Consumer Highlight: Mr. Tony Blair

Mrs. and Mr. Blair sitting at table

I traveled to Gary, Indiana to visit Mr. Tony and Mrs. Connie Blair who have used many of INDATA Project’s and Easter Seals Crossroads‘ services. Mr. and Mrs. Blair are the directors of The Blind Social Center (TBSC) in Gary, IN. They invited me to visit their new location to learn about the services they have used at ESC and The INDATA Project and educate me on the services that they will be providing in their new center.

Upon my arrival at the center, I was greeted by Mrs. Blair and one of their wonderful volunteers, Marilyn. Marilyn gave me a tour of their new facility, which opened February 1, 2016. Marilyn told me they have gone from a one room building to this new space that had multiple large rooms and even a kitchen area. Marilyn radiated positivity and excitement when talking about the new space. She informed me that many of the spaces are “available for adoption” for anyone in the community to hold a meeting or an event. On the tour she showed me the “chat and chew” station, which is a full kitchen. They plan to implement cooking classes for their patrons in the near future. One of the things students will learn about is the NuWave 2 cooktop. This is a great piece of assistive technology for people with low-vision or blindness to use in the kitchen.

According to www.nuwavecooktop.com, the NuWave is a “precision induction NuWave 2 Cookertechnology, you can boil, simmer, sauté, steam, grill, deep-fry and even sear anywhere you have a power outlet”. Marilyn informs me that what makes this so great for people with visual impairments is that the heat turns off immediately when the pan is removed and turns on when the pan is put on. With no flames or hot coils, this makes cooking much safer. The center will be putting Braille on the buttons. The cooker already has nice raised buttons, which are easy to identify by touch.

While on my tour, Mrs. Blair went to pick up Mr. Blair from home. When he arrived we all sat down at the table where I enjoyed the cup of coffee they gave me and learned more about how they both came to starting the The Blind Social Center (TBSC).

Tony told me that he moved to Gary in 1973 and met his wife. I learned that he worked at Inland Steel company in Gary for thirteen years. He then decided to start his own construction company and went on to build new homes and renovate existing homes throughout the northwest region of Indiana. The Blair’s then began to buy and sell homes to people who had difficulty purchasing homes because of bad credit. They started their own rent to own business and would help people clean up their credit.

It was during these years that Tony started having trouble with his eyesight. He started seeing halos over lights and floaters in his vision. He was then diagnosed with glaucoma. He wore glasses for a couple of years, but was unable to get surgery and eventually he lost his sight completely.

He told me he became depressed and felt destined to sit at home and do nothing. He then told me his wife was not going to allow him to sit around and started looking around at what type of assistance was available. She eventually got Tony involved with Vocational Rehabilitation in Schererville, Indiana. Vocational Rehabilitation is a state agency that assists people in preparing, obtaining or keeping employment.

Tony’s Vocational Rehabilitation counselor referred him to Bosma Enterprises in Indianapolis for training to learn independent living skills. Tony stayed in Indianapolis for six months to learn mobility training, Braille, keyboarding, and how to build his own computer. During this period, he learned about Dragon Naturally Speaking. Dragon Naturally Speaking is a software program that allows one to use voice dictation to access a computer.

Tony told me he felt like he would never be able to do contracting work again. He said once he learned that he could have a contract template built into the Dragon Naturally Speaking program, he was relieved to learn that he would be able to continue working as a general contractor. He told me he could not believe that technology was available that would allow him to continue working in construction. He said, “Learning how to become independent lifted my spirits and taught me that I was still worthy.” He told me that he decided to take advantage of resources “at first to appease family members.”  He said, “I decided it was time to get help after I almost burnt the house down. I was cooking and reached for something and a paper plate got on the stove and lit on fire.” He told me he just felt like he was going to be a bother and had no idea what to do. He credits his wife for being such a great advocate and finding the resources that have enabled him to be much more independent.

When searching for resources for the blind and visually impaired, they also learned about the INDATA Project and Easter Seals Crossroads services. Tony received an iPad through the Chapter 2 Older Independent Blind grant program and was trained by Anna Leung, Assistive Technology Specialist at Easter Seals Crossroads, on all the accessibility features of the iPad. This program allowed qualified grant participants to borrow iPads and accessories on an open-ended loan agreement (this program ended in 2015). Anna assisted Mr. Blair in getting the iPad and then training him on the device. Anna trained him on using the accessibility features on the iPad such as voiceover. Voiceover is a feature that is built into the iOS operating system. Voiceover allows blind users to use a device by giving verbal descriptions of everything that appears on the iPad, iPhone, or Mac computer screen. He told me that Anna was an excellent communicator and because of her patience and training skills he now feels very comfortable using an iPad. He told me that she also put a list of helpful apps together for him that he is still using today.

The Blair’s have also borrowed items out of  the INDATA equipment loan library for themselves and patrons of The Blind Social Center to determine if a photo of computer room at TBSCpiece of equipment would be helpful. The equipment loan library is just one of INDATA’s free services provided throughout the state of Indiana. Anyone in the state of Indiana is able to utilize this assistive technology loan library and check out assistive technology for free for 30 days. The Blair’s told me that this has been helpful for them in determining if a piece of equipment was beneficial to them or someone they were assisting at TBSC and saved them money by allowing them to determine what equipment was useful and what equipment was not helpful. Along with borrowing equipment to show patrons, they have received computers from our reutilization program that will be used by individual patrons at The Blind photo of computer room at TBSCSocial Center. The INDATA device reutilization program takes donated computers, wipes clean all of the previous user’s data, refurbishes them and gives them to individual’s with disabilities who live in the state of Indiana who have no other means of obtaining a computer free of charge. They will now use those computers to offer computer training courses. 

Tony told me that when they were looking for resources they were surprised that there were no resources available to people with visual impairments in the Gary area. After learning about all of the services and technology available to people with visual impairments, they were inspired to open a center in Gary to assist individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The mission of TBSC “is to provide a meeting place where blind and visually impaired individuals can come together to socialize and create support groups to assist the blind and visually impaired community.”

Mr. and Mrs. Blair in front of TBSC signTheir hope is that the center will assist people in learning about technology available and offer support to assist people in becoming independent. The center offers many services:

  • Braille, keyboard and iPad training.
  • Personal management/homemaking skills, such as: cooking classes, fitness classes.
  • Social clubs such as a book club, games, or arts and crafts.

The center had been operating in a one room facility and they are very excited to be in their new space. The grand opening for the new TBSC center will be on Tuesday April 5, 2016 from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony performed by the Gary Mayor, Karen Freeman-Wilson at 10am. They plan to have a panel of people with visual impairments sharing their personal stories and they will have presentations discussing the services they will provide. They will also  have entertainment by local radio personalities Bob Marovich and Marvin Lyles.

I really enjoyed talking with the Blair’s learning about Tony’s journey, hearing about their experiences in using The Indata Project/ESC’s resources, and also touring their new center. I asked Mr. Blair what he hopes people would learn from his story and he told me that “people don’t know what is available to them and they need to know that there is technology that will make their lives more comfortable. Assistive technology can help people navigate, become more confident…..it just opens up the world to them.” We wish Mr. Blair, his wife, and the center much success in opening up the world of technology to the patrons they serve at TBSC.

For more information about The Blind Social Center you can call 1-219-980-0097 or email them at blindsocialcenter@yahoo.com.

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