First Online Class At Grand Canyon University

I am in the final week of my first class at GCU. I have so many thoughts on this experience so far. I can't wait to tell you all about it. So far so good!

The first class they have you do is University Success (UNV-108). This is an introduction to the online platform. It gives a taste of what life will be like through out all of your courses. It also is taylored to your specific degree program which is amazing! This means you get to jump into your major right away!

There is more than one teacher who teaches this class. The Professor that I have is fantastic. She is so responsive to private messages. She is super engaged through out all the elements of the class. She gets grades back fast. That last one is my favorite because Lord knows I am crazy when it comes to grades.

The support behind the scenes from my Student Services Counselor, Field Experience Counselor, Library Staff and Enrollment Counselor has been great. This is another fantastic aspect of GCU. You are not in this alone. You have an entire graduation team who has your back from start to finish.

So far, everything has been very accessible with my screen reader on both my computer and my phone. I am currently using JAWS and Voiceover on my iPhone.

I am able to navigate all of the different areas of the online classroom with no problems at all. I tend to bounce between using two different browzers, Firefox and Google Crome. I use Google most often.

I am able to get my textbooks so far in PDF format. I download them onto my phone using the Voice Stream Reader ap that I purchased from the ap store for $14.99. This has been a fairly plainless process. I admit that I would rather have a real person reading than a computerized voice though. In some of my classes this will be possible because I am an ENglish major. I can't speak for what is available for other programs.

I took one quiz in this class and it was also totally accessible. I was worried because tests on online platforms are sometimes glitchy with screen readers. How refreshing it was to realize that I had nothing to worry about.

The library section of the school website is accessible for the most part. I will say that it does sometimes take longer to find exactly what i am looking for when I am searching for journal articles. Once I have found the one I want, click on it, and try to read... It takes a while to find exactly where to go. I wish there was some more fine tuned key-commands to navigate this. Honestly, there could be and I am just not aware of them yet. This is all so new to me.

Last week, we had to do a video submission assignment about our disposition to teach. I was really nervous about this. I have to admit though, it makes me want to get back into my YouTube channel again. Want to see how I did?

Watch Disposition To Teach Here
Overall, I am really happy with this decision to start GCU. I am proud to be a Lope! Stay tuned to follow me on this journey. Comment down below and let me know what videos you would like to see on the channel.

Volunteering At A Blind School

As most of you know, I was not born blind. Since I didn't go blind until basically adulthood, I have zero experience with blind children. I figured I should probably take care of that since I plan to get a teaching credential to be able to teach visually impaired students.

Where is the best place to do this you ask? Well my friends, let me tell you. I decided to start volunteering at a blind school. Great idea right?

So far, it has been a wonderful experience. I am loving it! I am learning so much and having so much fun in the process. All the staff are fantastic too.

It has been so interesting seeing how this works. I love watching the kids learn on an equal playing field. They don't have to fight to understand. The material is accessible and put in their hands in a way that best fits their needs. Accomodations are a part of every day life and totally normal. Technology is at their finger tips. The staff go above and beyond to give their students the best learning opportunities possible. It is beautiful.

I really love it here. Sometimes I wish I could volunteer more often. It is a great place to be.

I'm still not sure if I want to teach in a general ed school or a blind school, but I'm loving the process of sorting it all out.

New Logitech Bluetooth Keyboard

I recently got a new keboard from Apple. It is a Logitech Easy Switch Bluetooth Keboard .It was a gift I received because of some issues I had over the holidays with them.

Please don't misunderstand... Apple didn't actually do anything wrong. The problem I was having was a technical probelm that was beyond their control. They did an amazing job handling it however, and stuck with me until the problem was resolved.

So far this keyboard is amazing. I am still learning how to use it though, so I am not ready to do a full review or demo on it yet.

Do any of you have one of these baby's? They are all kinds of cool just saying.

Long story short, I think this will help with some of the complications I have been having with my computer. Having this will allow me to do some of my writing on my Ipad. Thus, I'll be able to keep up more frequently here on Playing the Blind Card.

I plan to be incorporating many new things to the site. I am hoping to find someone to assist me with some new visual characteristics at some point. Most importantly, I plan on changing up the content.

There will be new segments added... Some that are possibly in the works...

Book Buzz: This is where I will review books that I am reading. This could also be a possible opportunity for readers to contribute to the blog as well.

Interviews: I am still very interested in interviewing other blind and visually impaired people for the page. I want to talk to you about many topics that could include day to day life, parenting, jobs, travel, and any thing else under the sun that comes up. I think it is important to show seers as well as blindy's that there is life beyond the cane so to speak.

Author Updates: Of course there will be this section. As new things come up with my books, you my lovely readers will be the first to know..

Did That Really Just Happen: I realize I have fallen very behind with this segment. It is much loved and much requested amongst readers. Never fear, it will be back. Very soon in fact. Something very recent just happened that I think you will all get a kick out of that happened between two different blindy's.

Tech Talk: There will be more reviews and how to type posts about different products, applications, games and other technology. I would love to eventually increase this section. I am still researching how to get my hands on different demo materials to show you guys.

Parenting: A huge debate I have noticed in Facebook groups lately, and also in questions I get in real life, is about blind parenting. In can be a touchy subject for some people. Personally I think that is a bit silly because a blind or visually impaired person can parent just as affectively as a seer. In some cases, they can do it better. So this section will explore this tipic. There will also be some advice sections and opportunities for readers to contribute posts and or questions they want answered.

Randomness: As always, I promise to have as much random as possible. Again, thanks to my new keyboard, I think I will be able to bring you more material more frequently.

Did I mention that so far I love this keyboard? Well if I haven't, let me just say... I love this keyboard.

The only thing I have a problem with so far is that when using it with my Ipad, I do not know how to select and icon. Also, on my Iphone, it doesn't want to seem to allow me to type in areas such as text messages and notes. For the second problem, I think the problem is simply that I need to change a seeting on my phone. I just don't know what. As far as the first, I have no idea what I need to do. I am at a complete loss. If anyone has any tips, I would be very very excited.

Well that's it for now guys. As always, thanks for reading. Remember... Keep your head up... you can't see the ground anyway :)

Review of Apple TV Using Voiceover

Entertainment is a priority for everyone right? Well this fact shouldn't change just because you can't see what's entertaining you. Today we will be discussing the functionality of Apple TV with voiceover activated.

Don't worry seers... there is good stuff in here for you too, so do not... I repeat... Do NOT hit your back button!!

As many of you probably already know, Apple is an amazing company by normal standards. To the blind community, it is outstanding. It brings the wide world of technology into our hands without adding a lot of excess. This is huge!

Back in the day, in order for us to have technology, we would have to spend an outragious ammount of money and probably break our backs carrying the monstrosities. Now however, for the most part, we are only spending the outragious ammounts of money that a seer would pay and are carrying around devices that are the same size as them too.

Thank you Apple for helping us blindy's be followers!... Ok just kidding :)

But seriously, Apple has taken huge strides in making their products usable by the blind, and other disabled communities. This is truly much appreciated by most.

Getting to the point, today I am going to talk to you about the Apple TV. This for those of you who don't know, is a media streeming box that hooks up to your television.

This product is a tiny little box that packs a big punch. It does a lot and isn't terribly expensive in comparison to other Apple devices. It retails for right around a hundred dollars.

The only thing extra you will need to purchase besides the Apple TV device, is an HDMI cord and a converter if you are not running a High Definition TV.

One flaw right out of the box, once hooked up, in order to turn on voiceover, you will need a seer. This can be frustrating for someone (like me) who wants to play with the device right away and can't.

Once this pesky problem is taken care of, it's pretty much smooth sailing from here. You will need to of course sign in with your Apple sign in information. This will allow to to acess any content you have boughten from Itunes such as movies, music and TV shows. You will also be able to get your Itunes radeo stations here as well.

If you have a Netflix account, or Hoo Loo Plus (probably spelled wrong), you are in luck because those are available on here as well. You can also get content from other things such as Disney Channel, PBS, ESPN and much more. Just so you know however, in order to watch certain items you will need to have a cable or dish subscription.

Before you even ask I will provide the side note: Yes, Netflix and what not is usable by us blindy's. More on that to come in another post.

You can also utilize the wonderful world of You Tube from you amazing Apple TV.

Parental controls are also functional. However, might I offer a small tip mom and dad? Be sure to send the kids out of the room before entering your passcode... hello... it talks... they can hear it and see it. This may pose a problem for some of you. There are ways around this thought. The restriction section will also allow you to make it to where a passcode has to be entered to make a purchase. You can also choose ratings that you do or don't want your little ones watching. Don't worry, if needed, this can be bypassed with your passcode.

Furthermore, in the Main menu section of settings, you can tell your Apple TV what you want shown on your home screen. It will give you such options as "Show, HIde, or Ask" The first two are self explanatory. The ask option just means that if the item is clicked, it will ask the user to enter the passcode. For instance, if you don't want your child using You Tube without permsion, you would set that to "Ask" in the main menu section of settings.

All in all, the Apple TV is a great product. I would give it a four out of five rating. I honestly use it more now than my regular cable TV. There isn't anything on it that I can't do. The only improvement I would like to see is the inconvenient way to put it into sleep mode. This can be annoying at times. If you love movies, TV and music, you will love the Apple TV.

Stay tuned for a demonstration on the You Tube channel.

Thanks for reading guys and as always... Keep your head up... you can't see the ground anyway :)

How Do You Like To Read?

Many people whether they are blind or sighted have different theories on the best way to read. I myself have grown acustomed and to love audio books. I love the freedom of downloading them from audible (dot) com. I just download all the books I want to my iPhone and listen to my heart's content.

I have heard that some blindy's like to read eBooks. In order to do this I hear that they use the talking software in their device to read them the material presented on the screen. While I have never tried this method, I'm not totally sure it would be for me. I personally prefer to have the narration come to me in dramatic acting style rather than a computerated voice.

This is not to say that it is not a perfectly wonderful way to enjoy reading. I'd like to sound off to my readers on this. What do you think? Whether you're blind, sighted or anything else, how do you like to read? If you are a fellow blindy, do you read eBooks? Let me know what you think in the comment section of this post.

Dressing In The Dark

Okay so obviously I can dress my children. Most of the time they are even matching. Nevertheless, this is a challenge that a lot of blind people go through every day. I have a few helpful tips to allow this to not become to big of a problem.

Whenever my girls try and dress themselves and try and leave the house wearing something that isn’t necessarily attractive I would fear the eyes would be on me again. For a long time in the beginning I was always afraid of that. I didn’t want people to think that just because I was blind, my children as well as I would look like we got dressed in the dark (no pun intended). When I would tell someone about my fear I would always say, “Everyone’s going to look at the girls! They are going to say poor little blind girl can’t dress her kids…” I figured that all parents thanks to my disability I had to work twice as hard to make sure they look good to fight against the stigma.

Before you say it, yes I know it’s irrational. Of course kids are not going to match all the time once they get to be the age where they want to dress themselves. I know that and you know that and pretty much everyone else knows that too. But, when they see the mismatched child with the tights on her head and me with my cane what do you think they think? In my defense I really don’t care about that anymore. I’m over it. If people are going to stare anyway I might as well give them something to stare at right?

My oldest daughter is ten and she helps out a lot with this dilemma. She tells me what colors things are and what kind of pattern they have on them. When my youngest who is three attempts some outlandish combination she clues me in before it’s too late. They drive me crazy but they really are the best kids in the whole world. Together we are a team… even if uncoordinated sometimes.

There is assistive technology to aid with colors. The main problem with this equipment is their price. They tend to be somewhat expensive so choose wisely. Also, remember cheaper isn’t always better in some cases. If you buy one and it isn’t right for you it may be a while before you can afford an upgrade. Always double check return policies for exchange and money back guarantees. I personally have one of these devices and it’s great in theory. The only trouble is that it doesn’t tell you if there are patterns on the clothing and it’s not always accurate. If you decide to go that route be sure you do your research. Check around and get the best quality product for your money.

Another solution for this is to ask for help! Of course not all of us have ready and able help at our every hearts desire or request. For those of you who do though, don’t be afraid to ask. I have my mom to help with matching issues. When it comes time to put clothes on the hanger she puts them on for me as matching sets. This saves me a lot of time and headaches in the choosing clothes department. She also helps me to treat the girl’s shirts for stains. Especially with my three year old this is a must. She tends to think it’s best to bathe in the food rather than simply put it into her mouth. I am very lucky to have a mom that is so willing to help with this no questions asked.

For clothes that are not meant to be mated pairs I just have to pay careful attention to what I’m choosing. I learn what things are by feel. After a while things are recognizable to my hands even if not to my eyes. I make sure her pants, pajamas and underclothes are all in their own separate drawers. If a particular pair of pants has embroidery or some other pattern that make they harder to match then they get hung up. This forces me to remember that these have to be matched more carefully then a plain Jane pair of jeans. In some cases I even put them in a certain area of the closet to help me remember what’s what.

This in turn brings me to my next personal preference. I try to mainly purchase pants that will go with any shirt combination. For instance, a regular pair of blue jeans will go with almost everything.

In addition to selective pants purchasing, I attempt to do the same with socks. It can be difficult for a blind person to mate a pair of socks once they are stretched or shrunk with continual wash and wear. And don’t get me started on colors! What I do is at least try and buy each member of the household their own individual style of socks. For example, for myself I might buy ankle socks. But since me and my oldest daughter wear close to the same size I could buy her mid length. My youngest daughter prefers ankle socks as well but that works because she of course has much smaller feet than me. The other thing I try and remember is that white socks are the best option. Once different colors get thrown in the mix it gets harder to fold them properly. This would then mean that someone in the house is going to end up with a striped green sock paired with a solid hot pink one. While this may not matter if you are wearing pants to hide them it wouldn’t work if you were wearing shorts.

It’s important for blind people to wake up and swallow that huge lump of pride that some of us have in our throats. Learn to laugh when you find out your child doesn’t look their best. It’s really no big deal. Even sighted people take their kids and themselves out in public wearing God offal combinations that others wouldn’t be caught dead in. The only difference between us and them is that they chose to look like that on purpose. We at least have an excuse. If you have the “blind card” at your disposal you might as well use it in this circumstance.