Rosetta Brown calls her new laptop “a miracle.”
“It is rare that Christmas comes in February,” said the 62-year-old grandmother from Conyers, Georgia. “However, it did for me. My new laptop came just in time. “
Rosetta received an Acer Aspire laptop, an iPhone and JAWS screen reading software through iCanConnect, the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, a resource she learned about from a friend.
Prior to receiving her equipment, she struggled to hear clearly on the phone, and had trouble using Skype, email and faxing.
Rosetta was born with blindness, but had some vision restored through surgery at two years old. Later, glaucoma took her vision completely. She began losing her hearing early in life and now wears hearing aids.
Rosetta, who lives with her husband, uses her new laptop and smartphone to stay in touch with loved ones all over the world.
She texts, makes voice calls and uses Skype and FaceTime to talk with family members – including her sisters, son and grandchildren – who live in Virginia and Maryland. She also connects with friends in Hawaii, Senegal, Mali, England, France and China.
In addition, she uses her equipment to take online courses from the Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired. And she uses it to communicate during conference calls with state and national organizations, including the American Council of the Blind and the East Georgia Chapter of the Georgia Council of the Blind, where she serves as a board member and public relations chair.
“iCanConnect has made an awesome difference in my life by helping me communicate instantly with my family, friends and my community,” said Rosetta. “It has opened up global communications for me too, which I never imagined could be possible.”
Rosetta said she constantly recommends iCanConnect to others.
“iCanConnect has enabled me, and countless other individuals who are deaf-blind, to receive much-needed equipment and professional training,” she said. Local iCanConnect trainers are available to help solve problems and answer questions, from delivery to installation, and throughout the training process, and Rosetta is immensely grateful for their support. “The iCanConnect team is awesome,” she said.
“iCanConnect makes communication accessible to people who are deaf-blind,” she said. “It assists people who have been isolated to communicate with the world.”
