At DBV we love to highlight the different ways our deafblind staff utilise technology in their everyday work. In this video Jasper and Andrew discuss Jasper’s favourite tech used at work including the frame and stylus for writing Braille, text to speech software called JAWS, a Roger Pen plugged into the computer connected to hearing aids with a receiver worn around the neck, and last but not least a rainbow cane that is used to navigate the space independently. The full interview and transcript can be seen below.
Andrew: Hi my name is Andrew Howard, Sign name is AH for short. What about you?
Jasper: My name is Jasper Cleland [shows sign name]
Andrew: So, thinking about the technology and how you use it at work.
What do you use at work, being a deafblind person?
Jasper: It’s really funny. I always tell people I am the worst person on our team to ask about technology, because I am our biggest technophobe.
But one of the things I use if I’m taking notes in a meeting that’s one on one and I’m speaking. I do Braille the old way, because I don’t like to make background noise with the big old Perkins Brallier that goes clunky, clunk in the background.
So, I use this, the old frame and stylus where you slide a piece of paper in here.
And the Braille cells, it’s almost like a little stencil with sets of all the six dots of the Braille cell. And you are punching out every letter with the stylus, and you’re doing it right to left from the back. It’s all backwards.
People get very confused when I talk about that.
Andrew: It’s the first time I’ve seen something like that. And going right to left as well. It’s interesting.
Jasper: Yeah, I’ve done it since I was a kid.
For using my computer I have plugged in here, a Roger Pen, which some people use in meetings, microphone, but I can’t understand when people talk into the microphone, but plugged into my headphone jack here, I can hear Jaws, which is you will probably know about by now, text to speech, and I have this which goes around my neck, which is the receiver for that which transmits to my hearing aids.
Another thing that has become very important, because now I work independently. I don’t have support at work, so I needed to learn to navigate this space on my own, which I’ve had a lot of support from my lovely colleague and friend Jael to learn how to do that. This is my cane, which, as you can see, I have decorated.
Those are probably the most important devices to me.
Andrew: Great. Thank you. And it’s lovely to have you here and hearing about that, it’s really interesting.
So, I work here as well. We produce these videos. Thank you so much for your time. Goodbye.
Jasper: Goodbye, good talking to you about it.
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