And I joined the channel 10, the CBS Benli a CBS affiliate in Sacramento, and I was higher up on that journalism,   Michael Hingson  03:32 and wrong and you move and you moved from five to 10.   Bryan Bashin  03:35 I did. I doubled. See. After after a few years in local broadcast news, television news, I thought I'm a little more serious person that and I wanted to go deeper. And so I quit my job and I started writing for newspapers, and then magazines, and specialized in science and public policy. So I did lots of work and environment, Space Science, energy usage, epidemiology. You know, for kind of curious guy like me, journalism was a really good fit because it fed all the things I want to learn about him. And I was in my 20s. Somewhere along the way, as I had less than less vision, I knew that I needed to get solutions. And I didn't know where those would come from, but I knew it involves people. But short version is almost 30 years ago. In a quiet time in my life. I just picked up some copies of the Braille monitor and started reading them. And in it, I found all kinds of stories about blind people doing amazing things. Things that I didn't think I could do as a person like travel where I wanted when I want it or efficiently use Computers, all that. So I went into a boot camp. It was then the fourth NFB Training Center. Actually it was in Sacramento. Just that the year that I needed it. It only lasted one year. The Marcelino center run by the California affiliate of the NFB, anyway, long story short, I threw myself into training, got training, and then had the most successful period in journalism I've ever had. And that's the first half of my working career.   Michael Hingson  05:33 Did you ever know mozzie? Marcelino?   Bryan Bashin  05:35 No, I didn't. He passed before the Senator that was named after him. That's right. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  05:41 He was one of the very active early members of the National Federation of the Blind of California and managed a lot of the legislative activities of the Federation. In Sacramento, if you went with him into the Capitol, everyone knew Mazie. Which, which is important.   Bryan Bashin  06:02 Yeah. Yeah, I certainly was living in Sacramento in the 90s. And his memory was an active presence, then. Well, I finished up my immersion training at the Marcelino center. Four years later, I was running the Society for the blind there in Sacramento. Having gotten the confidence, and aspiration, that I could do stuff there, Executive Director, retired after 33 years, and I interviewed and got the job. That's when I got my first taste of real service in the blindness community. Chance to like, think of a project, think of a problem, get funds for it, hire cool staff for it and do it. And for me, you know, I might have written an article in a magazine and a million people would read it, but I wouldn't meet any of them. And I wouldn't have that thing that we all love that community. So when I started working at society for the blind, that community was right there. And it was deeply gratifying. And so I started working on many, many projects. And I did that in Sacramento for six years, had a wild time with it. And then I was asked to apply in the US Department of Education, to be one of the regional commissioners in region nine for the Rehab Services Administration. So that was, that was really bittersweet to leave the Society for the blind, but I wanted to learn more. And suddenly, I found myself responsible for half a billion dollars in federal spending across all disabilities, and learning like a fire hose about the public rehabilitation system. And I did that until all the regional offices were closed by the administration. And I found myself for the first time in my working life, not knowing what I was going to do for a living. So I, I did some expert witnessing in court, I worked with a startup, I did some other things regarding direction, mentoring of blind people looking for employment. And then after 20 years, the director of the Lighthouse for the Blind, took a new job. And it was the first job I was hired for that I actually knew what I was doing when I came in, because I'd run another org like that. And that was 13 years ago.   Michael Hingson  08:36 There you are. What who was the commissioner when the offices closed?   Bryan Bashin  08:42 Yeah, well, it was Joanne Wilson until it was Joanne Yeah, yeah, it was Joanne Wilson, then   Michael Hingson  08:48 no, no, she necessarily had a lot of choices. But   Bryan Bashin  08:51 well, that's a long story. She used everything in her power to oppose this. But it was it was at a higher level that was made. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  09:04 So you've been at the lighthouse 13 years. And tell me a little bit about what it was like when you started and why did you decide to go to the lighthouse?   Bryan Bashin  09:19 You know, one thing that I can say is that my predecessor, had been prudent with funds. And so this was an agency that had good amount of money in the bank, like $40 million. I came from society for the blind. When I got there. We had six weeks of revenue. And we grew that and made it more stable. But I was attracted to the lighthouse because it was a storied organization. It had been around for, you know, 100 years. It owned this amazing camp in Napa that I'll talk about. It had the bones of a really great Oregon As a nation, and I thought I could do something with it. And I came there and I first saw the headquarters building then across from the symphony. And I thought, there's not enough places here to teach. There's not enough public spaces down. I have things happen. It was just the lighthouse had outgrown its its place. And I thought, oh, here we go. Again, I done a capital campaign in Sacramento to get its new building. Now, I'm going to have to do this again in San Francisco. But we looked at that and we thought, it's got to be close to transit. It's got to be in San Francisco, got to have cool places for people to work to ennoble the workforce not to be a dark hole windowless, undistinguished former garage, which was the old, old building, we found a place in the end, after many different things, we found a place right on top on top of the civic center BART station. And through a partnership and some other things we were able, I was able to convince the board to take this leap. And they did. And five years ago, six years ago, now, we occupied our new headquarters, which really has made us a place where people want to come and work and convene and hold events. It really now has the feel of a center.   Michael Hingson  11:32 Chris, the other thing that happened for the for the lighthouse was you got a pretty significant capital infusion along the way.   Bryan Bashin  11:40 Yeah, a little bit. I would do want people to know that this idea for a new building, the search for the Board's agreeing to do it and agreeing to buy it happened all before the big request, right? So we did, we made all that happen. In December and January, January 2014. Five months later, out of the blue, we got the first letter, understanding that we were going to be receiving receiving a request, that turned out to be the largest request in the history of American blindness to an individual $130 million. It turned out. And that allowed so much of what happened after to be possible.   Michael Hingson  12:31 Right. And that was what I was thinking it wasn't so much the building, but then you could really put into practice the vision that you were creating. That's right. That's right. So how, how has the lighthouse changed in over, let's say the last eight years since 2014?   Bryan Bashin  12:52 Yeah, I think I think I could say, ambition and reach and kind of audaciousness some things are pretty well known. We launched the Holman prize for blind ambition, it's a world prize, we've had, it's getting close to 1000 applicants over the seven years we've had the homerun prize. Those applicants come from every continent, maybe I haven't aggregated all of them. But it wouldn't surprise me to say 40 countries or so have applied. And if you go on YouTube and go to home and price.org. And look, you're going to see what blind people are saying they their dreams are from all over the world. And you cannot think about blindness the same way when you see people in rural Nepal or Africa or an urban Europe, talk about what's important to them. There is no real public way to aggregate all these things other than what we've done thus far. And so that's the kind of audaciousness that has come up in the last eight years. But it's been across everything.   Michael Hingson  14:07 What is the homerun prize? Exactly.   Bryan Bashin  14:10 Prom homerun prize is an annual prize awarded to three people each year by independent jury of blind people that the lighthouse convenes none of those juries are Lighthouse employees. The purpose of the prize is to show great growth and ambition in anything. It's not necessarily a project to do good in the world for blind people or though it can be it could be personal growth, like rowing a boat across the Bosphorus or climbing a mountain or organizing something that was never organized before that kind of thing. We award 320 $5,000 awards, and the price has been amazingly popular with hundreds of 1000s of views about blind people on our website and on YouTube. I'm happy to say that our partner Waymo, is now sponsoring one of the prizes at $25,000.   Michael Hingson  15:11 That is pretty exciting. Yeah. And I've I've watched it through the years and it's it is absolutely amazing and wonderful to see the the different attitudes and philosophies and as you said, dreams that blind people have, because most of the time, we're not encouraged.   Bryan Bashin  15:31 Yeah, most of the time people settle. This is, this is really, beyond mere skills that any blind organization teaches. And I don't mean to derogate them, the skills are essential. We can't do anything without skills. But they're not enough. Somehow my you got the confidence to be a captain of your own ship, metaphorically speaking. That's what got you out of the World Trade Center. That's what got you into business in science and everything else. We want to we this is the this is the mission that any Blind Agency really needs to focus on. Beyond skills. How do you teach confidence? How do you teach what Jacobus tenBroek said that we have a right to live in the world to be at that table, that we are not an embarr and a barren sea in the human condition. We're part of the human condition. And so getting that deep knowledge, something that the late James avec said, not just knowing it in your head, but in your heart, that It's respectable to be blind. And all of that that's, that's the best agencies get at that as well.   Michael Hingson  16:49 We as as a class, need to be more in the conversation and it isn't going to happen unless we demand it. You know, it's it's interesting. We celebrated Global Accessibility Awareness Day last, what Thursday, and later in the year, we'll be celebrating some other events regarding disabilities. What amazes me is even with the visibility that's happened so far, it never seems to hit any of the mainstream television news. Casts or talk shows, the I don't see anyone celebrating Disability Employment Awareness Month, or anything relating to disability awareness, like we see African American history or LGBTQ pride, awareness and so on. Why is it that we're just not still included? Even though even though according to the CDC, up to 25%, of all Americans have some sort of a disability. And we'll of course leave out like dependents, which takes in everyone else, but nevertheless.   Bryan Bashin  18:06 Well, you know, we live in a different as a longtime journalist, we live in a different journalistic culture now. And so what triumphs is narrative, not policy. What triumphs is something that gets is clickbait. Something that gets you emotionally. And I won't say that there, there haven't been good stories. The lighthouses then, Board Chair Chris Downey, who you know, is, as one of only a handful of practicing blind architects got 15 minutes on 60 minutes, one of their most popular episodes been rebroadcast four or five times now. That is a powerful narrative. So we need more of them. I really do think that in any state, any blind organization has stories, just like Chris is just as powerful. You know, our job is to actually be out there relationally with journalists so that they can understand what the stories are. But it's not going to be from a press release, or some some kind of awareness month. It's going to have to be the personal connections that we have with journalists so that we can wind up pitching stories.   Michael Hingson  19:27 Well, it's the usual thing. What it really means is we need to tell the story.   Bryan Bashin  19:35 That's right. As soon as it becomes a story about them. We lose, huh? Yeah.   Michael Hingson  19:41 Yeah, we need we need to be out there and tell the story. And you're right. We need to tell it in a way that will click with people and interest people. But I think that that certainly is something that can be done and we We also collectively need to understand that we need to tell the story and not be shy about it.   Bryan Bashin  20:08 That's right. Yeah, that's right.   Michael Hingson  20:11 And I think all too often, we tend to be shy and we don't want to, to be out there talking about I remember early on after September 11, we got pretty visible in the news. And it was because really of me contacting Guide Dogs for the Blind, just to say, we got out because people from Guide Dogs had seen us in the world transip Trade Center, they've visited us. And I joined guide dogs in about a year afterward. And there was a lot of visibility interviews in the media. By that time, we had been on Larry King Live three times. And on one of the guide dog lists, somebody said, Well, he's just a meteor media whore. And a number of people fortunately reacted, I did not, but a number of people said, What are you talking about? He's out there telling the story. And that is, in reality, the case is that somebody needs to and we all should be out there telling the story saying we're better than people think.   Bryan Bashin  21:12 That's right. That is really true. You know, there's an inherent tension between this knee that you just said about, we need to tell the story because otherwise Hollywood is going to tell the story about us. And the need, you know what the most radical thing is, it's the average blind person doing their average job, unremarkably, and without fanfare and attention, that is the revolution. And so, you know, why should Why should every blind person feel obligated to write a book or do a story. And yet, we have a responsibility as a you have taken to say, This is my life experience, people will learn from it. And so I'll do the hard work to get it out there.   Michael Hingson  21:59 But the very fact that other people are just going to work, and trying to go to work, doing the job, and trying to even get better at doing the job is as much if not more of the story as anything else.   Bryan Bashin  22:14 That's the real revolution. And that's the world we want to help bring about.   Michael Hingson  22:20 So I am curious about something. I believe it's been attributed to you. Scary already. But but I've I've adopted it. People say that we're blind or visually impaired, and I object to the concept of visually impaired because I've always thought I looked the same. I don't like vision impaired because I think I got lots of vision, although as I love to say, but I don't see so good. But I can accept vision impaired. What do you think about that, that concept of the, the terminology like that? And where do words matter in what we do?   Bryan Bashin  23:00 words do matter. And every every generation needs to own and invent words that are relevant to them. And so although I work in a building that says Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, I've come to see that word visually impaired is actually ablest. It means that we are being defined by what we cannot do, we have impairment of vision, we are not a normal part of society. You know, I think the more neutral and non ablest way to construct it is just to talk about people who are blind, or have low vision. Yeah, so that's, that's a positive way. It's neutral way. All these other things over the years, skirting around the word blind, as if that was something we shouldn't be proud of, are talking about the proud people with low vision, instead of looking at them as just simply a characteristic they have, they have low vision. We look at them as impairment or other other ways in which they're, quote, not normal. So that's why words matter. And we in our publications at Lighthouse tried to use a modern language to talk about blindness.   Michael Hingson  24:19 And I do like the concept of low vision. If you talk to a person who is deaf, and you say hearing impaired, you're apt to be shot because that is absolutely unacceptable, deaf or hard of hearing, which is the same concept.   Bryan Bashin  24:34 Yeah. And of course, you always want to talk to the people ourselves, about how we want to be caught. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  24:43 Unfortunately, I think there's still all too many of us that have not really thought it through. But I think as people learn and recognize that we do have the same right to live in the world and are demanding it more, more and more people will wreck denies the value of something like blind or a person who happens to be low vision.   Bryan Bashin  25:05 There are agencies around the country who have steadily taken the word blind out of their name. I think it's a profound mistake, as if who we are needs to be euphemized or just lately swept under the rug. I am a proud blind person because I've been around other blind people who haven't want to euphemized who we are. But yet we have agencies around the country with hundreds of millions of dollars who think that they don't want the word blind in their name. I think the first step in proper rehabilitation is to say who you are.   Michael Hingson  25:46 And do it with pride. Yep. So well, and just to carry that on a little bit more, Dr. Ken Jernigan passed down the late Dr. Ken Jernigan, past president of the National Federation of the Blind, I think came up with the best definition of blindness of all, which is basically if you are eyesight is decreased to the point where you have to use alternatives to full eyesight to accomplish things, then you should consider yourself blind and there's nothing wrong with that.   Bryan Bashin  26:17 Yeah, we're all in this together. Just like, I can't speak for that community. But it's been 150 years since African Americans blacks would talk about various grades and gradations of, of their, their heritage. Just part of the movement now as it should be,   Michael Hingson  26:40 as it should be. And it's unfortunate that it takes some of the kinds of things that it has done to raise awareness for black lives, if you will. But hopefully we're making some progress, although the politicians tend to be the biggest obstructionist to a lot of that big surprise   Bryan Bashin  27:01 there, Mike.   Michael Hingson  27:05 Yeah, it is amazing. As I love to tell people I I try not to be political on this podcast. So I'm an equal opportunity abuser, you know, I'm, I'm with Mark Twain. Congress is that grand old benevolent asylum for the helpless and that's all there is to it. So we can we can abuse them all. It's it's a whole lot more fun. Well, so you have really made some evolutionary changes in the lighthouse. You mentioned enchanted Hills, which I first learned about when I was here in Southern California as a teenager, did not go to Enchanted hills. But I went to what that time, what was the foundation for the junior blinds camp camp Bloomfield, and but I've heard and kept up with enchanted Hills throughout the years and the camp had some challenges a few years ago with the fires and so on. That that took place up in Northern California, and you've been really working to address a lot of that. Tell us a little if you would about enchanted hills. Yeah. Where it was, where it came from, and and where it's going? Well,   Bryan Bashin  28:17 a blind woman rose Resnick founded it in 1950, because she wanted blind people, blind youth and adults to be active participants in nature. At the time, most blind folks went to schools for the blind, urban and restrictive. And Rose had a great experience growing up back east, with camps for the blind, it was a liberation for her. There were no camps when in outwest, for the blind, he founded the first one that we've had at Lighthouse for 72 years now. Why is it important? That mentorship to see cool blind people who are just a few years ahead of you who are owning their lives, you can't learn this in a classroom. You've got to hang out with people, it takes time. It's like that, that same mentorship, you'll see in a convention, a blank convention. The power of that is you got to week, well, you've got a summer at camp, and you've got a summer with people where you can actually have time to finish your conversations and to get lost and try to grow in different ways and fail and try again. And this is a huge and powerful part. What any camp for the blind is there are only a handful left in the United States. So in 2017, those Napa fires we watched as the fires got closer and closer to camp we evacuated and then watch for week as the fires crept closer, we didn't know if camp would survive. And when we finally were able to get back in camp, we found that half of the buildings had burned the old camp deep in the Redwood Forest. We have 311 acres there. It's an enormous P and valuable and beautiful piece of property. And soon after, first we were relieved that nobody was hurt. But after our team realized like this was the opportunity that had waited for three generations, how could we reimagine camp? What are the things now in 2022 that bind people wish they had that we didn't have before. So yes, of course, we have the same all all American camp.   Bryan Bashin  30:44 But we're rebuilding camp to be environmentally friendly, universally accessible, every building at camp every every building at El is will be wheelchair accessible. Every watt of power and use will not be through trucked in propane or hydro or fossil fuels, but be solar generated with our solar canopy over our park parking lot. Every building will be heated and insulated. So is changing from summer camp to a year round place where up to 220 people can stay and learn and form community, both informal things like classes, retreats, and all of that. But informally now, when we reopen, you'll be able to grow, go up to camp with a group of your friends and 20 people, family reunion, whatever you can cook for yourself, or you can take advantage of our full time kitchen staff and all of that. Imagine a blind Asilomar a conference center that is accessible, networked with everything from braille embossers, to the latest tech stuff. That's what camp is and every last part of it, please touch, please use our woodworking stuff, learn how to do ceramics, get to learn how to own and care for a horse. Get in that boat and Sue ads and, and row, go swim, go do arts, go do music and our wonderful new Redwood Grove theater, all of that stuff. So this was the inspiration when when the camp burned five years ago, we were able to get all these buildings on the master plan with a county, we found a contractor we're halfway through the rebuilding all of lower camp now you can see those buildings, the foundations are poured, the roofs are up we're putting in Windows this week. And when we were done, we'll have this amazing, beautiful village in the Redwoods where people can stroll and accessible paths, no guide ropes anymore, by the way, accessible paths. And as you go around camp, you'll be able to be just within hailing distance of other people, people you may not know but should know. So half of the program at camp and why it produces 40 50,000 hours each summer of people contacting people half that program is just that, not what we're talking at you about but people that you meet and form lifelong bonds.   Michael Hingson  33:31 And that's a whole different idea for a camp in general, but it is really creating community and people will leave with I would think lots of memories they never thought they would get.   Bryan Bashin  33:46 You know one of the key features that has been the hallmark of the last 13 years is that we usually have 20 counselors and another half dozen counselors in training. Three quarters or up to 90% of those counselors are now blind, or have low vision. No camp hardly in the country does that there are a lot of camps in which everybody in power. Every director and every assistant director and every counselor, they're all sighted. They're all very well meaning and giving. But where's the mentorship there? Where's the role modeling? So in Jannah Hills is different. The overwhelming majority of our counselors and counselors and training are blind. Our staff and area leaders are overwhelmingly blind as well. Because this is part of the purpose of camp to be able to meet people who are in charge of their own lives and a part of a community   Michael Hingson  34:45 and that's as good as it can possibly get. How does the the camp then it's it's a separate entity but it's part of the lighthouse. How did the the two connect what kind of value does Is the lighthouse itself bringing to the camp and vice versa?   Bryan Bashin  35:03 Yeah, we're all one organization. But increasingly, because of the new construction, we use camp as a retreat for people who want to go deep into their blindness. So for people who are newly blind, or for people who have been blind a while, and now have decided it's time to do something about it, we have an initial immersion called Changing vision changing lives, people go to camp. And there, they take their first steps, sometimes, first time they ever put a white cane in their hands, or their first introduction to what a computer could do. All these kinds of things. It's a deep dive and initial dive, immersion to whet people's appetites for the real hard work that comes after camp where they're going to put in time to learn skills of blindness. But before you start doing skills, you have to have the why, why are we doing that, and you have to have met a dozen or two dozen blind people who are just using those skills. So you're not learning that as an abstraction. Camp is wonderful that way. So the teachers who teach edtech and oh nm, and braille, and, you know, independent living and home repair, and all, these are the same people, whether they're at our headquarters in San Francisco, or they're in a special retreat in Napa. That's what we're going to be doing more and more of around the around the year. Same thing is true with our new program for little for blind infants and toddlers, lighthouse, little learners is an early intervention program. From across northern California, we have built camp in part to be a wonderful place for families of blind infants and toddlers to come together. Almost every family that has a newborn who's blind is utterly unprepared, and is so hungry for information. And of course, as you know, if you get it right, your child grows up and does anything that she or he wants. But those are key years. And so our family cabins now are built so that infants and toddlers, and then later on young kids will have time with their families before it's time for them to go off to camp individually, when they get into the middle years at a teens.   Michael Hingson  37:33 You mentioned the blindness conventions like the National Federation of the Blind convention, and it brought to mind something that I think about every time I go to a convention or know that a convention is coming up, especially with the NFB because of the the way that the organization has handled conventions, there is nothing like watching a five year old who suddenly has a cane put in their hand. And they're given a little bit of cane travel lessons over a very short period of time at the convention. And then they're dragging their parents all around the convention hotel, that the parents usually can't keep up and the kids are just going a mile a second.   Bryan Bashin  38:13 Yeah, that is, that's what we all want. We want that aha moment, like that. And parents are. So when they're new in the game, it's not just talking about the best ophthalmologist, although that's important and the best stimulation and the best this and that. They're also looking at those counselors and counselors in training and seeing their kids in 15 years. And they're just seeing competent blind people. Give them the sense about what's possible and why. And that that is another unspoken role of conventions, or in retreats like camp where you have the time to put into what is like the big change in life. Your blindness is not just something you do superficially, you got to dive in camp helps with that.   Michael Hingson  39:07 It's a characteristic blindness is simply a characteristic. It is something that we all have as part of our beings. And I think it's an enhancement because it allows us should we take advantage of it to have a significantly different perspective on part of life than most people have? And it gives us a broader and more open perspective, which is as good as it gets.   Bryan Bashin  39:38 Absolutely. You know, we're in an age which is supposedly celebrating diversity and all of that, well the diversity that we bring to the to the human experience is profound. And you know, we we will celebrate our intersectionalities with all the other human diversities. Are we are, we are good to live in an age, which doesn't sort of characterize and other, but works or at least seeks efficiently to include.   Michael Hingson  40:13 Sometimes it's a little more superficial than we probably would like. And there are things happening in our modern technological era that are a challenge. For example, one of the examples that I often give is nowadays, there are so many television commercials that are totally graphic pictorial, they may have music, but absolutely no verbiage to the commercial. So a number of us are left out of understanding them. And of course, graphics are so easy to produce. But what the people who produce those commercials, it seems to me don't realize is that by not having verbiage, and having meaningful and full content, verbally presented in the commercials, they're not just leaving out us, but they're leaving out anyone who gets up from their couch or chair, when the commercial comes on to go get a drink. They'll never know what the commercials were about, they're missing a true dimension of access to all it seems to me.   Bryan Bashin  41:19 Well, you put your finger on a key aspect of our culture, which is we live in an age of screens, great. Screens are ubiquitous and cheap. And so we're, we're in a in an age now where it's sort of post linguistic almost, that the ability to manipulate and to show successions of images, capture, you owe 90 some percent of people most of the time, but it does a great disservice to the abilities of human beings of all sorts to appreciate. And it kind of cheapens the subtlety and discourse, I think, you know, we this this ability, words are able to convey a universe of experiences in just a few syllables. Pictures, not so much, and not so standard.   Michael Hingson  42:19 Someone said, I don't recall who but I read it somewhere. Maybe a picture is worth 1000 words. But it takes up a whole lot more memory. I love that. It's an it's so true. Yeah. And we, we really need to recognize collectively the value of challenging and using all of our senses, it's so important to do that, and no scent should be left out. Now, we haven't figured out a way yet to transmit, smell and taste through the television system. And that may be a long ways away. But we certainly have other senses that we should be using. And that isn't, and shouldn't just be screens. But hopefully we can get that discourse to occur and get, get people to change, maybe a little bit about what they're thinking and see the value in that change again.   Bryan Bashin  43:21 Well, you've been a pioneer in this. And as things emerge, I know Mike Kingston is going to be part of it.   Michael Hingson  43:29 Well, it's been fun to to be involved with some of the technologies. You know, for me, it started with Ray Kurzweil. And then last decade was IRA, which has certainly been a product that has made a significant difference for a lot of people but other butter products along the way being involved in some of the refreshable braille displays and, and a lot of people don't realize how easy it is in some senses to produce Braille today because refreshable braille displays means I can take any file, any like ASCII file or a Word file, and put it in a medium that I can import into a Braille display and suddenly read that document. That's, that's pretty new.   Bryan Bashin  44:15 I think we are just now on the cusp of, of having critical mass in a refreshable Braille display that's got enough pixels to be useful as an image producer, and then ways to quickly and sort of economically produce those images. Yeah, Lighthouse has a unit MATLAB they have a group called touching the news. And here every week or two, there's a news graphic, the map of Ukraine during the war, the what is that helicopter on perseverance look like? Those kinds of things, the ephemera and the news of our society, the ability to get those quickly out. If you have a Braille display or a Braille embosser is going to really we're almost at the time when culture will pivot, and 61,000 Blind K through 12 errs in American schools will be able to get new and fresh material all the time, and compare it or look at the output of an oscilloscope in real time, and change and vary and act in a lab accordingly. So the efforts now to make real time expressible refreshable. screen displays are amazing and so important.   Michael Hingson  45:39 The other thing that I would hope as we get into more of a virtual real world virtual reality world, is that we would do more with sound binaural sound which is easy to produce, which truly with a set of headphones allows you to hear sound coming from any direction. And actually can help immerse all gamers in games rather than it just being from the screen. But if they do it right, it certainly would make a lot of games more accessible to us than are available today.   Bryan Bashin  46:12 If you've heard a good binaural recording of something, it can be terrifying. The lighthouse work with this group called The World According to sound to produce several dozen binaural shows about the rich experience that blind people have every day. And you can find those online. We worked with Chris and Sam, who just did splendid work for us about how we live how we how we go around what we notice the subtleties and richness in our lives. So there's there's importance for that. And then later, if you look ahead a few years, the metaverse and the idea of group connections, because what we're doing now Mike, on Zoom is not going to be just like a pandemic, Blip. This is the way people are going to interact. And we want this to be richer. I want to be in a room where I can hear who's on the left of the conference table and who's on the right. Right, I want to be able to face them in the three dimensional view on that screen. It's coming. It's coming quickly. And we need to be part of what MATA is doing as they may be the standard or other people may develop other standards. But this is around the corner.   Michael Hingson  47:33 And the technology is really here to do it. It's it is a matter of making it a priority and deciding to do it in such a way that will keep the costs down. And that isn't all that hard to do. Yeah. So for you, you are I think you have been appointed to the Ability One commission.   Bryan Bashin  47:58 That's right, President Biden appointed me last July. And it's been a wild ride ever since   Michael Hingson  48:04 tell us about the commission and what you're doing with it and so on.   Bryan Bashin  48:09 Well, this commission was set up during the FDR time in 1938. And it was designed originally to provide some way that blind people, and then later on, people with other significant disabilities could find work and an age where there was almost no work. The employment rate of blind people in 1938 was I don't know two or 3%, or something like that. So it was a groundbreaking bit of legislation in the 30s. But over the years, it became a place where blind people worked in non integrated settings. And some people call them sheltered workshops. There were many blind people who are earning less than minimum wage because of a loophole in the law there and all of that. This has been a fight for the last decades to eliminate the sub minimum wage, and also now to seek blind people not working in silos without the benefit of the wider world only working in a place with people with disabilities. But to integrate and find opportunities for that same federal contracting federal contracts federal government buys, what six or $700 billion worth of stuff every year. This ability one program uses about 4 billion of the 600 billion to provide employment, people will make things the lighthouse itself. We have a social enterprise we make environmentally sound cleaning compounds and disinfecting compounds using sort of state of the art Technology, we got an EPA Safer Choice Award for how benign our stuff is, instead of the other harsh ammonia and caustic chemicals. Anyway. So on this commission, the job is how much wiggle room do we have to provide integrated employment now, you know, if you're working in making airplane parts, only with blind people in a separate building, and meanwhile, Boeing has people doing the exact same job. along with everything else, and the glitz and glamour of working for international big company. Why shouldn't blind people be part of that, instead of the sort of set aside, it was a great idea in the 1930s and 40s, and 50s. Now it's time to change. So the first step of the change is our strategic plan. And we've rolled out the draft strategic plan, we have had eight or maybe more now community meetings about it. The public engagement with this change is 500%, more than we had in the past with the AbilityOne. Commission. We we have launched this strategic plan, I sure it'll be codified in upcoming weeks, when it is over five years, we're going to both look at ways that we can get competitive integrated employment experiences as much as we can. And that may require that we open up the Javits, Wagner eau de Act, the legislation in order to maybe change some possibilities to increase competitive integrated employment. Because in the 30s, it just said employment, that's our charge. The idea of competitive integrated employment for blind people, or people with significant that was science fiction, and FDR, Stein. Now it's something you and I have both lived. And why shouldn't the 45,000 people in the program right now have that opportunity? So that's my work in the AbilityOne. Commission, to bring the fruits of federal contracting to the hundreds of federal contractors, and let them benefit from a workforce that includes diversity of all kinds, including people who are blind,   Michael Hingson  52:28 is the tide turning so that we can see the day that the Javits Wagner, eau de Act, Section 14, see will actually go by the wayside, and we'll be able to truly address the issue of competitive employment.   Bryan Bashin  52:44 Yes, we have taken many steps along that line, the main step is that organizations that hold such certificates may not be allowed, in the very short term it very shortly to compete for new contracts. So the cost of paying subminimum h is going to be very expensive for people who wish to get more contracts. This is in process now. We are not going to, you know, pull the emergency cord and throw people out of work, who are now working under these programs, but new contracts, and new opportunities are going to be you know, bias towards competitive integrated employment. And, you know, on the blind side, there are no organizations in the blindness side of Ability One paying sub minimum wages Now, none. That's that's already ended on the significant disability sides. I think the number is around 3000. People still are working on legacy contracts like that. We expect that if I talk to you in a couple of years, Mike, that will be gone.   Michael Hingson  54:02 Well, and historically, I think when the act was originally established, it was done with good intentions. And maybe it wasn't as five sided as it could be. But as I understood the original Act, the non competitive employment centers were supposed to be training centers to get people prepared to and then out into the more competitive world of employment. But it morphed and evolved over the years to something different than that.   Bryan Bashin  54:33 It is and if legally, if you look, there's nothing in the ACT about training. It's just about employment. That's that was the mindset in 1938. Yeah. Now, of course, that's what we want. That's what we want to celebrate. We want to give the nonprofit agencies credit for training people and bringing them out into competitive employment. We think if we open up the act, we want to strike threat. So those agencies who are successful at getting people trained up and out, should be rewarded for that.   Michael Hingson  55:08 That makes perfect sense. What is the pandemic done to the whole rehabilitation system? And what do you see happening as we come out of it?   Bryan Bashin  55:19 This is not a happy topic.   Michael Hingson  55:22 Yeah, it is a challenge.   Bryan Bashin  55:25 The the number of people who are just enrolled in VR across the country has been slashed a third to a half those those people part of that is because VR with its three and a half billion dollars worth of funding, doesn't find, you know, the homemaker outcome, which is basically blind, independent living training, that's now no longer legal. So those people who went to VR thinking they could learn how to do certain things. But without a vocational goal, that is not not any, any more part of the public rehab system. So some people went away for that. But I think the larger question and it's kind of profound is that we've been through two years of a pandemic, after, after a century of saying to blind people get out there, learn to travel, be at everybody's table, take risks. And now we've had two years and more of stay in your place. It's a dangerous world. And our you know, my observation is all of our skills are rusty, are on him skills are rusty, our social skills are rusty. And everybody in the world will say, Oh, you're blind is easy to stay at home, look from look for work at home and all of this, but we lose if we're not in the room. And so the bottom line is that the pandemic has caused, I think a lot of us to take a giant step back in our social integration and just our horizons. Through the pandemic, I watched as my sighted friends could just get in the car and go where they wanted safely. Every time you and I want to go somewhere, Mike, we have to get into a conveyance with a person of unknown infectivity status. This is the nature code, we can't just Uber ourselves to a park without the sense like, okay, we're taking a controlled risk. This is why a future of autonomous vehicles is so great, no guide dog denials, no coughing driver, who may or may not be wearing a mask these days, technology can be our friend, if the technologists start considering our needs.   Michael Hingson  57:53 Well, and autonomous vehicles are, are definitely in our future and the whole concept of opposing them. Anyone who does we're, we're seeing someone who just doesn't have a lot of vision, because the reality is that they're, as you would say, right around the corner. I think some of the things that have happened with Tesla vehicles is unfortunate, especially when, in reality, they were probably not using the technology correctly. And that causes many accidents is anything. I have a friend who owns a Tesla, I actually drove it down the I 15 toward San Bernardino a few years ago. But I called him one day and he told me he had an accident with his Tesla. Now he had driven some race cars in the past and he said that there was a situation where a car was coming at him. He had the Tesla in copilot mode and was monitoring. But when this vehicle was coming at him as a racecar driver, he said my inclination is to speed up and get away from it. The car wanted to slow down and he said I overrode the copilot and we had an accident. I should have let the car do   Bryan Bashin  59:14 it. Your way there. I can't let that pass. Mike. You were in the driver's seat of a Tesla on Interstate 15.   Michael Hingson  59:24 Absolutely, why not? No, he was he was there of course. And but I had my hands on the wheel and we had it in copilot mode and I could feel it moving. It was a pretty straight run. But we did it for about 15 minutes. And then I said no, I don't think that the Highway Patrol would be happy with us if we kept that going.   Bryan Bashin  59:44 I don't think the statute of limitations quite expired on that one bike so   Michael Hingson  59:50 well, they gotta prove it now. I don't know it's been more than two years and nothing and nothing happened. I will wasn't in the car with the accident, we had a completely uneventful time, I just want to point out   Bryan Bashin  1:00:06 now, but these, these technologies, we must be pressing the companies for Level Five accessibility. That means from the time you walk down your friend steps to the car waiting there for the time you get to your destinations, front steps, you're in control the whole time. Yeah, it would be heartbreaking to have legislation that allows less than that. So that yeah, you have to like drive until you're on the freeway, and then you can do autonomous driving, that would lock us all out. That would mean this whole technology is useless for us.   Michael Hingson  1:00:44 And that would be useless legislation, it wouldn't solve the big problem that the autonomous vehicle can bring us. I'm a firm believer, and we got to get the concept of driving out of the hands of drivers. Because, as far as I'm concerned, using a Tesla or not the way most people drive on the road, I would certainly be able to do as well as they do.   Bryan Bashin  1:01:07 Absolutely. I wrote in, I wrote an autonomous vehicle in San Francisco last summer. And I felt it in control, confident, cautious, but it had a different sort of feel in that car and felt like I noticed like in San Francisco, if you want to make a left turn, a sighted driver would sort of drive into the intersection, start making the turn. And then once you're made the 90 degree turn, then accelerate the autonomous driver drives into the intersection and starts accelerating in the intersection intersection, knowing full well that it knows and has decided where it wants to go. So if it was more confidently powering into the term than a human one would do. I found that interesting.   Michael Hingson  1:02:05 It is, and I just am firmly convinced that we will make the road so much more safer if we take not the decision making but the whole concept of driving away from so many people who haven't learned to do it. Well, it does mean that we need to program the technology appropriately. And well. We're still on the cusp, but it's coming and it's going to be here sooner than we probably think.   Bryan Bashin  1:02:36 Yeah, well, the main thing is that all there may be 50 Different groups five, zero, looking at autonomous driving, it's turning out to be a much harder technical problem than people were saying just a few years back. But we need to be in those early design phases. You know, my car right now has a radio that I can't use. Yeah, because it needs a touchscreen. I mean, if they can't get that, right, what about the ability to change directions, at a stop on a whim, respond to a safety emergency, we need to let the folks know, all the ways that we need to be involved and not like was one set of the Mercury astronauts, we're not just spamming again.   Michael Hingson  1:03:25 Right? Well, and the the Tesla, for example, is so disappointing, because everything is really touchscreen driven. So I could deal with the wheel and deal with the car once someone else completely shut it up. And there is some ability to do voice activation, if you do the right things with the touchscreen first. And the bottom line is I couldn't work the radio, I couldn't do anything that a passenger should normally be able to do. Because it's all touchscreen driven. And it really takes away, it seems to me from the driving experience, even because I have to focus on the touchscreen. I can't be watching the road as well as a sighted driver.   Bryan Bashin  1:04:10 Yeah, this is not inherent to blindness. It's just smart design that's inclusive. And those are fun projects. And that's when you get blind people, engineers, by engineers, sighted engineers together on a problem that is a beautiful Association and it produces really great results.   Michael Hingson  1:04:31 I'm remember I remember some of the early discussions that we had when we were working on the pedestrian enhancement Safety Act and we worked with the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers and eventually got a law passed that said that quiet cars and so on needed to make a noise although we're still really waiting for a standard so that there is a sound that hybrid cars and totally quiet cars produce and it's taking way To long, unfortunately, but still working together, we were able to educate and get some people to really imagine a lot more than they thought that they would. And we're making progress, but it sometimes it just seems like it's very slow. Well, let me ask you one last thing, what are you going to do when you leave the lighthouse, you announced that you're, you're wanting to move on. And I know that there is now a search to find a, a person who will step into your shoes, which I think is going to be an impossibility. But what are you going to do?   Bryan Bashin  1:05:37 Well, I love I love the search, I love that lighthouse is going to have a long, open, transparent process to find that right person. So that will be wonderful to cheer them on when they show up. But for me, I am a guy who likes learning. And I've had 13 years of heavy responsibility running a large agency, I want to be in places where I have more of a beginner mind. That could be journalism, that could be advocacy, it will be advocacy. That will be in design, like we were just talking about autonomous vehicles or other interesting projects. I would like to be in those places, whether it be corporate boards, or design Charettes, or architecture, any of these things were blind people haven't been before, to sort of bring people together to make really exquisite designs, and beautiful human centered outcomes. So whether it's working with the Ability One Commission, or working on contract with companies that have a problem to design, whether it's it's talking truth to power, and making sure that our extended community has is protected and safe and supported in Congress in the state house. You'll find me in all those places.   Michael Hingson  1:07:04 Well, I hope that as you move on and do things that you will come back and talk with us and keep us posted and give us a chance to learn from you and and maybe give you things that you can use as well. So I hope that this won't be the only time we hear from you on this podcast.   Bryan Bashin  1:07:22 It's always a pleasure, Mike, it's in conversation with you. I learned so much. And I feel we are part of that same community.   Michael Hingson  1:07:30 How can people learn about you, the lighthouse, and so on?   Bryan Bashin  1:07:35 Well, our websites always a good place to start WWW dot Lighthouse dash s f.org.   Michael Hingson  1:07:44 And everything is there, there are so many different programs that the lighthouse offers. And there's so much that all of us can learn from the various adventures and programs that the Lighthouse has. So I hope that you'll all go visit WWW dot Lighthouse dash s s.org and peruse the pages. And if you're able to do so maybe consider volunteering or being involved in some way. And I hope that you'll make that happen. If people want to reach out to me, we are always available. As I tell people every week you can reach me via email at Michael H I at accessabe.com or through the podcast page which is www dot Michael hingson M I C H A E L H I N G S O N.com/podcast. And once you finish listening to this, please give us a five star rating. We love those five star ratings and, and Brian, hopefully you'll listen and give us a five star rating when this comes up.   Bryan Bashin  1:08:46 Oh, I'm already pre sold on this one. You're also welcome to leave my email address. I'll go folks on on the website or here. It's simply b Bastion b ba Shi n at Lighthouse stash fsf.org.   Michael Hingson  1:09:03 So reach out to Brian and I'm sure that discussions will be interesting. And as I said we want to hear of your adventures as you go forward. Thank you, Michael. Thanks very much for being here. And to all of you. We'll see you next week on unstoppable mindset.   UM Intro/Outro  1:09:23 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Episode Summary Bob Sonnenberg grew up as what most people would call a “normal individual”. He went to school, had a good home life and after college he went to work. However, several years ago, his “normal” life changed when in an instant he lost almost all of his eyesight and entered a whole new world. However, Bob internally rejected the typical view held by most people toward losing their sight. Bob moved forward and demonstrated that he truly has an unstoppable mindset. Today I invite you to meet this strong and confident individual. Learn how he not only has survived but how he thrives and gives back to all of us in so many ways. Bob Sonnenberg has mostly been an unsung hero, but today we put his song out there for everyone to hear and celebrate. Some directories do not show full show notes. For the complete transcription please visit https://michaelhingson.com/podcast About the Guest: Bob Sonnenberg, CEO Bob is a native of Marin County and a fifth generation Californian. He has more than 30 years of experience in finance, development, and investments, including operating his own brokerage and insurance business and manufacturing business. Prior to joining EBC, he served for more than 10 years as Associate Director of Planned Giving and Major Donor Officer for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Bob earned his MBA from Golden Gate University. Devoted to his community, Bob is an advocate for quality of life for older adults and people living with disabilities. He serves on the board of Whistlestop and Marin County Estate Planning Council and is a past Mill Valley Rotary member as well as having served on the Board of the Community Institute of Psychotherapy (CIP) for over 10 years. Bob leads an active and independent lifestyle and enjoys hiking, gardening and tandem bike riding. He lives with his wife Cindy and guide dog, Langley, in San Rafael, CA. About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes UM Intro/Outro 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Ad 01:28 On April the 16th at 2pm North American instant time, blind musicians from across the globe are getting together for an online benefit concert for Ukraine. It's called we're with you. And all money raised goes to the World Blind unions unity fund for Ukraine. To learn more, including how to listen and how to perform it. We're with you. Visit mushroom fm.com/with you. That's mushroom fm.com/with you. Michael Hingson 01:58 Hi, and thanks for dropping by Welcome to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet least that's what we say. And I'm glad that you're able to be here and hope that you enjoy our session today. We have a person that I regard as a special guest. He's been a very close friend for oh my gosh, 16 years or more. Bob Sonnenberg and I met at Guide Dogs for the Blind. And he was looking at getting a job and looking at the concept of having a guide dog and I was working at Guide Dogs for the Blind and we had a chance to meet and talk and friendship has grown from there. It's kind of all turned around a couple of years ago, he drafted me to serve on a board for an organization of which he is the executive director of the Erlbaum center of the blind. In Santa Rosa, California. Bob, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Bob Sonnenberg 02:51 Well, thank you so much, Michael, for for having me for inviting me and it has been quite a journey over the last 16 years, that's for sure. Michael Hingson 03:02 Well, I would love to hear about the journey, that's a good place to start. So tell us a little about you in general, you know, you grew up I know as a as a sighted person and so on. And then things change but tell us about your life and your journey. Bob Sonnenberg 03:19 So, well, where do you start? Okay, so one of the things is that that is probably unique to me maybe in being a native Californian and a seventh or eighth generation Californian but dating back to the 1820s here in the state of California. So somewhat unique and and there's not a lot of us in that in that club. But I grew up here in the San Francisco Bay Area, spent most of my childhood in and Marin County, California just north of San Francisco been happily married for 40 years and that's been a journey and have have two young young boys real proud of that both married and live really close by to me. So on a personal level, it's been a it's been pretty terrific to have be surrounded by not only great friends but also great family. And my background, it's while the childhood years were spent here in the North Bay in Northern California. I've also had a lot of experience in one of my lifes I was a cowboy and was on the junior rodeo circuit years ago so pretty fearless as far as my adventures experiences and love sports and I love the concept of unstoppable because I think it's just a great not to have any upper limits with your life. And like Michael said, I 16 years ago I was I just kind of share how my my world is really changed dramatically as far as being fully sighted to the not so fully sighted or the low vision world. And I was driving up to Sacramento and all of a sudden outside the city limits, my retinas kind of shut down. And all of a sudden, I couldn't see the couldn't see the freeway signs. And so that was my quick entry into vision loss. And that transition really wasn't, it wasn't a gentle transition, it was really an abrupt transition. But it took me a while to really absorb and figure out how to deal with it. And even from the point of telling people that I've lost my lost a significant amount of my sight. And I still think that was one of the hardest things I had to do. When I first lost my sight is telling, acknowledging that I had a disability. But once I got over, that fear that that, that issue, I was able to start moving forward. It took me a while to embrace using a cane and and once I figured out that it was a great tool to be able to use a cane and navigate safely. It was easy, you know, and it's pretty, it's really second nature now. And I think one of the things that has served me well, maybe from a work experience level is prior to being involved in the nonprofit world prior to being involved with Earl balm center prior to being involved with guide dogs was I was in the, in the financial world, and life insurance business, and also the investment, retirement planning business and, and having that expertise of 30 plus years is has been pretty terrific. As far as being able to meet an incredible array of people. It's all people oriented. My whole work experience has been people oriented and connecting with people and, and building relationships with people. And so that's really helped me in in entering the new world of low vision. And I want to go ahead, right, well, Michael Hingson 07:21 I want to get into that. But But I have to ask you a couple questions. First, you said something early on that I'm really concerned about. They're married, but you still call them young boys? Hmm. Bob Sonnenberg 07:32 Well, you're younger than me much younger than me, like, you know, early 30s, mid 30s. So Michael Hingson 07:41 young boys. Well, that that's great. I remember them when they were a lot younger. Of course, we've been down here now for a while I haven't seen them. So we'll we've got to work that out. But you know, we we continue the circle of life as it were. So that that is really cool, though. But tell me about your time on the on the rodeo circuit, what did you do? Bob Sonnenberg 08:05 So not only race, race ponies roll out years. And, you know, I had this vision when I was a kid that I would grow up and have some connection with a four legged animal and a harness, okay, or not a harness, but a halter. Okay, some leather type, you know, like a, a bridle. So I think it's really important. And I've kind of shared this in sometimes in talking with with groups of young kids, and you got to be really clear on what your goals are, what your vision is. And so I have a guide dog, my second guide dog and so I am connected with a four legged animal, not the dog that is not the four legged animal that I envisioned when I was 1012 years old. And I've connected with having not a bridle but a harness. So I was there was a missing piece in my vision of when I grew up to be a grown well, I'm still growing up, but Michael Hingson 09:12 this is this sort of God's way of saying, Be careful what you wish for. Bob Sonnenberg 09:16 Yeah, exactly. You can be a little bit more clear, okay, and concise and focused. And but, you know, it's even to this day, I know that I mentally and mechanically, I could probably go out and easily ride a horse again and also probably even rope again. Michael Hingson 09:34 I was just gonna ask if you've done any ride, you know, not rodeo necessarily, but have you done any writing or anything in the last little while? Bob Sonnenberg 09:43 Not in the last little while. It's it's definitely on my my, my bucket list once again. Somehow, someway get involved in horseback riding again because I love doing it. It's just it's wonderful. Michael Hingson 09:59 It's been a while since I've had that opportunity, we'd love to do it again. There's nothing like the, the feeling of communicating within and riding a horse and interacting with them. Yeah, last time last time, I think we interacted with a horse was in New York City. And it was Roselle. Actually, um, we were at the, I think, walking by the Plaza Hotel right across from Central Park. And Roselle saw these dogs across the street. At least she thought they were and and somebody somebody had told me that it was the carriage horses for the carriages and all that that, that drive around anyway. I said was hey, you want to go meet them and she was wagging her tail and the closer we got the slower she walked. As they kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. She figured out they're not dogs. I don't know about this anymore. Anyway, we went up to one. And I started talking to the guy whose horse it was the horse's name was Charlie and he said, Well, Charlie isn't necessarily the most friendly horse so you might be careful. But Charlie and Roselle struck up a relationship and they talked to each other and Charlie was very friendly and sniffed Roselle. Roselle got to sniff Charlie and we stayed there about 10 minutes and Roselle was quite happy and comfortable. She made a new friend. Bob Sonnenberg 11:22 That's great. Yeah. Michael Hingson 11:24 But there's nothing like riding a horse. I hope you get to do it. Someone I hope we can do it down here sometime soon or else up there. Bob Sonnenberg 11:32 Yep, yep, it's definitely on my list of things to do. Michael Hingson 11:37 So what happened when your retina shut down? You're on the freeway, how did you deal with that immediately? What did you do a Bob Sonnenberg 11:44 lot of emotions. You know, unfortunately, I could see I was very familiar with Sacramento and driving into Sacramento and I just kind of I was able to turn off to the roadway safely and, and actually was up there was early in the morning, I went to an all day conference, really not knowing what was going on rather than I couldn't see very well and went to the conference and made a decision. At the end of the day, probably about five o'clock, it was this saint January of 2004. So it was dark, getting dark, about five o'clock or so. And I didn't want to call and worry my wife that I I'd be late or whatever. And we had plans to meet in the city that night in San Francisco and there was about a 80 mile drive south to San Francisco and Sacramento. And so I made the decision to get in the car not necessarily the necessarily the best decision I've ever made. But I got in the car. And California was kind enough to put in those what I refer was referred to that time. Boy bumps in the freeway. So yeah, that but that's whatever. Anyhow, I just got in the slow lane and use that as kind of my guideline and safely drove to San Francisco. And that was a last evening I drove a car and I made it successfully. So Michael Hingson 13:14 safely. I don't know. But you made it which safely I Bob Sonnenberg 13:17 made it. Yeah, didn't hit anything and hurt anybody. And and I arrived. And Michael Hingson 13:22 so what did you then do what then? What happened? First of all, what? When did you learn what cost you're? Bob Sonnenberg 13:30 So it was really interesting. Just happened on a Saturday morning and Monday morning, I made arrangements to come up and see a retinal specialist in actually ironically in Santa Rosa. And I met with her and she gave me the diagnosis that it was myopic degeneration. So similar to macular degeneration, it's really high, high level nearsightedness. So I just, I don't have any dark spots, black spots, I can just the visual acuity is just not as sharp as it was and it's not correctable. So from that perspective, the fact that I don't have any dark spots, black spots, that's really account that is a blessing every day. But when I we arrived home, and I sat down with each one of my sons and told them what the diagnosis was and was just, you know, slowly processing it, but I love to share this one story with my oldest son I sat down with him and he said, Dad, you know how I can help you we'll help you and if you need a ride someplace, give me a ride and but I have a question for you and and the question was, well, God when you when you lose one of your senses, I've heard that another one is supposed to get better. I said, Yeah, I've heard that too. But, Bob, this just happened two days ago. So what are you asking me? He said, Well, when are you going to get a sense of humor. So he's much bigger than me. And I just gave him a big hug. But I, I love sharing that because, you know, that's kind of what it's all about just looking at things in a different lens and looking at it joyfully, as opposed to what was me. So having that attitude of positivity is really probably really helped me in this journey. Michael Hingson 15:38 So what was your work at the time? Bob Sonnenberg 15:41 So at that time, I was working for the triple A organization in Marion County, and our my role and responsibility was really marketing developing selling there. While everyone knows about their travel business, or their property casualty, their auto insurance and homeowners insurance, not a lot of folks knew about their life insurance business, and that was part of my background. So I was embarking on marketing for them the life insurance business in marine County. And so right in my backyard, it was a great, you know, I lived a couple miles away from where I worked. So it was pretty cool. And a triple eight, at the time really didn't know what to do with somebody that couldn't see the computer, they had no tools, no preparation for someone that was, couldn't really see. And they tried a lot of different things to try. And as far as job accommodations for me, and I will never forget the one of the first things that they tried to have me suggested I embrace as far as a position, not in the life insurance business, but in another role, another responsibility within the organization, they said, Bob, we'd like you to answer the phone. And I'm sure my reaction was it was a stunned silence, because it was not something that I really cherish doing. And fortunately, for me, I only lasted in with that responsibility for about two or three hours. And then they, they, they tried to multiple things, and I was able to work and get support, get help from the Department of Rehabilitation, get some job accommodation type tools, magnification tools, and, and I really, I, I didn't stop working the whole time. And I were, we get a ride there every day to work for one of my either my wife or my kids. And it just, it helped me having that, that work ethic, it helped me having a day, every day something to do something to work at and just kind of it helped me adjust to the sight loss and doing different things. And I you know, not only did things in interacting with people every day at the AAA organization, but also different having different roles there and using the tools and being out there where I could, I had a video magnifier, a big desktop so it just kind of accentuated the fact that hey, this guy has special tools, there's got to be someone with him and I got a you know, it took me a while to process that and but having that ability to work every day and work at it every day and embrace that connected connectivity with other people every day really helped me transfer and my fear of not having full sight anymore. And I just learned how to adjust and it was a you know, it takes time and it's kind of maybe even a lifelong thing because you still have maybe for myself and I'm not sure I really haven't talked a lot about it with other folks that have lost their sight later in life but it's a transition period and you know the interceptor really have the internal maybe attitude fortitude that you want to keep being successful you still want to be engaged in life and that that's probably been the one of the big motor freight motivators for me, you know, having been curious being fearless. constantly wanting to move forward. So Michael Hingson 19:46 What job did you ended up settling on? Or did you did you end up with a sort of a regular job for a while at triple A? Bob Sonnenberg 19:55 They had, I not only gave handed out maps gave directions to people because I knew that the area that I was living in serving in, I sold the work to the cashier, as a cashier is selling travel equipment within this store, I did inventory, they, they had me doing a little bit of everything and a lot of everything so, but I made some great connections with the people that I worked with. And that's kind of always been my Hallmark. I mean, as far as you can't do anything you do in life, I don't think you can't do it alone. And so you need to be able to have the ability to work with people and get support from other people. And, and it gave me the opportunity to do that. And really, you know, in hindsight, it really, it was a pretty low stress responsibilities that I had, looking back at it, it was it was definitely something I hadn't done in my sales, so called sales, production type career. So, you know, it was a learning experience. And I ultimately, when I, when I got learned how to use these new tools, this video magnifier or whatever their technology that might be out there, one of the trainers I will never forget, he said, he told me about people that I should connect with. And I'll never forget who he was. And when it was and who he told me I should reach out to her. So he was uh, he gave us a training and like, a new piece of equipment to my house. So I could use a video magnifier big desktop video magnifier, my house and you set it up for me and see the same, you know, Bob, you should you should connect with this guy. You may have heard of him. And they said, he said, Sam is Michael Hinkson. And so, being fearless perhaps, and not bashful about reaching out, picking up the phone and calling a stranger. That's what I did. And that's how I that's how I connect with you, Mike and, you know, ultimately connected getting a guide dog, you know, the first time I got was even considering getting a guide dog guide. They took me on a came in interviewed me did a lifestyle assessment. And then they wanted to test my cane skills. Well, this was six months into losing my sight. And I never even touched the cane. So they told me or with guide dogs told me where I was supposed to walk to. And I knew the area and I knew the routine. And I could see well enough to navigate what I thought was safely and not bump into people. So I went on the test walk that guide walked and didn't bring the cane and that was probably a bad example that I set for the guide dog instructor and but after doing that journey, or after doing that test, I got back to my house and said to the guide dog trainer, I said you know, Jim, I really don't think I need a guide dog. Okay. And my attitude was that, you know, I wasn't ready mentally to get a guide dog. But he said, Bob, what you should do just, you know, thing, your life can change. Your attitudes can change. So don't give up the thought but but wait six months, wait a year, whatever. And that's what I did. And so slowly I got I figured I had to figure out how to use a cane. So once I once I adopted and embrace using the cane. I practice every day, I was working at triple A every break I had, every lunchtime I had if I had to wait for a ride to get picked up. I'd be out there practicing using the cane until I felt really comfortable doing it. And it just became part of my life. So to answer your question or not my Michael Hingson 24:12 it does. It does and yeah. So you you eventually got to the point where you decided to to go out and get a guide dog is is your eye condition a degenerative one is it stable? I'm not asking you whether you are stable, but just your eye condition. Bob Sonnenberg 24:32 Yeah. Okay. Fortunately, my my eye condition has been really really stable. For the last really, almost since the beginning I initially I used to get a lot of on a regular basis shots of evason which were to help ward off perhaps the macular degeneration portion or and really, it got to the point where I I haven't had a shot for a least a dozen years as far as shots in the eye to to deal with a myopic degeneration. I get it. I get it tested regularly. And I can I know what the difference is as far as if there's any significant change. Well, let Michael Hingson 25:18 me ask a nice question. Oh, go ahead. Yeah, no, I Bob Sonnenberg 25:21 was gonna say one of the things and I, I've always had maybe some eye issue, one of my one of my eyes is, has never been had really good functional vision. Growing up, I played a lot of sports. But I really just saw out of one eye and my left eye was always been known as a as a so called lazy eye. So I really had no really has no functional vision, he I can see maybe two fingers, two feet in front of me if I'm lucky. But so and my left eye tends to wander quite a bit. So to keep people that I interact with on a regular basis, and on a daily basis, I wear a patch over my left eye to make the person I'm interacting with feel feel more comfortable. Michael Hingson 26:11 Interesting way to, to deal with it and to look at it. Well, I'm curious, although the condition is not necessarily one that will change a lot over time. What would you do? Or how would you react? Because you obviously do still depend on eyesight to at least a degree, if not a significant degree? What would would happen to you? What would your attitude be? If you lost the rest of your eyesight? Bob Sonnenberg 26:40 You know, I think I could, I don't like to think about it, number one, but if I did, I could make the adjustment. And, you know, and I think having made the adjustment from fully sighted to low vision, that's helpful to have in my background. But I connect with folks, you know, Michael, like, you know, sight, have a master's in physics. And so I, I really tried to be inspired by people that have that I think are very accomplished in what they do that have either no site or a site similar to mine. And it gave kind of the service or, for me a role model and inspiration that, you know, it gives maybe some degree of comfort that they're successful, they're moving forward with their life. I can do the same thing. Michael Hingson 27:43 Well, you've you and I have you and I have chatted a lot about this. But yeah, let me let me pose this question. So the National Federation of the Blind is an organization of over 50,000 blind people that has been around since 1940. And its second major president, Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, wrote an article called a definition of blindness. That was published in the 1960s. At the time, he was the director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind, as well as being the president of the Federation. And one of the the premise of the article was that you are blind or you ought to think of yourself as blind if your eyesight diminishes to the point where you have to use alternatives to full eyesight, in order to function. And when you start to have to use large print or magnifiers, or whatever, you should learn the techniques of blindness, and recognize that that you are in fact a blind person that blindness is not a total lack of eyesight. But blindness is a a characteristic that defines well, well defined is probably the wrong word, but a characteristic that you acquire, where you've lost enough eyesight that you have to do things differently. What do you think about that? Bob Sonnenberg 29:10 I think about it probably every day. And and one of the things I've realized that it takes me more time to prepare for things to practice. It takes me more time to practice things and I still trying to do everything I did in the sighted world. And one of the things I took up a few years back was that I like like sports and and so I took up tandem bike riding, okay, and know that I do not ride in the front. I'm not the pilot on the bike. But I got a guy that used to used to be a real pilot and he flew off aircraft carrier so I've been really fortunate to connect with some amazing people in my life and and having that having an attitude You'd have no fear or not. And no fear, I think is maybe a good way to describe it. But I've had a chance to throw out a couple of first pitch, first pitches in baseball games and threw out a first pitch in, in the American League and also the nationally and I know that from an athletic standpoint, I probably wouldn't have had that experience. If I was fully sighted. There'd be no, no reason for me to get that opportunity. So, you know, I like to just throw strikes, three strikes, and it's validated. Okay, just so you know, you feel free to do a Google search Bob Sonnenberg first pitch, it's actually memorialize and, and the announcer who put it up there on YouTube initially is a kid that I, I coach in little league baseball. So it's amazing how full circle things, things are in life. But I guess our strike, Michael Hingson 31:04 let's just point out that there's this other this other guy named Fauci, who threw out a pitch at the nationals baseball game, and he didn't throw a strike, you know, so yeah, I mean, you, you are welcome to say that he should keep his day job. Yeah, yeah. But you know, what is exciting? Bob Sonnenberg 31:23 A lot of things are, you know, that, that I'm able to do a lot of his his mental and mechanics. And so if you keep that in perspective, that's, that's how I kind of look at things and know that if I keep the mental and mechanics up, because I've done it before, I can do it again, type thing. And I could probably throw a strike with my eyes close to. But isn't Michael Hingson 31:49 that what it's really about? It's yeah, oh, it's really all mental. Yeah, it is. Yeah. And oftentimes, we allow ourselves to get distracted, or we allow ourselves to become fearful. And as an I call it blinded by fear, because things happen to us. And we don't learn how to adjust or as some people would say, roll with the punches, and we just allow ourselves to be overcome by things that aren't truly relevant, and that we allow ourselves to not adapt and grow when things come along to give us that opportunity. Bob Sonnenberg 32:34 That's absolutely true. I think it's it's one of the amazing things and that I get to see at their Obama center every day to connect with people that are going through that transition. A really neat thing happened, actually, just this morning, Mike, that maybe about a month ago, I did a presentation to a group of folks, actually in Marin County, via zoom. Folks, it was a vision support group. And they asked me to after the first year, they asked me if I'd like to say a few words in this group. And so I had a good Zoom meeting with him and some of the people in the group I had known from another chapter in my life. And so having that familiarity was really pretty cool. And one of the individuals I met as a result of doing that, he called me afterwards and said, Bob, I'd like to come to their obame Center. And but I, I've never and I understand that you take the smart Train, I've never taken the smart train. So I met him at the train depot when seven o'clock one morning and we took the smart train together. He came up here, I introduced him to my coffee place and I introduce them to the My driver that I get a ride from at the from the train station to their Obama's center every day. And he got some instruction here at the Obama center that day. Well, this morning, he's coming back for another training session. He's sitting in the lobby here at their obame Center. And he done made the smart train journey all by himself gotten here all by himself, it was just, it was kind of full circle to see that, you know, and he wasn't afraid of doing that he'd never taken the train before, prior to joining me on the train that one day just 30 days ago. So to see that transformation, pretty phenomenal. Michael Hingson 34:41 It's, again, all about mindset. And it's all about Yeah, the creator of your own mental attitude. And I've heard so many stories like that. It's it's great to hear so exciting and yeah, hopefully he will continue to grow in growing up myself, I've heard a number of stories like that. There is a guy he has since passed, he passed last year. His name is Doug Morris, a longtime friend of mine, through the National Federation of blind I met him when I first went to Iowa to work on the Kurzweil project back in 1976 or early 77. And Dunn was a type type one diabetic, he lost his eyesight, or literally, almost overnight, totally lost his eyesight due to diabetic retinopathy. And he happened to go to the Iowa Commission for the Blind for services. He lived in Iowa, the Commission at the time in the 60s was the lead agency, as much as anything because of the attitude that Dr. Jernigan instilled in the agency, which is the blindness isn't the problem. It's our attitude. And that blind people, although we use alternative techniques, blind again, being not just totally blind, but we use alternative techniques to what sighted people do. So Don went to the center before he lost his eyesight. He had worked for Iowa Bell, before the breakup part of the telephone company, he was the number one sales guy, he had sold more than twice what everyone else had sold, when he went to the commission, and then went back to doing the same job. And because of what he learned, and because of his attitude and mindset, he was able to continue to do the job. And oh, by the way, continue to sell like twice as much as anyone else. But then an opportunity came along, where they were looking for someone to teach people to sell. And he applied, and they would not let him apply for the job. They kept saying things like we would rather you be where you are, because you're you're bringing so much in forest. And he said, but this is a promotion, and I gotta have the right for a promotion and all that. And they said, but you're doing so well. So he finally called the National Federation of blind and the Iowa commission got resources from both to help sat down with the bell people and learned that the real issue was that they didn't think that a blind person could teach didn't matter what he had done didn't matter what his track record was, they didn't think that a blind person could teach, which is, of course, what we run into all the time, people's perceptions of what blind people can do and not do. So Don quit, he left the Iowa Bell company, and kind of had his customer database with him. Another great connector, by the way, I would say, and for those who are listening and think about it, Bob is one of the greatest connectors that I know, period, you you connect with people and you emphasize that in our time today, but anyway, so don, quit, started his own company. And he I think I may have told this story before, but he told people that he went to his customers and others go off and get your best quote from Iowa Belle, and then come to us. And we will charge you only half of what we save you over a three year period. And I said, How did that work out for you? And he said, Generally, it worked out really well given the prices they charge. I said, but did you ever have a situation where you didn't save anyone anything? And he said I had one customer who only owed me a nickel for three years worth of work. And that's all he gave me. He said and he said, I thought that was great. That's fair. That's what I that's what I committed to when he quit when he retired from that job and retired from him because he started the company when he retired and left the company. He said I paid more in taxes the last year than I made as a salesperson working for Iowa Bell. But it's all unstoppable mindset. And he learned that you've learned that. And that's really what it's all about, isn't it? Bob Sonnenberg 39:00 It really said, yeah, yeah. And it's got to come from within you within the individual, you know, you it's really easy to, to maybe share that story but to be able to demonstrate from a living standpoint, that's that's what makes a difference. Michael Hingson 39:21 And it is all about practicing what you preach and not just talk down. It's so easy for people to talk about it. But there are many unstoppable mind people, mindset people I know and you prove it every day, you've demonstrated what what can be done. And you are great at building relationships. And so you join Guide Dogs for the Blind. When did you join guide dogs Bob Sonnenberg 39:47 in 2006? And it was really Yeah. But one of the things in joining guide dogs it opened up a whole new chapter Army as far as you know, a bigger world and working in a retail shop and, uh, you know, Mark one solo marketplace at AAA, so because it gave me a chance to. I've worked in the development arena. And so my job was connecting with people, which was great. But it also gave me a chance to travel. Not only the greater barrier, but really, ultimately all over the country. And to meet people that supported an organization that dealt with blindness was is pretty empowering. Empowering in so many different levels and such a unique opportunity for many times, and many different groups of people, many different places with people. But traveling independently like that, that's really helped me having that experience, getting on a plane, getting on a train, getting on a bus, whatever the case may be. And doing it sometimes not doing it alone, sometimes, but also doing it as part of a group sometimes so so. Well, and of course, I made a difference. Michael Hingson 41:18 And development of for those who don't know, in the nonprofit world is, is fundraising is helping to acquire the funds to support the organization. Bob Sonnenberg 41:30 And one of the benefits of not seen when you do that type of work, Michael and and the audience is that you can you can picture what people's reaction might be when you talk to people about providing friends providing support for organization, you always think I've always kind of picture that it's, it's mentally, they're really, they're thrilled to talk about it. And I know many times they're very uncomfortable talking about money stuff, but you know, having that background that I get in the insurance business and the investment business, money was a pretty easy skill set to be able to talk about communicate about so I always looked at it as as a great tool to be able to kind of mentally picture that people were, you know, they'd like what they heard from you. Okay, what, but I couldn't really see their reactions, but that's what I pictured. So. Michael Hingson 42:33 So then you worked at Guide Dogs for a while. And eventually, you left? How did you get connected with a robot home. Bob Sonnenberg 42:45 So I was a guide, I worked for guide dogs for 10 years. And in develop in the development arena. And an opportunity came up with Earl balm, which is just just up the road 30 miles up the road from where I was learning where I was working at guide dogs. And they were looking to maybe formalize their their friend way in their development department. And so they needed someone with development experience and, and having this combination sight loss and development experience it, it was a really natural transition for me and a friend a great opportunity for me to be able to do that. And I've been here at the Obama center for five years. And I initially, I oversaw the development and have made some inroads relative to that, but then an opportunity. Three years ago, I had an opportunity to be become the CEO of the organization. So, you know, once again, you know, being fearless, utilizing maybe all the tools, all the stuff that I had experienced prior to losing my sight. To demonstrate it in the world of low vision now is a exciting opportunity, challenging opportunity every day. It's it's challenging, but it's definitely allowed me to the opportunity to develop a more improved and it's a constant work in progress but improve my skill set my ability to do more things, to try new things and and to be around to be kind of the springboard for people in North Bay here who have lost their sight to come to be part of this organization to see people flourish. You know, to to know that there's, there's hope. Give them joy, give them hope. Give them tools, provide the training, provide the community support, to be successful with their life to enjoy their life once again and not dwell on the negativity Last night, so Michael Hingson 45:01 tell us a little bit. Tell us a little bit more about Erlbaum. What what the center is, how long it's been around, kind of her vision going forward, because it's, it has been considered a pretty small agency up in the Santa Rosa area. And you are definitely growing it. You drafted me to be on the board, so I'm prejudiced, but just in looking at it objectively and looking at what you've done, but tell us more about the center. Bob Sonnenberg 45:28 You know, I think it's, it's, you know, we we serve four different counties. So we serve Sonoma County, Napa Lake Mendocino counties, and and there's a tremendous number of people, as far as maybe older adults that have issues with sight loss and, and different degrees. But, but when you so we, we work with, and and get clients through the Department of Rehabilitation Blind Services Group, we get clients, folks with sight loss from the Veterans Administration. And then we get clients from the the community of ophthalmologists here in the in the county that we serve. And so when you lose your sight, it's it's a lot and it's, it's it's scary. And we we try and promote ourselves and and as a place where you can maybe transform your life once again, maybe we energize your life once again. But one of the things that is key to the Earl balm Center as a vision rehabilitation organization is we have 1616 employees and incredible passionate folks, staff that that really love helping other people and and love seeing success in other people and Trent that transformation thing. So when you come to their Obama Center, one of the first kind of door openers for folks is that a majority of folks to have some site we may need. So we will go through a what's known as a low vision clinic process where a trained, licensed, professional optometrist will review analyze someone's remaining site and perhaps recommend tools that might help and give them hope that they can use some of their remaining site to kind of move on with their life. And so when you as a client, hear that you can come to a place and maybe get some hope, or maybe get some joy back to your life. That's a great inspiring thing to have out there. It's a it's a, you need hope. You need something to look forward to. And and we provide that hope we provide that joy, we provide not only the tools that are relatively available to folks with low vision, but we train people on how to use our tools, whether it be assistive technology, we have assistive technology and services, we have orientation and mobility. And that's basically not basically but one of the pieces is that how to travel safely with a cane. So we provide incredible training relative to that. And then all types of living experiences. You know, when you can't see how do you get dressed in the morning? How do you match up your clothes? How do you women, how do you put on your makeup and all of that. So it's we provide all those tools, and we provide training with all those tools. So that's what we do every day and incredibly gifted people that do that instruction every day. It's great to be part of it. Michael Hingson 49:00 That's cool. How many Not to put you on the spot. How many blind people work at Earl balm today? Bob Sonnenberg 49:08 We have our we have one. We have to me being one of that group so that I've got the low vision experience. And then we have a lady by the name of Dr. Denise Bansal, who is actually the longest tenure, she'd been here for the organization, 20 years and so we've been in business 20 plus years, so and she has no sight whatsoever and just a remarkable individual woman, mother of two and married and incredible, inspirational person. So Michael Hingson 49:44 that's cool. And yeah, and hopefully more blind people. If you hear this, we'll explore and consider possible job opportunities that are obame Because you you certainly as the CEO do hire from time The time, but it's more important to let people know that the center exists both people who could use the services and also people who might be looking for a job as job opportunities come along. Bob Sonnenberg 50:12 We definitely, you know, we had one time we had for folks with sight loss. Actually two other totally blind folks that were instructors and they both went on to new different opportunities, but but their talents and their skill set were incredible. And the the potential growth opportunities for their Obama Center. This is the demographics as such, not only here locally, but also in the whole state of California, the populations getting older. And so with older, older adults come help issues, and obviously one of them very well could be sight loss. So the marketplace is is definitely in need of talented, great communicators, great teachers. And really, you know, having me do what I do from, you know, commuting up here, taking the smart train every day, public transportation, you know, just, there's really we need folks that are willing to inspire others. And that's kind of what a great way to do it. By demonstrating and using this skill set, folks with sight loss, Michael Hingson 51:35 role models. Yeah. So I want to turn I want to turn a little bit to something we've talked about it, it is something that all of us deal with from time to time. And that's just the whole concept of accessibility and inclusion. And as you know, I work for accessiBe, which is all about internet inclusion. But we face we all face the same things that that you faced as a fully sighted person and have now learned to view it from a different perspective. And that's the whole concept of inclusion, and accessibility. How do we get people in general to start to maybe change their views about persons with disabilities, and I don't know of a better term to use disabilities as what, what we're all categorized as, although I think that whether that's right or wrong, we can certainly change the definition of disability, it doesn't nearly need to be one where we don't have ability. And so maybe we need a new word. But the reality is, as you've pointed out, we all have different gifts. And so you are a person who doesn't have one particular gift that is the gift of eyesight, you have other gifts that people with eyesight don't have whoever you are, how do we start to really get people overall to change their view about persons who are different than they, Bob Sonnenberg 53:11 maybe education. And I pick one word education, and making people feel comfortable and understand. You know, I mean, the the world today is, education is such a big piece of anyone's success. And in one of the things that I maybe deal with is on an everyday basis is is when you do have a disability, getting comfortable with situations, like one of the things that I always think about is when I go to big gatherings, and I can't see who who's they're different. It takes me a while to, to navigate to feel comfortable. You know, and the more it's like anything, the more you get in you're in a position where we do go get involved with different groups, different crowds, you feel more comfortable, and you the more you do it, the it's like practice. So I try and always look for opportunities like that. And and I get that by traveling by, you know, whether it be the conductors or the clerk at the coffee store, whatever the case may be, it's just, you know, just having them connected at a individual personal basis, you know, building a relationship with people and it's it's tough to do it in and you can really just do it one person at a time, but But you sometimes you get it's frustrating that you can't do it. 20 people at Michael Hingson 54:58 the same time, but Sometimes you can. Sometimes you can't. Yeah, yeah. But it but it's true. It is all about education, you know. And for me, I deal with internet access every day. But I also do recognize that words matter. And I think one of my stories that that I think about and something that I didn't used to think about a lot, but now I do is how you and I are described, people tend to describe us as visually impaired. I think it was Brian Bashan, who we both know who is the CEO of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. At least, this is where I first heard the concept of, we're not visually impaired because we don't necessarily look different simply because we're blind. We're not less looking, if you will, because we're blind. It's more appropriate to say vision impaired. And although I think I got lots of vision, I don't have eyesight, but I'll accept that eyesight and vision are somewhat synonymous. But I think it's appropriate to discuss vision impairment, but not visually impaired because we're not visually impaired simply because we go blind or lose our eyesight, to some degree. agree with that. Yep. And it is a, it is something that that we face. And of course, people talk about visually impaired, and that is a negative cue for people in a lot of ways, and it is part of what we need to change. And the the concept of vision impairment. Boy, if I look at a lot of people in Washington, DC today, who have fully functional eyesight from a vision standpoint, they're incredibly impaired, you know. And it is an issue, but, but the fact is that we are and and I think it's better to look at us as persons with a vision impairment. And I and I also try to educate people, as we've discussed about blind, which isn't necessarily totally blind. And but I've heard educators, I've literally been in a room with an educator who talked about two students, one who was totally blind, and another one who was partially blind. And they said, the partially blind one can still reprint and gets to reprint the totally blind, one has to read Braille. And look at the difference in what the terminology is. It's that kind of subtle terminology that plagues us everywhere we go, because the reality is that the person who is partially blind and uses large print and magnifiers will never read at the speed of a totally blind student who grows up learning Braille and learning it well. And I'm sure you can attest to it, although you're not a braille reader, but you can attest to how much of a challenge it is to read printed material. Bob Sonnenberg 58:03 Yeah, absolutely. And I marvel at people they read Braille, it was when I for one of the great stories that that it's a guide dogs related story, but I had never, when I first got my first guide dog in 2006, I had never been around two people or three people that had word, either blind, totally blind, or low vision, and to be in a group surrounded for 30 days or so, with 22 dozen people that had different levels of sight loss. That was the most incredibly educational experience that I ever had, have had. Because I got to, you know, like you talked about, understand I get to be educated that, you know, the CVC how people other people navigated with sight loss and have that real world experience was, you know, it's something that you never forget, it's, it's really made all the difference to have that, that groundwork, that experience and so that kind of having that same community experience, like I had that during that getting that first guide dog is really kind of what rural bomb center does it we provide a safe community where people can experience sight loss and make that get the first toe in the water so to speak. That you know, you can do this. It's it's not the worst thing in the world. You're, you're living breathing and live in life. So you only get to do this live thing once. You may as well have fun doing it. You may as well enjoy it and really easy to say but it takes work like it's like life, I mean, you got to put one foot in front of the other constantly so Michael Hingson 1:00:05 and you move forward if you learn to move forward. So what is in summary, we've been doing this a while, and I really appreciate it. I know you've got things to do. But in summary, what would you say to people who come to you and say, I'm losing eyesight? Or I'm facing something different in my life? I can't do it. How would you respond to that sort of thing? How would you advise people to go Bob Sonnenberg 1:00:30 look for people that will inspire you? You know, I've had in the last couple of months I've had, there's a guy that I knew he's been dealing with sight loss for 10 years as a result from glaucoma, and has been very, very reclusive. And he is a guy that I knew 20 years ago, father of a son, my kids age, and he was a, we just connected and I probably have spent more time with him in the last month than I had 20 years prior to that. But if given him some hope, and and that, you know, he, he doesn't have to do this step alone. There are solutions, there are answers. There's opportunities out there. So, you know, embrace the opportunities, embrace, embrace sight loss, because without embracing it, you're not going to move forward, you're not going to be unstoppable. You you're going to be you're just going to go back in your shirt, and a shell to sort of speak and not to that's bad for some people. That's what they want. But you know, I think it's, it's, I've been really blessed to have a constant move forward attitude. Michael Hingson 1:01:52 And that is a great way to summarize it all because it's made you unstoppable in a lot of different ways. And we we all find challenges, but we can move forward and I'm really glad and blessed to know you and to hear your story again today. And I really think that you epitomize what we talked about when we talk about unstoppable Bob Sonnenberg 1:02:16 Yeah, well thank you again for you know, Michael for for doing what you do and and thank you for being there the frame that you are appreciate it. Michael Hingson 1:02:26 Well thank you in return for the same thing. So if people want to reach out to you and meet you, or they want to learn about Earl balm, and want to get your advice in words of wisdom, how do they do that? Bob Sonnenberg 1:02:39 You know, it's really easy. We're happy to say I have a website Earlebaum. And that's E A R L E B A U M .org. Santa Rosa, California. We're here to help and we'd love to help people move forward with their life. Michael Hingson 1:02:58 Well, I hope people will reach out and you have certainly been an inspiration and you have certainly given us a lot of advice and a lot to think about. And you are unstoppable and I know I use that word a lot but that's what the podcast is about and right ourselves. So thank you Bob for for being with us. My pleasure. If people want to learn more about unstoppable mindset if you just discovered us we are available wherever Podcasts can be reached. You can also search on www.MichaelHingson.com/podcast and Michael Hingson is M I C H A E L H I N G S O N so MichaelHingson.com/podcast. You can also email me if you'd like to reach out we love to hear from people. I've gotten requests from people who have said I know someone who should be on your podcast or I like what I hear or I'd like to see you do more of this and we love input. You can email me at Michaelhi M I C H A E L H I at accessiBe A C C S S I B E.com. Michaelhi@accessibe.com and we did mention it but are Earle Baum an accessiBe user and we thank you for that, Bob. Bob Sonnenberg 1:04:17 You bet. Our pleasure. Michael Hingson 1:04:20 Well, everyone, athanks for dropping by. We hope that you'll tune in again next week for another unstoppable mindset podcast. And in the meanwhile, have a good week and stay blessed and stay positive and unstoppable. Bob Sonnenberg 1:04:34 Thank you, Michael. Michael Hingson 1:04:36 Thank you Bob. Michael Hingson 1:04:44 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Bruce Cockburn is a world renowned singer/songwriter who has been recording albums since 1970. Among his many awards Bruce has been inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame and has sold millions of albums worldwide. This podcast was recorded in a very basic format on Bruce's daughter's iPhone. The video is obviously not to our usual standard and a Zoom connection limited our ability to make the audio as perfect as normal. Nevertheless we managed to record a really interesting conversation. Bruce spoke of conflict and faith. He spoke of his concern with much of American Christianity, but he also spoke of being welcomed into a church with open arms and unconditional acceptance. He has recently released a few new songs as a video demo in conjunction with his church San Francisco Lighthouse. The songs can be found at https://youtu.be/5ly1fKZa_lQ If you like our podcasts and YouTube videos please like us and rate us on iTunes or wherever you listen. We would love to raise our financial support levels so we can start working on our next documentary. You can support us monthly via Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/guardiansoftheflame

Christopher Downey, architect, planner, consultant, and founder of Architect for the Blind. Chris lost all sight in 2008 and is recognized for his exemplary leadership in accessible design and his dedication to creating enriching and helpful environments for people who are blind or visually impaired.   Chris is also a Board of Director for the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. For more information, you can visit: http://arch4blind.com/ (http://arch4blind.com/)

Welcome back my friends! I have a question for you today. Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you had to create one or multiple tactile maps for your students but you just don't have the time and energy to go to the store, get the materials, draw every street and lines from scratch, while trying to get you other tasks done? What if I told you that there is a faster way to do that? In this episode, we are so excited to have Greg Kehret who will be sharing information about the TMAP software which could help you create tactile maps more efficiently. Greg is the director of the Media and Accessible Design Lab of San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind (The MAD Lab). He got into this field because his best friend was blind. So now he makes sure that visual information could be as accessible as possible. This episode is filled with information that could help you understand what the TMAP software actually is, what it does, how you use it, as well as where you can get it. You will also get to learn about the process of using TMAP and the possible hurdles that students or users will face. Get all these information now by tuning in to the podcast! Links: Allied Independence O&M Symposium San Francisco Lighthouse, Website San Francisco Lighthouse, TMAP Page San Francisco Lighthouse, Email Adaptations Store

Hi Mosen at Largers. Here's a summary of what's on the podcast this week, with the item first followed by its time in the show. Introduction,0:00.000 "Ringtones and texttones, Do you make your own, buy your own or just use the defaults?",0:36.390 Blind parents and potty training. For helpful resources on blind parenting, check out the NFB Blind Parents site,10:47.245 "Neil Young says the MacbookPro's audio quality if ""Fisher Price""",15:10.039 "Listener comment, Buy duplicates of your hearing accessories.",17:42.604 "Listeners questions on the Holman prize, and how did lighthouses in a blindness context get their name?",22:41.537 An innocent-sounding question from the Beatles Twitter account gets an unexpected response,27:27.302 "New iOS, tvOS, watchOS and MacOS betas". Here's a link to the Water Minder app I mentioned in this section,29:05.644 "Listener comment, VoiceOver suddenly just stopped working altogether on iPhone SE",34:49.586 "More listener comments on the Lighthouse name, and how the Lighthouse in FL positively changed a listener's life",39:19.861 Lee Kumutat from the San Francisco Lighthouse talks about the Holman Prize for blind ambition. The Holman Prize for Blind Ambition will be accepting applications until March 15. From traversing the Bosporus Straight via solo kayak, to hosting the first conference in Mexico for blind children and their families led by blind professionals, to creating an app to enable blind citizen scientists to participate in the search for exoplanets by listening to space, the nine winners so far (hailing from five countries on four continents), have each found unique ways to forever change the world’s perception of blindness. Applications and information is available here: https://holman.lighthouse-sf.org/apply/.,42:39.299 Listener question: how easy is it to use Google Sheets efficiently with a screen reader?,57:33.791 More listener feedback on ringtones,1:04:14.489 The Bonnie Bulletin begins with discussion of a threat to RNZ Concert. Please sign the Save RNZ Concert petition,1:09:45.650 We look at the Iowa debacle and long for the days of the good old Iowa scream,1:14:09.327 Listener comments and questions on Overcast and Castro,1:17:30.131 Cash Reader app and a giveaway for Mosen At Large listeners,1:18:53.439 "Listener question, screen time on iOS not behaving as expected",1:22:02.215 "Microsoft Power Toys are back, and a new cool one called Keyboard Shortcut Manager is coming",1:25:03.126 Amazon Echo Show now identifies products via barcodes,1:28:02.126 "Microsoft Teams exploded in some parts of the world this week, because someone forgot to put a virtual coin in a virtual metre",1:29:01.239 Listener feedback about the EchoShow,1:30:20.614 The When Did I app,1:31:13.428 "There's a major rewrite of my favourite iOS calendar app, Fantastical",1:33:19.795 "If you're a podcaster, Squadcast might improve your remote interviews substantially",1:36:04.499 More thoughts on EchoShow,1:39:28.126

Show Summary:   (Full Transcript Below) Let’s board that Blind Abilities airlines jet and head back to the enchanted Hills Camp in Napa Valley, ca., where Jeff caught up with another student of the Woodworking for the Blind (WW4B) workshop. In this interview, we meet Trevor Astrope, a Computer Analyst who works for Morgan Stanley, as the Global Lead for their Private Cloud. Yes, he’s a computer Geek! but Trevor is so much more! [caption id="attachment_4024" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Trevor and Jeff sitting outside the Art Barn at EHC.[/caption] He shares his story of life, his education and his views on blindness. He also shares his passion for building his own guitars and how WW4B helped him achieve the skill-level needed to accomplish this.  Hear of his original plan to use only hand tools to craft his guitars, but how WW4B gave him the knowledge and confidence to incorporate power tools as well. Hear Trevor describe his guitar-building process, from his template to his tools, and listen as his passion shines through!   Be sure to set aside a few short minutes for this fascinating interview with an interesting guest, brought to you by Blind Abilities!   Contact   If you wish to reach out to Trevor, shoot him an email. If you want to learn more about WW4B check them out on the web at www.WW4B.org And you can find out more about Enchanted Hills Camphere on the web. Thanks for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Full Transcript: Meet Trevor Astrope: Computer Analyst, Woodworker and Guitar Builder, at WW4B and the Enchanted Hills Camp Pete Lane: Hi, folks. Pete Lane here. Welcome to Blind Abilities. Let's go out west again to the Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa Valley, California, sponsored by the San Francisco Lighthouse For The Blind. There, way way up on Veeder Mountain, is where Jeff Thompson connected with his old friend, George Wurtzel to teach a group of blind students the art of woodworking. Pete Lane: Jeff also connected with another one of his woodworking students, Trevor Astrope. Let's meet Trevor and hear about his blindness, his childhood and his passion for computers. Trevor: By six years old, I had optic neuritis, left me with about 10% of vision in one eye and about two percent in one eye. Then, when I was 12, in my good eye, I had the detached retina. My vision went from shadows to light perception to nothing, just over time. I had a teacher's aid group, grade nine, ten and eleven and then in grade twelve, they wanted me to be more independent, so they let her go. While I was in school, I was always into computers. When I went to university, I got a Unix account and taught myself how to use Unix. Unix is an operating system similar, but very different to say, Windows. Most internet servers are running some form of Unix. Pete Lane: And let's hear about Trevor's other passion. His passion for making guitars. Trevor: For me, I wanted to basically have my own custom made guitar. I didn't want a Gibson or Fender logo on it. I wanted my own logo and then I wanted it designed to my specifications. I realized, oh why don't I just try to do this myself because the only way it's gonna be the way I exactly want it, is if I do it. And that's kind of always been my philosophy in life like, if you want something done right, just do it yourself, right? I didn't think blind people could use industrial machinery or even hand tools. I like my fingers, I don't wanna lose them. I'm gonna do this all with hand tools. Trevor: One tool that is really helpful in guitar making is a handheld rotor. So I learned it here and that gave me the confidence to say, "Hey. Yeah, this is easy. I can do this." And it's much more precise and saves a lot of time. Pete Lane: Let's hear Trevor's advice for other members of the blindness community. Trevor: It's always hard starting because people will try to place barriers on you that you may not necessarily have. It's really important to be able prove yourself one way or another. You know that even if it's a short term position or maybe in volunteering, anything that you can sort of prove to people that, "Hey, I can do this." Pete Lane: And now, without further adieu, let's join Jeff Thompson and his guest, Trevor Astrope. Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities, I'm Jeff Thompson. And we're up on top of Veeder Mountain at Enchanted Hills Camp and we're attending the, Woodworkers for the Blind annual event. I believe this is the seventh annual event and this is part of San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. I'm sitting outside on the deck of the workshop and we're visiting with Trevor Astrope and he's from Montreal. How are you doing, Trevor? Trevor: I'm doing great. Jeff Thompson: Great. Trevor, can you tell what your job duties are, what you do for a living? Trevor: So I work in IT. I work at Morgan Stanley and I work as the global lead for the level three operations team for their private cloud. Jeff Thompson: And you have an interest in woodworking, mostly centered around guitar building? Trevor: Right. So I'm an aspiring guitar builder. I work in my home, primarily in my kitchen/workshop and I'm building guitars primarily by hand with some power tools. So yeah, I come to these workshops to learn new skills that I can take back home with me and apply to my guitar building. Jeff Thompson: That's great. And how did you find about the WW4B Event out here in Enchanted Hills? Trevor: I found out first, by finding WW4B and then, subscribing to that mailing list and joining the group to get access to the website and the articles and then from there, I found out, hey there's a summer workshop. And even before WW4B, I was searching on the internet to find out if there was any kind of blind, woodworking workshops because I did see some YouTube videos where there were people showing videos about teaching blind people woodworking and George [inaudible 00:04:08] one of these people. And I'm like, "Well, how do I get there? How do I find that?" And I searched the internet, I didn't really find anything how to get to these places, but then, I found WW4B and then from there, that's where the workshop is organized through and advertised through and I said, "Ah. That's where I wanna be." Jeff Thompson: And you can find that at, WW4B, and that's the number four, WW4B, the number four, B.org on the web and you can look on there. And if you're interested in woodworking or finding out more about it, that's where you would go. Jeff Thompson: Trevor, you're blind, visually impaired? Trevor: Totally blind. Jeff Thompson: When did this all take place? Trevor: Well when I was six years old, I had optic neuritis, left me with about 10% of vision in one eye and maybe about two percent in one eye, which was just peripheral vision. And then, when I was 12, I had in my good eye, I had the detached retina, which was misdiagnosed and didn't go treated in time and then, my vision went from shadows to light perception to nothing, just over time. Jeff Thompson: So, how was your educational journey with accessibility, alternative techniques? Were you mainstreamed, what was that process like? Trevor: Yeah, so I grew up in a northern community in Canada. I read large print, was a low vision user all through school because I lost my sight when I was in the first grade and I managed pretty well. I had the CCTV enlarger and large print typewriter and that kind of thing because my handwriting was very messy, I was always told teachers couldn't read it. So they always wanted me to type, so I learned to type at a young age. When I was 12 and I lost my sight, I left this town and I moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba and I lived with my grandmother to go to school in the city because there was much more resources there and I can braille my work and then they would translate it. Trevor: And then I started using computers at that point. This is in 1980s around 1985, 1984, 1985 and I started using versabraille, an Apple II computer, then I started doing most of my work with those technologies. And when I eventually went to university, I took the same type of thing, except I had a PC by that point and the newer versabraille and at some point I got, what was the other thing that was called ... Braille and speak. I got a braille and speak for a while too. Jeff Thompson: Do you went to mainstream school through your educational process? Trevor: Right, right. It was all sort of facilitated through the Manitoba Department of Education. They had a special branch that they had consultants that liaison between the school and Manitoba education produced all their own materials. They had their own recording studio and did record books. So any books on the curriculum, they produced. And like I said, I could braille my work, it would ship there and then they'd have people that would translate it and write it all out, in between the braille lines, it would print out what it was and they'd send it back. And there was like maybe two or three day turnaround for that. Jeff Thompson: Oh that's awesome. So did you have a teacher for the visually impaired? Trevor: I had a teacher's aid once I got to high school that did a lot of that work that went back and forth. She learned how to read braille and then she would translate my stuff, she would do tactile drawings, she would do a lot of reading of materials that weren't available or articles or different materials that we had, that was sorta at hawk, she would do that. And she worked part time, so yeah, she worked with me during high school. Through grade nine, ten and eleven and then, grade twelve, they wanted me to be more independent, so they let her go and they wanted me to fend for myself because they knew I was going to university and I wouldn't have those kind of resources around. Jeff Thompson: You had to start advocating and doing it yourself? Trevor: They wanted me to learn to be more independent, so grade twelve I went solo. Jeff Thompson: When you were at university, did you have a student's disabilities office, of sorts? Trevor: Yes, there was. Well, they had a computer center which had PCs with, what was the voice program back then that we used, was it called flipper, something like that? Jeff Thompson: Oh, wow. Trevor: It'd be early 90s I guess. Like I said, I used the versabraille for a long time and then I got a PC. They had this computer room, which had the braille printer and they had a bunch of stuff in there. I went to write my exams there. So the teacher would give the exams, they would put them, usually, on a computer and then I would read them on the computer and answer them on the computer. Jeff Thompson: So, I have a feeling in the years that you were doing this, was it very acceptable or was it standard that people would be going to this computer science fields like you were? Trevor: No, it wasn't. When I first started university, there was a computer programming for the blind course and it was on mainframes. And my first year was the last year of this program because mainframes were being supplanted by PCs, right, and Unix type of systems. So they were a dying system and so, I think what they were finding is that the graduates of these programs were having a difficult time getting employment. I was interested. I used computers all through high school and I did have an aptitude for it, but it was just not something that was open for me because the university I went to ... This is sort of when the Mac and PC were challenging for supremacy and they put their money on the Mac. So all the computer science, computer labs were all Mac and the accessibility just wasn't there. They didn't have voice-over. What was the predecessor to voice-over? I can't remember. Trevor: But anyway, it wasn't something that was really gonna be accessible for me. I took an arts degree, general arts degree in sociology and political science, but meanwhile, while I was studying this, I did have a Unix account and access to the Unix system, which I would access via PC. Then I just taught myself how to use Unix because it just gave me so much more accessibility. Back then it was tell them that you [inaudible] into the library had an interface so I could go and I can search for all the books I needed for my essays and then I can reserve them and then I can just go there and pick them up and they'd have them all ready for me. Then I had a scanner with the [inaudible] software. Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Trevor: Yeah. And I had that and then I would scan all my books and all my materials. When I first started with tape based stuff, but my first year in university, all my textbooks were, and I guess everybody can relate to this, they were all one edition behind because they would only re-record it if it was more than two editions out or something. So I'd go write a test and some of the times, the questions would be totally different because they rearranged the chapter numbers. And so, I always had to ask students, "What's ..." Because they'd say read chapters, what, two, four and eight, they'd skip around. [inaudible], "Can you tell me what the titles of those are?" And occasionally one of those chapters would just be totally missing. Jeff Thompson: Looking back at the amount of work that you kind of had to do, just before you can even start doing your homework, like scanning, collecting it, making it organized and getting it ready, then you could start reading it or read it as you go, however you did it. And now, you see people today with the handheld device such as the iPhone or the technology that they're utilizing today ... Trevor: It's totally different now. I thought it was amazing when I got access to Unix and I could go online and search books and find them and read newspaper articles online and find some information like that. I thought that was just totally revolutionary because before that, it was like I said, it was books on tape, that's what I was using and that was really archaic. And now, I see, I mean not only can they access books from ... They don't have to even go to a library, you can just download the books and read them. You just can't compare with available now to what was available then and even then, I thought what was available then was so much better than people before me, right, so it's always improving. Jeff Thompson: And that's kind of interesting because you got hooked up with Unix early on, which gave you access to a lot of stuff people were trying to get to that didn't know anything about Unix. You kind of had a jump start. Trevor: Yeah and I did it out of my own self-interest that this gave me access to information I didn't have access to otherwise. I couldn't read a newspaper and I couldn't get newspaper articles. Just day to day stuff, not just with school, I thought this was amazing. So yeah, I took to it and I learned it and it was great. And then when I graduated, I have a general arts degree, which wasn't very helpful for me finding a job, but it was right in the 90s when the internet was exploding and people who knew Unix were high in demand. So I just naturally found myself doing that kind of work, doing some consulting work in the beginning because it'd be small companies that people who you know, know somebody and they say, "Yeah, we wanna get into an internet. We don't know how. How do we get internet?" "Oh, well I know how to do that. I can get you on the internet, no problem. I could set up a mail. You want an email? Really, I'll set you up in a mail server." Trevor: And fax servers were huge in the 90s. I did a lot of work setting up fax servers for small businesses and stuff like that. And now, nobody uses faxes anymore, but that was a big thing then, too. That's what really helped me. Going to university, yeah I got a degree, which I'll say was a useless degree, but it wasn't useless because if I hadn't gone to university, I wouldn't have learned Unix. I would never would have learned that. Jeff Thompson: Can you explain Unix to the listeners? Trevor: So Unix is an operating system. Similar, but very different to say, Windows or macOS, but more similar to macOS because macOS is a graphical interface built on top of Unix. So it's underlined operating system and it's primarily the operating system that runs the internet. So most internet servers are running some form of Unix, most web servers are running on a form of Unix. Nowadays Linux is pretty much dominated the market and there's various different flavors of Linux, but it's all the same thing when it gets right down to it. It's just how it's packaged. Jeff Thompson: Still the Microsoft operating system, Apple operating standard are just interfaces that the general public uses to connect [crosstalk]? Trevor: It's better for the desktop, right? It's a user productivity tool that helps people access software and prevent nicer menus and more usable interfaces. Whereas Unix, you're not concerned about the interface, you're more concerned about the performance and it was just designed for a server architecture. Windows came from the desktop and then they made a server version from that, but Unix is the other way around. It started out as a server operating system and they made a desktop out of it. Jeff Thompson: What suggestions would you have for someone who is transitioning from high school to college to the workplace? What advice would you have for them? Trevor: For me, it was, like I said, I did a lot of consulting work. So if you have a skill and you have something that you can do, that was a good way to start like project base to say. In my field it was easy because it was sort of a task and, "Oh, okay. We wanna be on the internet, how do we do that?" "Okay. This is what you need. This is what you need." And set it up. But sometimes it's good just to ... You have to just get your foot in the door, right, and then you have to prove yourself and then once you have, then you can build upon that. So that's what I've found. It's always hard starting because people will try to place barriers on you that you may not necessarily have. It's really important to be able to prove yourself one way or another. You know that, even if it's a short term position or maybe even volunteering, anything that you can sort of prove to people that, "Hey. I can do this." Jeff Thompson: Great. Trevor, we both have an interest in music and it seems like it goes back to somewhat guitar style music from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and that was a common thing plus the woodworking and then you mentioned that you wanted to build guitar. What got your interest in manufacturing, building your own guitar? Trevor: I collect guitars and what really got me started is, you can buy guitars in China, which I'll say are generally counterfeits. They will make them as a copy of an existing guitar. But for me, I wanted to basically have my own custom made guitar. So, I didn't want a Gibson or Fender logo on it, I wanted my own logo and then, I wanted it designed to my specifications and it was kind of hit or miss. Well, I only bought two guitars. One was really great and one was ... I got a bit ambitious and I tried to really spec it out to a lot of details, but there was a big communication problem between someone who doesn't speak English very well and someone who doesn't speak Chinese at all, right? So, at that point I realized, "Why don't I just try to do this myself because the only way it's gonna be the way I exactly want it, is if I do it." And that's kind of always been my philosophy in life like, you want something done right, just do it yourself, right? Jeff Thompson: And if you can't afford it, you better be able to make it yourself. Trevor: That too, exactly. Jeff Thompson: So what was your first start? How do you get started? First of all, you're talking woodworking, I used to teach woodworking to students and it was like that's an expectation that shocked them like you're gonna operate machinery. Trevor: Right. I had that same thought, myself like I didn't think blind people could use industrial machinery or even hand tools. I thought, this is very dangerous, I like my fingers, I need them every day. I don't wanna lose them. So I thought, my approach in the beginning was, "I gonna do this all with hand tools. I'm doing it as a hobby, this is not an occupation for me. I'm making guitars for myself, not for anybody else. I have time. I don't have a deadline, so I'm gonna learn hand tools and I'm gonna build the guitars just using hand tools." Plus, I had limited space. So I live in an apartment and I work in my kitchen. I didn't wanna make a huge mess. Hand tools are less messy than power tools ... Jeff Thompson: Now, what you call an apartment is like a condo here, you own the space? Trevor: Sure. I got some ... A little more flexibility. Jeff Thompson: So you can choose what you do? Trevor: Yeah, sure. Jeff Thompson: There you go. Trevor: But it's still an apartment style building, it's apartment style layout. So yeah, so I started with the hand tools and I use nothing but hand tools. And I made a guitar body, not that I finished it, but I just wanted to get the experience. I just use cheap lumber. This is not gonna be my masterpiece, this is gonna be my learning, test piece. So I joined two pine, two by eights, I bought one from Home Depot and they cut it up for me and then, I sawed it by hand to the length I wanted. I glued the two pieces together to make it wide enough for a body. So I learned, okay, this is how you edged one, how to make a plane, I had to make each side to be plane straight, so you could join them together without a gap. So I learned these basic techniques that everybody woodworking needs to know. Of course you get machines to do that, I did it by hand. Trevor: And then I used a special saw, called the bow saw, which is not a bow saw you cut tree limbs because if you do an Amazon search that's what you'll get, but it's an old world tool before the band saw existed is what they used these tools for. So it can cut around. It has handles on the side and you can turn the blade to cut at any angle, any curve you want. And I can even cut 90 degrees with it. I had a guitar template. I bought the template, the shape of a guitar was like on a piece plywood that's quarter inch plywood, gives you the two dimensional shape of the guitar. Made another template of that. Using that template, I used a bow saw to cut another one out and then I placed the pine wood that I glued together, in between. So there was a template on the front and a template on the back. I had to use a drill and I drilled dowels to go through, so I can line the back template up with the front template. Then I used that saw to cut the guitar body. Trevor: And it's very rough because you can't go in a smooth motion when you can't see what you're doing. So I'd have to stop to make sure I didn't go too far out or I wasn't going too far in. So you get kind of a wavy pattern along the lines and then I used these small, little palm planes that are very fine and very small and can get into tight spots, just to clean up the edges and I got it all smooth. And I did the same on a guitar neck, I used a router plane, another hand tool, to cut the trust rod channel, a spokeshave for carving the neck. And that's as far as I got before I came here. Last year was my first, Woodworking for the Blind Workshop and that introduced me to tools. Again, I don't have the space for these big tools that hare here, but one tool that is really helpful in guitar making is a router, a handheld router. I had learned how to use that while I was here. I never would have bought it on my own because I wouldn't have known how to use it. Trevor: So I learned it here and then that gave me the confidence to say, "Hey, yeah this is easy. I can do this." So I've been working with that tool now to do a lot of the work cutting the cavities, cutting the shape and it's much more precise and saves a lot of time. And there's still a lot of room for the hand work and carving the neck using spokeshaves and planing to join wood. I use a combination of hand tools and power tools and as I learn more power tools, I'll probably incorporate more of them into my work. Jeff Thompson: That's really cool. Jeff Thompson: It's like you've had drive like whether it was to get more involved with Unix, gaining access to books and then when you wanna learn something, you go to the resource and you went to WW4B.org and ... Trevor: I've always been self-taught like I taught myself Unix and I taught myself woodworking with the hand tools, but there's a line. I wasn't gonna teach myself on tools that could injure myself that I wasn't confident in. That's what this workshop gives me that confidence to learn stuff and say, "Hey, yeah. This is doable and this is easy." There's a limit that I'll go to, I won't endanger myself in my pursuit of knowledge and skills. Otherwise, I like to learn stuff and I like to learn stuff on my own. Part of the discovery of it. Having people show you stuff is great, but to me, it's the discovery, right? Jeff Thompson: The experience is the best teacher, isn't it? Trevor: Yeah. Exactly. Jeff Thompson: We've been talking to, Trevor Astrope, from Montreal, Canada and he's down here at the WW4B annual sessions. You're attending both of them, there's a beginner's and an advance? Trevor: Yeah. I was in the beginner's last year and I still am a beginner, but I've learned some skills that go a little bit beyond the beginner. And I'm not quite advanced yet, but I would become advanced. So I'm gonna hang out with the advanced woodworkers to learn the skills and tips and tricks from them, so I can become an advanced woodworker. Jeff Thompson: Tap their brains? Trevor: Exactly. Jeff Thompson: And that's what it's all about. Getting experience, learning from others and getting a tool in your hand and doing something. So Trevor, if someone wanted to get ahold of you, yeah, how would they do that? Trevor: Probably the easier way is just send email, Trevor@Astrope, A-S-T-R-O-P-E, .C-A. Jeff Thompson: So, we hope you enjoyed this. We're gonna tune out from the top of Veeder Mountain, out here in Napa, California at the Enchanted Hills Camp. Thanks, Trevor. Trevor: Cool. Pete Lane: This concludes Jeff's conversation with Trevor Astrope. We'd like to thank Trevor for taking time out of his day at WW4B to chat with Jeff and we wish him all the luck in the world with his guitar building efforts. And for all of you out there, thanks so much for listening and have a great day. Pete Lane: For more podcasts with the Blindness Perspective, check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com. Pete Lane: We're on Twitter. We're on Facebook. Pete Lane: And be sure to check out our free app, in the Apple app store and the Google play store.  

Show Summary: (Full Transcript Below) Fly along with Blind Abilities as we transport you “audibly” to the Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa California, and the WW4B woodworking workshop hosted by the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. There, way up on Veeder Mountain, Jeff Thompson caught up with one of his woodworking students, Bob Geyer. bob is blind and had a passion for woodworking before he lost his vision. Jeff and Bob chat about Bob’s experience with the tools and projects he worked on during the class and shares his experiences in transitioning into blindness. He opens up about his decision to take charge of his blindness and learning cane travel; his views on the rapidly changing technology, and even throws a shameless “shout out” to his instructors, George, Brian and Jeff, and the Blind Abilities podcast team! Jump right into this brief, but entertaining and informative interview with Jeff and his guest, Bob Geyer! If you are interested in learning more about WW4B, check them out on the web at www.ww4b.organd sign up for their email forum. A lot of experience and a lot of tips are shared. If you are interested in Woodworking, contact your State Agency and find out what opportunities are available. Thanks for Listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Full Transcript: Meet Bob Geyer at Woodworking for the Blind, WW4B, and the Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa, California Pete Lane: Hi folks Pete Lane here, welcome to Blind Abilities. Let's go out west where Jeff Thompson spent a couple of weeks this summer. Pete Lane: Fly with me out to the Enchanted Hills Camp in Napa Valley, California, sponsored by the San Francisco Lighthouse for the blind. There way, way up on Veeder Mountain is where Jeff Thompson connected with is old friend George Wurtzel to teach a group of blind students the art of woodworking. One of those students is our guest today. Meet Bob Guyer. Bob Guyer: I've always been interested in woodworking when I had my full vision. I first found out about WW4B when I was looking for audio versions of woodworking magazines. I think the biggest thing is it improved my confidence in safety, in how to make sure that I am able to use my table saw again without cutting off a finger or anything. I think the most important thing I learned was not to wait to start using a cane. Pete Lane: Not only did Bob chat about his woodworking journey to Enchanted Hills, but he opened his life and his transition to blindness. Bob Guyer: What happened was I was walking down the sidewalk and a family was coming out of the library and I saw them, but I didn't see their little toddler because he was in my blind area. That night I went home and I talked to my wife and I said, "I need help, I need to figure how to use a cane." Pete Lane: His decision to take charge of his life. Bob Guyer: The thing that was nice about that is that I learned the mobility training in the environment that I was living in and working in every day, and that was a real, real big help. Pete Lane: His views on blindness. Bob Guyer: There's just so many things out there to help us from talking tools for woodworkers, to navigation aides to help folks get around these days. I think we're living in a great time with all the technology coming out for us. Pete Lane: And a bit more about his instructors. Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities, I'm Jeff Thompson. Bob Guyer: I told my wife, I said, "That's Jeff Thompson, that's Jeff Thompson." And then I also heard George, the instructor here. Jeff Thompson: How are doing George? George Wurtzel: I'm doing pretty good. I'm here with the make-up people, and trying to get my hair right for this. And they want me to change shirts, they don't like the shirt I'm wearing this morning. Just a minute here let me get my ... Okay, yeah, okay. No I don't like the hairspray. Bob Guyer: I had heard his voice from the interviews that you had done with him on Blind Abilities. Pete Lane: Oh yes, yes. Bob Guyer: So I knew the voices and I said, "I'm home, I'm with the folks that I'm here to work with." Pete Lane: And yes, maybe even a shameless plug. Bob Guyer: I think you have like 429 episodes or something like that, that's why I just binge listen. A lot of people binge watch television programs, so I binge listen to Blind Abilities. Pete Lane: We've got two listeners now. So kick back with me on Veeder Mountain as we join Jeff and his guest Bob Guyer. Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities, I'm Jeff Thomson. We're at Enchanted Hills Camp at the WW4B, that's ww4b.org on the website, Woodworkers for the Blind having their seventh annual up here on Veeder Mountain in San Francisco, part of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the blind and visually impaired. I'm with a fellow woodworker here Bob Guyer, how you doing? Bob Guyer: Hey Jeff, fine how are you? Jeff Thompson: I'm doing good thanks. So what brought you up here, other than the transport? Bob Guyer: Well, I first found out about WW4B when I was looking for audio versions of woodworking magazines, because I used to be able to read the magazines years ago. So I started searching around and I ran across WW4B, and then on their website they talked about their workshops that you all put together. You listed the summer workshop coming up at Veeder Mountain up here with Enchanted Hills, and so I had to sign up. Jeff Thompson: There you go. What got you interested in woodworking? Bob Guyer: Well, I've always been interested in woodworking. Mostly more carpentry type of woodworking, but I have made other small projects, furniture and that sort of thing, when I had my full vision. Since I lost my vision, I haven't been able to enjoy it like I once did. And I'm retired now, and so I wanted to be able and do a lot of woodworking projects, and so I figured I needed to learn how to do everything with no vision. Jeff Thompson: So now that you've got to experience your first WW4B, what do you think you gathered out of it the most? Bob Guyer: Well, first of all, just the comradery with everybody. It's a great group of folks up here, everybody was so helpful, and sharing ideas, and tips, and tricks, and how to do things better. I think the biggest thing is it improved my confidence in safety, and how to make sure that I'm able to use my table saw again without cutting off a finger or anything. So learning all the proper safety techniques. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, meeting people that are doing the same things, and they're doing the things a little differently, or they're learning, or they all got hobbies. It's a neat group of people that seem to always show up here. Bob Guyer: Yeah. It was fun because some folks ... some of the woodworkers brought different tools, or other project ideas, or things from home, so we were able to see some different tools. Like one of the woodworkers is a piano tuner, and so he works on repairing pianos. It was interesting learning from him how he made different jigs and things to assist him in working on the pianos. Jeff Thompson: So we worked on making the candy dispensers, and got around to some of the tools, but you decided to make another project too. Can you describe that? Bob Guyer: Right. Well, it was basically a simple box. It's a box to put over the top of a kleenex box, so you kind of hide the kleenex box. And fortunately George had a beautiful piece of walnut that he gave me to plane down and cut up to size and make the box out of. So it turned our really, really nice. So I was very, very pleased with both. The little candy machine, that project was fun. I enjoyed the production line aspects of everybody pitching in and doing different aspects of it, and then we finally each settled in on a particular machine that we sort of claimed as ours, and put it together. And we either rounded it or routed the corners different ways, and stained it, and polished it, and made it our own. Bob Guyer: Oh, one of the things I really, really learned and I never had the opportunity before, was to use a lathe. In the candy machine there's a wheel on the bottom, kind of like a turning tray if you will that brings the candy out of the jar. So those were all hand turned on the lathe, and that was my very first experience at ever using a lathe. The instructors were great at showing you how to use the lathe, and I was just floored at the little wheel as we call them, that I was able to produce. I was very excited about that. Jeff Thompson: You also when you went into making your kleenex box, you started out with a very thick piece of wood, and you planed it down, then you joined it ... then you ripped it to square it off, then you brought it to size. Bob Guyer: Yes. Jeff Thompson: So you went to the whole entire ... the gauntlet. Bob Guyer: Yes. That was fun to take a particular project that I wanted to make. Not that I didn't want to make the candy machine, but a personal project, and taking that from the raw wood all the way down to the finished product, and using all of the machines. The planer is just a fabulous, fabulous planer that they have here in the workshop, and then the large belt sander to run the wood through. And I learned different tricks on using the click rule to-- Jeff Thompson: The quarter inch? Bob Guyer: Yeah, the little quarter inch. Taking into account the little foot on the bottom of the click rule, and being able to put that up against a jig say and extending it so that you can measure more easily, instead of trying to just feel with your finger and trying to line it up on the edge of the board. Just being able to hook it over the edge of the board. And didn't think about adding that extra quarter of an inch to the board to make it work. Speaker 5:           Yeah, California baby Bill. Jeff Thompson: We just got power back on the dinner hall. We're sitting outside the dinner hall right by the lake here. Jeff Thompson: So what other hobbies do you have Bob? Bob Guyer: Well, I like to do an awful lot of hiking. So my wife and I every day, we're out on a hike and we probably do about 30, 35 miles a week. So that, and then we also work with the dog rescue organization. So we do an awful lot of work with fostering dogs and rescuing senior dogs, so that takes a lot of our time, but we really-- Jeff Thompson: Keeps you busy? Bob Guyer: Keeps us busy, yeah. Jeff Thompson: So Bob what recommendations would you have for someone who is walking in your own shoes with RP, as you've progressed from knowing you had it to the point where you are today? Bob Guyer: I think the most important thing I learned was not to wait to start using a cane. I waited way too long to begin using a cane, just out of male stubbornness, or embarrassment or something from using a cane. But once I came to the realization that I needed to use the cane, then went and got the mobility training, oh, my life has been so much easier being able to get around and feel safe that I'm not going to walk into anything, or into anybody. Jeff Thompson: So when you start to accept it? Bob Guyer: Yes. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Bob Guyer: Yeah. And not be embarrassed about it. One of the things I did is, I was still working when I came to the realization that I needed to use a cane. What happened was I was walking down the sidewalk and going around the corner of our public library, and a family was coming out of the library. And I saw them, but I didn't see their little toddler because he was in my blind area of my peripheral vision. And I walked right over the top of the little boy, he went down and his head hit the concrete, and he was crying and I started to cry, because I was so worried about him. Fortunately he was fine, nothing serious happened to him. But that night I went home and talked to my wife and I said, "I need help, I need to figure out how to use a cane." So that was the start of it. Bob Guyer: And I was still working at that time, and I sent an E-mail out to everybody in our entire organization, like 300 plus people. And told them about my eye disease and that they were going to see me with a trainer walking around the city, and in city facilities learning how to use a cane. And that I wasn't embarrassed about using the cane, and I felt comfortable if they wanted to come up and ask me a question, please come up and ask a question. I mentioned to them, "Don't be embarrassed for me". I just wanted everybody to know what had happened to me, or why the change. Because I know they would see me and just wonder, and so I just wanted to put everybody to ease right from the beginning. And I think that was a big help too. Jeff Thompson: Another thing that you're talking about when you mention that don't be afraid to use a cane. Start using it before you absolutely have to, so you get acclimated to it. Bob Guyer: Right. Jeff Thompson: You also mentioned that you're start thinking about voice screen readers and stuff. Bob Guyer: Yes. Well, since I've retired my RP has progressed even further. I've used zoom text for quite a while, but I keep upping the magnification all the time, and I'm getting to the point where there's just a few letters on the screen that I can read. And so I decided to start to learn Jaws, and so I put Jaws on my computer so I could learn that before I could no longer read with zoom text. Jeff Thompson: That's one of the things I find mostly, is people put it off, put it off, put it off, put it off, and then it's a crashing blow to them when they can't do either. Jeff Thompson: So you went to mobility training? Bob Guyer: Yes. Jeff Thompson: And did you get that through your state? Bob Guyer: I got that through the Vista Center for the Blind in Santa Cruz, California. Jeff Thompson: What was that like? Bob Guyer: Well, it was really nice because the instructor came to my house and met with my wife and I, and explained to both of us what was going to happen, and explained to her about being a sighted guide to help me when I needed it. But then we started right from there and started walking around my neighborhood, and through intersections, and learning how to navigate busy intersections with a cane. He also helped me ride the bus, since I wasn't able to drive I was riding the bus to work. So he rode on the bus with me, and had to get on and off the bus. He went to my place of work and walked all around the office. Spent the day with me and saw everything I did. I had to walk to a lot of different locations as part of my job, and so we walked to all of those locations with my cane. And he pointed out all the different little tips and tricks. Bob Guyer: So the thing that was nice about that, is that I learned the mobility training in the environment that I was living in and working in every day, and that was a real, real big help. We also went to a local shopping mall, so I was in a real crowded situation and learned how to get on and off escalators, and that sort of thing. Jeff Thompson: So it was a good experience getting some training? Bob Guyer: Yes, absolutely. It certainly boosts your confidence that you can do things, and you don't have to be isolated and stay home. And now a days with the technology, it's advancing so rapidly, there's just so many things out there to help us from talking tools for woodworkers, to navigation aids to help folks get around these days. We're living in a great time with all the technology coming out for us. Jeff Thompson: Not to toot my own horn, or Blind Abilities horn, but when we first met and you came in here and went down to the dining hall, you said something like, "I listen to 50 of your podcasts." And your wife says, "Yes, he has." Bob Guyer: Yeah. I had been listening to Blind Abilities once I found you, and then I found your website and found how I could download a whole bunch of your episodes. Well, no what I did was, I was able to sync my Victor Reader. That was the big thing is that I used Victor Reader. And I think you had mentioned on one of your shows about putting that into your podcast player, and so I put that into Victor Reader and bam it popped right up. I went through ... I think you have like 429 episodes or something like that, and I listened to the title of everyone of those, and some of them I would click and listen to the extra description on it. And then I started saying, "Okay, set that one for download, set that one for download, set that one for download." And before I knew it I had 54 of them downloaded. Bob Guyer: And so I just binge listening. A lot of people binge watch television programs, so I binge listened to 54 episodes of Blind Abilities. You guys do a fabulous job at Blind Abilities with all the podcasts that you put out. Jeff Thompson: We've got two listeners now? Bob Guyer: Well, we're dedicated listeners. Jeff Thompson: It is really fun to be up here. The group that was before you, the music group, and I was sitting next to someone and he said, "I know your voice." And I said, "I'm Jeff Thomson." And he goes, "You're blind abilities." It's a small world, and he worked up in Victoria, Canada, and they suggest it to their students. So it was just one of those things that you're up on a mountain, out in the middle of nowhere and these people ... It's a small world, but on this mountain there's a lot of great people. Bob Guyer: Right. Well was it-- Jeff Thompson: Always this fun. Bob Guyer: -- the same situation when we all first got together in the dining hall, the first day of woodworking. A little bit of orientation about the facility and what we were going to be doing and that sort of thing. But, while we were milling around, I heard your voice off in the distance and I told my wife, I said, "That's Jeff Thompson, that's Jeff Thompson." And then I also heard George, the main instructor here. I had heard his voice from the interviews that you had done with him on Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: Oh, yes, yes. Bob Guyer: And also from the television commercial that George starred in, so I knew the voices and I said, "I'm home. I'm with the folks that I'm here to work with." Jeff Thompson: You binged and you're still hearing our voices. Bob Guyer: Yep, yep. I've enjoyed it all, it's been great. Jeff Thompson: Well, Bob Guyer thank you so much for coming on the Blind Abilities. I'm keeping you from dinner so that's not a good thing. Thanks a lot Bob. Bob Guyer: Well, thank you Jeff, and thank you to everybody with Blind Abilities. You all do a great job, your correspondence out at the conventions, and just all of you. Very, very thankful that you have the program for us. So thanks. Jeff Thompson: Alright. Pete Lane: This concludes our visit with Bob Guyer. We'd like to thank Bob for taking time out of his day to chat with Jeff. And for all of you out there, thanks so much for listening, and have a great day. Pete Lane: For more podcasts with a Blindness Perspective check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com. We're on Twitter, we're on Facebook, and be sure to check out our free app in the Apple app store, and the Google Play store.  

In this episode, Tom speaks with Chris Downey, who is an architect, planner, consultant and the founder of Architecture for the Blind. Chris lost all sight in 2008 and is recognized for his exemplary leadership and accessible design, as well as creating enriching and helpful environments for people who are blind or visually impaired. He is also Board Director for the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind.

In this episode, Tom speaks with Chris Downey, who is an architect, planner, consultant and the founder of Architecture for the Blind.Chris lost all sight in 2008 and is recognized for his exemplary leadership and accessible design, as well as creating enriching and helpful environments for people who are blind or visually impaired. He is also Board Director for the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind.

JobInsightsExtra: Employment Breakouts, Aira on Employment and Zoom Zooms Ahead and a Great Tool in the Indeed App Full Transcript Below: In this Job Insights Extra Serina Gilbert and Jeff Thompson talk about the Employment Breakout Sessions at conventions. How Airais focused on employment, education and Bringing more value to their services. Serina talks aboutIndeed, an app for smart phones and a web site that assists one during the job hunt and finding employment opportunities in the field you want. Zoom Cloud Meetingsis becoming the go-to tool for conferenceing and meetings because it just works and Zoom has a lot to offer. We include a small segment from our Blind Abilities podcast, “Aira Workshop on Employment, Education, and Aira as a Reasonable Accommodation,” with Michael Hingsonspeaking about Aira and how the Aira service can impact the job search, save time on the job and Aira as a Reasonable Accommodation. You can find the entire podcast on BlindAbilities.com We also bring you a conversation with Dacia Vanalstine, employment Specialist at State Services for the Blind. Dacia presented at the NFB Employment Committee workshops and Jeff sat down and asked her about the breakout sessions. We wanted to do this podcast to show how the conventions can be a resource for information, educational and a place that offers opportunities to meet and talk to professionals in the field.   Thanks for Listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store   Full Transcript:   JobInsightsExtra: Employment Breakouts, Aira on Employment and Zoom Zooms Ahead and a Great Tool in the Indeed App Serena Gilbert: Cue fancy music. Jeff Thompson: They had breakout groups that you could go into, one was on resume building, one was on disclosure, another was upward mobility, another was on job searching. Michael Hingson: Aira, by any definition of the Americans With Disabilities Act is a reasonable accommodation. Serena Gilbert: You already know I'm like Aira jealous. Jeff Thompson: Zoom works pretty good, you can record on it, you can do all sorts of stuff with it, it's just always blowing my mind a little bit. Serena Gilbert: You can also live stream to Facebook from Zoom and they'll show whatever you're showing on your Zoom screen in the Facebook Live. This podcast is not brought to you by Zoom. Jeff Thompson: Job Insights is a podcast that is helping you find careers and gainful employment through innovations and opportunities. You can find the Job Insights podcast on BlindAbilities.com, part of the Blind Abilities network. And as part of the Job Insights podcast, we will be bringing you the Job Insights extras, consisting of interviews, demonstrations, and news surrounding employment, careers, and jobs. With hosts Serena Gilbert, and myself, Jeff Thompson. And you can contact us by email at JobInsights@BlindAbilities.com. Leave us some feedback, or suggest some topics that we cover. On Twitter, @JobInsightsBIP. Serena Gilbert: I use the Indeed website all the time with my clients when we're looking at job openings. I like it because it filters all the scams, and weird Craigslist ads and things like that, and gets right to what you're really looking for. Jeff Thompson: In this Job Insights extra, we'll be talking about Aira, and how they are enhancing the opportunities in education and employment for students and job seekers alike. We tap into a little bit about Zoom. Is it replacing Skype? It seems to have all the features to do so. Give it a try, see what you think. We touch base on an app called Indeed, which is also a website, which will help you along your job seeking journey. And we expand upon how conventions can help you in the job market, employment, and as a student, and the upcoming CSUN Convention as well. Jeff Thompson: So now, please join Serena Gilbert and myself, Jeff Thompson in this Job Insights extra. We hope you enjoy. Jeff Thompson: Well how you doing Serena? Serena Gilbert: I am doing great, Jeff, how are you? Jeff Thompson: I'm doing good, just got back and I'm settling in back home here in Minnesota. Serena Gilbert: You survived. Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep, a lot of employment stuff, and people showed up, and that's one thing about these conventions is not only do you get experience of traveling, different types of adventure through using mobility, getting to place to place, but you meet a lot of people, and you have a lot of opportunity to focus in on the agenda. And I focused in on the employment parts of it. Jeff Thompson: They had breakout groups that you could go into, one was on resume building, one was on disclosure, another was upward mobility, another was on job searching. There was lots of opportunities for people to get involved. And there was even one on meeting the voc rehab panel, there was a panel of voc rehab teachers and professionals in the field, DVIs, lots of good stuff. Serena Gilbert: I know that there was a lot of talk about how Aira fits into everything having to do with employment, from the job search even through to completing job tasks, is that right? Jeff Thompson: Yeah. I was in attendance at a breakout session Aira sponsored, and it was Aira and employment, and Michael Hingson was speaking, along with Patrick Lane. And they were talking about reasonable accommodations, how Aira fits that bill, the things you can do, it saves you time compared to how much it would cost for a reader for some applications, and how Aira has this program where if you are filling out a resume and getting help, and using Aira while you're researching a job, say you're going to an interview, and back again, all those minutes are covered by Aira. You don't have to pay for those minutes, so they're free. Serena Gilbert: That could be a nice way to help with ... I know sometimes there's applications that aren't the most accessible, and something weird kind of happens with it, and you kind of get stuck. So that'd be nice to be able to have the Aira agent help you figure that out, especially when it's a time sensitive employment application you're trying to get in. Jeff Thompson: Exactly, and usually you're doing that on the computer. Another thing with Aira is they have a partnership with VFO, Andrew Joyce and Jos. Serena Gilbert: So Jeff, I know there was an another one that I saw come through that they have just partnered with, do you remember who it was? Jeff Thompson: Oh yeah, more and more partnerships are being developed all the time and being announced. Just lately the 26 YMCAs in the Minneapolis area have come on board as a Aira access point, where you can use Aira services free. And some of the big news coming out is Andrew Cole from Microsoft, he's the senior data scientist that was responsible for developing seeing AI has now joined Aira as head of the artificial intelligence and research at IRA. That's great news, and Chloe is going to be worked on, and enhanced I'm sure. Yeah, where is this going to take us, we only know. But yeah, partnerships are being developed all the time, so stay tuned for more and more partnerships joining the Aira team and making Aira accessible and affordable to all. Jeff Thompson: Another area of growth is, I believe it's six days that their state agencies, vocational rehab, are now offering Aira as a service, and even colleges, their disabilities services office is now providing the service as well. Serena Gilbert: That's very nice to hear, I mean, I know it'll take a little while for the word to get out to the bureaucracy that it is. But I think it's great that that's something that people are considering to help with more accessibility for their clients. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Well, when you think about reasonable accommodation, what is it? Offering a free zone for your company, say you're a voc rehab, or a state agency for the blind and you have five or six people who could benefit from IRA, and if they do have it, why not allow those minutes to be free? I don't know, it's something interesting. I know San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired is considering making their area a free zone as well. So like you said, it's catching on, I think it's becoming more of a household name in the blindness community. It used to be kind of a idea, or people didn't know it was really out there and working, but I believe they're growing. I would have to say they've got to be up to at least 2,000 some users now, especially now that they're worldwide. And even Minnesota. Serena Gilbert: That's a whole nother country there. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. But that puts it more on the clock. So you can turn around and actually have service around the clock. Serena Gilbert: And even before they went international I feel like they had pretty accessible hours, because I believe it was like 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Pacific time, or something like that, that's pretty good. Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). So now it's pretty much 24/7 and from what I reckoned, when we were ... reckoned, when did I ever use that word? Serena Gilbert: Yeah, who did you hang out with from the south there for a little while? Jeff Thompson: Yeah, there was people from all over the ... every walk of life is there. The blindness doesn't pull you all together, it's just normal people and we just have a common thing of visual challenges. Serena Gilbert: And that was in a free zone too, because I know they made Orlando and ... did they call it an Aira access point or something like that, where it was free for everyone? Jeff Thompson: Exactly. And we're the guest too because if you are down there with the iPhone, you could just download the app, sign up and you could get yourself an agent and use it just like you had it. Just like you were part of it, you were an explorer now, but you're a guest. I heard a lot of people really satisfied and excited about it. Serena Gilbert: I think that's really cool. I mean, you already know I'm like Aira jealous, and I'm just waiting for that price to come down a little bit for me- Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Serena Gilbert: Before I take that plunge. But I mean, it just sounds really cool. No surprise here, Jeff, so what I most want to do with is go shopping one day. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Well, to tell you the truth, I was in an Aira session, and Michael Hingson had a few words to say, so let's segue right into that right now. Michael Hingson: Aira, if you look at Aira in the general terms of what it is, Aira is an information source. Aira is a way that you can get any visual information that you otherwise would not have access to. When I talk to a lot of people about Aira, they think about the fact that oh, well, I really have good travel skills, so I don't need it. Or I've always got sighted people with me, so I don't have that problem. Let's deal with that in terms of a job. I'm on the job, I'm using JAWS, and suddenly the computer quits working. Now where do I go to get my sighted assistance? I'm in the office, I've got to go interrupt somebody else to get them to come and look at the screen, tell me what the error screen is, or of course the infamous blue screen of death. Michael Hingson: In any case, I have to go find someone. Why should I have to do that today? Because there is a way to do that on my own, namely using Aira. I can use Aira to contact an agent, the agent can look at the screen, see an error code, and if I can't easily move my cursor to where it needs to go, it's possible that I can even enter into a tandem or two way session using Team Voyeur or some other team technology with the agent. That might be a little harder with JAWS not talking, but for a lot of different things that I do where this is an inaccessible webpage, or something that isn't talking the way it should, I can interact with an agent and get their assistance, both in terms of actually having a session, a two way communication session, or at least getting information described. Michael Hingson: If I am an employee and I want to go to lunch, let's say I'm in sales and I want to take people somewhere for lunch for sales, I can more quickly use an Aira agent to research possible restaurants if I don't really know all the options, or when I get to the restaurant, or going to the restaurant using an agent's help to do all of that. Michael Hingson: Aira gives me the opportunity to get anything that I need that I don't otherwise have access to because it's visual. It is that simple, it is that general, and I urge people to look at Aira in that way. Don't limit yourself to looking at it as a travel device. Don't look at it as something that's going to diminish your skills, don't look at it as something that is anything other than what it is, an information source. And all of us, no matter how good our cane skills are, no matter how good our dog skills are, can benefit by having access to Aira, because Aira is the way that I can get more information to better tell my dog where I want to go, or interact with traveling with my cane. Michael Hingson: So you go off and you graduate, and then you go looking for a job. The first thing you should be aware of if you happen to be an Aira explorer is that we have an Aira access network for jobs, a job access network, whatever you want to call it, that will stick it in your memory. If you are doing anything relating to getting a job at all, whether it's writing a resume, writing a cover letter, making sure everything is formatted, getting dressed to go to a job interview, ladies putting on makeup, anything at all related to getting a job, that time is automatically free to you. So for any Aira explorer doing anything relating to getting a job is free. Michael Hingson: We are saying at Aira we want to take that unemployment from 70% unemployment rate among blind people down to 7%, which would be cool. And Aira is trying to help to make that happen by making it possible for you as an explorer to have access to the tools at no additional charge to get that job. Michael Hingson: What does it mean though as far as getting a job, and where does Aira fit into that? The way Aira fits in is really pretty simple. Aira, by any definition of the Americans With Disabilities Act is a reasonable accomodation. It is something that should be usable and used by you on the job. I can take almost any job that you can imagine and find a way Aira can help. Because again, remember what Aira is, an information source. It provides you with what information you need. Jeff Thompson: And this was just a snippet taken from the full podcast that we produced over on Blind Abilities. Be sure to check it out and see how Aira enhances the opportunities in employment, education, and as a student. There's a link in the shown notes, be sure to check it out. Jeff Thompson: So with Aira, it's getting more and more, like we said, a household name, more voc rehabs are aware of it, more counselors are aware of it, so who knows what it'll be tomorrow because they are ever changing. My wife Laurie just received the Horizon glasses, which puts the lens right in the center and gives you more of a fisheye look, so the agent can actually see more and do more. They have a Samsung device that is actually a phone, but it's locked for only Aira to use. So you turn that on and there's wire that goes up to the glasses, and now you don't have any connectivity between the Bluetooth for your phone to the wifi. You have three connections that all had to be in sync, and now it's just one wire, one phone, and I believe it's up to a seven and nine hour battery life. Serena Gilbert: Oh wow, that's pretty good. And I've heard they're pretty stylish now too. Because I guess the previous ones were like glasses with no lenses. Jeff Thompson: And some of these people are getting them with the tinted glass, so ... Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Jeff Thompson: It seems all right. You know, it's Clark Kent-esque. Serena Gilbert: Oh. Jeff Thompson: Well face it, you do have a charge going to it, you do have batteries going to them, they do have a camera mounted in them, so you're not able to just have wire rims and aviator glasses so ... Laurie told me that they don't fall, they don't move once they're on, so they're real stable. That means a lot. When actually the agent wants you to look at something that you can just turn and you don't have to look like a bobble head in the back of a car. Jeff Thompson: They probably did a lot of research on this, Greg Stillson who was the product developer there, part of the team, did a great job on the Horizon. Good things on the horizon they say. Serena Gilbert: So did she get hers at the conference or did they mail them to her? Jeff Thompson: Before the convention happened they sent out notice that said if you were attending they would then bring the glasses there, and so when she was there she was on the list, and she received them. Serena Gilbert: Oh, that's awesome. Jeff Thompson: So she went up the room, put it on the charger, and later on tried them on and they seem to work really well for her, and she likes the idea that you don't have to use your phone to do it. It's kind of interesting because the wire plugs into the back end of the glasses, so the wire comes down your ... you know, it doesn't hang down your cheek, it goes- Serena Gilbert: So it's out of the way. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, it goes down behind your ear, and then down your shoulder. When she was using them I didn't even really recognize the ... well, my blindness helps there, I suppose. But yeah, people were excited about them. Jeff Thompson: You know Serena, we're talking about jobs and everything like that, one thing I noticed was kind of a common denominator, I would say three out of 10 people mentioned it while I was down there, the app and I believe there's a software product for computers, Indeed. Have you ever used that? Serena Gilbert: Yep, I use the Indeed website all the time with my clients when we're looking at job openings. Jeff Thompson: And you use that on the PC? Serena Gilbert: Correct. Jeff Thompson: How do you like it? Serena Gilbert: It used to be more accessible, it used to be when you typed in the job search and everything and you picked a job you wanted to look at, it would open up in a new window. And now it still opens, but it opens up at the bottom of the page. And unless you go adventure and look for it at the bottom of the page, you never would know. So it's still accessible, it's just different now. But I like it because it filters out all of the scams, and weird Craigslist ads and things like that, and gets right to what you're really looking for. You can also set up an alert where it'll send you every day jobs that matched what you're looking for, so you can be one of the first to see them and apply for them. Jeff Thompson: Well that's great because I got a new iPad and I noticed that there's a new upgrade to the Indeed app, so I'm going to try it out on the iPad, and I'm going to try it out on my iPhone because it updated there. Serena Gilbert: No, I do use it on my phone though, it is very accessible on the phone. But I wouldn't recommend applying for a job from your phone. Jeff Thompson: Or setting up a Zoom meeting. We use Zoom on here and it's a very good app, and while I was at the convention, and in the pool I ran into a gentleman, not physically, but we were chit chatting, he was part of a ... I believe it was South Carolina Voc Rehab for the Deaf/Blind, and they had switched to Zoom and he said that because I have the pro that I can actually switch my identification number, you know, when you set up a meeting it gives you an identification number, you can actually change that if you want. You could change it to, I don't know, Volkswagen, or Lovebug, or ... you could change it to Red Pony, anything you wanted to change it to, and that would be your meeting link. Serena Gilbert: I think it has to be a series of numbers still for the meeting ID, but you can customize it to be something that people would remember easier. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, so it's really interesting, a lot of people are using it, they have a business package that they have. And he says that if you had like 15, 20 people in a meeting, he said you can break out into four groups and five people go into each group, and then you can bring them all back again. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, you can do that, I believe it's in the webinar setting on it. That one's like $40.00 a month or something, to have the webinar piece. But you can also live stream to Facebook from Zoom if you have the webinar piece added on to the account. Jeff Thompson: Oh really? Serena Gilbert: And it'll show whatever you're showing on your Zoom screen in the Facebook Live. Jeff Thompson: It's just really impressive to me what Zoom is doing when you've had other companies sitting back on their laurels, let's take Skype for example, it was Skype for many, many years. That's all it was. That's all we used it for, and some others have come and gone, but Zoom seemed to come in all ready and prepared, because it just seems like it keeps growing. Or I keep on finding out more and more of what you can do with it. So people out there are looking for a conference type of, I don't know, walkie talkie communication here that we're using, Zoom works pretty good. You can record on it, you can do all sorts of stuff with it, it's just always blowing my mind a little bit. Serena Gilbert: This podcast is not brought to you by Zoom. Jeff Thompson: But you do like it, right? Serena Gilbert: Oh I love Zoom. I hate Skype, it's a pain to use. Zoom just works. That's really just ... it's kind of like Apple, it just works. Except it really does just work. Jeff Thompson: Really, really works. Except for when we did it today, when we were trying to connect up. I sent a request- Serena Gilbert: I am convinced you sent me a different link. Jeff Thompson: Well, I set it up on the phone and I sent it out, it says, "send request", and so I sent it out, and then I came into my computer, started it up, and I saw the meeting was there so I went into the room, and she went into a room, but we were in different rooms. And for some reason, my phone must be set up for ... what did you say, private room? Serena Gilbert: Yeah, well so when you have a Zoom account you get a personal meeting ID that is the exact same meeting ID every time you send someone that link. And that's the link that you sent me, was the personal meeting ID. I was like I feel special. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. So then I sent another link from my computer and then we got all connected up, so other than that ... Serena Gilbert: Jeff's still on conference time. Jeff Thompson: It is. If people ever get a chance to check out one of the conventions, next year it's in Las Vegas, the NFB, National Federation of the Blind Convention will be in Las Vegas, and I believe it runs from July 7th to July 12th, and ACB will be in Rochester, New York. I believe that will be before that, I don't think they're going to be running overlapping, I think they'll probably be going from ... my guess will be from the 1st to the 9th or something. I know ACB is a little bit longer, but they have a lot more fun activities, lots of walks, lots of, I don't know, boat rides and all sorts of stuff outside the area, a lot of busing around to do things, but they seem to make it a really social type of atmosphere at those. Jeff Thompson: And the NFB is I would say mostly locked into a lot of business and a lot of opportunities to get together with people. Serena Gilbert: And CSUN is in February. Jeff Thompson: End of February, that's right. And this time, it's moving to Anaheim, California. Serena Gilbert: And for those who don't know what CSUN is, it stands for California State University Northridge. From what my understanding is, is it's the biggest assistive technology conference for bling and low vision, at least in the North America, maybe even the world. And very large names come into that, that's where a lot of new technology is introduced and talked about that's related to blind and low vision. It's kind of like a person like my like biggest dream, because I'm just a tech nerd. I've been trying to go there for years, but it never works out. But I think it might work out this year, hint, hint. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, I'm really excited about it because I haven't ever gone to one of those, and you hear about it, and you hear a lot about the tech stuff, that's really what it is. But there's also a lot of breakout rooms, like Microsoft might have three different sessions that they're talking about, Google would be there with sessions that you can go into and they'll talk about their accessibility and the development that they're doing with the Chromebook and what is the ... don't they have Voice Box or something like that? Serena Gilbert: Chromebox. Jeff Thompson: Chromevox. Serena Gilbert: Chrome ... yeah, it's like their built in screen reader for their Chromebooks. Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). And I was talking to them and they wanted to give me a demonstration, but I had to move over to the Amazon because I got an interview with none other than Peter Korn. Amazon's Peter Korn. And there's one thing that I really want to make a point of at conventions, the things that are changing at conventions when you go into the exhibit halls, it used to be where's the JAWS? Where are they? Where's Hinter Joyce now it's VFO, where's Humanware, all these different places that we would flock to. Now you walk in, front and center you've got Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Aira, they've taken over the front of the convention hall. Kind of reminds me of Walmart coming into a small town, Walmart comes in and a lot of the small mom and pop shops disappear. Jeff Thompson: Well, it's not really happening like that to effect, but look how many timers are being sold by Maxi Aids when you can use your Amazon device, your Google device, your Siri, what time is it? Set timer. So a lot of the gidgets and gadgets have gone to the wayside, a lot of these devices, we're changing and it's starting to show in the convention. How many times has Microsoft ever showed up to an NFB convention? Two? Google, once? Now we Amazon, twice. Where's it going to be in five years? HIMS didn't even show up. Serena Gilbert: Oh wow. Jeff Thompson: So I think we're in for a change, more of the mainstream companies are starting to take over the products, making things accessible and that's what we want. So seeing these big companies come in and things might be more mainstream. They send in their people who are involved with the accessibility at the company, Peter Korn, he was an accessibility director, all the way back to Kindle his department went. So it was really neat to see them all there in full force, all about accessibility. Serena Gilbert: That's great. Sounds like you had fun. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. Oh yeah. And I even went to convention. No, it was a lot of fun. Serena Gilbert: I even attended some breakout sessions. Jeff Thompson: It's really neat to meet people because that's what it is about networking, you know. You really get an opportunity to meet some interesting people with very like mindedness, people who have overcome the struggles and the challenges ahead of you with blindness as you go through your journey, so a lot of success stories there, and I captured a few of them that you'll be listening to, some job extras. Hey, if we were in the Tupperware, we'd be a Tupperware party, right? Serena Gilbert: Yes. Jeff Thompson: But it's always nice to get back home, you know, after you go to the convention, it's nice to get back home. You get too much of the different foods, different people, different stuff, and all the congestion, it's 2500 canes and dogs, elevators and all that. It's almost like you need more noise, heck, let's bring it to Vegas, that'll be a lot better. And then you have gambling machines going ding, ding, ding. To me it almost gets to a point of aggravation in Vegas. So I don't know, I imagine it'll be quite a trip. Serena Gilbert: Oh gosh, that could be stimulation overload, like, man ... Jeff Thompson: Oh yeah, when you're actually just trying to figure out where you're going and your cane- Serena Gilbert: Yeah. Jeff Thompson: Tapping, how you use all the sounds to identify things and all you need is two people to win the jackpot and you get lost, like it's crazy. Serena Gilbert: Yeah. And that casino ... well, none of the casinos are really very well lit. For low vision. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, it's really interesting to meet all sorts of different people. Well it's all over for this year, now we get to wait for the next one, and like you said, it's CSUN isn't it? CSUN 2019. Serena Gilbert: If I have my luck at a yes. Jeff Thompson: There you go. The thing about CSUN, I would in advance try and find a place there because the hotels are pretty expensive, and Anaheim I don't think is any cheaper. Serena Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Jeff Thompson: Usually when I go to a convention, on January 1st is when I do the stuff for the summer ones, so when you're talking CSUN, when you find out exactly which hotel it is, I would start looking probably around Thanksgiving time, start looking for those hotel rooms, because they fill up fast and then they go to an overflow, and overflow is not as much fun. Serena Gilbert: Yeah, that's not where the party's at. Jeff Thompson: But yeah, CSUN, Anaheim, I think I'll be there. You? Serena Gilbert: I don't know Jeff, will I? Jeff Thompson: We'll have to see. Serena Gilbert: To be continued. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. So stay tuned folks for more podcasts from Job Insights, my name's Jeff Thompson and you can find me at KnownAsJeff on Twitter. Serena Gilbert: And I'm Serena Gilbert, you can find me at BlindyBlog, that's @ B-L-I-N-D-Y, B-L-O-G. Cue fancy music. Jeff Thompson: I'm going to leave that. Thank you for listening to this Job Insights extra. And be sure to check out all the Job Insights podcasts on BlindAbilities.com. Big thank you to Cheechau for your beautiful music. And that's Lcheechau on Twitter. Jeff Thompson: Once again, thanks for listening. We hope you enjoyed. And until next time, bye bye.   [Music]  [Transition noise]  -   When we share, What we see, Through each other's eyes...   [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]   ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.   Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective: Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities Download our app from the App store:  'Blind Abilities'; that's two words. Or send us an e-mail at: info@blindabilities.com Thanks for listening.      

On this episode of the podcast we continue a conversation we started with Haben Girma, an advocate for equal rights for people with disabilities, regarding the value of tech accessibility. Melanie and Mark talk with her about common challenges and best practices when considering accessibility in technology design and development. Bottom line - we need one solution that works for all. Haben Girma The first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma advocates for equal opportunities for people with disabilities. President Obama named her a White House Champion of Change, and Forbes recognized her in Forbes 30 Under 30. Haben travels the world consulting and public speaking, teaching clients the benefits of fully accessible products and services. Haben is a talented storyteller who helps people frame difference as an asset. She resisted society’s low expectations, choosing to create her own pioneering story. Because of her disability rights advocacy she has been honored by President Obama, President Clinton, and many others. Haben is also writing a memoir that will be published by Grand Central Publishing in 2019. Learn more at habengirma.com. Cool things of the week Istio reaches 1.0: ready for prod blog Google for Nigeria: Making the internet more useful for more people blog GCPPodcast Episode 17: The Cloud In Africa with Hiren Patel and Dale Humby podcast Access Google Cloud services, right from IntelliJ IDEA blog Interview Haben Girma’s website site Haben Girma’s presentation at NEXT video GCPPodcast Episode 100: Vint Cerf: past, present, and future of the internet podcast Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) site Android Accessibility Guidelines site Apple Developer Accessibility Guidelines site Black in AI site Google Accessibility site San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind site National Federation of the Blind site National Association of the Deaf site Question of the week How do I perform large scale mutations in BigQuery? blog and site Where can you find us next? Mark will be at Pax Dev and Pax West starting August 28th. In September, he’ll be at Tokyo NEXT. Melanie is at Def Con, Black Hat, and BSides Las Vegas. In September, she will be at Deep Learning Indaba.

S.F. Lighthouse is Creating Opportunities While Enchanted Hills Camp Rises from the Ashes – Meet Will Butler – Tactile Maps Anyone?   Full Transcript Below   It was an honor to meet up with Will Butler, the Communications Director of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Will gives us an update on the Enchanted Hills Camp located in Napa and people are returning and continuing the tradition that started over 6 decades ago. Jeff talks about the wood working classes he will be teaching along side of George Wurtzel and Brian Buhrow for beginers and a second session for advance wood workers. Scott Blanks gives us a review of the Tactile Maps and how they can provide added information when mind mapping one’s location. The Lighthouse of SF will soon make it possible to order your maps on-line. Will tells us how to subscribe and find out more about theSan Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and visually Impairedand Enchanted Hills Camp. You can subscribed to their newsletterand follow them on Facebookand follow on Twitter@Lighthouse-SF You can find out more about Aira on the web at www.Aira.io Image of the Aira Logo Your Life, Your Schedule, Right Now. If you want to know more about Aira and the services they provide, check them out on the web and become an Aira Explorer today! www.Aira.io Using augmented reality, Aira connects people who are blind or low vision to a trained professional agent who is dedicated to further enhancing their everyday experience – completely hands-free assistance at the touch of a button. Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store. Get the Free blind Abilities App on the Google Play Store Full Transcript: S.F. Lighthouse is Creating Opportunities While Enchanted Hills Camp Rises from the Ashes – Meet Will Butler – Tactile Maps Anyone?   Speaker 1: Welcome to the Blind Abilities coverage of the 2018 National Federation of the Blind convention, sponsored by Aira.   Speaker 2: Aira, your life, your schedule, right now. Jeff Thompson: In this coverage of the National Federation of the Blind 2018 Orlando, Florida, I meet up with a virtual friend of mine. I've conversed with him many times. His name is Will Butler. He's the Communications Director at the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Such a great opportunity at these conventions to meet up with people you've only virtually met. I was really honored to be able to finally meet up with Will Butler and talk about the San Francisco LightHouse, the opportunities and events that they've created out in San Francisco not only for California but people worldwide. Jeff Thompson: I also met up with Scott Blanks, and he gave a little description of the TMAPS that they were giving away at the convention.   Speaker 2: Aira, a description of life. Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities, I'm Jeff Thompson. I'm down here in Orlando, Florida Convention 2018 and I came across the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired booth. And I ran into Will Butler and he's the Communications Director. How you doing, Will? Will Butler: Excellent, how you doing, Jeff? Jeff Thompson: I'm doing good thank you. Can you- Will Butler: Finally face to face with the great Jeff Thompson. Jeff Thompson: I don't know about the great part but I'm here and it's really exciting to be here. It's really hot down here. Will Butler: Well, you got to wear a sweater inside because you're going to freeze inside. Jeff Thompson: Oh yeah. Well in the northern part of California it doesn't really get this hot right? Will Butler: Every year it's hotter and hotter up there. But where it really gets hot is out in Napa. Jeff Thompson: Yes up on Veeder Mountain where the Enchanted Hills camp part of San Francisco LightHouse is. Will Butler: That's right, yeah. We have our camp out there in the hills of the Wine country and it's, gosh, I don't know in its 68th year I think. And it almost was its last year earlier this fall because the fires that came through Northern California came and ripped through the area and tore down about half of our camp, including all the cabins where the kids stay every year. So we are just barely recovered from that and we're lucky enough to be able to launch a camp season again for June. Jeff Thompson: Yeah. The doors are open up there. Will Butler: They are, they are indeed and there are a lot of blind kids and families who are really happy about that because they didn't want to miss a year. Some people haven't missed a year in generations. Jeff Thompson: Oh, that's awesome. All the way from Africa. There's people coming from Poland, people from Australia are volunteering up there. Will Butler: I hear you're going to spend a couple of weeks up there. Jeff Thompson: I'll be up there with George Wurtzel. Woodworking for the blind, they hold their annual event and Enchanting Hills does such a great job of that where we go up there, we have a beginners class and then we have a advanced woodworkers class. I'll be up there from the 6th starting with the music camp that you guys run up there. That's great opportunity for people to be- Will Butler: Playing some music, running some power tools. You're a pretty hands on guy, huh? Jeff Thompson: I worked at Blind Incorporated when I went there as a student they gave me a click ruler and I was able to figure it out. It all came back to me so fast that they hired me to teach it and from there on it's just been fun to do stuff that people really didn't expect me to do. Will Butler: What do you think about maps? Jeff Thompson: Maps? That's what you guys got here, right? Will Butler: Yeah. Do you want to see what we got here at the table? Jeff Thompson: Sure. Will Butler: Here, come on over. Okay so what we got here what we're showing off at the convention in particular this year is TMAP. And TMAP are our Tactile Map Automated Production. One of the big things we do at LightHouse in the map lab is we make maps for people to order. Like someone would say, "I need a map of my neighborhood, I need a map of my whatever." And we'll turn it into a tactile graphic that they can feel and use to get around. But we figured that's not really super scalable because it's just our time and resources. So we created software that actually allows you to type an address in and print with an embosser auto print a tactile map on demand. Jeff Thompson: Really. Will Butler: Yeah. In some ways if you have access to an embosser it's like the Google Maps experience to be able to like just type an address in and get an aerial view of the area around your point of interest. And really get to know an area by exploring rather than turn by turn directions. Jeff Thompson: Well, I remember when I first lost some eyesight and I was trying to draw these mental maps. I always wanted something that I could put my finger on and actually get an idea of what the big picture looks like. Will Butler: Yeah. Yeah, well I don't know, do you want a map of your neighborhood? They're free. Jeff Thompson: Sure. Will Butler: Okay. Jeff Thompson: So this is something that you offer all in San Francisco as well? Will Butler: Yeah and actually pretty soon you're going to be buy these on demand maps from us. You'll be able to just go on the LightHouse website, type your address in and we'll send you a map wherever you want. Jeff Thompson: What website is that? Will Butler: That's lighthouse-sf.org. Jeff Thompson: That's really great. I was feeling these yesterday. I found Market Street on San Francisco on that you are here button. It was really good. So what else has San Francisco LightHouse offer to people in California? Well wait, I shouldn't say California because I've been out there three years in a row and I'm from Minnesota. Will Butler: Right, exactly. Yeah we definitely love the idea that people are starting to come from all over the country and all over the world to take advantage of the services that we offer and the fun programs that we have. We've got these dorm style short term residences now in our San Francisco building, which house 29 people at a time. And they're actually quite nice dorms. They're better than your college dorm for sure. And so people can come out and for immersion classes and week long retreats and what not. And really stay with us and kind of get immersed in whatever the program is. Will Butler: So we offer employment immersions for youth ages 16 to 24 every summer. The youth stay with us for three weeks and they get job experience in the community, in the San Francisco area. They get to go to work for a few days out of the week. They have workshops, and then culminates with a conference all together. They really get to bond over that over a period of a few weeks. And then we have also similar youth employment programming throughout the year for anyone in the Bay area or anyone who can make it out on the weekends. Jeff Thompson: And people can get that newsletter from the LightHouse. I get one once a week maybe. Will Butler: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah we affectionately call it LightHouse Lately where we just update folks on what's been going on. It's usually about four things every week. It is about our programs but it's also about things that I think would appeal to people globally in the blindness community. It's where we might give you the latest update about the Holman prize. It's where we might talk about new initiatives or accessibility related. Advancements that have been made, or projects that we've worked on. We worked on a project recently with Microsoft called Soundscape which was a really cool app that helps blind people navigate just with sound and 3D beacons. And the Holman prize, we're about to announce the winners of the Holman prize next week. Jeff Thompson: I know I'm excited. I watched the countdown. You had the I believe it was 50 and then down to the 10 plus the one. Will Butler: That's right so we have three winners just like last year. Jeff Thompson: Is that embosser? Will Butler: Yeah let's go over there and listen to that embosser.   Scott:she was really well prepared. Will Butler: What are we printing over here?   Scott: Alright. Well thanks Jeff for getting us on. We are just finishing a TMAP. Street map for someone here at the table. I'm not going to give you the whole address. This is a free giveaway that we're doing here at the convention basically is just a tactile street map. What we sell in our San Francisco store, and stop me if Will's already covered this, is a package that includes three scales of the address that you request. And not just tactile but also print. So we want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to benefit from these maps. So you'll get those three scales, the key and an intro page that gives you a simple description of what you are about to lay your hands on or your eyes. Will Butler: Describe what the embosser just spat out for you and what you're doing?   Scott: Yeah, so the embosser is a tractor-fed embosser. And what we have is two pages. The first page is a map with the address at the top, the streets, and abbreviations at the edge of the map. And then the second page is the map key which gives you the abbreviation, the full street name and the directionality so east/west, north/south, northeast/southwest, etc. And so then I'm just going to staple it up and hand it over to the lucky person who requested it and they'll have a little piece of their world unlocked and maybe grab a little more independence because of it. Will Butler: How long did it take you to print that?   Scott: Oh, from the time we got the address to the finished product that was maybe three minutes. Jeff Thompson: Three minutes.   Scott: We mean it. On demand is the real thing. ' Speaker 6: Thank you.   Scott: Your welcome. Jeff Thompson: Thank you, Scott.   Scott: Handed it off. Will Butler: Thanks Scott. Jeff Thompson: If people want to find out more about San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired out there in California how would they get a hold of you? Will Butler: Yeah, obviously you can just type LightHouse on Facebook and we're one of the first ones that comes up. There are other LightHouses around the country but we're the one in the Bay area. You can find Enchanted Hills Camp on Facebook. They have a very active camp related Facebook page. And you can go to our website at lighthouse-sf.org. Lighthouse-sf.org and explore everything there. If you want to learn more about TMAPs you can go to lighthousesf.org/tmap. If you want to just go directly to subscribe for our newsletter you can go to lighthouse-sf.org/subscribe. Jeff Thompson: Alright. We've been talking to Will Butler he is the Communications Director out at San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired San Francisco. Thank you very much for taking the time. Will Butler: Thank you Jeff, it's always be a dream of mine to be on your podcast. I appreciate it. Jeff Thompson: Thank you. While waiting for my map I had to ask the embosser, what kind of embosser are you using?   Speaker 7: The one we brought today that's a ViewPlus Columbia. Jeff Thompson: So you must be pretty confident that you would bring it to the convention.   Speaker 7: Yeah that's exactly why we brought it. We've been doing this grind for a while. The last few conferences we're actually doing swell papers so we were bringing PIAFs and Zychems, but those things are fragile. They don't like to travel, they don't like to be handled on the road. They break. So we tried this instead. They're inexpensive, seems to be reliable, just cranking them out.   Speaker 7: Back at the shop we're actually using a ViewPlus EmFuse which is pretty esoteric because it does the ink print as well as the braille. But those are really big units. You're not going to want to pack that up in a road case and bring it on tour. Jeff Thompson: This one seems like something that you could move around a little bit.   Speaker 7: Oh yeah, they're light, they're small. It's designed for the home pretty much.   Speaker 8: Alright Jeff, I have your map for you. Jeff Thompson: Yeah exactly. Alright.   Speaker 2: Aira, independence like never before.   [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes...   [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]   ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with a blindness perspective check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com. On Twitter @blindabilities. Download our app from the app store, Blind Abilities, that's two words. Or send us an email at info@blindabilities.com. Thanks for listening.      

Day two of NEXT was another day full of interesting interviews! Melanie and Mark sat down for quick chats with Haben Girma about accessibility in tech and Paresh Kharya to talk about NVIDIA. Next, we touched base with Amruta Gulanikar and Simon Zeltser to learn more about Windows SQL Server and .NET workloads on Google Cloud. The interviews wrap up with Henry Hsu & Isaac Wong of Holberton. Haben Girma The first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma advocates for equal opportunities for people with disabilities. President Obama named her a White House Champion of Change. She received the Helen Keller Achievement Award, and a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30. Haben travels the world consulting and public speaking, teaching clients the benefits of fully accessible products and services. She’s a talented storyteller who helps people frame difference as an asset. She resisted society’s low expectations, choosing to create her own pioneering story. Haben is working on a book that will be published by Hachette in 2019. Paresh Kharya Paresh Kharya is Group Product Marketing Manager for data center products at NVIDIA responsible for product marketing of NVIDIA’s Tesla accelerated computing platform. Previously, Paresh held a variety of business roles in the high-tech industry, including group product manager at Adobe and business development manager at Tech Mahindra. Paresh has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management and a bachelors of computer science and engineering from the National Institute of Technology, India. Amruta Gulanikar & Simon Zeltser Prior to joining Google Amruta spent 5+ years as a PM in the Office division at Microsoft working on many different products. Just before she left, she worked on launching a new service and supporting apps - “O365 Planner” which offers people a simple and visual way to organize teamwork. At Google, Amruta owns Windows on GCE which includes support for premium OS & Microsoft Server product images, platform improvements to support Windows workloads on GCE. Simon Zeltser is a Developer Programs Engineer at Google, working with .NET and Windows on Google Cloud Platform. Henry Hsu & Isaac Wong Henry Hsu is a software engineer trained at Holberton School. He has experience with C, C++, Python, Ruby/Rails, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, MySQL/Postgres, Unity, Game Maker Studio, Linux, Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, systems design, algorithms, and devops. Isaac Wong attends the Holberton School. He has a degree in horticulture from Texas A&M. Interviews Edge TPU site Cloud IoT Edge site Cloud Armor site Titan Security Key site Building on our cloud security leadership to help keep businesses protected blog Google Cloud Container Registry site Haben Girma’s website site Haben Girma’s presentation at NEXT video San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind site National Federation of the Blind site National Association of the Deaf site NVIDIA site NVIDIA and Google Cloud Platform site Google Cloud Platform Podcast Episode 119 podcast Velostrata site GKE site Google App Engine site Stackdriver Debugger site Windows on Google Cloud Platform site SQL Server on Google Cloud Platform site .NET on Google Cloud Platform site Holberton School site Unity site GKE On-Prem site TensorFlow site Where can you find us next? We’ll both be at Cloud NEXT in Moscone West on the first floor, so come by and say hi! We have chocolate!

Laura Miller with Queer Friends Sixty-one percent of blind adults or those with low vision say it was hard to participate in sex education.  And when people lose their sight later in life many wonder if that is the end of their sexuality.  Like many of us with disabilities, they don't know how to approach sexuality within the limitations of their particular body. Laura Miller is the Sexual Health Services Coordinator at the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind. She's a legally-blind researcher, workshop leader, and trainer who understands these questions.   Currently she's organizing a contingent for the San Francisco Pride March on June 24. Join Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Adrienne Lauby as they pepper Laura with questions and pick up a few self-love tips. The post Blindness! Sexuality! Radio! with Laura Miller appeared first on KPFA.

Wasn’t last week’s episode on accessibility in product design enlightening? Well get ready for more! The goal of the last episode was to give you solid understanding of accessibility, and all the things you could think about when designing a product with accessibility in mind. But we understand it might be a lot to tackle, which is why in today’s episode we’re going to boil it down into 3 key tips that are critical and will make a big impact. Laura Allen is back to enlighten us. Laura is the Accessibility Program Manager at Google for Chrome and the Chrome operating system. As you watch today’s episode you’ll learn: Why thinking about accessibility is not just one person’s job, but a team effort How to integrate accessibility into your product development process How to engage users and discover communities that are ready and willing to test products for you!   Here are some additional resources to checkout that Laura mentioned in the video: Web Accessibility Udacity Course A11ycasts with Rob Dodson - YouTube series Build is produced as a partnership between Femgineer and Pivotal Tracker. San Francisco video production by StartMotionMEDIA.   ## 3 Key Tips To Keep In Mind When Designing For Accessibility Transcript Poornima Vijayashanker:        In the previous *Build* episode, we talked about the importance of accessibility. If you missed that episode, I've included it below. Now, in that episode we talked about a number of things that you could do to improve your product. In today's episode, we're going to boil it down to the three main things that you want to think about when you're designing and building your product, so stay tuned.                     Welcome to *Build*, brought to you by Pivotal Tracker. I'm your host, Poornima Vijayashanker. In each episode, I invite innovators, and together we debunk a number of myths and misconceptions related to building products, companies, and your career in tech. We're continuing our conversation today on accessibility with Laura Allen, who is the accessibility program manager at Google for Chrome and Chrome operating system. Thanks again for joining us, Laura.   Laura Allen:        Absolutely. Thank you for having me again.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Yeah. Last time we talked about a number of things that our audience can do when they're thinking about designing products or revisiting their products and incorporating more accessibility. In today's episode, I want to focus solely on the top three things you think are super critical and will make a big impact in people's products.   Laura Allen:        Great.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        So, let's start with the first.   Laura Allen:        First.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Yeah.   Laura Allen:        OK, so I would say the first thing to do is to train your team.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        OK.   Laura Allen:        Thinking about accessibility, it's not just one person's job, and that's something really important to keep in mind. This is a full team effort. There are different roles that different people have to play from design to research to development to just release processes, all of those different things. Everyone needs to play their individual part, to be totally honest with you. A lot of teams just will honestly benefit from just going through different trainings, leveraging resources that are out there. There are a lot of great things, like for example, I know a few of my colleagues actually have put together this awesome Udacity course just all about web accessibility. That's a great resource. There are lots of videos out there. There's this great YouTube series called The A11y Casts, it's like A-11-Y, which is an abbreviation for accessibility. If you've seen that before, it's A, 11 characters, Y, mean accessibility. So, lots of different things out there. We can definitely link some resources for sure.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Yeah.   Laura Allen:        I would say, yes, training the team. Make sure everyone feels comfortable with the concepts of how to start building this in. That will go a really long way.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Nice. So, it's not just to put the onus on the designers of the team but really your PMs, your engineers.   Laura Allen:        Exactly. Thinking about, for example, like the designers when you're scoping out a project, let's incorporate accessibility into design docs. Think about, "OK, well what should the keyboard model actually look like?” just as one example. "What should contrast? Am I thinking about contrast in my mocks?" So, bringing it in at the design phase, and then basically working with your engineers as you’re developing, testing for accessibility as you're going along, having PMs to help make sure that that process is happening, it's being managed all the way through. I think it's really critical. Basically, having everyone ramped up on this, everyone understand the fundamentals is really key.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Wonderful. What's tip number two?   Laura Allen:        Yeah, so tip number two would be to integrate accessibility. Honestly, I understand why a lot of people might get to the end, be ready to release a product, maybe even release it, and then say, "Oh, shoot. We forgot about accessibility."   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Yeah.   Laura Allen:        Maybe they'll get bugs filed against them. That's not the situation that you want to be in. It's also just not an inclusive way to be building your products. I think just working hard to integrate into each step of the way, and that's what's helpful to have each different role on your team understand accessibility, of course. So, integrating so that when you're preparing to launch a product, that's at the phase. When you're actually designing and building it, that's when you're working on these concepts and implementing these principles instead of, "OK, we're ready to go. We're going to launch," and then, "Uh-oh."   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Yeah.   Laura Allen:        So, integration.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        What's the third and final most important thing people should consider?   Laura Allen:        Yeah. I would say to engage the users.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        OK.   Laura Allen:        This is something that's really important, again. So, just understanding how...read a list of technology users or just users with any variety of accessibility needs are interacting with your product. One really simple step that I think is, if you're going out and you're conducting user research in the first place, why not add somebody who's an assisted technology user right to that pool? Add someone who's a screen reader user or someone who can only use the keyboard, for example, and can't use a mouse. Try to diversify that pool, and make sure you're collecting that user feedback, and understand how your product is working for a variety of different users.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Very nice. Yeah, keeping the user in mind. Are there places that you can try to recruit from? A lot of people might use something like user testing and there's a few other services out there, but anything you would recommend to recruit people?   Laura Allen:        Yeah. I mean, one thing that I know we've seen a lot of success with is partnering with organizations. Just as one example, we're here in San Francisco today, the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, that's just one example of a fantastic organization where they're more than happy to partner with teams or with individual researchers just to give feedback. They want to be helping. They want to make these products even better and better. There are lots of different types of organizations that are similar to that, which maybe local for people who are not right here in San Francisco, also national organizations, international organizations. So, just thinking about how do you leverage different communities, and you'll find that oftentimes if you just kind of approach different people and say, "Hey, we'd love your feedback on making this better and making it work better for you. Can you help us out?" It helps if you're going to go and have one of those conversations if you've thought through some of these core concepts and some of the things that are mentioned in the WCAG Guidelines, and you're not showing up without having even considered accessibility. Right? It goes a long way to bring real people in, real users in, and just make the products that much better.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Well, thank you so much, Laura, for boiling these down into three useful tips. I know our audience is going to get a lot of out this.   Laura Allen:        My pleasure. Thank you so much.   Poornima Vijayashanker:        Now, Laura and I want to know, have you tried one of these three tips when it comes to incorporating accessibility into your product, which of these did you try, and what was the impact it made? If you've got others, be sure to include them in the comments below. That's it for this week's episode of *Build*. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive the next episode, where we'll dive into incorporating accessibility into web versus mobile. Special thanks to our sponsor Pivotal Tracker for their help in producing this episode. Ciao for now.                     This episode of *Build *is brought to you by our sponsor, Pivotal Tracker.

Want 25G's? That question was posed to all legally blind people brave enough to submit their video to YouTube explaining exactly how they would use the money. It's a contest sponsored by the San Francisco Lighthouse called The Holman Prize. In this 3 part series mmeet the winners and learn the answers and see how it's more than what you may think. Subscribe to RMMRadio: Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher, Tune IN & Sound Cloud. http://reidmymind.com/ Twitter: @tsreid|@ reidmymindradio

Joel Ramos speaks with Shen Kuan of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind about a program that provides equipment and training for those who have experienced vision or hearing loss. The program is designed to help those individuals stay connected with people and the world around them.

Joel Ramos speaks with Shen Kuan of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind about a program that provides equipment and training for those who have experienced vision or hearing loss. The program is designed to help those individuals stay connected with people and the world around them.

Prior to This Find Your Fit™ in Which WE Are Joined by Lisamaria Martinez, San Francisco Lighthouse, and Special Guest Mike Armstrong, Blind Sword Fighter from SAAVI, WE Offer Sober Reflection, Hope, Acceptance, and Love The chair of the Board of the Garden Ranch Y, Mark Hoffman, often quotes Martin Luther King, “Darkness cannot drive out ... [Read more...]

San Francisco LightHouse and the Curious Million Dollar Donation

San Francisco LightHouse and the Curious Million Dollar Donation

San Francisco LightHouse and the Curious Million Dollar Donation

What are some of the issues affecting people in the blind and low vision community?  Jessie Lorenz and Amber DiPrieta from the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind will discuss issues like the effects of state budget cuts, accessibility to the internet, and coalition building on Pushing Limits, June 19  Hosted by Adrienne Lauby and Eddie Ytuarte. San Francisco Lighthouse internet address: www.lighthouse-sf.org    The post Pushing Limits – June 19, 2009 appeared first on KPFA.