AEBC: WHO WE ARE

AUDIO VERSION By Richard Marion A Dream Vacation Begins Traveling the world as a blind person is both rewarding and challenging. This year, my husband and I embarked on one of our dream vacations. While the trip itself was amazing, planning it had the potential to turn into a nightmare. Over the next while, I will be sharing articles about our vacation highlights, accessibility issues we encountered, and my personal recommendations for anyone planning an independent multi-c

AUDIO VERSION By Linda Bartram Prior to travelling to Greece and Great Britain this May, I endeavoured to arrange some descriptive tactile tours, including ones in Athens, on the urging of an AEBC member with connections to Greece. I asked ChatGPT to tell me about such tours in Athens and Edinburgh and found several were listed and all appeared to require pre-arrangement. A few weeks in advance, I attempted to make contact with the tour operators in Athens but did not recei

AUDIO VERSION Sometimes, a number tells a story. Other times, it takes a song. When recipients of the Canada Disability Benefit learned that the maximum monthly benefit would increase from $200.00 to $204.20—a rise of just $4.20 per month—many are asking themselves what that amount actually means in everyday life. To put the increase into perspective, we asked ChatGPT what $4.20 could realistically buy in Canada today. The answer was sobering: perhaps a loaf of bread, a litre

AUDIO VERSION There are many mysteries in life. Why do socks disappear in the dryer? Why does your phone need charging only when you are going out the door? And why, in airports across Canada, do so many people assume that a blind person needs a wheelchair? In AEBC’s AccessAbility Week travel survey, we asked our members what frustrates them most when travelling or moving through public spaces. Thirty-one people responded, and while the answers had a lot of variety, one theme

AUDIO VERSION By Penny Leclair A cochlear implant is a surgically placed electronic device that bypasses damaged parts of the inner ear to provide a sense of sound to profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing individuals. Depending on your hearing condition, they can be single or bilateral devices attached on the side of your head. Unlike hearing aids, which simply amplify sounds, implants convert sound into electrical signals and transmit them directly to the brain. Reci

AUDIO VERSION By Linda Bartram Walking around Athens, I was surprised to discover guidance tactile walking surface indicators (TWSI) everywhere we went. Even the sidewalks on small side streets (many of which were not in very good condition) had tactile grooves to guide my way. One of the challenges of going sighted guide is you just don’t have enough hands. With these tactile grooves, I could walk independently, using my white cane in one hand and towing my suitcase with