Media Release
For Immediate Distribution: January 21, 2015
BC FILMMAKER PREVIEWS HEARTWARMING FILM ABOUT
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PARENTS AND SIGHTED SON
Event on Last Day of White Cane Week
Vancouver, BC Canada – Touching Life is a film that tells the story of a Vancouver family living
between two worlds: one of the sighted and one of the visually impaired. Mother Yuko walks
with a white cane while Father Thilo uses a guide dog. Their seven year-old son Kurtis, however,
is sighted. A preview of the documentary film will be held in Vancouver coinciding with the last
day of White Cane Week.
Saturday, February 7, at 1:00 pm, doors at 12:15 pm
Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour Street)
Audio description available
Post-screening Q&A with filmmaker and guests
No admission fee
The film relates the inspiring story of two people pursuing their dreams of falling in love, getting
married, becoming parents and raising a child, despite the challenges of their handicap.
Filmmaker François Laliberté said, ‘After meeting Yuko, Thilo and Kurtis I was touched by their
resilience and courage. I felt that their story as visually impaired parents raising a sighted child
had to be told.’
White Cane Week™ is a registered trademark of the Canada Council for the Blind (CCB). This
year White Cane Week runs Sunday, February 1 – Saturday, February 7, 2015.
-30
For more information, please contact:
Lisa Rasmussen, Publicist, Touching Life
604-897-5882 lajrasmussen@yahoo.ca

Here is a list of books we are going to read for the first few months of 2015.

January 24; the Good Earth by Pearl S Buck
February 28; How to Use the CNIB Library by Gerry Chevalier, A Tutorial
March 28; Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
April 25; the Source by James A. Michener
May 23; Exodus by Leon Uris

The Club meets by teleconference call at 9:00 AM on the forth Saturday of each month for about an hour. If anyone wishes to be involved please be in touch with Kathy Sanness for details.

sanness1@shaw.ca

You’re Invited
Victoria Get Together with Technology Program

Where: Knox Presbyterian Church, 2964 Richmond Rd Victoria BC;

When: Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Time: 1:30 until 3:30 PM

For more information contact Albert Ruel at 250-240-2343 or albertruel@gmail.com.

Please share this invitation widely to anyone you think will benefit from our collective knowledge, or who might have expertise to offer.

Come join us on January 7 as we enjoy a presentation on the National Network of Equitable Library Service by Allan Carlson from the BC Ministry of Education. Allan will let us know what NNELS is, how to access it, what devices you need and where you will find support through your local Library Branch to effectively find and secure the accessible reading material available.

The second hour will be devoted to general discussion about assistive technology as it pertains to accessing both pleasure and work related accessible reading material for those of us who are blind or partially sighted.

Did you think that only sighted people read newspapers? Is Braille only read in paper formats? Do you have to be a TechnoWizard to use audio books for your reading pleasure? Let’s find answers to all of these questions and many more, so join us on January 7 for what promises to be an exciting session of sharing and learning.

To RSVP, please call Albert Ruel at,
250-240-2343
Or by email at,
AlbertRuel@gmail.com

The Get Together with Technology (GTT) program is an exciting program of the Canadian Council of the Blind which aims to help people who are blind or have low vision to explore low vision and blindness related access technology. You can learn from and discuss assistive technology with others walking the same path of discovery.

The group is made up of blindness related assistive technology users, and those who have an interest in using assistive technology designed to help blind and vision impaired people level the playing field. The GTT group meets monthly to share their passions for assistive technology and to learn what others can offer from their individual perspectives.

Nanaimo Get Together with Technology Program

Where: The 710 Club, 285 Prideaux Street, Nanaimo BC;

When: Saturday, January 10, 2015

Time: 1:30 until 3:30 PM

Please share this invitation widely to anyone you think will benefit from our collective knowledge.

During the January 2015 GTT meeting we’ll discuss your newly acquired devices found beneath the Christmas tree, so bring them along. We can also talk about those wonderful Boxing Week sales you took full advantage of.

The second hour will be devoted to general discussion about assistive technology as it pertains to its use by people who are blind or partially sighted.

To RSVP, please call Albert Ruel at 250-240-2343 email at AlbertRuel@gmail.com, or Donna Hudon at 250-618-0010 email at IamDonnaHudon@gmail.com.

The Get Together with Technology (GTT) program is an exciting program which helps people who are blind or have low vision to explore low vision and blindness related access technology. You can learn from and discuss assistive technology with others walking the same path of discovery.

The group is made up of blindness related assistive technology users, and those who have an interest in using assistive technology designed to help blind and vision impaired people level the playing field. The GTT group meets monthly to share their passions for assistive technology and to learn what others can offer from their individual perspectives.

In order to get information about upcoming GTT meetings and conference calls as well as meeting notes and resources, please subscribe to the GTT blog. To register please visit the web page below. Look near the bottom of the page for a heading called, “Follow “GTT Program blog and resources” and leave your email address in the edit field below that heading. You will receive an email message asking you to confirm that you wish to be subscribed, and clicking on the “confirmation” link in that message will complete the process.
https://gttprogram.wordpress.com/

If you haven’t heard about the Blaze EZ portable talking book player and OCR device you’ll not want to miss today’s GTT National Conference Call presentation by Aroga’s Steve Barcklay. Join us if you can by calling the following number:

1-866-351-5099
When you hear a voice press the # followed by 135

Thx, Albert

You’re Invited
Victoria (GTT) Get Together with Technology

Where: Knox Presbyterian Church, 2964 Richmond Rd Victoria BC;

When: Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Time: 1:30 until 3:30 PM

For more information contact Albert Ruel at 250-240-2343 or albertruel@gmail.com.

Please share this invitation widely to anyone you think will benefit from our collective knowledge, or who might have expertise to offer.

Come join us on January 7 as we enjoy a presentation on the National Network of Equitable Library Service by Allan Carlson from the BC Ministry of Education. Allan will let us know what NNELS is, how to access it, what devices you need and where you will find support through your local Library Branch to effectively find and secure the reading material available.

The second hour will be devoted to general discussion about assistive technology as it pertains to accessing both pleasure and work related accessible reading material for those of us who are blind or partially sighted.

Did you think that only sighted people read newspapers? Is Braille only read in paper formats? Do you have to be a TechnoWizard to use audio books for your reading pleasure? Let’s find answers to all of these questions and many more, so join us on January 7 for what promises to be an exciting session of sharing and learning.

To RSVP, please call Albert Ruel at,
250-240-2343
Or by email at,
AlbertRuel@gmail.com

The Get Together with Technology (GTT) program is an exciting program of the Canadian Council of the Blind which aims to help people who are blind or have low vision to explore low vision and blindness related access technology. You can learn from and discuss assistive technology with others walking the same path of discovery.

The group is made up of blindness related assistive technology users, and those who have an interest in using assistive technology designed to help blind and vision impaired people level the playing field. The GTT group meets monthly to share their passions for assistive technology and to learn what others can offer from their individual perspectives.

I think often about the road I’ve used to get to where I am, and mostly I think about it from a place of gratitude. I know and understand that along the way I’ve tripped over many hurtles and that I’ve come across people who were less than helpful or supportive, and yet I’m amazed at how easy it is for me to remain focussed on those events, people and organizations who have helped by setting down the smooth paving stones that make up my path in life.

I’m quick to acknowledge that some professionals like Phil Crowson, Kay Finley, Pat Robertson, Larry Bieberly and Julie Beland provided the early guidance and skill development I needed, and for them I remain ever grateful. And just like those early teachers who taught me the basic alphabet, I only really learned to read by practicing and by discussing the impressions gained from reading with others in my community. So too have I really learned how to live life without sight by being active in the community of blind and partially sighted people.

Through the many organizational and impromptu groups I’ve had occasion to interact with I’ve learned from those who have walked down this blind world in front of me, and I have come to really appreciate the opportunities these same blindness support groups have provided me to also teach the knowledge, skills and abilities I’ve gained over the last 38 years. So, if you don’t currently participate in blindness group activities, whether it be for advocacy, peer support, recreational or social endeavours I’d like to offer my encouragement to you to please do so. It could be the very best gift you will ever give yourself at the lowest possible cost.

To illustrate how easy it is to pick up little nuggets of knowledge let me tell you a brief story. I recently attended a group who gathered to discuss the merits of iDevices, and during the ensuing conversation I off-handily expressed the frustration I was having with my iPhone when forwarding emails to others. Namely, it was the onerous task of removing all the header information that exists at the top of a forwarded email message, which I was doing by placing the curser at the top of the text to be kept, then back spacing over all that existed above that point with single taps of the delete button until done. Sometimes there were a long list of email addresses to be deleted, so many that I often opted to not share messages as a result. Don’t say it; I’m aware that many may have appreciated that I didn’t share in those instances. Grin. At any rate, the suggestion I received from another participant was to place the curser at the top of the text to be kept as before, then to double-tap and hold the Delete Button until all the offending text was removed. When doing so I’ve noticed that it starts out deleting character by character, then it soon switches to word mode removing text far more quickly.

All of this to say that I’m a firm believer in the power of the people, and that there’s far more power in the gathering of like-minded people. Your peers are your best sources of support, encouragement, motivation and inspiration, so gather them together soon to firstly gain a tremendous benefit, and secondly to offer your wisdom to others. .

Thx, Albert Ruel
From an Island in the Pacific

Aryana Rayne and Linda Bartram are setting up a Victoria community choir. Most members will be blind or partially sighted. We will learn the songs by ear and will not be using sheet music. There will be no auditions, you just need to love to sing.

We are having a planning meeting on Monday December 15 at 2:00 at Linda’s home near Hillside Mall.

For more information, directions to Linda’s home or if you are interested but can’t join us on Monday, contact Linda by commenting to this post.

Please pass this on to others you know who may not use email but might like to join us.

Wow, I wonder what it cost to set this up and how difficult it is to keep it up? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/deaf-and-blind-able-to-shop-a Continue reading →