Adventures in Computer Training #3

Once again, I returned to the Cleveland Sight Center for another training session. My trainer is blind and has a Seeing-Eye dog. Before we started our work, I got to meet Butch. He's a big German Shepherd who likes to lick people. I couldn't help but enjoy that.

We began with a quiz over the JAWS functions of the number pad. I still had to visualize the calculator set-up before I could answer. However I did get them all correct. On that positive note, we started something new.

My trainer created a Word document with many mistakes. I had to insert, delete and highlight words. It wasn't as easy as it sounds. I managed insert, but delete and highlight were giving me grief.

It's important to understand that the keyboard on my Braillenote is much smaller than a standard Windows keyboard. There are five rows of 14 keys. It doesn't have function keys or caps lock or a calculator pad or the "six pack" of keys. The shift keys and arrow keys are in different places. The Braillenote has a few keys that are unique to the machine. I warned my trainer that adjusting to a Windows keyboard would be a challenge.

First, I couldn't even find the delete key. Aren't there a bunch of keys that delete? I was looking for back space, like on my Braillenote. After a bit of frustration, my trainer told me I needed to use the delete key on the number pad. It's to the right of zero.

Highlighting was even worse. I tried about ten times to highlight the word "cow." It just wouldn't work. Yes, I understood I needed to press control, shift and the right arrow key together. Nothing happened.

My trainer gave it a try, and it worked for him. He told me to keep working at it. I was stuck on something so simple. I didn't want to try again. It wouldn't work!

It was one of my interpreters who discovered the problem. I was pressing the caps lock instead of shift. Darn that keyboard! My trainer promised that he would mark the shift keys before my next session.

Once I could highlight a word, he showed me the commands to highlight lines, paragraphs and the whole document. I got off track again. The command was to highlight a line from where the cursor was to the next line, stopping under the location of the cursor. That's a little hard to put into words. I actually understood, but when I repeated it back, he said, "no." He explained this many different ways. Nothing made sense to me.

Again, interpreter to the rescue! She mapped it out on my hand, and I was able to "see" what the command did. I was right the first time. The confusion had to do with describing it in words.

I have no doubt that a blind trainer can successfully teach me how to use a computer. Yet, it's crucial to have my two interpreters there. I'm not blind. I'm deaf-blind. The interpreters help bridge the communication gap. Sometimes they can explain things in a way that a deaf person will best understand.

My trainer told me to practice these new commands for my homework. Uh-Oh... I don't even know how to turn my computer on and off yet. Well, I said that I did remember how to start the computer and get into Word. My trainer just had to take me through shutting down. As he did this, I realized the commands were different. I am used to Windows XP. My new computer uses Windows 7.

I asked if starting up is the same as with my old computer. He indicated that it is not, but my driver arrived at that moment. I never found out how to start the computer and create a Word document. How am I supposed to do my homework? It's a moot point, because my father still has not set up the computer. I'm feeling nervous about my next training session.