I am a visually impaired wife, mother, grandmother, author, volunteer and Team Member at Dallas-based Brinker International where I have worked for 21 years. I was born with glaucoma and have spent my entire life seeking out ways to enhance and compensate for my extremely poor eyesight. In school there were large print text books provided by the State Commission for the Blind and also recorded books for listening to assigned reading. Those stories recorded on large record albums were my favorite advance in technology in the 60s and 70s. They allowed my tired eyes to rest and turned me into a terrific listener. Eventually, computers found their way onto desks in workplaces across the land and I found magnification software to help me keep pace with the technology.
Today, I can listen to books and other materials on my computer or IPod and my phone responds to voice commands to text, find information or phone a friend.
Technology has enabled me to be a contributing member of society. My life is happier and more fulfilled because of it. I tell my story with the hope of encouraging innovators to keep working creatively to make life activities more accessible to every person. And to assure individuals who are faced with disabilities to seek and use assistive technologies to enable them to live most fully while contributing from their unique perspectives on life.
