ATU641 – Raymond Montgomery and the Navigating Blindness Podcast

Hello, my name is Ray Montgomery. I’m the outreach and volunteer coordinator at Bosma, also the host of Bosma’s Navigating Blindness podcast, and this is your Assistive Technology Update.

Hello and welcome to your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up-to-date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist individuals with disabilities and special needs.

I’m your host, Josh Anderson, with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcome to episode 641 of Assistive Technology Update. It is scheduled to be released on September 8th, 2023.

On today’s show, we are super excited to welcome Raymond Montgomery, the outreach and volunteer coordinator from Bosma Enterprises here in Indiana. But he’s actually here to talk about their Navigating Blindness podcast. We always love having other podcasters on the show, learning more about what they do and all the great things that are out there. And we also welcome back Bridging Apps with an app worth mentioning. Please don’t forget, you can always reach out to us at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org, or call our listener line at (317) 721-7124.

To start our show off, today we’re going to do something a little bit different. We’re going to go way, way back in the time machine to 2019 to share part of an interview with our Mobility and Cognition team lead, Craig Burns. Now we’re sharing this because next week, unfortunately, well, I guess unfortunately for us, but fortunately for him, Craig Burns will be retiring from our clinical assisted technology program here and while we are super excited for him and want to wish him nothing but the best, we’re also very sad to lose him. Craig has worked here at Easterseals Crossroads for quite some time and has been the leader and team lead of our mobility and cognition team for a very long time as well. As the manager of clinical assisted technology, I would be completely and totally lying if I didn’t say I was going to miss having Craig around here.

Not only is he a great advocate who provides amazing services to those folks that he works with, he’s also a great team lead who helps bring in different guests and things to our meetings who really helps and gives some guidance and direction to that team. But also, well, he’s just plain fun to be around, so you don’t always get that. So I’m definitely going to miss having him around here, but I’m sure that hopefully I get to see him every now and again. And who knows? Maybe we can even have him on the show sometime to get an Assistive Technology Update on how retirement is treating him.

But I thought just as a little bit of a tribute to him, as Craig will be leaving us next week, we’d play a little bit of an interview from my favorite apps episode from back in 2019. So I’m not even sure if these apps he mentions are even still available, but I thought maybe we’d play a little bit of his interview, just to get the show started. So take it away.

So our first guest today is Craig Burns, our team lead on the mobility cognition side. Craig, thanks for coming in today.

You’re welcome.

Perfect. So on today’s show, we’re just going to talk about some different apps that maybe you use with the consumers and just some of your favorites and how they help.

Okay. So I do a lot with augmentative communication. I do a lot with brain injury people. I do a lot with people with dyslexia. So I could give you a hold list for aug comm. One of the popular ones is Verbally Premium, or Verbally Plus, that’s a hundred dollar app, basically. Has some core word vocabulary on there, but then it has word prediction. You can say phrases, you can organize phrases into categories, or messages into categories. You could have basic greeting categories. A lot of people I work with, they work with it on an iPad and they either have throat cancer or something that makes them nonverbal. And they’re adults, so they have language. So it’s a good app for that. And we do things like let’s set them up for calling the doctor or calling the pharmacist, so they have their pharmacist category and it will have their name, their digits, last four digits of their social security number, or their address, whatever, the birthday that the pharmacy needs, usually asks. And then they can put, “I need a refill on…” And then just their list of drugs. And you can have up to 12 spaces for that. So that’s a nice app for that kind of purposes, and adults that have language already formed.

Assistive Express is a one I use often as inexpensive app for individuals that have that ability to type. What’s nice about it, it has an iPhone version, so it’s fairly small and you can type messages, and it has word prediction in it, so you can select from that word prediction as well. You can categorize things in that app as well.

Oh, nice.

Not in a stated category, but I think it’s color coded category.

Speech Assistant is one I’ve recently started using. It shows up as all text orthographics, but you can modify each cell with a message in it to have a picture in it. Either an actual picture, photo, you take.

Oh, nice.

Right then, or one from your library, or you can pick symbols from that as well. So then those cells will get bigger so the targeting can increase, the target size buttons can increase.

Oh, good.

So I’ve used that a couple of times with individuals that do need that picture, that helps them, so we can put that picture right on there. It’s real easy to modify those really quickly.

Oh, very nice. So their caregiver or friend or family member could help them along after you insert stuff?

So it’s like, oh, we need to take a picture of this activity. So they just go to that cell and take a picture of what they need to take a picture of and it’s there. They can put the message on there or the statement or whatever they want to make.

Cool.

And as usual, there’s a label, or what’s shown on the button can be different than what it’s actually speaks.

Nice.

So if you don’t have a lot of room and you have a whole big message, you can do that.

Very cool.

AAC Flip Writer is one I’ve used, however, I just was just looking for it on the App Store, I have it on my iPad and it wants me to do a premium upgrade because they change it around all the time. So now it’s saying you need to buy the premium upgrade for voice output. But basically, it’s one that you can type and it shows you the message and then it shows a message window where the text faces the person across from you, so they can read it without having to look over your shoulder.

So it’s upside down on the top of the screen?

Yeah.

So if you’re facing it, just so they can see it? Oh, nice.

If you want to do something without having to turn the thing around or show somebody across or not have anything say it.

Oh, yeah.

Like in a movie… Well, you don’t want to be in a movie theater because it’s too bright.

Yeah, probably not.

Light up everything. But libraries, you might be in and want to do that. I’m confused whether it’s still available because I just looked on the App Store for it and it wasn’t finding it, so I’m not sure what the status of that one is yet.

Brain injury people has a popular one, we had been using it in our Bites group for a while called Elevate, people tend to like that. And so with brain injury clients that I work with, I will often just say, “Load that one as to try the free trial.” Most people use the free trial. If you want to purchase it, then you can purchase that for… I’m not sure what the cost is of that right now.

Yeah, I can’t remember. I don’t remember if that was a onetime or a monthly thing or how much you use it.

I think it might be a monthly subscription, but I’m not sure.

And what is Elevate?

Elevate is a brain training application that people have heard of Lumosity brain games. There’s a few of them out there that just lets you do exercises to sharpen your cognitive skills. So that brings up shapes that look similar and one’s different and you have to pick out the one that’s, all of them are the same except for whatever, or the arrows are going up in one direction and the one you need to focus on is going a different direction. So you need to identify what direction the arrow you’re wanting is going, just the different things that you have to think of. Oddly enough, there’s some games I think that I’ve used, had people load a few times. One is Cut the Rope.

And how does that help?

And the interesting thing about Cut the Rope, I’ve always liked that one for some reason, is it’s a game, but it makes you really think. Once it gets past the first couple of screens or first couple of games, now you have to start thinking, if I cut this rope here, then the ball falls this way. So it falls multiple directions from catching different chains or ropes or whatever it is. So you really have to start, you have to look at it and think, which one do I need to cut first? And then you have to have, with some individuals, there’s also a dexterity issue, so it helps them practice that movement across the screen in different cutting positions. So it’s a fun approach to exercising your brain and cognitive skills and some physical dexterity practice.

Oh, sure. And like you said, it keeps it fun. So when you don’t know you’re learning, sometimes it’s a little easier to learn those things, as opposed to just having somebody tell you all the time.

That’s a fun one.

Very cool. Well, Craig, thank you so much for coming on the show and telling us about some of those apps.

Sure, no problem.

Listeners, up next, we are very excited to welcome back Amy Berry from Bridging Apps to the show with an app worth mentioning. Take it away, Amy.

This is Amy Berry with Bridging Apps, and this is an app worth mentioning. This week’s featured app is called Morphic. Meaningful use of computers is rapidly becoming a necessity for taking full advantage of today’s opportunities in education, employment, social interaction, and everyday life. Unfortunately, millions of people experience significant challenges with technologies due to disability, digital literacy, aging, and other barriers. Morphic is an all-in-one accessibility shortcut for your computer. Morphic accesses the accessibility features already built into the operating system of your PC or Mac and makes them easier for you to customize.

Did you know that your PC has the ability to read text to you or allow you to change the overall appearance of your screen without downloading any additional software? It’s true. These features are built into the operating systems of new computers, you just have to know where to find all those settings. And that’s where Morphic comes in. Morphic puts all of the settings on an easy to use toolbar that can be moved around your screen to work best for you. Morphic’s basic toolbar is free. Morphic helps you remove barriers and allow more people to better participate and benefit from improved digital experiences in their education, work, family, and even personal life. Morphic also helps make environments more inclusive by giving people independent and discreet access to important computer features and programs. Morphic is currently available for PC and Mac computers and it is completely free to download. For more information on this app and others like it, visit bridgingapps.org.

Listeners, we here at Assistive Technology Update, and really in a larger sense, the INDATA Project as a whole, love podcasts. This is probably obvious by the three that we have in house, but we’re also always interested in finding out about other podcasts that are aimed at helping individuals with disabilities. We get even more excited when one of those podcasts comes from another great agency here in the Indianapolis area. Our guest today is Ray Montgomery from the Navigating Blindness podcast, and he’s here to tell us all about it and about Bosma here in Indianapolis.

Ray, welcome to the show.

All right. Thank you for having me.

Yeah, I’m excited to get into talking about the podcast, about Bosma and everything else, but before we do that, could you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Yeah, my name’s Ray Montgomery, currently work at Bosma Enterprises at the outreach and volunteer coordinator. Me, myself, I am totally blind, been blind since I was 17 years old. Unfortunately, lost my sight due to a gunshot wound, but I kept it moving. Ended up getting my BA from Purdue University back in 2000 in emphasis in communications. And right now I’m father of three boys who keep me very active. I just got married, so I’m a husband now. So yeah, that’s a little bit about Ray.

Right on. Well, congratulations on getting married and on trying to keep up with three boys. I’m sure that does keep you pretty darn busy. Well, since the show, the podcast we’re going to talk about, is housed there at Bosma, could you tell our listeners a little bit about Bosma?

Oh, yeah. Bosma, we’re a not-for-profit right here in central Indiana whose mission is to create job opportunities for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. So we do that by leveraging the buying power of the federal government to create job opportunities for individuals who are blind. Because right now, what we do at Bosma, we package exam gloves and surgical gloves for the Veterans Administration Hospital across the country. So we’re doing work for our VA, our vets, really to do our part and really just trying to serve, giving back to the community as well. So that’s how we create these jobs for people who are blind by leveraging the buying power of the federal government, because right now there’s a 70% unemployment rate among people who are blind. That’s seven out of 10 people who are blind that are not employed.

So having a place like Bosma right here in central Indiana is great, and we also provide rehabilitation and employment services. So if you were to lose your vision, you would come to Bosma’s Rehab Center and we will teach you everything you need to learn, from braille, to how to use a mobility cane, to cooking and cleaning safely within your home. Once you all trained up, we’re going to get you gainful employment, so you’re going to work with our employment service team to find gainful employment.

And I think we could probably fill a whole darn show just with all the great things that Bosma does. I know I’ve got to work alongside with a lot of your folks with Otis to help people. As far as helping with the cooking and the cleaning, the other things around the house, the orientation of mobility, and a great, great group of people that you work with there and great things that you all do. But getting onto one of the great things that y’all do that I’ve been briefed on a little bit and found was the Navigating Blindness podcast. So I guess let’s start from the beginning. When did the show start?

Yeah, we started the show back in 2017, just really wanted to educate, I would say, individuals and the public about what we’re doing right here in central Indiana and what the capabilities of people who are blind are. So we just really wanted to educate our audience about what we can do as people who are blind and what we are doing to help create these jobs for people who are blind and visually impaired.

Nice. And Ray, for folks who haven’t been able to find the podcast, which hopefully, after listening to this show today, they do go out and find. What are some of the topics that have been covered so far in your show?

Some of the topics that we’ve done so far. We recently did a podcast on the Americans with Disability Act. So we talked about the importance of the ADA. We talked a lot about our employment services team and how they’re breaking down barriers and accommodations, why accommodations are crucial for people who are blind, what accommodations look like on the work site. We’ve interviewed our CEO, Mr. Jeff Mittman, who has a great story as well. We’ve interviewed individuals from our Center for Visionary Solutions, our VP of Programs, Mr. James Michaels, to really talk about our programs and what we do to serve Hoosiers right here in the state of Indiana.

We’ve had individuals from all over, just really talking about their experiences with blindness and how they overcame and how they triumph and didn’t let blindness hinder them from reaching their full potential. So that’s really what my aim is, to really educate and let people know that blindness is not the end all. You could still live the life that you want to live. You could still work, you can still, like I said, I have three children, so like I said, they keep me busy, you can still raise a family, and you can really do everything you want to do with just really learning to do it without vision.

Yeah, I think that’s an important thing to get out because I know folks, especially those that lose their vision, maybe aren’t born with a visual impairment, they do have that feeling a little bit that, wow, I can’t do anything that I’ve ever done before. And it’s like, no, you really can. It’s going to be a little bit different, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop doing all those things. So I’m glad you have that resource out there to really help them along. Because I know there’s got to be some mental anguish and things that go along when you lose one of your senses, but at the same time, with resources out there that can help you, pretty much anything is still possible. So I got to ask, because I always like to ask folks that do podcasting, do this thing that I do. Ray, what would be your dream interview? If you could interview anyone on the show, who would be your dream interview?

That’s a good one right there. Since we talking about blindness, I know it’s almost a cliche, I’m going to go say Stevie Wonder.

That’s mine too.

You got to go Stevie because Stevie’s just done so much. He is a musical genius. That’s Stevie Wonder right there. So if I can learn anything, I want to learn it from Stevie and how he navigated all these years.

It’s funny, my predecessor, Wade, and then myself, that’s always been our dream too, just because some of the tools and devices, I don’t know if you… Sometimes when he plays, he carries this little box that he can pretty much play piano on and everything else, and it’s amazing. I want to know how that thing works and how he does it. Plus just being a huge fan forever. Plus with a voice like that, it’s hard to not, I guess, take off. But no, I always love asking that question. I love when people have the same one they definitely want to do. Ray, how did you get into podcasting?

I’ve been into radio since really forever, I would say. But in college, I really started to do some local radio. So I started interning and then I started doing my own local radio show. This was back up in Gary, Indiana, I was doing my own radio show. I did a lot of interviews and mainly focused on music and things like that, but I was always into the music and the interviewing. So I’m always listening to podcasts and my background is in communication with my emphasis in radio television. So I just really always like talking to people and really educating and letting people know, getting them their shine because everybody has a story I believe in, just giving them that platform where they can actually have it to share their story with the public.

Nice. And I know you’re also the outreach and volunteer coordinator there beyond just doing the show, so can you tell us what else you do for Bosma in that role?

Oh, well, I’m always out there within the community talking to businesses, universities, organizations, about blindness and what we can do as people who are blind, like I said, really letting people know that we’re out here because sometimes people live with blindness for a long periods of time. Sometimes they’re ashamed to say that they even have a visual impairment because there’s different acuities of visual impairment. So there’s different levels to this. Me, myself, I’m totally blind, but some people may have different level. With retinal mitosis, you may just have tunnel vision. So some people may not know that we’ve been out there, so it’s really important for me to be out there in the community talking to these different organizations, companies, and just having a booth somewhere where I can let people know that there is hope, there is life after you get that diagnosis.

We like to say where medicine ends, we begin, because once you get that diagnosis, what you’re going to do next. So you come to Bosma and we’re going to teach you everything that you need to know to live independently and have a, like I say, independent and self-sufficient life, so at the end of the day. And what the volunteer is, really always looking for volunteers to come so they can help us with our mission of creating these opportunities. We always need volunteers to help us with our clients. We always doing things within the community with our clients, taking them out on outings, like the state fairs coming up, the Indianapolis Zoo, we have a lot of events that we need volunteers to assist with. We’ve got one coming up on September 16th, that’s Dining in the Dark at the JW Marriott, so you definitely want to get your tickets for that. So they help us with our mission of creating these opportunities. So that’s what I do at Bosma.

Awesome, and that is a lot of stuff. Ray, just because you mentioned it a little bit there, and it’s coming up here pretty quick from the time this show posts, can you tell us just a little bit about Dining in the Dark? What it is?

Dining in the Dark is an awareness event. It’s our biggest fundraiser event of the year. It’s where individuals will come, they will eat under a sleep shade, to simulate what it is to have a visual impairment. So for about 15 minutes of your meal, you’re going to eat under a sleep shade. You’re going to have ambassadors there, such as myself, really giving you tips and tricks on what it is to live with a visual impairment or blindness. I want to show you how to eat with the sleep shade on. It’s going to be a great program, great band. Like I said, JW Marriott, September 16th, black tie event. So you get to get all dressed up and like a big prom, I would say.

Like a big prom that also raises awareness and gives you a little bit of empathy and lets you feel some of the challenges that might be faced by folks. But I think at the same time, it also does a great job of showing what’s still possible-

Yes, sir.

In showing that empathy and everything. Well, Ray, you’ve been doing this for a little while. Do you have a favorite show or maybe a story about some listener feedback that you’ve received that you can share with us?

Well, definitely favorite show, I would say some of my favorite shows will be definitely interviewing Jeff Mittman, our CEO. He has a great story of, just because of his injury in Iraq and what he had to overcome being hit with the IUD at his convoy and going through all those surgeries, I would say that’s one of my great interviews. And also just learning about adjusting to blindness is another great interview that I do, talking to people who has to adjust, talking to our adjustment counselor, giving us tips and tricks on how to live with the visual impairment and what to do when someone is not sure on what their next steps is. So having those people on the show to really educate the public about blindness is some of my best episodes.

Awesome. Well, Ray, if our listeners want to find out more about the podcast, about Bosma, what are some ways for them to do that?

Definitely. If you want to find out more about Bosma Enterprises, please visit us at www.bosma, that’s B-O-S-M-A.O-R-G. And if you want to learn more about the Navigating Blindness Podcast, you could definitely go to Apple, Google, and SoundCloud and type in Navigating Blindness, and it should pop right on up.

Awesome. We’ll put links to that down in the show notes so that folks can easily find those. Well, Ray, it’s always great to talk to somebody else that does this, and especially for a podcast that’s a definite resource to the community and for individuals that experience site loss, as well as just anyone that lives with someone with sight loss or knows anyone, just to be able to find those skills and everything and know that there’s folks out there that can help them and there’s other tools for folks. Life doesn’t have to end, it might change a little bit, but you can still do most of the things that you did, and we really do appreciate that you do that as a resource to the community and to real, I guess, with a podcast, with folks everywhere. So thanks so much for coming on the show and telling us all about it.

Yes, sir. Thank you for having me.

Do you have a question about assistive technology? Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview on an Assistive Technology Update? If so, call our listener line at (317) 721-7124. Send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org or shoot us a note on Twitter @INDATAProject. Our captions and transcripts for the show are sponsored by the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation, or INTRAC. You can find out more about INTRAC at relayindiana.com.

A special thanks to Nicole Prieto for scheduling our amazing guests and making a mess of my schedule. Today’s show was produced, edited, hosted, and fraught over by yours truly. The opinions expressed by our guests are their own and may or may not reflect those of the INDATA Project, Easterseals Crossroads, or supporting partners or this host. This was your Assistive Technology Update, and I’m Josh Anderson with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. We look forward to seeing you next time.