What are your life hacks and advice?

[Braille Alumni Connects Students]

Hey Alumni and students,

Just wondering if you can recommend any good tips or resources that
has really helped you out. This can either be an online website that
helped you through school or even some hints on how to connect with
like-minded people.

Let's share!

[Caitlin Hernandez]

Hi All,
Certainly the obvious sites, such as bookshare.org and Web-Braille,
were and are highly beneficial. Also, when i was in high school, I was
a part of ACB (American Council of the Blind)'s National Alliance of
Blind Students (NABS). That definitely provided me some great mentors
and blind peers with whom to network. I have to say, though, that the
Braille Challenge was definitely where I met most of my blind friends
as a teen. I had only one other blind friend locally, so the
Challenges were always a treat. I knew I'd meet, as Amber mentioned a
few posts ago, the cream of the crop, socially and academically, and
that was always both fun and helpful.
What do the rest of you think, vis-a-vis great web sites and ways to
meet other Braille readers?

:) Cheers,
Caitlin

[Amber Attaway]

Hi. The first website that came to mind when I read this was
www.sparknotes.com because this has been the website I've used for
English class all year. Of course, the Fred's Head blog from APH is
excellent, or, was, I should say, before they got a new person in
charge. However, I've had trouble finding like-minded people to
connect with. I just pretty much search for whatever resources I'm
looking for at that particular moment. I'm really good at google
search queeries if anyone needs help with that. I know that's really
lame, but jus sayin. Anyway, thought I'd put these few ideas here just
in case no one's ever heard of them.

[kwak...@aol.com]

lol Sparknotes cracked me up. Yeah, it's a great resource, especially
if you are struggling with ginormous pile of homeworks and have an
English teacher who thinks her class is the only class that exists in
students' lives.
I would recommend
www.nfb.org

Social aspect wise, I recommend participating in extra curricular
activities offered by school or community in general, such as band,
choir, sports, and various kinds of clubs.
Participation in those activities with sighted peers will teach
valuable things.
Miso

[Caitlin Hernandez]

I absolutely second what Miso said. I spent most of my school years
with sighted peers, doing choir, voice, piano, theater, pottery, etc.
It definitely turned me into a more outgoing and social person than I
otherwise would have been. it's a great way to subconsciously polish
your advocacy, interdependence, and independence skills as well.

[Amber Attaway]

If they'll have you, that is. Those of y'all on my twitter page know
what I'm talking about. LOL I had hoooooorible luck with that this
year. So sorry to say, I will admit, I'm a little bitter, and yes,
jealous of y'all who have friends that you can actually go out and,
do, stuff, with. Jussayin. Sorry...

[Nimer M. Jaber, IC³]

Hello all,

First, a bit of an introduction: I was a BC attendee in '07 and '09 I
think? Anyway, I am now a Technology Specialist up in Ohio and I'll
try to contribute as much as I can to various things. Having said all
that bla bla stuff, here's my first attempt at a contribution:

Not everyone's a social butterfly. Not all sighted people, and not all
blind people. If you want to be, you shouldn't allow one or two bad
experiences stop you. If some people won't accept you for who you are,
then I guess it's time to find some new friends. On the other side of
that though, I've always been told to become a member of specific
organizations, to do this and that just because it would help me
socialize more. Uh ... what if I'm not a socializer? I'll hide behind
a computer screen and/or go for a long walk or hike or something. Or
I'll turn on some good music. This doesn't have anything to do with my
confidence or lack of it as a blind individual, just who I am as a
person. Fredshead has gone down some, although I'm sure it's because
new dude is still getting used to his position and he's probably been
busy with orientation stuff. If he has to do half the stuff I had to
do when I first started this job, I could see why he's possibly having
issues with production of content. Normally though, they are pretty
good. I loved sparknotes as well, but there are many many sites that
serve many purposes. There are some that will do tutoring for example.
There are some that help out with government and history classes.
realclearpolitics is one. There are conversion sites that will convert
.docx files to other formats, or will convert PDF's to other formats
as well. www.convertfiles.com is my favorite, and they'll do
audio/video files as well. The best thing is to look around and ask if
you're looking for a specific resource. And if there's any way I can
help out anyone on this list, please shoot me an email either on or
off list and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from all of you soon.

--
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[Caitlin Hernandez]

Amber, if you don't mind sharing, what happened? You have every right
to be in any club, group, or activity you want. If you're having an
issue, maybe some of us can help you brainstorm what to do.
Nimer, you're absolutely right...Not every blind person need be
social, just as not every sighted person needs to be. It's all about
personality and personal preference...It was just that the
conversation was leading toward clubs and extracurriculars, so it went
that way, I believe. But certainly this need not be the avenue for
everyone. And, in any case, they're pretty much a requirement for
college apps these days, yes? :)
Talk to y'all soon!

Best,
Caitlin

[Nimer M. Jaber, IC³]

On the college apps thing, you would definitely be right. Fortunately
for me I loved debate and I founded a criminal justice society as well
as being in band, but outside of those things I was pretty nonsocial
...

[Claire Stanley]

Hey everyone, sorry I'm slow to reply. Work has occupied all of my time. So to kind of respond to a little bit of everyding, one website and advocay group I recommend to everyone isthe National Youth Leadership Network. Its a nation wide advocacy group for youth with alittle forms of disabilities. I learned so much throughout my years in NYLN and have gained some great mentors. And as far the the social question goes, I know this is something that comes up in blind conversation a lot. I definitely understand that some people are more introverted than extroverted and we shouldn't have to change ourselves. But, its justa fact that as an adult in the blind world, you have to be willing to speak up for yourself when necessary. Amber, i know you've probably buteen asked this a million times but are there any clubs or community groups or church groups or anything like that where you can develop some close friends?Throughout high school and college I was part of s""al things like model United Nations, Bible stusdy and notyln.

Sent from my iPhone

[kwak...@aol.com]

could you give link to National Youth Leadership Network?

[Claire Stanley]

It's just www.nyln.org

Sent from my iPhone

[kwak...@aol.com]

Hello,
As the end of school year is approaching, there are a few projects I
have to do.
A couple of them involve making powerpoint individually.
How should I handle this?
Is it possible to make powerpoints with screen reader and give
presentation?
If it's not learnable in a short time, what should be the best
accomodation I should ask to my teacher?

How about making posters indiviidually?

I would appreciate any feedback.
Miso Kwak

[Caitlin Hernandez]

Hi Miso -- Will you be required to present these to the class? If not,
I imagine a report would be an acceptable accommodation. If so, maybe
you could use other aides to help present, depending on what topics
you have to cover. What are these projects about?
I think PowerPoint is doable, but I've thus far avoided having to do
it by myself, so am not sure. I imagine it would take a while to
learn, though, and that it would necessitate at least some visual
assistance.

Hope this helps,
Caitlin

[kwak...@aol.com]

PPT presentation is for APUSH class. Each student was assigned a
president and basically have to teach the class for review before the
AP exam.
THe poster project is for English class. Each student has to create
"Personal Hell" and present it to the class.
I think it will turn out quite well though. I got a poster paper and
some stickers and stuff.
I think it will be cool to be able to do PPT... For now, I will just
have to talk to the teacher I think.
Thank you for reply.
Miso