Thursday, April 10

Texting

Oh my gosh!! Where have I been?? I have never texted before and now I am hooked! It's also been fun watching Rebecca text - she thinks it is one of God's greatest gifts! I got a Pantech Duo which I am loving! It has been very user friendly and Rebecca has no problems seeing the screen and getting around on it which was my goal.

Now I can talk to my Deaf friends more than just one or two times a week! I can call them anytime just like my hearing friends. Maybe that sounds stupid, but it's true! I don't know why I haven't texted before.

4 comments:

Deaf Pixie said...

Exactly! Much easier than I was very young in 1970's. I never know how to use it.. after I got text my member family.

Somewhat I am kind of surprised Rebecca can see text. Good things she can see and useful for communicate with you. you are super mom!

Dianrez said...

Yes, it's a great addition to one's communication toolbox! I also noticed my Deaf son's language improved after he got a Sidekick and started texting with me and his friends. Keep it up, sending daily messages and expecting your daughter to reply, too every day.

faithful said...

Technology is really amazing. For the Deaf community, technology is a lifeline...Videophone, texting, email, vlog, etc. It's wonderful how far we've come, and I look forward to how far technology will bring us.

I'm suprised she can see the text, too. Does she have the Pantech Duo also? I'm not familiar with that...I have the sidekick3 and want to get the LX. I heard they will be doing away with sk1, 2 and 3 soon...will need to get something else.

Awesome that you have Deaf friends, too! I don't know if Texas has Deaf chat or anything, but in NJ we have a few Deaf socials...like once a month meet at Starbucks or have Deaf bingo (called Gingo)...it's nice to have a place to go where communication is accessible! Wonder if you can find something like that in Texas for you and Rebecca...maybe the deaf school has something?

Good luck and happy texting!

Candice said...

There's a couple of things that I did to make the Pantech Duo more user friendly for Rebecca.

1) Under preferences, you can go to accessibility and can change the system font size to large. This made every font larger so that she does not have trouble reading the names on the contact list, etc.

2) The home screen is also large font, so that the time is prominately displayed on the front in large font.

Changing these two things made the screen large so that she has no trouble texting. The keyboard on the pantech is a good sized keyboard. She does have to put it a little close sometimes to get the right keys, but it's better than some others that I saw. Once she types the letter she does not have trouble seeing the screen to know if she got the right letter or not because it is big enough for her to see. What I also liked about the Duo was that it was white letters on black background which was better than some of the others where it was all white background with black tiny letters.

Video phone will be my next hurdle. I have a webcam and we have Skype'd a couple of times but it freezes up quite a bit which makes it frustrating.

We have attended a couple of Deaf events so far, but mostly just hang out with our friends. Now that it is summer we will hopefully have more time to get to do more things. That has been the big hurdle. By the time we get home and have dinner it is time for bed and then on the weekends we are busy playing catch up.

My husbands job maybe changing hours which will be better for us if it happens. He will start working 7-1 7 days a week. So, the girls could be involved in more afternoon activities.