Voice of the Nation's Blind Blog

Introduction I recently had a chance to use an iPad pro for a short time, and wanted to share some things I noticed as a VoiceOver user. The iPad Pro is Apple’s biggest tablet, and the first to have a specially designed keyboard and stylus, called the Apple Pencil. For the most part, using the iPad Pro is identical to using any other iOS device.

By Karl Belanger

Twenty-two years ago on October 8, 1993 we brought into the world a 7 pound 13 ounce baby boy we named Christopher William Meeker. We both have been blind all our lives but we had never been parents. As most parents are, we were scared to death of being responsible for this precious little one who was dependent on us for his every need.

For the first thirty-seven or so years of my life I did not have any problems with my eyesight. Then one day I noticed dots and flashing lights in my eyes. I thought I had a detached retina, but when I went to the ophthalmologist he said that was not the problem and that I would need to see a retina specialist for a diagnosis.

As a mother of three children, ages 9, 5, and 3, who happens to be blind, I have heard a litany of “disadvantages” or “difficulties” being a blind parent must present my husband and me.

When I returned to college as a non-traditional student who happened to be newly blind, I somewhat expected for others to have low expectations of me. However, I had rather high expectations of myself. This concept was instilled in me , quite literally, from birth. My mother was an educator; need I say more about the level of expectation within my family?

My earliest memory of having to deal with my impending blindness occured when my mom took  my siblings and me to visit the ophthalmologist’s office. I was probably seven years old, and the office staff took me into a dark room to dilate my pupils.

As a parent, I often think about creating opportunities for my children to learn and grow. Sometimes it is simply being present to recognize those opportunities that emerge in the course of a normal day. Other times it is creating opportunities for learning through new experiences. No one ever taught me how to do this as a parent.

As with the Orion TI84, the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) has teamed up with Texas Instruments to make another very common and popular calculator accessible. This calculator has an extension at the top with three buttons on it for accessing the accessibility functions, as well as a speaker on the back.

As with the Orion TI84, the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) has teamed up with Texas Instruments to make another very common and popular calculator accessible. This calculator has an extension at the top with three buttons on it for accessing the accessibility functions, as well as a speaker on the back.