Tag: writing
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The Disability Visibility Anthology Delivers Insightful Storytelling
Reading with My Ears Book Review The anthology Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century edited by Alice Wong has been on my audio bookshelf to read for months now. I finally stopped procrastinating and red this remarkable collection of writings by disabled and chronically ill activists, artists, and authors. The topics are as…
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Three Inventions for the Blind that Changed My Life
National Inventors Month After I went blind some 20 years ago, I needed tools to adjust to my new life. I knew that as a blind person I wasn’t going to be very successful without some kind of accommodation or modification to the way I was living and moving in the world. May is National…
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Ever Lee Hairston Shares er Ambitious Life Journey of Blindness
Reading with My Ears Book Review The first time I heard about Ever Lee Hairston was several years ago when I read the book The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White by Henry Wiencek. In this depiction of two large families; the author wrote about an incident at a family reunion. Ever Lee…
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How I Volunteer Virtually Regardless of a Pandemic
National Volunteer Week When most people think of volunteering in the community it is something that you physically do such as feeding the homeless, building a house, tutoring/reading to children, registering people to vote, or running errands for seniors. All of those tasks are great volunteer opportunities and are well needed in the community but…
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Recognizing 5 Black Women in Journalism During Women’s History Month
When I was taking courses in journalism in college, I learned about women in the news but they were more modern-day women verses historical. Since March is National Women’s History Month, I wanted to honor some women that impacted the industry from the past. Some of the women are not as well-known while others are…
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Organizing Your Home Office in Four Manageable Steps
One thing that people who know me say all the time is, “Empish, you are so organized!” Some say it with awe. Others with annoyance, envy or pure astonishment. But regardless of the reaction I know the statement holds true. See, I was raised by parents that believed everything had a place and that when…
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African American Slavery and Disability in the American South
Reading with My Ears Book Review For many years I have been curious about the life of the disabled slave. My first exploration was learning about Blind Tom, the Georgia slave who was never emancipated. But that was not good enough and I wanted to learn more. Through digging a little deeper, I found a…
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The Differences Between Living with Low Vision and Total Blindness
Editor’s Note: Guest blogger, Amy Bovaird is a good friend and fellow peer advisor at VisionAware. We have been online friends for many years and lovers of the written word. Here is her story about living with low vision. Everyday Misconceptions of Low Vision Several years ago, my boyfriend’s housemate told him, “Amy can’t be…
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I’m Networking From Home During COVID-19
This is International Networking Week After working many years in the disability non-profit sector, I have learned a lot of professional skills that have elevated my career. I am sure you have heard of a couple of them like: Don’t send an email out when you are feeling stressed, angry or frustrated because the outcome…
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Being an Introvert Helps Me Survive COVID-19
Reading with My Ears Book Review Although a vaccine for COVID-19 is on the way this pandemic is not over by a long shot. There are still a lot of unanswered questions that we have to deal with. As for me I am trying to learn as much as I can about the vaccine. I…
Empish J. Thomas 