Blind Living Radio

Harley welcomes special guest Dan Bailey, Federal Sales Director at ibSupply, but most importantly a father. Dan shares parenting tips including how to make your children feel loved and even an effective way to communicate with your adopted daughter from East Asia who knows very little English.

Harley and Jeana talk with Marty Hutchins, program director of Blind Outdoor Leisure Development (BOLD). Marty shares how BOLD was started, the various activities offered to blind and visually impaired participants through the program (even downhill skiing and horseback riding!) and how you can get involved.

Harley welcomes cohost Deborah Ambro-Crandell to speak with Steven Goldstein, Area Sales Manager at OrCam Technologies. Steve talks about the wearable technology created to assist people who are blind or visually impaired and gives a demo of the device in action.

Harley welcomes guest Jim Marcus, the creative force behind ibMilwaukee’s newly redesigned logo and website. Jim shares his vision behind the updates and speculates what the future may hold for ibMilwaukee.

ibMilwaukee’s Human Resources Manager Connie Knutson joins Harley this week to share her valuable insight for job seekers. With the staggering 70% unemployment rate of blind or visually impaired working age adults, Connie fills us in on tips and tools both the sighted and blind community can utilize to land that dream job.

Harley celebrates Mother’s Day with mother-daughter duo Alison and Rose Fortney, both legally blind and artists in their own trade. Rose and Alison share their love of art in various mediums, how they are able to utilize their limited vision to focus and bring details of their art to life, and first steps aspiring artists should take to create their own masterpieces.

This week, host Harley Thomas welcomes respected blind advocate, evangelist and Executive Director of the Jernigan Institute at the National Federation of the Blind, Mr. Anil Lewis. Anil's leadership, passion and accomplishments provide inspiration for the blind and sighted community alike. Join us for his very special appearance on this week's episode of Blind Living Radio.

This week Harley is in the studio with Mark Wilhelms to discuss Toyota's Project Blaid with Manager of Partner Robot Doug Moore. Doug describes Project Blaid as a wearable device that uses built-in cameras to describe the environment, allowing the blind community to easily navigate their surroundings.

Harley is joined by Jesse Vega to talk with Blind Paratriathlete and Sommelier Amy Dixon. Amy shares how exercising after losing her sight led to competing in triathlons, the moment her guide dog saved her life and what motivates her to train for triathlons.

It’s April fool’s Day! Harley and Ellen celebrate with guest Brian Fischler, blind comic and founder of the comedy benefit Laugh for Sight. Once named the World’s Funniest Blind Comic (by himself), Brian talks about his transition from improv to standup comedy, how his blindness has affected his comedy routine and finding humor in the bizarre circumstances he’s experienced since losing his sight.

You’re in for a real treat with this episode featuring Blind Entrepreneur and Chocolatier Joel Bernhard who owns the chocolate shop and restaurant Confections for Any Occasion in Theresa, WI. Joel dishes about how he got started in making chocolate, the challenges of being a blind business owner and even shares an easy truffle recipe at the very end!

Harley and first-time cohost Camelia Woodson discuss adjusting to life without vision with Author Philip Dimeo. Phil wrote the book Binoculars: Masquerading as a Sighted Person about the denial of his progressive vision loss for 14 years, which resulted in numerous car accidents and even a near-death experience.

Harley and cohost Ellen Colby talk to owner of BlindAlive.com Mel Scott about her journey to become physically healthy after the loss of her sight. Frustrated by the lack of descriptive cues in exercise videos, Mel took it into her own hands to develop an exercise program that is easy to use and accessible for any fitness fanatic, whether blind or sighted, in the comfort of their own home.

Toronto-based company eSight made a three-day visit to IB Milwaukee providing blind employees the opportunity to regain their vision. Julie Davis, Corey Love and Jeana Angelini share their first-hand experiences using eSight goggles and the possibilities this technology could have on their future.

Harley Thomas is joined by Shelley Behrens to talk with Blind Film Critic Tommy Edison. Tommy shares what kind of movie scene is most boring to blind people, his venture into Youtube videos and upcoming premieres on Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus.

Harley Thomas and Cindy Alioto talk to Neil Taylor, a blind masseur, who lost his sight as a result of surgery to remove a brain tumor. Neil Taylor explains that massage is more about feeling than seeing, making it a viable career option for the blind community.

Love is in the air this week as Harley Thomas and Cara Catton talk with Empish Thomas, blogger for Visionaware.org, about dating as a blind person. Empish shares her experience dating after losing her sight in her twenties and even shares some tips on dating in the modern age.

Our guests, Joy and Jenelle are identical twin sisters who have grown up with retinitis pigmentosa. Although they look a lot alike on the outside, they often have different perspectives on the disease and each deal with it in our own way.

Harley and Phil sit down with Scott Nicholas, senior director of corporate sales for IB Milwaukee to discuss the exciting, new products featured at NIB this year, as well as the advancements in assistive technology we can expect to see in 2016.

President and CEO of Industries for the Blind, Inc., C.J. Lange shares some exciting developments for 2016, as well as the positive impact they will have on the organization, its employees and the community.