How Important is it to Make sure Someone with a Disability is Always Included??

Hello all.
I understand this blog is mainly focused on technology, but I feel that some posts about genral disabilities and accessibility are necessary as well.
So, I would like to take the time to tell you about something that I think is really important.
That is advocacy.
That means student advocacy, accessibility advocacy, etc etc.
Advocacy is a verry important tool in our lives, especially in the lives of blind individuals.
This is what I always say, and I will say it again and again.
"Us blind folks have more things going through our minds than most sighted people."
That is, in my opinion, always true, no matter witch way we look at it.
So, based on this post, you can guess how important advocacy is to me.
In that case, this brings me to the purpose of this post.
A few months ago, I was asked to write a persuasive esay for reading class at school.
Everyone in the class began deciding on topics they would write about.
Of all people, I just couldn't think of anything persuasive to write about.
I knew I couldn't write something about computers, as I had written so much stuff about them in previous years.
So finally, I was laying in bed one night, and I thought, "I know what I'm going to write about, advocacy!"
And, believe it or not, that is exactly what I did!
I wrote a fantastic esay about how important it is to be an advocate for yourself, especially when you have some type of disability.
I want to now give all who read this blog, a chance to read that esay.
It starts with the title below.
Let's Be Student Advocates!
By Tyler Juranek
Did you know that many people with disabilities are unable to advocate for themselves? This is a horrible and growing issue. Sometimes, we know that many people don't want to speak because they are shy. It's all right to be like that when a child is young, but when you get older, and parents don't let go, it will come back to haunt the child down the road, preventing them from becoming independent. I personally think that we see this most in kids from ages 11 to 18, and we may also see this in kids and adults with disabilities. This may include Down syndrome, blindness, brain issues, and many other disabilities. I also understand that some people with disabilities are unable to speak. Others, however, need to advocate, especially when they are fully capable of speaking.
Take the following example as to why we need to advocate for ourselves. An 11 year old kid walks into Runza, and is looking at the menu. The kid decides what he wants. His mom asks, "What do you want?" The kid replies, "Chicken strips and fries." The mother then goes and orders the food.
This is a perfect example of how most kids are not advocates for themselves. It is totally ridiculous! In that incident, the kid was totally capable, especially at his age, to order the meal.
If you think that people with disabilities aren't advocates, think again! I will tell you, that thought is absolutely wrong.
My friend, Darrell Shandrow, had to be a strong advocate for himself when he was in school, especially when computers were bulky, and all you had was a Perkins brailler, or a Braille'n Speak like he did. Darrell is such an advocate for himself, there is no way that you could put a strong accessibility barrier in front of him. He would tear it down. If you think you'll get away with not including a kid or anyone with a disability in something they want to do, think again. Advocacy is strongly used in any situation under any circumstances.
Why am I against not speaking up, and letting people fight my battles? First, I am my own self. I can't expect others to read my mind. If I do, I will find out that by doing this, it won't be easy later in life. Whether one has a disability or not, one must advocate for them self. As Darrell had stated in a story on the web, "I have an incredible ability to advocate for what is right, the best way I know how." You know what? Each individual that reads this essay should have that ability, whether they think its right or wrong.
So, if you're not an advocate for yourself, get up, dust yourself off, and plunge into a new world, with that wonderful advocacy tool in your hand. Furthermore, make sure you make things accessible to people with disabilities, and be sure to include them! If you do, they just might include you in something special too.
That, folks, is the esay.
I can not express myself enough about how important it is to be an advocate for yourself!
Folks, this is what many people do not, and should, realize.
Advocacy is a life skill.
It is something you have to learn, just like you did when you learned to tie your shoes, eat with a spoon, cook your own meals, wash your hands, Etc Etc.
It is not uncommon to see what I just described in that esay.
Furthermore, we shouldn't, and most of the time, won't, descriminate!
Just because someone has a visual impairment, doesn't mean they can't be mainstreamed in a town school, can't get a job, etc etc.
Next, I would like to talk about the other item that fits into the advocacy category.
That, folks, is accessibility advocacy!
When I stated previously that blind individuals have much more going through there minds than a sighted person, I mean it!
We always have to worry about things like, "Oh, what happens if my braille sense crashes today?", "What am I going to do if the website they are using for a class at school isn't accessible to my screen reading technology?"
That goes to show that we, as blind individuals, need to be advocates! We will never get anyware in life if we don't learn this verry important skill!
This last Friday, my vision teacher, Beth Pieters, stated, "Tyler, I just can't stop telling people about you! When your associate is sick, you're so good about telling people what you need, what you need to do to complete the work, Etc Etc."
My point is, I'm not trying to brag, but it truely goes to show you how much more a blind person, or anyone with a disability, will succeed in life, if they can get gods gift of advocacy.
As I close out this article, I want each and every one of you to think about this statement.
Winners never quit, quitters never win.
So, think of it this way.
Advocates never quit, non-advocates never win!

Coming Up on the Techy Tidbits Podcast for the Week of December 12, 2010

Greetings!
Welcome to December!
On this weeks podcast, we take a look at the technology news for the last four weeks.
Next, we visit with Ricky Enger from
Serotek
about there newest product, Doc U Scan Plus.
Finally, the conclusion of this weeks podcast.
To download the podcast,
Click Here!
Note. If you are listening to this post with the built in text to speech, please exit the audible post and use the links provided.
Also, be sure to call the comment line at 206-337-4505 and leave us your feedback!
Enjoy!

Don't miss Jeff Bishop and Genral Jr in the morning!

Greetings!
If you didn't know,
Jeff Bishop!
and, of course, the legends army genral, Genral Jr, are doing a show in the morning, to start the wonderful turkey, gobble gobble, day!
Oh, wait a seccond, is Jr really an army genral?
Maybe not, but heck, thought you guys would like a good joke for the night!
heheheheheheheheheheh!
It all starts at 7 central, 8 eastern, and 9 mountain, if all of my math is correct.
In the morning, of course.
You can hear the show on
ACB Radio Interactive!
or on
The world wide Legend!
So, get out of bed in the morning, and brighten up that turkey, gobble gobble, day with Jeff and JR!

Coming Up on the Techy Tidbits Podcast for the Week of November 21, 2010!

Greetings!
On this weeks podcast, we take a look at the Technology news of the week.
Next, Raul concludes his tutorial on using a free email client called thunderbird.
Finally, some ranter banter and the conclusion of this weeks podcast.
To download the podcast,
Click here!
Note. If you are listening to this post with the built in text to speech, please exit the audible post and use the links provided.
Also, be sure to call the comment line at 206-337-4505 and leave us your feedback!
Enjoy!

Will the Techy Tidbits Podcast Continue After January 1, 2011?

Greetings podcast listeners, and blog readers.
It appears to me that since we started the podcast back in August, we have not gotten much feedback.
This is the purpose of this post.
If I do not receive more than four comments from podcast listeners by December 1, 2010, the podcast will be cancelled and will no longer be produced starting January first, 2011.
If that happens, never fear. The blog will still remain, and I will redouble my effort and possibly take this blog in some kind of new direction.
So, this brings me to my conclusion.
Will the Techy Tidbits Podcast still be produced in 2011?
The answer is, it all depends on you, the listener!

Coming up on the Techy Tidbits Podcast for the Week of November 15th, 2010

Greetings all!
On this weeks podcast, we take a look at the technology news of the week.
Next, Darrell Shandrow, owner and producer of
The Blind Access Journal
concludes his demonstration of the look around i phone app from
Sendero Group
Next, Raul, also known as
Asmodean!
continues his demo on using thunderbird.
Finally, some ranter banter and the conclusion of this weeks podcast.
To download the podcast,
Click Here!
Note. If you are listening to this post with the built in text to speech, please exit the audible post and use the links provided.
Also, be sure to call the comment line at 206-337-4505 and leave us your feedback!
Enjoy!

Hims Might Just Step Up to the Plate After All!

Greetings!
As many of you know, Hims and Gw Micro have split up.
To me, at least so far, Hims has decided, at least in my opinion, to step up to the plate when it comes to tech support, sales, etc etc.
This surprises me greatly.
Who ever would've thought that we would get that much from a small company in that short amount of time?

Coming up on the Techy Tidbits Podcast for the week of November 6th, 2010

Greetings all!
Do to the fact that I am at a Goal Ball tournament all of this weekend, this weeks podcast is a replay.
To Download it,
Click Here!
Note. If you are listening to this post with the built in text to speech, please exit the audible post and use the links provided.
I hope you enjoy it, and I can assure you that we will be back with another brand new podcast next week!
May you all have a blessed weekend.
Tyler Juranek

Goal Ball! Here we Come!

Greetings all!
This is Tyler, writing to you from the iowa braille school!
I want to say that I am currently here for a Goal Ball tournament.
However, we leave for St. Louis in the morning.
So what in the world is Goal Ball?
It's no sighted sport, folks!
Infact, you are blindfolded the whole time!
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
You folks that thought that you could use your eyes to play, were so wrong!
Ok, so enough of my blabering!
Let's get to the main points!
First, this tournament is a double elimination tournament.
This means, that whatever the circumstances, we get to play two games!
Wohoo!
Starting out, the boys will play Kansas.
Games consist of two 10 minute halves.
Here's an example of how theywill start a game.
"Kansas, are you ready?"
"Yaaaaa!"
"Iowa, are you ready?"
"Wohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
So lets hope the boys from Iowa win, ok?
Alright, looks like I should close this out and get a snack!
Before I go, however, I'd just like to remind everyone to check out
The Iowa Braille school home page!
I'm assuming they will have some pictures posted there.
Ok, enough for tonight!
Have a great day!

My Thoughts on the GW Micro and Hims split!

Hello readers!
If you haven't heard,
Hims, Inc.
decided to split the partnership between themselves, and
Gw Micro
As you might imagine, this was a small downfall for GW Micro, as they were the Hims distributer here in North America.
Hims has decided to open there own U.S office, and reform there sales stratigy.
In just a few weeks, GW Micro will end all technical support, sales, and all other repairs for all hims hardware products.
Here are my thoughts on the subject.
First, I don't think Hims understands what G W Micro has done to make the products what they are today, and technically, I think that this will hurt them in the long run.
Seccondly, look at all the knoledge base articles that GW Micro has written for the Hims products.
Will Hims make GW take them off the GW site?
Will GW leave them there? Nobody knows.
Next, look at all the great phone Technical support that GW provided for these products.
Will we receive this great service from Hims?
Will Hims decide to go back to GW Micro as the North American distributer?
It will be interesting to hear the answers to these questions, won't it?
Note. If you are listening to this post with the built in text to speech, please exit the audible post and use the links provided.

Only Two more Minutes until the Tidbit!

Greetings!
It's almost time for the tidbit!
To hear the tidbit, refer to the previous post.
See you there!

Catch a tidbit tonight on Tech Talk!

Greetings!
Just an announcement to remind you all to listen to the tech talk tonight, as a techy tidbit will be airing.
To do so,
Click Here!
Note. If you are listening to this post with the built in text to speech, please exit the audible post and use the links provided.
Once to Accessible world, click on the Pat Price Tech Talk Training Room, and follow the instructions given.
Enjoy!

Catch the Desert Cafe Right Now!

Greetings!
Please join Darrell and Kayron Shandrow for the desert Cafe right now on
A C B Radio Interactive!
They always play some good tunes, so head over right now!
To do so, click the link above!
Enjoy!
Note. If you are listening to this post with the built in text to speech, please exit the audible post and use the links provided.

Coming up on the Techy Tidbits Podcast for the week of October 30th, 2010!

Greetings!
On this weeks podcast, we first take a look at the technology news for the last three weeks.
Next, Darrell Shandrow, owner and producer of
The Blind Access Journal
continues his demonstration of Look Around, an i phone application from
Sendero Group
Finally, some ranter banter and the conclusion of this weeks podcast.
To download the podcast,
Click Here!
Note. If you are listening to this post with the built in text to speech, please exit the audible post and use the links provided.
Also, be sure to call our comment line at 206-337-4505 and leave us your feedback!
Enjoy!

New Search Engine Now Available!

Greetings!
Are you tired of having to mess around with that dumb search engine at the top of the page?
Now, search the whole blog!
Just use this form!

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