Today's blog will focus on equipment that is available for Severe Sight Impairment (SSI), blind and deafblind people. We appreciate that this blog is written by a deaf blind person, though, we do hope it gives you an insight as to what is out there.
I've always liked my technology, and I remember talking to Margot my 6-year-old daughter a few days ago about the time when I was 10 years young, and my primary school loaned me a braille and speak, (The first braille PDA for the blind.) My primary school also loaned me a printer with it. I loved working with its 20 cell braille display and its clunky synthetic voice, and screwing the cable into the printer when I wanted to print something off for my teacher.
When I went to secondary school, the first day that I got there, my teacher didn’t want to understand my typewriter I brought from home to write letters to mum and dad, and on my windows 95 computer at home and at primary school, they put blue tack on the G and H keys so I knew they were the central keys. I tried to explain this to my IT teacher at secondary, however, she didn’t want to listen. I was made to start from scratch typing, even though if they would have made that little adjustment by putting the blue tack on the G and H keys, I would have been able to type just as good as the next person, because I had done it at primary school, and I was doing it at home.
For nearly 6 years of being at secondary school, I used a Perkins brailler, and it was only as I went to college, where my computer skills were re-awakened, that I felt more connected with the world outside. I got a Sony vaio notebook, and then, thanks to a lovely children's charity because I was under the age of 18, I got a Pacmate, (A PDA for the blind with jaws, a screen reader for windows-based PCs for people with SSI and blind.) My Pacmate also had a 40 cell braille display. I had the BX model at first, then transferred to a QX model. I loved it. I took it to lectures at college and all sorts. I also had my mainstream laptop, though I used a demo version of jaws.
When I went to University to do my BA Hons in criminology, I got a new laptop, a braille embosser, and jaws and a Duxbury braille translator for my embosser, a piece of software.
As time has gone on, I have found that my technological equipment has become more mainstream. Blindness PDAs are beautiful as far as braille displays, though software and hardware can get dated very quickly. I now use an Ipad pro with a focus 40 blue which I paid for myself. I love braille. Thanks to my Bluetooth BAHA devices, I can now have speech directly in my skull rather than, “Stephen Hawkins,” all around the house as mum jokingly observes. I’ve also just got a new PC, and I’ve updated my jaws SMA. I’ve had one since I started Uni in 2006.
We acknowledge that people’s equipment for people with unique abilities costs over 25 percent higher than people who don't have challenges. (Disability rights UK, 2021.)
I use my iPad for work, reading, and my iPhone. I use my new desktop PC for writing documents, though thanks to office 365, I can use my iPad for this too.
If you’re interested in starting a pathway to employment journey with us, and you’re thinking about equipment that you’ll need, we can talk about this with you. We talk about it in your talent and skills checklist.
We hope this has given you an informative overview of how I have used technology for work and social purposes, and we hope you've found it interesting.