Help for the Visually Impaired

At long last we seem to be making some progress in getting cousin Wilma set up with the JAWS system. She phoned Saturday to say that she received the installation package I had ordered, and was pleased to report that the computer technician she had relied on in the past has returned to Harrison to set up his own business. He told her he thinks he knows of someone else in the area who is already using the system. I am relieved that she will have someone to turn to locally for help; she is a very determined person and I know she will try very hard to make a go of this project, but when a person can only see colors and parts of images from the sides of one's eyes, the efforts to function on new tasks must be exhausting. Our friend Susan in Georgia - who is completely blind - has been very encouraging and is standing by to offer her ongoing help. I continue to be amazed at the skills Susan exhibits in every e-mail.

The technician wants Wilma to upgrade to XP because she has had problems with 98. I hope he will do that for her right away so that she can get on with the learning process. I am anxiously awaiting an e-mail from her - that will be the signal that she has really returned to cyberspace.