Author: Empish
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Still Using a Landline Phone in 2020
Yes, you read the title correctly. Your eyes didn’t deceive you. I am still using a landline phone in the year 2020. Even though I am in my late-forties, I am a bit old fashion and thoroughly enjoy my landline phone. You would think that with the advancements in technology I would have cut the…
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Watching Movies at Home During COVID-19
This weekend I would normally be out of the house watching a movie at my local movie theater. I would have already checked the listing of new releases earlier in the week and started making plans. I would have gone online reading the reviews and ratings on the films I wanted to see. But because…
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Zoom Videoconferencing Helps Me Live Work and Play During COVID-19
I don’t know about you but I have seen an increase in the request to join a meeting through Zoom videoconferencing. I would dare to say that almost daily if not weekly I get an email invite to a webinar, meeting, seminar, townhall or chat. If you have not gotten an invite for Zoom in…
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The 2020 Census is Totally Accessible
I found the 2020 Census totally accessible. In the past I would have to get a sighted person to read the questions and fill out the forms for me; but this time around I was able to handle the whole process independently. Historically people with disabilities have been under represented and so this year strong…
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My Blindness Doesn’t Determine My Happiness
Ever since I lost my vision in the late 1990s to Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada (VKH) syndrome, which is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic, bilateral uveitis, I made a decision that I would strive to live a happy life. I was determined that my blindness would not control me and I would figure out how to live…
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How I Manage Anxiety Around the coronavirus
Each day more and more info comes out about the coronavirus. I am sure you have heard and read the reports so I won’t go over it here on my blog. As a result, I could allow this constant bombardment of news and information to sweep me away causing me severe stress and anxiety. But…
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Making Peace with My Lack of Sleep
This week, March 3-9, is National Sleep Awareness Week. The Sleep Health Foundation contends that sleep is the third pillar of health, alongside diet and exercise. I would strongly agree because for the last 14 years I have battled with a sleeping disorder. Like so many others I took my sleeping for granted but now…
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Haban Girma First Deafblind Black Woman to Graduate From Harvard
Black History Month is quickly coming to a close and as promised I wanted to share about one more black person with a visual impairment. This person is not a historical figure from the past like Blind Tom but rather made recent history by being the first black, deafblind woman to graduate from Harvard Law…
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The Voice Dream Reader Makes Reading Bookshare Books a Dream
February is National Library Lovers Month where the focus is on reading and the institutions that provide books. It is a time to honor and recognize the important role that libraries play in the community. Although I grew up reading and patronizing the library since losing my vision traditional, brick and mortar libraries don’t completely…
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Audio Described Movies and the Oscars
Besides diving into a great book another of my favorite pastimes is watching an audio described movie. If you are not familiar an audio describe movie provides extra verbal narration of visual elements happening in the film. It could be hand gestures, facial expressions, physical movements or a description of clothing and action happening in…
Empish J. Thomas 