The most recent meeting of the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Edmonton Chapter was held November 13, at 7pm at Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 83 Street in Edmonton.
20 people attended.
Reading Tip: These summary notes apply HTML headings to help navigate the document. With screen readers, you may press the H key to jump forward or Shift H to jump backward from heading to heading.
November Topic – Amazon Echo and GarageBand Demos and CNIB
Amazon Echo
Erick Seed very adeptly showed off the Amazon Echo, which is a Wi-Fi connected smart speaker product from Amazon that combines voice recognition “intelligent assistant” capabilities with speaker functionality in a cylindrical speaker form factor. Amazon Echo responds to voice control by returning information on products, Recipes, music, news, weather, sports, making calls, messaging, and much more.
Echo has seven microphones and beam forming technology so it can hear you from across the room—even while music is playing. Echo is also an expertly tuned speaker that can fill any room with 360° immersive sound. When you want to use Echo, just say the wake word “Alexa” and Echo responds instantly.
The Echo has just been released in Canada at an introductory price of $100 (later $130) and the Echo Dot model at an introductory price of $50 (later $70).
The echo’s main competitor, the Google Home smart speaker, sells in Canada for about $180 at outlets such as Best Buy. Google Home works very similarly to Amazon Echo and has the power of Google search behind it. Google Home can also play music, control your TV (via ChromeCast), make phone calls and more.
Apple also has an assistant coming out in December called the Apple HomePod which works similarly to its competitors from Amazon and Google but will be more expensive at about $350 U.S.
Apple MAC GarageBand App
New member, Justin Wack, demonstrated how to use GarageBand for the Mac. GarageBand is a free DAW (digital audio workstation) that is used to successfully create anything to do with audio, from music, to podcasts, and much more. He showed how to make songs or beats using loops. Loops are short audio snippets that you can create, or you can use the hundreds of pre-recorded loops that come with the app. He explained how it is possible to play out your own melodies using the computer keyboard as a piano or other instrument. You can even use the app to learn to play music. He entertained us with examples of his own music he has created entirely with his computer and the app.
CNIB Introduces Vision Loss Rehabilitation Alberta
Our guest, Matthew Kay, the new manager of rehabilitation services for Vision Loss Rehabilitation Alberta explained how CNIB has changed its governance to better deliver and obtain provincial health care funding for its core rehab services. The core services still include provision of assistive technology, orientation and mobility training, low vision services, and independent living skills training. However, these services are branded under the new name of Vision Loss Rehabilitation Alberta which is a division of CNIB. VL Rehab Alberta will still operate from the CNIB headquarters at 12010 Jasper Avenue.
Matthew explained that managing the core services separately from CNIB’s charitable foundation services allows more direct access to Alberta Health funding for home care and other rehab services. The charitable foundation arm of CNIB will continue providing services such as the tech aid store, children’s services, public education, and emotional wellness support. If you have questions or wish further information, you may contact Matthew Kay at the local Edmonton office 780.453.8318 or email him at:
Steve Barcaly, owner of Canadian Assistive Technology, will join us to exhibit some of the latest new technology his company sells. Steve was the former COO of Aroga which no longer exists, but Steve has brought his 30 years of experience consulting about and selling assistive technology along with his supplier network to his new company. This marks the third year Steve has joined us in December and he always has interesting new tech to show us. You won’t want to miss this meeting!
Meeting Location and Logistics
Ascension Lutheran Church 8405 – 83 Street NW, Edmonton.
We meet in the basement hall. There is elevator access.
Enter the church from the back door. There is parking at the back and drop off space for taxis, DATS.
Meetings are every second Monday of the month at 7pm.
If you have someone helping you your assistant is welcome to remain for the meeting.
GTT Edmonton Overview
GTT Edmonton is a chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB).
GTT Edmonton promotes a self-help learning experience by holding monthly meetings to assist participants with assistive technology.
Each meeting consists of a feature technology topic, questions and answers about technology, and one-on-one training where possible.
Participants are encouraged to come to each meeting even if they are not interested in the feature topic because questions on any technology are welcome. The more participants the better able we will be equipped with the talent and experience to help each other.
There are GTT groups across Canada as well as a national GTT monthly toll free teleconference. You may subscribe to the National GTT blog to get email notices of teleconferences and notes from other GTT chapters. Visit:
The Albert A. Ruel Road to Blindness
A 21 year old man stood on the beach at the Sproat Lake Provincial Park with friends early in May of 1977, and upon gazing across the lake found the Gulf Oil sign missing from the dock-side filling station there. When this fact was shared with his companions they glanced at him with puzzled looks and said, “No Albert, the sign is still there”.
That was the beginning of a road through confusion, anger, isolation, loneliness and discovery for me. It all began with a visit to a local Optometrist who could see that my vision wasn’t right, but that corrective lenses wouldn’t help. He then referred me to a General Practitioner, where I received a clean bill of health and an additional referral. This time to an Ophthalmologist. Immediately upon peering through the dilated pupils, Dr. McKerricher was able to see the problem, Retinal Vasculitis.
Now, you would think that all would start to improve at this point, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You see, CNIB, from 1918 until 1985 only served the needs of people who were “Legally Blind”, a level of vision loss I wouldn’t reach until November of 1979. The words of Dr. McKerricher still echo in my mind today, “Albert, I don’t know what has caused this and nothing we’ve tried is helping to stop it, and you’re not blind enough for me to refer you to CNIB”!
In the middle of this transition from 20/20 vision to “Legally Blind” came the Motor Vehicle Branch and it’s rules of the road. On August 3, 1978 I drove a car for the last time as my vision had reached the level at which operating a motor vehicle became too dangerous, further intensifying feelings of fear, isolation and anger. Sadly, through this period the only available guidance and support was through family and friends, but not the experienced professionals I needed at the time. Although these support systems are critically important they can often be smothering and facilitating, rather than encouraging and supportive.
With gratitude, and some trepidation I finally was able to access CNIB services in November of 1979, and the world opened up then. There I was able to meet other blind people and receive the daily living and mobility skills required to live independently in this sighted world. I learned elementary braille and began to discover technology as necessary tools of independence.
Thankfully, in 1985 CNIB’s National Board altered the course of service to visually impaired Canadians forever. They added a third prong to their Mission Statement, “To promote sight enhancement services”. This opened the door to all Canadians who were beginning to lose sight, as well as those who had a fear of vision loss to access the full range of CNIB Support and Rehabilitation Services. So now, whether it’s someone’s Mother who is experiencing Macular Degeneration, or an Uncle experiencing the affects of Glaucoma, all have the ability to seek information, guidance and support as all involved deal with the fear and anxiety that accompanies such life altering experiences.
With the help of professional Rehabilitation Workers and Employment Counselors I was able to continue traveling independently within my own community, and even more remarkably anywhere in the world I desired to go. I managed to attend College in Nanaimo and New Westminster, as well as traveling to the Mayo Clinic and to doctor’s appointments in Nanaimo and Vancouver without assistance. All of this while living with some usable vision, but not yet needing a white cane for travel.
During the mid 1980’s I was a stay-at-home Dad and did all that was required of that challenging work, from changing diapers to preparing meals, and from cutting the grass to maintaining our home. I even took a woodworking course through Alberni’s Adult Education program and built and restored several pieces of furniture. Of course the 1958 Chevy Impala in the garage was my pride and joy, and I devised ways to do much of the work it required.
I also joined and participated in many community activities, like the local Car Club, and a disability support group that catered to the needs of people with many different disabilities. Of course, continued participation in family life remained of critical importance through this period.
In 1989 a secondary condition began to extinguish the vision that remained, which set into motion a new stream of professional rehabilitation services and supports. By the spring of 1990 Glaucoma had turned out the lights completely, and the darkness I had feared so desperately was upon me. Strangely though, I found this to be a great relief rather than the tragedy I had imagined it would be.
Through several professional rehabilitation sessions, and by joining peer mentoring and advocacy groups I was able to come to terms with this strange feeling, and to learn additional skills and strategies for living with no visual cues of the world around me. This is also about the time that I decided to explore CNIB as an employer, and to see if I could provide the sort of guidance and support to others that had been my pleasure to receive. Those 14 years were a wonderful experience of ongoing discovery for me, as teaching may be the best way to solidify one’s own learning. In other words, those we assist through this transition in turn help us all as we develop best practices and improved service.
Following a 14 year career with CNIB I also served the blind community as the first National Equality Director employed by the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC), and as a Basic Computer Literacy Trainer with the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB). Most recently I have enjoyed coordinating the CCB’s newly launched Get Together with Technology Program in Western Canada, which brings to the fore my passion for assistive technology and the power of peer mentoring.
Without sight I have continued to travel far and wide, with trips to Conventions of and for the Blind in Anaheim California and Melbourne Australia, as well as to many events and activities in Toronto and Vancouver. Of course my work has taken me to many communities throughout Western Canada, and most particularly nearly all regions of BC and on Vancouver Island. None of which would have been possible without the services and support of organizations like CCB, AEBC and CNIB.
For most people blindness generates a fear of extended movement, both within one’s home and community, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Independence comes from personal desire and increased skill. Many community organizations can assist with both through their mentoring and skill development programs. I remember always that life has little to do with what happens to me and 100% what I do about/with it. There is a quote I like to use from the National Federation of the Blind in the USA, “With adequate skill development and opportunity blindness can be reduced to the level of a nuisance”, and nothing could be closer to the truth.
Helen Keller said many years ago, “There is nothing more tragic than someone who has sight, but no vision”. She also challenged the Lions Clubs of the world to become the “Knights of the Blind, and to take up the crusade against darkness”. I too joined a Lions Club in 1992 and continue to work on the crusade that Helen Keller began in the 1920-s.
View all posts by Albert Ruel