Continued Post, Friday, Nov. 4th.

And Everyone gets interrupted by Something! That is not unique to blind or disabled people. What May be more exagerated if one has a disability is that when someone offers to help with something you Cannot do, you must wind your schedule around Theirs.

But the luxury of thought is or has become incredibly valuable to me. I know Soo many people who don't Seem to think, or who believe they don't have Time to think. There are times in everyone's life when this is true.

But I feel lucky that this is something I Can take advantage of, with no hurt to others. I used to tell my newly blind clients or consumers, "You can't choose whether you see or not. But Eventually, you Will be able to find things you can do which you Couldn't before. Either you will develop a new interest, work a volunteer job which You choose, or have time to do some of what You enjoy." This isn't Polly Anna, as the word "Eventually" usually means "within a few years". And I made that clear.

Honestly, I Haven't found advantages in losing hearing, on top of being totally blind. There are Still other ways of getting info., but it means concentrating a Lot harder. I can feel a pan handle vibrating and know that whatever I'm cooking is boiling. I have a bed shaker alarm clock, and read and write Braille, plus typing. I know some Sighted people who need bed shaker alarms (smiling) and you're Not supposed to look at the keys anyway, right?

It takes either a lot more companionship or a lot more technology to cope with deaf-blindness than to cope with either deafness or blindness alone. Those of us born into Western countries have more of a chance to acquire the skills and technology we need in order to live as independently as possible. Not everyone has an Equal chance, even here in the U.S. but I am Thankful for the opportunity to live outside my family and outside of an institution or on the street! There may come a day when I find an advantage in my current situation, but that day hasn't come yet. Mostly, living without Ann is just Scary! But I'm thankful for the patience of friends who know that if I must ask them to repeat a thing three times, I can't Change it by "paying attention" or "listening harder". I listen as hard as I can, nearly Always! It's what I need to do to survive and be as safe as possible. I've found it helps if I repeat the part of a sentence I Did hear, so the person speaking to me Knows I am Trying to understand them. Also, they don't need to repeat everything they said, just the part I missed.

New subject: I have decided to research Moslem dolls and see what I think of differing ones. I've already found that I get more search results using the word "Moslem" than "Muslim". Also, there are a lot of dolls which have come out Since Fulla and Razanne. So as I have time, I will be checking them out, whenever possible, with the help of someone sighted.I am glad the variety for moms and others to choose from has increased. I was also interested to learn that the "Prettie" dolls will have One who Could be Moslem.