Auggie and the Way into the dark 4
Auggie had spent a wonderful evening with Erin. She had taken him to an Italian restaurant in town and he was surprised how well she took care of him. She had led him to the table, had placed his hand on the back of the chair and had described the environment to him. They had ordered Pasta and some salad. Auggie had opted for some Tortellini and Erin had Spaghetti Carbonara. Tortellini were much easier to eat for him than Spaghetti. Even for sighted people it was sometimes a problem to twirl the Spaghettis around the fork so he decided for some Tortellini with ham and cream sauce.
Whilst eating Auggie and Erin were chatting and for a while Auggie managed to forget his handicap because he was so focused on his meal and the conversation with Erin. At 10:00 pm Erin had taken him back to the centre because the institution closed its doors at 10:00 pm. For the first time in a while Auggie was relaxed and had the feeling that his life was worth living again. He had gone out, he had not embarrassed himself as he had feared before and he had enjoyed the evening. But there was still a long way to go for him, before he could live independently again.
The next morning Auggie sat in Braille class and was just typing on his Perkins Braillewriter when his neighbour to the left nudged him. "Hey Auggie, I heard you went out on a date yesterday? Did you have a good time?" How do you know that Jerry? " Auggie asked. "Well….my wife visited me and she saw you leave with a beautiful brunette. Wanna tell me who it was?" Auggie smirked and replied "Nope." and continued typing. Typing Braille letters was not so easy. It involved pressing one, two , three or even more keys at a time to create a number or a letter. It took some time to learn all the different combinations but Auggie started to get the hang of it. Later, he would also attend computer class. The instructors at the centre would teach him how to work with a Braille keyboard and with the speech control of a computer. Being a computer geek and a Nerd, he was definitely looking forward to these lessons even if it was not the same for him because he could not see the screen anymore.
The time passed and Auggie regained more and more of his former self confidence. He had started to take walks alone using his cane for orientation. He often went to the park and sometimes he made his way to the café close-by for a cappuccino or some ice-cream. At the centre they had shown him how to fold his banknotes. Folding his money in different sizes, made it possible, to distinguish the banknotes in his wallet when paying at a shop or a restaurant. Erin had watched him at the Italian restaurant wondering how he knew which banknote he held in his hand when he had paid the meal. Sometimes Auggie could not believe how quickly he had adapted to walking with a cane. At the beginning, he had been quite reluctant. He had felt ashamed because the white cane drew attention to him and his visual disability. But then ,he had learned that being independent was only possible, when he accepted this little tool as a friend that helped him to get around.
Auggie swept his cane back and forth clearing the way before him. He had reached the traffic light, listened for the sound and crossed the street. He wanted to go to the department store to get a new mobile phone. He counted his steps, found the door and entered the shop. Cautiously he walked through the shop. He knew that electrical appliances and phones were sold on the ground floor. Shortly after, he heard a voice say. "Sir, can I help you?" "Yes" he replied. I am actually looking for a new mobile phone and I could use some help to find the right department." "Do you want me to take you there? " The friendly shop assistant asked. "That would be very kind of you" Auggie replied with a smile. When the young lady took Auggie´s arm and he said "I would prefer to take your arm when you are guiding me" And then he grabbed her elbow and had her lead the way. Arriving in the right department, the shop assistant called a colleague and left. The young man looked a bit confused when he saw Auggie leaning on his cane but then he asked "How can I help you Sir?" Auggie turned into the direction of the voice and said "Well…I am actually looking for a new mobile phone. It should be accessible for people with visual disabilities and should therefore have speech control and a talking menu." "Okay" the shop assistant said". Would you like to wait here until I get back with a few phone models?" "With pleasure" Auggie replied and opened the lid of his watch to check the time. Lunch was in an hour. So he had enough time to make a choice. Shortly after, the shop assistant returned with three different phone models. He started the phones to let Auggie check the accessibility for him. The first phone had a talking menu but the speech quality was really bad he could barely understand the voice, the second phone was too expensive but the third met Auggie´s demands. It had an easily palpable home button below the screen, a talking menu and a number of other interesting features such as radio and MP3 music player. Auggie paid the phone and made his way home. He was proud. He had done his first shopping without help and he finally had a phone, that made it possible for him to make calls without assistance.
Half an hour later he arrived at the centre. He put the plug of the phone into the socket to recharge the battery. For the first steps of installation he would need someone to read the manual to him but once installed accordingly, he would be able to use the phone without help. After lunch Emily had offered him her assistance. Auggie grabbed his old mobile phone and Emily checked all the numbers of his contact list and typed them into the new phone. Reading the manual to him, she showed Auggie how to get around the menu. She activated the speech control and the talkback-function and had Auggie explore the menu. Auggie slid his fingertips across the screen and listened to the voice that informed him of all menu contents. He moved his finger to the left and heard "phone settings" then he slid a bit further to the left and heard "text message". He opened "text message" and a voice asked him "who do you want to write to?" Auggie said a name and the voice continued "What is your message?" Auggie dictated a text and finally he heard "Do you want to send the message now?" Auggie answered "send message" and the phone replied "message was sent". Auggie was delighted. He finally could send text messages without help and the phone also read incoming messages to him. He could also alter a variety of settings by using the voice control of his phone.
A week later
Auggie sat at a computer desk for the first time in months. James, the instructor had explained to the group how to use a Braille keyboard and how to work with different shortcuts to access the menu of the computer. Auggie had listened carefully and tried now to open his e-mail account. It would take some time to memorize all the shortcuts for navigating the menu and the internet but he had a list and from time to time he would slide his fingers across the Braille pages searching for the right shortcut. He had missed working with a computer in the past 2 months. But this was finally a way to get back to working with a computer again and maybe also a possibility to find a job later. He just needed some time to get acquainted with everything. He added a Braille keyboard to his shopping list although these did not come cheap.