Meet the Blind Month: Amanda’s Life.

By Amanda Gene 

I was asked by Chelsey, who runs the blog, VIBlindResources, to join in her project meet the blind month.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Amanda Gene. I’m 30 years old, I have a Bachelors of Arts in Print Journalism with a minor in Professional Education. My blog, www.amandagene.com has been going strong for nine years and it covers a variety of disability topics, day in the life, ect.

I have an eye condition called Congenital Nystagmus which I have had since birth. My vision is like looking through a piece of Saran Wrap. My vision is at its strongest in the morning, and it deteriorates through the day. I have Night Blindness and was diagnosed with it in 2011. I noticed my Night Blindness in the spring on 2008 on my senior trip to Disney World, but I was not sure if it was stress or something else. So, the next time I saw my eye doctor I asked about my symptoms and was told I had Night Blindness. My Night Blindness has been fluctuating recently. Sometimes I can see just fine, sometimes I can see just light and shadows and on really bad night’s I can’t see anything at all. 

I use some assistive technology aids to help me live as a normal life as I possibly can. I use a screen reader called ZoomText to help me see my computer. Kurzweil 3000, to help read books, emails, and other printed material. I have a talking book player and I’m signed up with BookShare.org to access books in audio format. I have my Apple Iphone 6 S plus with voice over and speak tool to access my emails, text messages, ect. Lastly, I have the Amazon Echo to help me with looking up recipes, to check the time, to check my spelling of words when I am writing, and the list to keep up with my To-Do lists and my shopping lists.

In the kitchen I have a talking thermometer, a black/white cutting board and long oven mittens. 

Places you can find me:

www.AmandaGene.com  Blog

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt7ecLXRimvYFUZJ9WYYXXw/featured?view_as=subscriber -YouTube

https://www.pinterest.com/amandagenenelso/ Pinterest  

https://twitter.com/AmandaGeneN Twitter 

https://www.instagram.com/amandanelson88/ Instagram 

amanda@amandagene.com Email 

https://www.facebook.com/AmandaGeneN/ Facebook 

If you would like to be apart of meet the blind month, please email either a blog post of five minute video to Chelsey by October 13.

Email:

 viblindresources@gmail.com