Sunday, September 6, 2009

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my blog. My name is Steven Brandt, I’m 38 years old, and I am blind. I wasn’t born blind, it’s kind of a recent thing.

The story of how I came to be blind is a long one and I plan to talk about that in future posts, but for now I just wanted to welcome you and explain a little bit about what this blog is all about.

I’ve been feeling the urge to do this for some time now, but I kept putting it off. I kept telling myself it would be too hard seeing as how I’m blind and all. And it is hard believe me. Since I went blind I haven’t been able to use the computer at all, which has been a serious blow to me because I have always loved doing things on the computer. But a few days ago the Commission for the Blind hooked me up with this screen reader software called JAWS which helps blind people use the computer.

So here I am learning how to use the computer again. Basically it’s memorizing a lot of keyboard shortcuts. It’s challenging and frustrating and exciting all at the same time. That’s a lot of emotion to feel all at once but hey, that’s life right? We often find ourselves in situations where we feel overwhelmed. What I’ve learned is that the world doesn’t stop and wait for us to get our heads on straight; it just keeps on a-rolling.

So why am I writing this blog? My goal is to chronicle some of the changes that I’ve been through over the last few years. My hope is that people will find this blog and draw some hope and encouragement from it because I’ll tell you something right now; if you think you’re in a bad situation, it could be a whole lot worse. Take a look around you, there are things to be thankful for everywhere you look. And if you look carefully you may even notice some people who are hurting more than you are.

Oops! I’m starting to get preachy already aren’t I? :-) Well, I think I’ll just leave it right here for now. I hope you’ll come back and read more about my story. Maybe we’ll both learn something. My plan is to post new messages on a weekly basis but we’ll just have to see how it goes huh?

Thanks again for stopping by, you are welcome anytime.

3 comments:

  1. Your bravery and determination to relearn everything you know is inspiring. I know that alone doesn't pay the bills, but I hope this blog will lead you to greater blessings than you can even imagine as you begin a new journey.

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  2. Hi Steven

    My name is Ricky or Greywulf. I'm sure Joni has spoken of me to you. I am 51 years old. I broke my neck four days before I turned 18. I was a quadriplegic instantaneously, which was much different than the loss of your eyesight overtime even if it occurred over a short span of time.

    I don't know which character in Lord of the Rings suits me other than a combination of several characters possibly.

    I jumped out of the gate quickly as a child. I told my parents first-grade was my first day of work and took a briefcase to school and upon my return from school. I announced my plans for going to college.

    Obviously, my injury took away my scholarships for athletics or academics that year. But I asked the doctors as soon as possible how long would it be before I entered college? I didn't know about rehabilitation for spinal cord injuries. One year later, I was at college. It took me until 2004 to finally graduate.

    I'm more spiritual than religious, but I think whoever runs the show has a sense of humor about things.

    When I decided to go to college, I wanted to be a teacher like my first-grade teacher. I used to go back and visit with her until I moved to far away from the school. At age fourteen, she told me not to go into teaching because of all the problems teacher's faced daily. I should go into business and after retirement, then I should consider teaching. By the time I received my diploma in accounting, it was something to be proud of achieving. The diploma reminded me of all the people that I taught about what people with disabilities could do from the challenges I faced along the way.

    One year after receiving my diploma, I had decided to travel around the country because I couldn't find work and be in a wheelchair all day. I found someone that was willing to work with me as well as travel until we would arrive at our 25th class reunion. I caught pneumonia two weeks after their arrival and nearly died. My heart stopped for forty minutes during my fight with pneumonia. I refused to go that easily and thus our glorious maker's sense of humor struck again.

    Now, I'm working on writing also.

    I know you will make the transition. You only need time to adjust to your new way of life. You still see the sun better than most people. The sun is not only in your memory, but you can feel it with your other senses. And they will improve in time.

    If you like here is an assignment for you, how many ways and why will you know more about the sun, clouds, and everything which comes with it than everyone else?

    Spend some time out in the sun thinking about it before answering the question.

    Ricky Seale E-Mail Address: Greywulf@cfl.rr.com

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  3. Hi there! I just discovered blogger and how to search for other blogs, and I was getting dismayed at not finding other blind people. I am 30 and went blind about a year and a half ago. I, too, am documenting my journey on my new blog. I know exactly how you feel about getting the computer back. I wasn't patient enough to wait for Jaws, so I taught myself voiceover, on the Apple. Having been a Windows user my whole life, this was quite challenging, learning a new OS on top of a screen reader! Anyway, I'm glad to find you, maybe we can support one another on this strange and dark road. I hope you keep writing; I'm going to become a follower. :)

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