Things that Talk

 

Just for your information, I would like to enlighten anyone who is not aware of just a few of the things made to talk for the blind.  In another blog I will list some of those things that are in Braille, of which you may be unaware.  This is just a little effort to help bring you into more understanding of the blind community. 

My little bungalow looks like most other houses, however, my cleaning lady would want to warn you about picking up just anything.  Often she has been totally surprised, almost to the point of screaming when she picks up something and it says “Hello,” or when she starts to clean an appliance that asks her a question.  There are many more talking things than just those in my house, but here are just a few.

My talking calculator is probably twenty years old, yet still works just fine, announcing every button one might need to push for a certain calculation. 

My outdoor/indoor thermometer is at least twenty years old and probably a new one would be nice as every time it gets to 32 degrees it announces it loudly for anybody in the house, five times and sometimes more.  It also announces 100 degree summer days, which it has not done this summer.

There is a blood pressure monitor which keeps me from having to run to the drug store for a BP check.  It also keeps dates and pressures in its memory bank as well as tells me if my BP is in totally acceptable range or how far off it is.

I don’t use my coffee pot anymore, but when I did I could tell it to set the time or set the time I wanted it to start brewing, as well as if I wanted to brew right away.  Many mornings probably my neighbors heard me shouting at it because either I could not speak the number “8” or “9” to its understanding.  I tried speaking with a British/English accent which was even worse.  Still, it was a very nice thing to have.  I now have a Keurig which does not talk, but doesn’t need to.

There are two clocks which speak, though one of them not as I would like.  It is an atomic British/English clock which does not recognize daylight savings time, causing me every six months to try to remember how to reset it manually.  I would gladly give this one to anyone going to England.  The other clock talks and doesn’t pretend to know when the time changes.  Either clock can be set to tell you the time every fifteen minutes, half hour or hour.  The latter clock also will tell me the room temperature.

When I ordered my talking microwave I had no idea that it would not have print on the buttons, sorry family.

My thermostat also talks.  It even came with CD instructions to tell me how to keep it from saying:  “It’s the recommended time to have your system checked,” every time I press the “tell me the room temperature” button.  Maybe before next spring I will find the CD and find the “help” button.

Every time my phone rings a loud voice announces the number and/or the name of the caller.  This is one of my favorite talking buddies, and is probably used more than most of the rest.

My phone base also talks enough that I can set the time, number of rings, and of course information necessary to use the answering machine.

Blind or physically handicapped persons can order books from the NC State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.  They also still have cassette book readers, but the digital player gives more options.  Not only can books be ordered on a cartridge with Brailled labels, but lots of us can download books from the library’s page called “Bard,” put them on a flash drive and plug it into the player.  Currently I have 21 books downloaded, ready to read.  The controls of the machine are also spoken as well as Brailled, things such as “volume up or down,” “play/pause,” etc. 

Of course the greatest talking thing is my computer.  Once in one of my college classes the professor wrote on my paper “your spelling keeps me up nights.”  I considered myself a good speller until spell check came into being.  I realized it was not necessarily my spelling, but type-O’s.  There are varieties of screen readers for the blind, and some of them do really well, yet there are always things the screen reader cannot do.  I became totally aware of this when medical transcription turned into medical editing.  The computers put on the screen what they think the doctors say, and the job is to listen and change anything the program misunderstood.  As of yet, the screen readers have not gotten quite technical enough to allow this to be done in a timely fashion, but perhaps as upgrades happen they will.  Still, I can write this blog, spell check it and put it on the web, as well as many other computer functions by myself.

There are things that can be bought such as color identifiers, currency identifiers, scanning machines, bar code readers, and more.

I don’t want to get into the I phone debate, but must admit that many of the things which used to cost a lot of money can now be downloaded as an app.  On my phone I have a color identifier, currency identifier, bar code reader, GPS designed specifically for the blind, camera that speaks what is in front of me, audio Bibles, and dictionary.  The clock has replaced both my others, and I can now download books from the library onto the phone.  I am sure the Android can also do these things, but it is a little harder to learn and I’m all about making life as easy as possible for myself.

Besides talking things, there are other things made to make life easier, such as kitchen helpers, more medical devices, recorders, some tools, magnifiers, note takers, etc.  So, if you should know a blind or partially sighted person, go on the web and have your browser look up such things they may need.  There are so many places to order I will not take the time to list them.

One amazing thing is that now almost any movie I attend can be audio described.  You may not think that as fast as some movies go that it would be possible to describe them, however, it can be, and is being done.  I pick up the little device in the lobby, carry it into the theater, put the ear phone or phones in, and once the movie begins I am made aware of all scenery and movements that happen without words.  

Life is good and getting better for those blind in today’s world, and I feel it is my job to let that world know.