Blind Abilities

In this episode of Job Insights Sarlie Drakos, Dacia Vanalstine and Jeff Thompson talk about following-up after a job interview and dive into the "white elephant" in the room, If, When, why and how to, if one decides to, disclose a disability during the job interview process. the Job Insights team shares their knowledge and experience to help you succeed and prepare for the job interview. Be sure...

Whether you are on your own, off-campus living or just wanting access to an Air Frier, this 5.8 Quart basket Air Frier from Cosori is accessible through a free app as well as through the Amazon and Google smart devices. With just a little set up with the VeSync App, and the VeSync skill for your preferred smart device, the rest is all at your command. Set your time and Temp and you be cooking. Jus...

Kevin Chao joins Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio to share with us his experience with the Envision Glasses from LetsEnvision.com plus the Aira App experience on the envision glasses. Kevin also gives us a peak at the Dot Pad, a tactile pad that connects to voice over and conveys tactile representations that one can explore. Along with 20 cells of Braille this tool gives Kevin an unders...

In this fifth episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, talk about Bullying and how one can ask for help and offer some coping strategies.   Show Hosts:             Robin Ennis on the web at www.robinennislcsw.com             Beth Gustin, LPC, NCC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, CAGCS, PLGS             Www.transitioningthroughchange.com Full Transcript   You can mess...

Our guest on Blind Abilities today is Michael Cleveland . Michael is a fiddler who specializes in bluegrass music, although his repertoire spans a variety of genres and multiple styles of music. he wows other Bluegrass musicians including the best in the business,  in fact, Michael may just be the best bluegrass fiddler ever, but what  elevates him into the rare echelon of unique talent is the div...

The Believe You Can Virtual Talent Show Returns Bigger and Better than Ever Before! Join the Live Show, and Support the Creative Talents at BelieveYouCan. Live Believe You Can, the virtual talent show and fundraiser put on by  the Philadelphia Keystone chapter of the National Federation of the Blind is October 15 at 8pm. This year Dancing Dots is sponsoring the event in a big way and the name is n...

In this episode of Job Insights Sarlie Drakos, Dacia Vanalstine and Jeff Thompson talk about  preparing for the job interview. How quality preparation will build the confidence one needs to succeed in putting their best interview forward. From research, logistics, Mock interviews, Zoom and Teams technology, to dress and attire, the Job Insights team shares their knowledge and experience to help yo...

In this fourth episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, talk about Guilt and how one can acknowledge guilt for what it is, how to make amends, how to give guilt a voice and how to let it go.   Full Transcript   Show Hosts:             Robin Ennis on the web at www.robinennislcsw.com             Beth Gustin, LPC, NCC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, CAGCS, PLGS       ...

Serina Gilbert, Seyoon Choi and Jeff Thompson gather in the Blind Abilities Studio after the Apple Launch and dive right into the latest news and announcements from the 4 corners of the Earth. Yes, we record and then receive as like any other time, the Apples arrive and it is all good in the orchard as more apples will soon fall from the tree in this never ending routine of gadgetry. However, ther...

Blind Abilities presents another QuickByte offering some troubleshooting for a possible problem you may be having in the Safari app on your iDevice.  We think it's safe to assume many of us have experienced it… that distracting, irritating, downright annoying noise: what exactly would we call it? clicking? tapping… Pete Lane says "no," it's clearly ticking! And here is how to turn off that ticking...

In this episode of Job Insights Serina Gilbert, Sarlie Drakos and Jeff Thompson  will talk about how the Résumé is an important role in one's job and career search. The résumé is designed for companies to select the best of the best applicants and having an effective résumé will increase ones opportunities for gainful employment. Sarlie Drakos is a Disability Employment Coach and you can reach her...

In this third episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, talk about Shame and how one may navigate the feelings of shame in a healthy way. Show Hosts:             Robin Ennis on the web at www.robinennislcsw.com             Beth Gustin, LPC, NCC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, CAGCS, PLGS             Www.transitioningthroughchange.com   You can message Beth and Robin...

The much anticipated Far Out event from the Fruit Company called Apple was back on Wednesday and this group of 5 took it all in and got together in the Blind Abilities Studio to give their perspectives on the event, the new iPhone 14 line up, the 3 new Apple watches and the 2nd Generation Air Pods Pro. Serina Gilbert, Callie Gray, Seyoon Choi, Jesse Anderson and Jeff Thompson get to the core of th...

Sara Robberson Lentz, STEM Education  Officer at AUI and COO and Head of Partnerships at Tumble media, joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio with some exciting news for STEM education, accessibility and representation in STEM fields for the BVI. The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $1 Million to a team comprised of Associated Universities Incorporated (AUI), Oregon State Univ...

Ricky Ties is a member of the Team USA Visually Impaired Judo Team. Ricky wrestled in high school and was a 2 time participant in the state tournament and was a National Highschool Coaches Association All-American. Ricky went on to college and  qualified for Nationals 2 times and Regional Champion in his sophomore  year. Ricky began coaching wrestling and started his own wrestling club.  if that w...

`Blind Abilities adds to the iPhone101 Series with this in depth, comprehensive review of blocking callers and senders of unwanted text messages and emails. Pete Lane takes us through a detailed journey covering the various processes for eliminating and reducing these unwelcome contacts in multiple Apps across iOS. From blocking unknown phone numbers in our Messages and Phone Apps, to blocking and...

Our guess today on Blind Abilities is AJ Croce. AJ is a singer, songwriter, a killer piano player and guitarist, who has been in the entertainment business for more than 30 years. He has 10 studio albums under his belt, and more than 20 top hits in multiple music charts covering genres such as blues, jazz, country, Americana and more! he is also visually impaired. Many of you will recognize the na...

In this 2nd episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, talk about General  Anxiety Disorder (GAD), what it may be and some practical coping strategies one can try. Following our last episode on Social Anxiety, Beth and Robin define and explain the difference between Social and General Anxiety and offer some strategies for coping with General Anxiety Disorder.   Ful...

Jenine Stanley joins Pete and Jeff in the Blind Abilities Studio to break the news that the Aira Explorer App is now on the BlindShell Classic 2 accessible Cell Phone. Listen in as Jenine demonstrates the BlindShell navigation, the voice and of course Aira Explorer being right in the menu. With all tactile buttons, the BlindShell Classic 2 is becoming the tactile button accessible cell phone we th...

Thanks to Greg for sending me a message when he heard the App Store demo I did on the Tech Abilities show where I navigated the cumbersome App Store table. With this tip of using Command plus 1 through 8, one can jump from section to section. So thanks Greg! If you have any feedback or suggestions, give us a call at 612-554-2530, we would love to hear from you. You can email us at info@BlindAbilit...

In this Tech Abilities episode Serina, Callie and Jeff welcome Seyoon Choi to the show. He is working on his major and undergrad simultaneously While playing Blind Hockey and working at the local fruit store. From Kardashian Beats Fit Pros, to NVDA at Texas State, Demos on the Audio Graphs in the iPhone and the Mac App Store navigation. That's just for beginners! We also dive into Fully Autonomous...

The Sassy Bloggers, @BlindBroad and @BayAreaBlindMom, joined Jeff Thompson in the Blind Abilities Studio for an awesome half hour of laughs, divulgence, awareness and what they do living the life they want. Lisamaria Martinez is a Confidence Coach with a focus on women in the workplace, moms and even those with cats. She has worked in the non-profits surrounding the Blindness World and decided to...

In this episode of Wellness Wednesday, Beth Gustin, LPC and Robin Ennis, LCSW, CPC, talk about Social Anxiety, what it may be and some practical coping tips one can try.   Show Hosts:             Robin Ennis on the web at www.robinennislcsw.com             Beth Gustin, LPC, NCC, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, CAGCS, PLGS             Www.transitioningthroughchange.com   You can message Beth and Robin...

In this brief episode from Blind Abilities, Jeff Thompson takes a look at the Sony WH- 1000XM4 Noise Canceling, Dual Pairing, Alexa ready Headphones he bought during the Amazon Prime Day sale.  Right now you can get them refurbished for massive discounts as well. Jeff gives an overview of the Blind Abilities Podcast and where they are and what you can find in the Blind Abilities 880 plus episodes....

Blind Abilities expands its  iPhone101 Series  with a  follow up episode on a topic which they previously touched upon, but this time they do a "deeper dive". In November of 2021, Pete Lane described the iOS Control Center, and in that review, touched on the iOS screen recording feature. This time, Pete has circled back to cover  this feature, but in far greater detail. In this episode: Pete takes...