Happy Spring and Welcome to April!

In my neck of the woods, March apparently did not learn the "in like a lion and out like a lamb" metaphor! The holiday weekend has been filled with thunderstorms which allowed me to find lots of reading and tech time. Did you know this week marks the 40th anniversary of the cell phone? I have a hard time remembering life without my cell phone. How did we keep up with our children, calendar and friends? We managed but I find the cell phone one of the most practical inventions of the 20th century. Are you smart phone users taking advantage of the Braille apps? I am currently trying out two different apps and would love to hear from you. The ability to make Braille notes on my cell phone is AWESOME!

The Food and Drug Administration approved a new diabetes drug this week. The clinical trials look promising. Many of our OIB clients struggle with diabetes management. Technology and a new generation of drugs hold promise. We are piloting a diabetes management technique using the iPad to record data and forward to the managing physician. I am pleased with results thus far and will soon invite more participants. If you are interested in this project please let me know.

WSB will be hosting a technology training on Saturday, April 6, 2013. Please register with Krystal at (501) 664-7100. This session is limited to those who have attended a previous session. We will be implementing our new podcasts. Tim has worked very hard on this and I hope everyone will take advantage of his expertise.

A special shout out to the Arkansas Council for the Blind for their generous donation to our OIB program. Their donation is being used to purchase talking watches,  Braille watches, handheld magnifiers, talking glucose monitors and count a dose units. Thanks again to a very special group of individuals!

Until tomorrow,
Dr. Janet

Monday is coming!

Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I just can't stretch my weekends. Tomorrow will be Monday and everyone will be back to the hectic lives we lead. Last week provided me the opportunity to see several clients scattered across our great state. The most memorable was a recent trip to Venus Mountain in the Ozark National Forest area. If that wasn't heaven it had to be very close! What a beautiful setting and it made the dirt road travel worth the trip!

I understand the Northeast Arkansas Low Vision support group enjoyed a wonderful guest speaker at their monthly meeting. I encourage everyone to become involved in an advocacy group in your area. Once I confirm meeting dates, time and location I will post them here for your convenience.

The next technology class at World Services will be held April 6, 2013 from 9-12. We have several podcasts to share with everyone so come prepared to learn and absorb knowledge. The VoiceOver podcast will be especially helpful to those who use the VoiceOver feature. Thank you Tim for your help with this.

As you know, I am a techie geek and enjoy reviewing new items which have promise to assist our OIB clients. I am reviewing a couple now and have more on order. Stay tuned for my opinions and observations.

Until tomorrow,
Dr. Janet

Welcome!

Welcome to the World Services for the Blind blog. This site is designed to provide a one stop solution to the massive amounts of information on the web directed toward Senior citizens. The goal is to provide useful information and to keep everyone updated on the Arkansas Older Blind (OIB) project. I will make every effort to keep the site clean and simple for accessibility. We hope you will stop by daily and make us a part of your web surfing routine.
See you tomorrow!
Dr. Janet