December 23, 2015

Today I was asked to go to the Loss Prevention Center and back. Along the way I understood why they wanted me to go there: the crosswalks were inaccessible and there was no directory of offices near the entrance. So when I got back, I made a map. The label text had to be in very small raised print since there was so little room to put it. I then went onto the document cameras and used a computer with assistive technologies installed. This is shaping up to be an okay job.

Hours logged for this visit: 4.5
Total hours logged: 15 in 4 days

December 22, 2015

These two days, I had a specific project to complete. One was lessons on Unified English Braille, designed to "improve" reading comprehension by changing the system entirely for punctuation, indicators, and contractions. The other was other assistive technologies, like document cameras, magnifiers and screen readers. It was actually pretty hard, considering I can't read braille that fast and most of the content was predictable and not rewarding to struggle reading. There's a reason I'd have been more eager to learn Nemeth or NUBS.

Hours logged for this visit: 4
Total hours: 10.5 in 3 days

Work at Home

Gerry Newell assigned me homework, namely a list of the presidents. So I worked at home and at school on this assignment, and it came out to 8 pages long. There was some colorful humor I added in there, as well as things he felt were important. Some of the issues included not being able to erase mistakes, so I either brailled a series of full cells or started on another page. Other issues involved the way paper loaded, which could and did cause problems. Those pages were also discarded. In the end I had a set of 8 reasonably correct pages to show him, which impressed him enough they continued to let me volunteer. It was pretty time-consuming to try to braille what I remembered about each president, so that is considered a number of hours I worked. Soon after, my brailler broke and I could no longer work at home on anything. Still, this represents a major accomplishment and shows my dedication to my work.

Hours logged for this assignment: 2.5

Total hours logged: 6.5

November 25, 2015

Before I could go on Veterans' Day, I got an email. Apparently, they were closed on Veterans' Day. However, I did have the day before Thanksgiving off. So I decided I'd go. I again brought my brailler, finished whatever was left of my presidents list, and showed it to Gerry. This time, I was introduced to the computer and document enlargement monitors. I realized that blind people have achieved their goal of independence and deserve respect and honor just like anyone else. We spent the rest of the day going to Jack in the Box at Telegraph & 45th and headed home.

Time logged for this session: 2 hours
Total time logged: 4 hours

October 12, 2015

This was my first day at the Lions Center for the Blind, located at 1722 Broadway, Oakland near a 19th St BART station entrance. It's staffed largely by blind people. My mentor turned out to be Mai Nguyen, who is sighted but works with blind people. Since it's only open on weekdays, 10 AM to 4 PM, it's very hard to find time I can actually spend there. I found out that it's important to look at blind people and squeeze their hands to let them know where you are. Other assistive technologies, especially audio, are important as well. I asked them what assignments they had for me, and Gerry, one of the braille instructors, said to do a list of the presidents and something important about them. I started the list of presidents while I was there and will continue doing it at home. I brought my own brailler. Apparently, they think I'm useful enough to come back on Veterans Day. I didn't include a picture since many of the staff were disfigured and it would be disrespectful to them.

Time logged for this session: 2 hrs
Total time logged: 2 hrs