by Tom Scheidel, AAESA
Technology is helping a 17-year-old Hopkins High School student with a visual impairment meet many of her challenges.

An iPhone, a GPS application and a support system enables Taylor Arndt, a junior, to attend high school, study and walk around her home town. As a result, Taylor has shown an increased passion for technology over the last several years.

“Technology gives Taylor the ability to access her world independently,” said AAESA Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist Felicia Vliek. “In addition to it giving her access to her academics and community on a daily basis, technology has also increased her ability to self-educate and advocate, as well as create, build, and maintain relationships both personally and professionally.”

People who are blind or visually impaired often will gain information about locations ahead of time and practice along a route with an instructor, family member or friend, before traveling the route to a specific destination independently. Realistically, there are not always opportunities to gain route information and practice ahead of time.

This is where technology steps in. A GPS-based phone app can give a visually impaired person helpful information about the surroundings.

Teresa Arndt, Taylor’s mom, said, “The technology has definitely improved Taylor’s confidence. She loves to travel and explore new places. Our goal is for Taylor to live and travel independently.”

When moving around her community Taylor uses the Blindsquare app on her iPhone with her wireless bone conducting headset. BlindSquare is GPS-app developed for the blind and visually impaired. It describes the environment, announces points of interest and street intersections as you travel. For lessons, the instructor has the student plug in a Bluetooth wireless splitter to her iPhone that allows both the student and instructor to connect wirelessly to the student’s iPhone. This allows the instructor to observe the student taking information from the app and making safe and efficient choices while traveling along a route in the community.

“My updated transition plan is to go to college,” said Taylor. “I would like to go out of state, and I would like to move down south. This equipment would help because of the fact that I could use it at college campuses and other places I go as an adult.”

Besides her Blindsquare app, Taylor has worked with a Kapten GPS (designated GPS device) and the Seeing Eye GPS app. She is a field tester, along with the instructor, for APH’s GPS app, Nearby Explorer. She enjoys staying current on blindness specific technology and often shares updated information with her peers, family, school staff and Visually Impaired Service Team.

Taylor was born with Septo-Optic-Displasia, which causes the underdevelopment of optic nerves. This means visual images are not transmitted to the brain for visual processing. She has limited available vision in her right eye and no light perception in her left eye. Taylor has also been diagnosed with Raynauds disease, which negatively impacts her tactile ability to read Braille. She is primarily an auditory learner.

PHOTO: Taylor Arndt moves around downtown Hopkins with a little help from her “friends.” (Photos supplied by AAESA)