Exploring the Bigger Picture

Walk beside me and you will see, that blindness may not be as scary as you thought it would be. In my life, being blind has created some challenges, but it has also given me a new perspective. Sure, when I first lost my eyesight, there were feelings of fear and sadness, but through time, those emotions turned into enlightenment. Awareness is the key to understanding yourself and others. I’ve had the opportunity to experience life as a sighted person, and now as a blind individual. Both experiences have helped shape me into the person I am today. There’s a greater purpose behind the loss of my sight, to which I believe it is for me to help others.
To those who may not know a lot about blindness, I want it to be known that I am a person who happens to be blind. Blindness does not define me, but instead is one part of my identity. When passing people on the street, my blindness may be all that they see, but to my loved ones and friends, I’m still Robin. I’ve often been told by friends, co-workers, peers, and professors that they forget I can’t see. I engage in a lot of the same activities that I did when I had sight, but with some modification.
On August 11, 2010, there was a release of an alarming study conducted by Surge Research Inc. The study found that most Americans are more afraid of becoming blind than being diagnosed with heart disease, which is the number one killer of people in the United States. It is hard to fathom how some people would rather succumb to a potential fatal disease than lose one of the five senses. Again, this is where awareness and education can make a huge difference. Blindness has not stopped me from living my life. I’ve graduated with a double major and a master’s degree. If you take anything away from this post, please remember that with or without a (dis)ability, all things are possible when you set your mind to it!

Access Equals Opportunity...

As the 20th anniversary of The Americans with Disability Act approaches, today many bloggers are setting aside time to write about an important matter; empowering those with disabilities. You might be wondering, what does it mean to empower people with disabilities? Well, in order to answer this question, let’s start by defining empowerment. According to Merriam Webster dictionary, empowerment is to give power or authority to; authorize. In addition, empowerment is to give ability to; enable; permit. With this said, I believe that in order to empower a person with a disability, there needs to be equal access for all. Access is the key to opportunity, understanding, and most importantly, success. There needs to be equal access to education, employment, housing, technology, etc.
One important way to keep moving society in the direction of more equal access is through advocacy for one’s self and others. Advocacy can be accomplished in many ways, such as spreading awareness. Talking to your family, friends, acquaintances, and state/national legislatures can make a world of a difference. It is a known fact that the more an issue is recognized by others, the more likely the issue will be addressed. Beautifully Blind’s mission is to help empower people through the collaboration between both sighted and blind/visually impaired individuals, awareness, support, and access to assistive technology. If you want to advocate for a specific cause, such as disabilities, it takes one person to make a difference in someone’s life. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Blind to Your Potential...

"Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!" Anne Frank. Don't be blind to your potential. You were not put on this earth to be ordinary. Everyone has his/her own unique gifts and talents, don't allow yours to go to waste being undiscovered. Has anyone told you lately that you are FABULOUS? No? Well why wait for someone else to tell you? Tell yourself and believe it. Go ahead say it out loud..."I am fabulous!" Feels good doesn't it?! Today take the first step towards unlocking your full potential. First, put aside any self doubt...remember luv, you are fabulous! Second, tune out the naysayers. There will be haters! Yes the haters, those miserable people that will tell you that you can't do or become something and will remind you of every flaw that you have. They only hate because they don't want to see you succeed...ignore them and keep it moving. Third, make a list of all the steps you need to take to get to the end of your goal. Assign yourself deadlines to complete each task; you can start with something as simple as making a phone call or sending off for information. Fourth, let the world see you shine!
Until next time.....Smooches!!!!

Making a Difference with Vision Zone...

May 2010 was healthy vision awareness month, which provoked organizations to emphasize the importance of eye care maintainance, safety tips, and/or resources. One organization that seeks to promote eye health through education and retail of assistive technology, is Optelec U.S. Inc. Being an innovative company with several products for blind/visually impaired individuals, Optelec U.S. Inc. seeks to find solutions that will increase the quality of life for individuals with visual impairments.
Launching a national movement to promote ocular health awareness, Optelec U.S. Inc. created Vision Zone. Raising the bar for vision resources, Vision Zone is the first company to establish a live and virtual online community for eye professionals/consumers. In addition to creating online forums for the community, Vision Zone has produced a short film titled, “You’re Not Alone Anymore.” This film seeks to create public awareness about visual impairment and the various products/resources within society.
“You’re Not Alone” follows Brian, a man who is legally blind. The film starts off with Brian trying to order some food in a restaurant, but is unsuccessful and therefore, goes hungry. The film takes a comedic stand by having Brian’s stomach growl throughout the journey. It is not until the end of the film when Brian discover’s Vision Zone’s magnifiers, that he is able to order some enjoyable food and his stomach stops growling. The aim of the film is to illustrate the difficulties that people go through with low vision, such as autonomously ordering and eating at a restaurant.
In my opinion, “you’re not alone” is a great effort to bring about awareness of vision health through comedy. I truly believe that laughter is the medicine for the soul. In my life I incorporate comedy to lighten a situation and to bring a smile to someone elses face. Also, the statistics within the film were very informative and showed the impact of vision loss in our society. However, a few issues that arose for me during the film were first the depiction of blindness in the beginning of Brian’s journey. In my opinion, Brian appeared helpless because he couldn’t see the menu and didn’t know what to order. Visually impaired or sighted, typically when a person eats at a restaurant, he/she will order their usual or ask the server about their entrees. There are other ways to order off a menu besides having to physically look off a menu. I understand the efforts of Vision Zone to emphasize the impact of their magnifiers on a person’s life, but this depiction could spread a misconception about visually impaired individuals.
The second issue was the visual aspect of the film. My sister, Toni, had to narrate the visual representations, such as what was occurring during the silences. It would be helpful if there was some type of audio description so that blind/visually impaired individuals could independently watch the film. Audio descriptive features’ enable movie viewing to be more functional for people with visual impairments. Overall, awareness is the key to education, and Vision Zone is making a big stride to helping those impacted by vision loss. To learn more about Vision Zone, check out http://www.visionzone.org. Also, if you want to know more about Optelec U.S. Inc. and their products, check out http://www.optelec.com/.

Sightful Reflections

Day by Day, week by week, I watched my vision slip away.
Tears streaming down, sadness lies within, and fear striking my body.
I could hear people say for reassurance, it will be okay.
Letters on the eye charts were being enlarged in hope that I would see them;
unfortunately, to no avail.
Inside, I can’t help but feel so gray.
Every day is a mystery on how much sight I will have left.
It is hard to find words to convey the pain that I felt today.
Day by day, week by week, I watched my vision slip away.
There is anticipation that my vision will come back,
but then the weeks began to turn into months.
I must come to reality that for now,
my blindness is here to stay.
Blindness for me, is an unknown territory,
but after facing many struggles and obstacles,
I will not let the challenges stand in my way.
Through the heartache, loss, and life lessons,
I have learned that I will be okay.
Day by day, week by week, I watched my vision slip away.

The month May, marked eight years since my eyesight started to deteriorate, which has caused me to reflect back on my experiences. Within these past years, I have faced many challenges and frustrations, but they have all shown me my true inner strength. I believe in that common saying, “what doesn’t tear us down makes us stronger.” At an early age I learned a big life lesson, and that is to not take anything or anyone for granted, because you never know what each second holds. Take the time to think about all of the positives you have in your life, and be thankful; whether it is having the ability to see, walk, hear, or speak. Enjoy each moment and live them to the fullest!

Beautifully Blind Inc. on the Pride & Patience Show....

Beautifully Blind Inc. will be on the Pride & Patience Show Sunday May 23, 2010 via intranet radio.  Log on to http://www.livewireurbanradio.com/ and show your support.
Show times:
5-7 PM Pacific
6-8 PM Mountain
7-9 PM Central
8-10 PM Eastern

Pride & Patience is a new internet program designed to raise awareness and promote health, balance and resources within our community!  Your support is paramount and this is a grass roots call to action!

You Have Questions...We Have Answers....

To help bridge the gap between the sighted and visually impaired/blind Robin and I decided to start "Questions Friday". We believe awareness and education is key. On Questions Friday one can ask any question they may have about blindness by either sending us an email or direct messaging us on twitter. We will try to answer to the best of our ability. So to answer some of the questions...one question was why do I blog about makeup and fashion to the blind/visually impaired? Well I believe that just like sighted individuals, there are blind/visually impaired individuals who care about that sort of thing. Before Robin lost her eyesight she liked to dress in the most up to date styles and wear makeup. Once she lost her sight it didn't change who she was as a person, it only changed how she had to do some things. Robin relies on myself and our mother mostly to help her with what's going on in fashion and make up trends. Any tips that we find that works for her to help maintain her independence we like to share because it may help someone else. Another question is if Robin cannot see why does she care about what she has on. The answer to this is that Robin could see until she was 18, she knows what she likes and she knows what makes her feel confident, again, just because she's blind it doesn't change who she is as a person. Robin and I have always had different styles and even though she depends on me to help her when shopping, her style is still her style. I'll describe something to her and she will tell me whether she likes it or not. There's been times when our mother and I have told her something was cute and if it didn't sound like something she thought she would like she would say no. I'm a short girl;5'1" and I'm taller than Robin so I live in heels. I've been trying to get Robin to wear heels FOREVER and she refuses! Not even a little kitten heel! She likes her flats...so she likes what she likes. Another question is how does she get on the internet. Robin has a regular laptop, but she has a screen reader program called Window Eyes which turns text to speech. Every thing we see on the screen is spoken to her. She accesses twitter through Accessible Twitter which is designed for easier use and navigation with screen readers. Robin has a regular cell phone which she can access Facebook, Twitter, the web and text. She can do everything a sighted person can on her phone through a program called Mobile Speaks which she purchased through her service carrier AT&T. We thank everyone for their questions and hope that you continue to send them in. The only way to dismiss misconceptions is through education and awareness. The more we all can learn about one another the better this world will be. We all have a disability of some kind; all are lacking in one way or another. What matters most is having the faith and courage to know that all things are possible as long as you put your heart and mind to it.
Until next time...stay beautiful!!!