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We all went through this. Blind or not. You hear there are kittens or doggies available for adoption and you are greeted by a crazy person who will interview you like she is about to give you the country nuclear code. And even if you ace it, you will get a promise that someone will call or come over to check on those pets you are adopting. Don't forget the shots! Buy some expensive organic food for your cat! Yeah Right ... I owned many many cats and almost all of them lived a very very long life. Even half blind, my 3 cats are still very well taken care of. Some of you might need company and you may think that blindness isn't going to help you getting one... Even more, the person interviewing you might be prejudiced against you. Here are a few tips to help you convince yourself you can be a perfectly capable pet owner. 'Lady ! Give me a break ! We have guide dogs for people like us ! Taking care of a pet isn't that hard !' No. I will not give my pet food that is more expensive than my own. Yes, I am on fixed income but there are BILLIONS of cats and dogs that are living a perfectly fine life. What do you mean I can't take care of myself AND pets ? For better or worse I bet I have more free time than you. I don't binge on The Crown. Us blind people are actually the quiet kind. Oh I see ! You think I can't clean after my pet because ... I am blind ? Oh how little you know... My cats are either doing their business in my yard or in a special letterbox equipped with a sieve. It takes minutes to clean! And if I have a dog ? Remember, Lady, I am walking the dog... I know when he is about to do the doo. What do you mean I won't be able to see if my pet is sick or if something is wrong with him ? If I buy treats, the dog or the cat will actually come to you. Sick animals won't eat. And while they nibble on their treats, you can use that time to examine their overall health--through petting and touch. What do you mean we can't see ? Yes we can't but as opposed to you, crazy lady, what we lose in eyesight we gain in hearing and touch. I bet we can see if something is wrong with our pet better than you just by touch. Lady ! Blind doesn't mean lazy ! We can walk ... sometimes run ... we can go on hikes . That pet I want will have plenty of exercise. My home is blind friendly. And it will stay that way. I am adopting a pet ! Not a baby ! If my home is safe for me ... I am sure its safe enough for a pet. Stop right there already ! You know there are laws against discrimination. Seriously now, you want a pet ? Get one ! You being blind has nothing to do with owning a pet. If you have mobility issues then you might have to take a second to think about it. Remember that you will need to educate the shelter representative about your condition if it is really needed . This could be frustrating but don't give up.

If you are like me, you receive tons of pictures from your friends and family.... you even sometime take some pix of your kids, mother or your cat ? All this to end up frustrated because your eyesight is so bad you can't even distinguish people from the background. iOS 16 has a trick up its sleeves to help out in cases like these. You may need the help of a friend with a better eyesight than you... or maybe you have enough sight left to do it yourself . Click on the picture that interests you. It doesn't matter where it is.. in a text message, in an email, or in your picture app of your phone. The important part is to enlarge the picture to get it to cover your screen. Usually clicking on the pic will enlarge it. Deep click or long press on the Person in the picture. Click on the baby on the picture... click on the dog.. click on your wife or husband...click on your kid. After a short moment you will see an animation on your screen looking like waves. You have just 'lifted' the picture of the person you clicked on. Copy or Share Now head over to messenger , or notepad or your iPhone Word app. Paste. iOS 16 just allowed you to lift whoever you chose on that picture and eliminated the background. If, like me you are sensitive to contrast, the picture of your loved one on a perfectly black background should be much easier for you to see. If you have a good eyesight and want to send a pic to a low vision relative, do the same and paste the picture to a text message or email and send away. The trick actually works on anything with a picture within your iPhone. You can lift someone from pictures on a web page... on a google document opened on your phone...on a commercial your inbox is probably full of. Anywhere as long as you work on your iPhone with the latest iOS. Experiment with this neat feature ... it won't work on blurry pictures but for some pix, it will help you see better.

Click here to access the article about Prosopagnosia discussed in our podcast episode S02E07 and learn how dealing with this illness can help the blind community. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/opinion/face-blindness-prosopagnosia.html

This week : -News : We talked about a recent article written by someone who shares his struggle and tips to remember people he meets everyday. -Deep Dive : We take a look at the accessibility features present om some of the new products unveiled by Apple in last week 'Far Out' event - Mail and Announcements : A quick preview of next month FDA sponsored workshop on retinal implants. Click here to listen or head over to our podcast page. Source: https://www.blindsanity.com/podcast-1/episode/4fcb5092/s02e07-news-apple-event-and-accessibility-and-more

TIME FOR YOUR ANNUAL PART D PLAN CHECK-UP Why is it important that I check my Medicare Part D plan each year? ❖ Plans change the list of drugs they cover every year. ❖ Plans change how much you pay for your drugs every year. ❖ Plans change their pharmacy networks every year. ❖ ~75% of beneficiaries stand to save money on their out-of- pocket drugs costs through our Part D plan assistance. Available FREE services: Medicare HEALTH FAIRS 2022 Date Created: September 2022 FOR MORE INFORMATION, please visit go.pacific.edu/medicare or call (209) 910-DRUG (3784) ❖ Part D plan review- to see if you can save money on your drug costs ❖ Comprehensive review of your medications ❖ Narcan nasal spray ❖ Flu and COVID vaccines ❖ Health screenings including: • Blood Pressure • Bone Density • Cholesterol • Diabetes • Falls risk assessment Sunday, November 13 MEDICARE HEALTH FAIR EVENT CALENDAR 11 public events in Northern/Central California this year. The event schedule and details can be found below. If you want help with your Medicare Part D drug plan and/or a complete drug review, PLEASE MAKE AN APPOINTMENT! Please call the number provided below each event to make an appointment. PLEASE REMEMBER If you plan to attend an event, bring your: 1. Medicare card 2. ALL of your medications Saturday, October 15 Sunday, October 16 10 AM – 6 PM University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy 757 Brookside Rd., Stockton (209) 946-7658 1 PM – 6 PM VIRTUAL EVENT (415) 292-1200 or e-mail: sschulz@jccsf.org 10 AM – 4:30 PM Lolly Hansen Senior Center 375 E. 9th St., Tracy (209) 831-6240 Saturday, October 22 Sunday, November 6 10 AM – 4:30 PM University of the Pacific Dugoni School of Dentistry 155 5th St. (at Minna St.), San Francisco (415) 742-1747or e-mail: MedicareClinics@pacific.edu Saturday, November 19 10 AM – 4:30 PM LOEL Senior Center 105 S. Washington St., Lodi (209) 369-1591 Sunday, October 30 1 PM – 6PM VIRTUAL EVENT (209) 232-5531 or e-mail: MedicareClinics@pacific.edu 10 AM – 6 PM University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy 757 Brookside Rd., Stockton (209) 946-7658 Friday, October 21 1 PM – 6 PM VIRTUAL EVENT (209) 232-5531 or e-mail: MedicareClinics@pacific.edu 10 AM – 4:30 PM VMRC 702 N. Aurora St., Stockton (209) 473-0951 Saturday, October 29 Saturday, November 12 10 AM – 4:30 PM Bethany Home Town Square Campus 1350 Nikkel Way, Ripon (209) 599-4221 Ext. 121 Sunday, November 20 10 AM – 5 PM Hutchins Street Square 125 S. Hutchins St., Lodi (209) 333-6782

About shingles in the eyes: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1665136/shingles-signs-symptoms-eye-rash-blindness About organ donor research: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1665136/shingles-signs-symptoms-eye-rash-blindness

In this week's episode: -News: Shingles in the eyes -News: Using organ donor eyes for research on blindness -Topic of the week: 15 minutes all-you-can-learn on the White Cane Click here to listen or go through our Podcast Page to access this and any other episode in our show. Source: https://www.blindsanity.com/podcast-1/episode/2d9002e9/s02e06-15-minutes-all-you-can-learn-on-the-white-cane-and-more

On an android, you can assign physical buttons to activate TalkBack on and off. You can also add other accessibility features to the same buttons. You can add magnification for example using the same button shortcut. When you click those buttons, a list of all accessibility features will appear on your screen and you will just have to choose which one you want to use. If you have TalkBack already activated then clicking on the accessibility features on that list will describe them to you before selection. In real life application -I assigned TalkBack, magnification, screen invertion to the up and down volume button pressed together.

Introducing Pennies for the Blind, a charitable organization dedicated to offer easier access to assistive technologies for low vision and blind individuals through monetary donations and fundraisers. With instruments such as refreshable Braille displays costing as much as $5000, this organization is trying to ease the financial burden visually impaired people face in acquiring the tools they need. Pennies for the Blind is operated by Natalie Schneider, who spent many years assisting her great grandmother's needs as a blind person. You can checkout her website at www.PenniesForTheBlind.org! BlindSanity is happy to welcome this organization who will be posting regularly on our blog page. A bio, information, and link to Pennies for the Blind will be accessible on the About Us page, in the blogger section [to be announced], soon.

You own an Apple Watch with a MacBook or a Mac ? Unlock your Mac automatically with your unlocked watch. On your Mac, click on the Apple Logo Select System Settings Type 'watch' on the search bar Select Unlock with Apple Watch On the right panel of the setting app, toggle the option to the ON position Follow any pop up message that may appear on your screen. I had a password request ... but you may have another message. Done From sleep mode, Mac will detect your watch and unlock automatically. You still need to wear the watch and have it unlocked.

-News: we discuss the New York Times article about the definition of blindness. -News: We talk about the incoming Android accessibility review. -Part 3 of our month long series on voice assistants. This week Google Assistant. -We wrap things up with mail-in comments from our website. Checkout the episode on our Podcast page or click here for a direct link. Source: https://www.blindsanity.com/podcast-1/episode/2be535de/s02e04-nyt-op-edgoogle-assistant-review

You asked a friend to help boot up your brand new phone ? Well order a pizza for delivery, that friend may stay around for a while / It really depends on if you need to transfer from and old phone to a new one or if you migrated from one OS to another. Iphone to iPhone actually is a smooth process. All you have to do is get your old phone backed up and physically close to the new one. Apple will handle the transfer automatically. Even better all your accessibility settings will be transferred as well. Basically when your mew iPhone is ready, you will be able to do whatever is needed the same way you did on your old one. A caveat however... if you are in a beta testing program. The transfer may be Buggy. Transferring from Android to Android is more of a hassle. Mainly because manufacturers are adding skins and their own softwares to a clean Android OS. Contacts from Samsung are stored in a third party app unrelated to Google Contacts app for example . And the success of an android transfer is related to Google Suite and Google One. If you backed up all your data and settings with Google itself, you should be okay assuming you were using google apps in your old phone. You may need to transfer data from non Google apps to Google apps before starting the transfer to your new android phone. You will definitely need help to be sure all data are transferred. Not a problem with iPhone. Also things get icky if you have to deal with anew version of Android AND a different manufacturer... No matter what phone you have, from an accessibility standpoint, you should keep the same OS. At least your accessibility settings will transfer and you always be able to fix issues down the line on your own. If you change OS however, that pizza may come handy. You won't be able to use your new phone until your friend not only setup the phone from scratch but find and activate accessibility features for you. It isn't as big a problem for iPhone which activate VoiceOver on demand early on during the setup process but it is a huge issue for Android which doesn't offer voice assistance. And you will need that friend again to transfer manually data from one OS to the other. There are tools but they are not known to be accessibility friendly. So yes... just in case you didn't realize yet, keeping the same kind of phone simplifies things a lot. Accessibility features between iPhone and Android aren't equal however and you may want to switch operating system and a friend with good eyesight and patience will come handy. We will talk about clean setup with no transfer in part 4 of next week.