Improving Financial and Physical Independence: My Conversation with Jarrett Gist

I can remember going to, I think it was the, The state sent me over to the Houston Lighthouse for an evaluation check for technology and things that might be able to help.

With my type of vision, my central vision is

pretty

poor.

And so I used my peripheral to compensate.

And because of that, magnification works very well for me.

So software programs like ZoomText, which allows me to zoom in and out at a way more functional level than using something like a pre-built Windows magnifier on a PC or something like that, was great.

And it has a built-in reader app on it.

So I was introduced to that, which helped me get through school.

And I was also using a CCTV.

So CCTV is like, basically it looks like a computer with a stand underneath it.

You put your reading material underneath that and it enlarges it.

It's relatively easy to use, which is something that I could appreciate because it wasn't over complicated.

Uh, and that's one thing I would say about if you're using accommodations the fewest amount of tools that you need to get the most done because that will help increase efficiency and make your life as simple as possible.

Right.

When it comes to accommodations and devices like that, I really feel like it would help us if more of the non-visually impaired people could spend some time experiencing the various technologies and what they're designed to do, what they can help somebody with and what they cannot help somebody with.

I went through some of the same places that you went through, but in 1984, not the 70s or the 80s, not the 2000s.

And, you know, as you were talking about being diagnosed and how the technology has changed, I got a laugh out of that because when I was diagnosed in the early 70s, they had none of that technology.

It was basically there was some testing using light sources and eye dilation.

Yeah.

A lot of it came down to experience, quality of life type things, which is why about three years ago, I finally found out that I do not have retinitis pigmentosa, but instead I have Bartle-Beetle syndrome.

which is related to RP, but besides causing vision loss, can also cause a wide range of other negative outcomes for somebody who has it.

And of course, not always the technology for diagnosing these things change, The technology has improved a lot for preventing them.

So when I found out about my BBS instead of RP, I also found out that some of the things I've lived with in my lifetime could have been prevented under today's medical technology.

Yeah, and it's amazing, too.