Blind Abilities

Gabby Mendonca joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about her inspiring YouTube Channel  @GabriellaMendonca , her educational journey, white and pink canes and her upcoming guide dog adventure. Listen in as Gabby explains how living in New York during the pandemic has effected her home life, education and social interaction. With a Guide Dog in her future plans, Gabby tells us...

Our guest today is Manique Gunaratne, who  comes to us from Sri Lanka.  Manique's story speaks of the situation that she and other disabled citizens    of Sri Lanka experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic this year. This in itself is not unusual. All of our guests have described their experiences in this way. What makes this report different is the contrast of the successful handling of the Coron...

Full Transcript Hilda Dunford is a mom with 3 children and with the distance learning being the virtual reality that it is, Hilda is fining more and more time to be with her children, learning, caring and growing together. I met Hilda through her @ OurBlindSide  Instagram account. Her Blog-like content gave me a peek into the life of Hilda, her family and her son who happens to be Blind/Low Vision...

3 is company and we were feeling Pretty, Pretty Good once we got the iOS14 downloaded and up and running on our various versions of the iPhone. Raqi and Jeff virtually High-5 each other and Serina just shrugs. With the new iOS full of features that extend beyond the reach of the iPhone 10, there was a lot to talk about and the Time Flies event was nearly the opposite. Kind of a lack luster event u...

Justin and Cindy from the Minnesota Disability Law Center joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio for a discussion on voting rights for youth with disabilities. We also get to talk to Nate and Nikki, 2 young adults, about their experiences voting accessibly using the Auto-Mark device and completing an absentee ballot. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@Bl...

In this 18th episode in our series, we hear from Paul Mugambi in Kenya, Africa. A first-hand report from Paul with his unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him, his family and disabled persons in general  in Kenya. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Brigitte Lablache is an articulate woman with talents, drive, initiative and overall life experiences which have allowed her to rise to a position of leadership in the blindness community in Seychelles. This episode focusses largely on Brigitte's lifestyle, and how Covid-19 has affected it, despite its relatively moderate overall impact on the Seychelles as a nation.  Read more we would love to he...

Full Transcription John Panarese, Director and founder of Mac for the Blind, joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about what Mac for the Blind is and what services are provided. John gives a bit of background on how Mac for the Blind got started and how this year has boomed with the group sessions and more sessions for the Mac and iOS to come this fall. Read more we would love...

On this Tech Abilities show, Jeff and Serina dust off the third chair and our new co-host, Raqi Gomez, joins the Tech Abilities team in a well-rounded discussion on Apple's upcoming iPhones, Apple TV and other speculations that may or not be showing up on September 15. The Time Flies Apple Event may only be involving the Apple Watch as the name implies, and rumor has it that a new iPad may drop as...

In this sixteenth episode in our series, we hear from Alvaro Gutierrez from Bogota, Columbia. Thus far we have spanned the globe with blind citizens Around the world, from Australia and Malaysia, to the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and Japan. Now we hear a first-hand report from Alvaro with his unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him in Columbia. Read more we woul...

Blind Abilities presents this special interview with Laura Wolke.  Laura initially began a career as a social worker in Philadelphia, with clients who were primarily Medicare recipients, planning to get her PhD and  go into counseling or become a psychologist. However she  eventually  grew weary of this work,  saying that while she has great respect for the people who do the job, she didn't think...

This Breakout Demo was released on the latest Blind Abilities show,  TechAbilities , and here is the breakdown on how-to add Alt-Text to the images you post on Facebook. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6093

Welcome back to Tech Abilities. We ran this series a couple of years ago and seems like a great time to dust off our Tech Abilities T-Shirts and Caps and jump into the Blind Abilities studio for some tech news and information surrounding the tools, gadgets, developments and news from a Blindness perspective. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or g...

We are excited about the Aira Gift Cards rolling out and Aira CEO, Troy Otillio, teases us with something else rolling out next month. Operations Manager, Ryan Bresnahan, gives a great explanation surrounding the 5 Minutes Free changes.  This conversation dives into Aira's decision making process and how the community drives the biggest changes and how Aira is always keeping their eye on the futur...

Marilee Talkington, founder of the Access Acting Academy, joins Simon Bonenfant and Lisa Andrews for an in-depth look at not only the Access Acting Academy and the classes being offered, the conversation goes backstage to discover what drove Marilee to begin the revolution and bring Access Acting Academy from an idea to our reality. Read more Full Transcript we would love to hear from you! Send us...

Full Transcript available. Olga Itsenko-Mahler  has basically gone from one World to another when she ended up in Australia and leaving her Ukraine homeland behind. Olga did experience a peek into the Western civilization during an exchange program in Texas while in her 11 th  year of education. What a difference and what an impact that her travel outside Ukraine had upon her understanding of her...

In this fifteenth episode in our series, we hear from Chelsie Reid in New York City with her uniquely fascinating  perspective on how the coronavirus has affected her in the states. Chelsie is a college student living in New York City. Her studies, her life and her well-being were interrupted by the Corona virus. Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com...

Today we hear a first-hand report from Hiroyuki Shinagawa. Konichiwa with yet a different perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him in Osaka, Japan. Hiroyuki is a massage therapist in Osaka, and shares with us the impact  of Corona and Covid-19 on the Japanese people, inside and outside Osaka, including a unique insight into the Japanese culture which we have previously not seen in this...

Director of Research at American Foundation for the Blind, Dr. L. Penny Rosenblum, Joins us in the Blind Abilities Studio to talk about the two recent surveys,  Flatten Inaccessibility  and  Access and Engagement to Education . The full reports will soon be published, and you can  sign up  to be notified they are available and stay up to date with AFB's future research projects. Find out how the C...

Program Director Jon Marin joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about the Career Discovery Project and his upcoming book release of, "See Us". With his new book due out soon Jon talks about students and employment and the opportunities created through the Career Discovery Project and the awareness that his new book, See Us, will bring to people around the world. Read more we w...

Talk Description to Me Christine Malec and JJ Hunt Where the visuals of current events and the world around us get hashed out in description-rich conversations. J.J. Hunt is an innovative Audio Describer and a natural-born storyteller. Christine Malec is a perpetually inquisitive member of the blind and partially sighted community who's always wondering about something. In Talk Description to Me,...

Ilse, Head of Growth and Marketing at Envision, joins Scott and Jeff in the Blind Abilities studio to talk about  Envision Glasses , the  EnvisionAI  app on  iOS  and  Android , and what may be coming down the line from the hard working team at  Envision . Read more we would love to hear from you! Send us an email at info@BlindAbilities.com or give us a call and leave us some feedback at 612-367-6...

Today we hear a first-hand report from Tim McIsaac with yet a different perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him in Winnipeg, a city in Manitoba, a sparsely populated province in Canada. Here the Corona virus hasn't taken quite the toll as it has elsewhere in Canada and the world, partly because of its size, but partly a result of the commitment of its citizens to social distancing and...

Full Transcript Today we hear a first-hand report from Jo Fishwick in England with her unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected her and her family. Jo Fishwick lives in Teignmouth, in Devin, a seaside town on the southwestern coast of England.  She is a guide dog owner, married with an 18-year-old daughter and Speaks about working in an eye clinic in Exeter, and her transition to wor...

  Full Transcript In this episode, we hear a first-hand report from Michael with his unique perspective on how the coronavirus has affected him and his family in one of our western-most states. Michael is a production Assistant living in Coquille Oregon. He joins Blind Abilities to share his perspective on how the Corona virus and COVID-19 have impacted Oregonians, his employment, and subsequent f...