To my #Blind current and future jobseekers out there, please take the time to learn to use a computer. Especially if you are in school, resist the urge to just use your iPad or notetaker. Most workplaces require computer skills, preferably using Windows at least here in the U.S. Thank you for reading my unsolicited words of wisdom.
And to anyone who's curious, I was attached at the hip to my BrailleNote in high school. I swore it would need to be pried from my cold dead hands. Then the rest of life happened. I knew enough computer basics to survive, but have learned so much as an adult because I didn't take the time to do so as a student, even though my teachers pushed me to do just that.
@alyssa6595 Oh god, these words are truer than you know! Even partially-sighted elderly adults that I train with always, always reach for their damn phones before they'll get friendly with a computer screen. It is one of my biggest pet peeves. Those people have no idea how Office works and are perfectly content to dictate their emails, messages and documents using Siri and dictation.
@menelion @alyssa6595 agree completely and wholeheartedly
@alyssa6595 Currently having this discussion with one of my high school students and his justification is that since I don't do it, he doesn't have to do it and I said the difference is I can do it and I choose not to that is different than not being able to.
@alyssa6595 I have to say, I love my phone. But it is mainly for consuming content and writing messages. I honestly can't imagine trying to compose a long piece of writing, especially using dictation. Give me a computer with an editing interface with inline spelling for that. Also, if I'm doing research, keyboard commands from NVDA or Jaws work so much more efficiently for me.
I volunteer with an organisation helping young blind folks in high school/university and it disturbs me how many young people have bearly turned on a laptop. One of my mentees used an iPad for everything in school, another used a Braille Note. These are clever young people who want careers. One wants to be a lawyer. I was forever screaminga bout how important windows skills are. Often got brushed off as a old guy out of touch lol. @alyssa6595
@pawpower @alyssa6595 Now imagine the fussing and fighting I had with a young lady that had to learn to use Logic, was only used to using a braille note-taker and hated the idea of computing?... Right.
@FreakyFwoof @pawpower @alyssa6595 I feel your pain. I had to train a client last school year who was very similar. Not with logic, but her school work was on microsoft and/or another online platform, and she was just insistant her Braille Note Touch was easier and wanted little to nothing to do with her laptop.
@Mendi_Tech @pawpower @alyssa6595 You ain't going to have fun in university/college with that attitude. I had to gently tell her so, even her mother who was in the room agreed.
@alyssa6595 So was I. It was a revelation to suddenly have braille at my fingertips, then email, then the whole internet. I loved my BrailleNotes dearly. I even learned to code on them, kickstarting my life as a programmer and proud geek. But the older I got, the more I realized they couldn't do, and the further behind I saw KeySoft was. I hate to think what would have happened had I settled and not learned Windows.