Blind Techie

Last year, Jan from View Finder, asked me to be in a video about Bioptic driving.  I agreed in a heartbeat to help in anyway I can.  During August and September, we shot some video, and in Decemeber, I finally got to see the final video.  At that time, Jan promised to have it on the web soon, well It has finally happened.  I know it takes time to convert video to the web, so I knew from experience it would be a while.  Thanks to View Finder Low Vision Centers Staff, and others(too many to name), I now present the video about Bioptic Driving.

Low Resolution - Click Here

High Resolution - Click Here

 

PS: Everyone says I am the star.  I only play a small part, besides it is Dr. Noon who is the Star here for helping get our independence back.  Thanks Dr. Noon!

Today is the one year anniversary of getting my learners permit.  WhooHoo!  Amazing how time flies.  Thanks to Jenny from Driving to Independence for all the great help in teaching me how to drive safely, and helping me get my first car(and I know she does not do that for everyone.  I just happened to be at the right place and the right time when she retired a car).  Thanks to Jan from View Finder Low Vision for all the support, and training on how to use the Bioptic lenses to drive.  and Finally, Thanks to Dr. Lynn Noon for all the work she put in to making the state of Arizona MVD realize that we can be safe drivers too, and made sure we were well prepared to be on the road as safe drivers before she would give us the green light.  Thanks to everyone.

 

Let me tell you this was not the best experience in a MVD I would say that has been had by any one.  One thing came another, that day came and no license nor car (Will not go into major details, but we had to reschedule).  Well the day finally arrived.  July 12, 2006 is a day I will never forget.  It started out partly cloudy, with possible rain.  I went to work a little early, and left around 11 when Jenny told me she was on her way.  I met her at 35th Ave and McDowell Road from the bus stop.  We drove down to the MVD down is Mesa.  We ended up down there early, so I drove around with Jenny beside me till it was time.  Thanks to the Mesa office MVD manager for getting us through the line and process, because he knew how much trouble we had the last time I was in the office. Within an hour of being the office, I was now a licensed driver.  YAHOOH!

Now comes to getting my car from Jenny.  That was such a breeze to get through the paperwork.  I am now a proud driver with my first car, a 2000 Buick Century.  Even doing the insurance with nationwide was a snap.  The whole process was long and tedious with some bumps in the road.  However I want to thank Dr Noon for all of her hard work in getting the law changed to make Arizona the 39th state to allow bioptic drivers.  Then I would like to thank the staff of View Finder Low Vision of the Mesa office, including Jan.  Next I would like to thank Jenny from Driving to Independence for her help in getting the scheduled times in and helping me get my first car.  For the office manager for the Mesa MVD (once I have his name, I will update this blog), thanks for helping us smooth the bumps in the road with MVD.  I know I am missing some folks, but thanks to each and every one that had a part no matter how small it was to help me get this far.  Independence is GREAT!

PS.  Be on the look out for a video being made about Bioptic Driving.

LINKS:

http://www.viewfinderlowvision.com/

http://www.drivingtoindependence.com/

At these appointments went along I got more confident in my driving skills, as we grew the different tasks to try and drive.  For example, Jenny had me drive through neighborhoods with a lot of stops signs.  Then we graduated up to stoplights. Then right hand turns, then left hand turns.  We worked on going through different speed zones from school zones to major roads with speeds of up to 45 mph.  Then we did a couple lessons where I drove the access road to the freeway, and around a mall.  We then went on to the freeways around her office.  Final 2 lessons included me driving in my own area so I can get comfortable with my own roads, and even taking the freeway to and from the office.  Let me tell you the second go at the freeway gave me a scare that forced me not to want to take the freeway for over a month.  I was coming up on the access freeway road and I had a very long line of 18-wheelers in the merge lane that did not appear to give me room to get in, so I just went back off the freeway, and tried one more time, and was able to get home. 

During this time of lessons, I found out Jenny was going to sell her 2000 Buick Century.  I had mentioned to her I was looking for a car.  Things worked out that I was able to purchase that car from her.  What another blessing.  So finally Jenny gave me the green light to go to get my license.  Since, I had no friends at the time that would let me use their car to take the road test for my license with.  I had talked to Jenny about making some kind of arrangements to use one of her cars.  We had made an appointment time to go and do this.

Continuation of previous post

I went back in to Dr Noon’s office for one final eye exam.  They needed another machine, which finally came in.  I passed that exam.  So now on to the next step.  I had to work on some exercises with my bioptic lenses with Jan from Dr Noon’s office.  Jan is an Occupational Therapist.  Over the next 2 months, I worked on these exercises with Jan from the office and through email.  My last appointment with Jan was on March 10th.  At this appointment, she said I was ready for the next step.  She went to Dr Noon, had her sign off on my progress, and gave me the green light to get my Learner’s permit.  Later that day, I went to the DMV office and applied for my permit, and let me tell you, it was not an easy process, because of the staff at the office, where not sure of the process still, and did not think I was eligible to get my permit.  After talking to the manager and she went and talked to someone else.  They finally issued me my permit.  Yahooh!

Therefore, after that, I was referred by View Finder Low Vision to take driving lessons with Jenny from Driving to Independence.  I called her that afternoon and started the process of getting in to see her and to get the lessons underway.  I was able to get into her office a few weeks later, and we started this segment.  I had a sit down appointment with Jenny, and later in that appointment we did a few exercises in the car where she wanted me to find things on the roadway as a passenger, and since that went really well, she allowed me to do a little driving to see how well I could handle the car, and the instructions.  I feel I did well.  We set up appointments as often as I could and she had open spots.  We did this for the next 2 months.  I got a chance to drive the 2000 Buick Century, and she had just bought a 2006 Kia, which I was able to drive.  As we were doing the lessons, I was going in to work afterwards, which took an additional 2 hours or so to get there from her office, by bus.  I wanna thank my Managers and TL’s for being understanding in adjusting my schedule for this period.

Thankfulness  What does that word mean to you?

To me, it means to be thankful for what I have.  I know sometimes it is not much, but right now, I am very thankful.  You are wondering what I am talking about.  Well for past 34 years, I knew I would not drive a car in my life.  However, that all changed mid December 2005, thanks to Dr. Lynn Noon of View Finder Low Vision Centers in the Valley of Sun.  I got a newsletter from her office saying that in January of 2006, the state of Arizona would be changing the requirements for a driver’s license.  I got excited about the prospects of this information.  So a day or two later I called her office to make an appointment to find out what I needed to do to get my license.

The day of the appointment arrived, and that day was January 6, 2006.  Dr Noon did an eye exam, reevaluated my bioptic lenses and my results of the exam, and told me I would be a good candidate.  She then said to give her a call back on the 10th of January to find out what the exact law said.  I gave it an extra day or two.  Some days later, I was told the process, and remind you this was all still new to the DMV office, and her office had to plan all of the steps for this process, and of course, I was willing to wait as long as needed, since I had already waited 34 years.

This is part of 1 of this series, hang tight, there is a reason for this set of posts