blind meets mountain

its been a fun filled couple weeks here, i think I'm finally starting to get the hang of being in phoenix

(rachel dora ann) some festive flowers from our family summer birthday party

i have started hiking too, its such a crazy challange! i cant see at night but i find that i love night hiking because of the breeze, the view and the easiness on my eyes.

hard to see but from high up on a peak here

even going during the day, no matter how much i struggle to feel for the changes in the ground i have been truly loving it!

beautiful cactus! they really grow on you!

great daytime view, and a rare glimpse at so many clouds

I had some great advice form other vi/blind hikers about getting a trek pole. so i have been looking into them and  cant wait to get one! they will help me see and feel independent  in those  place i cant sweep a cane. I also got a great phone app called MapMyFitness. It tracks the route of where i go, the elevation, and best of all she talks to me and tells me when i hit certain milestones like miles and such!

What a wonderful feeling to do something so challenging and so much fun right here where i live. I cant wait to get some trek poles! Then there's no stopping me :)

there is strength in disability

strength

This week at my orientation for vocational rehab I took part in a group.There was 5 of us total, all of us with differing degrees of visual impairment. Sadly I was the worst of the group.

I sat there and listened to the presentation and listened to everyones reactions and questions. They were there to find help to make working easier  or to continue to work period  dispite the impairments. Some where there for independence and confidence. To learn to take on life in there own way.

Then something occured to me,..

I saw more will power, and eagerness to work and courage then I see in alot of sighted people.  

A business man, a mother, a grandmother, a veteran,..

None of these people have given up! they are either losing more sight, have lost a large amount or even have a combination of vision loss and other health conditions. All this said none of these people were going to back down to there conditions..



So many people look at hiring those with disability's like vision loss and think they are less of an employee as someone else. I know there are laws protecting us, but if you have ever had a disability and tried to find work you would know that there are many ways in which a company can deny you for employment and make it look like other reasons.

But what they don't know is that everyone i know of with a "disability" and those i have worked with usually work harder then those without. 


Why? 


because we dont take working for granted and we are happy to have a job. Most work harder and take on the job as a challenge.Who wouldnt want those kind of employees!

adapting with a handicap 

I think of people who dont want to work, who dont try, or those who have given up and dont have any hurdles in life to climb. It makes me realize those with those hurdles are so strong, they take on so much and keep going, they have strong shoulders.


there is so much strength in disability, not just in wanting to continue working, but having the courage to keep going and accept what they are going through. You may see someone in a wheel chair or with a cane, but what i see is someone who has come so far and will continue to no matter what, who will never take life for granted.

stupid fingers (the art of trying to learn braille)

I will be learning more braille soon to make it easier on me, and you know what?


I have stupid fingers. 


you know when you try to do something that looks so absolutely easy when  anyone does it .but when you do, you can't figure it out? like your brain doesn't connect to your fingers? well that's me, don't know why but i have learned some braille a little before and that's what happened,..

stupid fingers.

It really took some work and I definatly could not figure out the "shorthand" very well. its like i have a stubborn block to all this. I know i cant see small print, or even regular print . I also know that I can get things in large print but I still lose words. SO why wouldnt I be excited to fully understand  braille? because for some one who is losing sight , i am sight orientated.  Ive gotten to used to squinting, and magnifyers and blowing things up I want to see what im doing. the process of telling my brain to feel and not squint is not an easy concept. 

And i for one am in love with braille and its beauty,  Ive used t in several paintings and still continue to. But its like  I am someone who understands some Spanish, but id like to speak it fluently.

 Id like to "speak" braille fluently.


I am sure im not alone. people with visual impairments get very used to seeing life the way they see but navagationg through it even still.  switching to feeling and not over working my poor degerating eyes is a hard switch.

I went to the center for the blind and brought this up to the girl i met in the office who aslo was visually impaired. she too to my suprise said she had the hardest time when she was switching form large print to audio books. In time , she said, the mind makes that switch and it is so much more fun to listen to.

Hmmm maybe I just like the way my head narrates and I need to get used to hearing someone else tell the story. The same could work for braille,.


I was reading my mail and thought about how i did that, and i figured out HOW in fact i read. I guess the shapes of the words so much that my mind really takes over and guesses , even the shapes of sentences . this is probably the biggest problem, trying to shut of my minds guessing up.

My class starts in a few weeks, so I will continue trying to flip that switch and turn off my stupid fingers :) and learn to be fluent at it.


se hablo braille ?