REROUTING PAST EXPERIENCES:
Getting to know my own city Boston
By: CaspHer
Sept 30, 2019
Greetings and thank you for opening this post to read what I have to share. I hope you like what I have to say and can possibly relate.
For a while there has been a slight uproar in the blind and visually impaired community about a wonderful app called Aira and all of what they can do. I call Aira a pocket full of excellent agents! Although there are many speculations about whether or not someone can trust an agent each time, I always remind my students to use their training skills despite having Aira. Aira only compliments the skills each explorer has and will never replace guide dogs or canes. A user must always remain an expert in all situations while using this service. All agents are trained to work with anyone with varying levels of blindness.
Where was this when I was in college?! Oh my goodness! I would have certainly used Aira more than I do now on a regular basis. I appreciate that I can use this service now.
Living with blindness is a big deal and I’m welcoming everyone into my experience as someone who has never had the luxury of 20/20 vision from birth for the time being.
Many years ago in college, I had a sighted friend that I used to travel around the city with almost every day we met on campus. I’m going to call her “Miss Winkley” for privacy purposes. She was one of the only people who knew much about my blindness. Miss. Winkley studied Biology and I studied Fine Arts. She realized that I didn’t have night vision because of another embarrassing situations. She offered sighted guide around campus when it got too dark to see and I gladly went along with it. At the time, I didn’t use a mobility cane because I didn’t know how to use it. I felt like a liar if I had one because I was ignorant to the fact that even someone with low vision could use a white cane if trained properly. In total, I didn’t have access to anything useful. I was trying to pass as a sighted person and failed. After many years of our friendship, she changed her career path from Biology and became a TVI after college. I asked her why the sudden career change, she told me it was because of our friendship and the way I introduced her to learning about different degrees of blindness. There’s an in between!
Today, I revisited one of our favorite locations that we frequented on a regular in Boston and that was the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. In order to get there, we needed to take a green line and walk through the confusing light rail station that even confused sighted folks! I did not do this alone. I used Aira and a few agents to get there and around the location successfully. My travel anxiety levels were pretty low because of previous orientation and mobility skills along with an agent. The Faneuil Hall Marketplace is like a large outdoor shopping plaza filled with fun stores and everything you could image. The smells of outdoor grills and eateries lured you in from the Government Center station as soon as you emerged from underground. With decent hearing, you can hear where all of the festive sounds are coming from.
In the past, I would second guess and refuse to go anywhere beyond fixed routes had it not been for good O&M skills and the complimentary use of Aira. I didn’t know how to get around my own city without getting confused and turned around. Anyone who asked me to go somewhere in the past, I would decline the offer nicely and would go wallow in embarrassment due to poor navigation skills. It’s not that I didn’t want to part take in activities or disliked the person at all.
As the years went along, I began to learn how to travel around the city I grew up in. I’m not perfect at navigating a complex city like Boston but I can say I’m more willing to get out and explore. Ask me to meet up somewhere and I’d be there with the help of Aira! Thank each agent for helping you before disconnecting.
Let’s “reroute” past experiences together!
The end.
