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Published: July 24, 2018, 5:53 p.m.

 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: Carving His Pathway Towards Success, Meet Simon Bonenfant

 

Full Transcript Below

Blind Abilities presents the TVI Toolbox. Where the collaboration between Teachers, Counselors, Parents, Agencies and the Students themselves help enhance the opportunities for success.
Transitioning from high school to college and the workplace is a major step and the beginning of lifetime goals and aspirations. As Simon Bonenfant , this month’s featured interview, talks about his goals and what he is doing to enhance his opportunities and gain the skills to succeed.

Simon is entering Geometry and Physics and showing the self-confidence he has about his skills, tools and support system, Simon will make this all happen in order to achieve his career that he wants.

Join Simon Bonenfant and Jeff Thompson in this introduction to Simon and be sure to stay tuned when Simon returns to tell us all about his experience he gained from summer camp.

You can follow Simon on Twitter @TheTechKid123and on Skype at TheTechKid55.

You can find out more about Independence Science at www.IndependenceScience.com and follow on Twitter @IndSci

From the TVI’s to the Agency counselor’s and program specialist, working together along with parents as well, is creating more opportunities and successes for Transition age students.
Sharing experiences through Success Stories, sharing programs that make a positive impact, sharing ideas, findings, upcoming events and the Tools for Success all play a part in making the transition process a natural progression and better understood by all.

Check out your State Services by searching the Services Directory on the AFB.org web site.

State Services for the Blind of Minnesota
We offer tools and training for employment and for helping seniors remain independent and active. As Minnesota’s accessible reading source we also transcribe books and other materials into alternative formats, including audio and braille. We assist Minnesotans who are blind, DeafBlind, losing vision, or who have another disability that makes it difficult to read print.
I hope you find what you need here. We’ve also created a Tips for Using Our New Website page.
If you’d like to apply for services, learn more, or have more questions, just give us a call. You’ll find contact information for all of our offices on our contact page, or you can call our main office at 651-539-2300.

Thank you for listening!
You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities
On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com
Send us an email
Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Store.

Full Transcript;

 

 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: Carving His Pathway Towards Success, Meet Simon Bonenfant

 

Speaker 1:
The special education teacher and I, we worked on technology. We looked at different job options and job opportunities, and career opportunities.

Speaker 2:
Use state services for the blind all the way through college.

Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to TVI Toolbox.

Speaker 4:
Part of the blind skills that I had to learn which helped me with my job is I have to be really on top of things.

Jeff Thompson:
Success stories of students on their journey through the transition process from high school to college to the workplace. With agency professionals, teachers of the visually impaired, parents of students and the students themselves. What's in your toolbox? What's in your toolbox? What's in your toolbox? What's in your toolbox?

Simon Bonenfant:
I just finished doing algebra, math and now I'm going into geometry next year and I'm also going to be taking physics next week.

Jeff Thompson:
Meet high school student, Simon Bonenfant.

Simon Bonenfant:
Hopefully going to be using equipment from a company called Independent Science, which a good friend of mine Cary Supalo, he runs that company and he made all different talking science equipment and I'm going to be using that for my physics next year.

Jeff Thompson:
Working through science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Simon Bonenfant:
I'm not exactly sure what college I want to go to exactly but I know a career I want to get into.

Jeff Thompson:
Working on independence, working on striving to be the best that he can be.

Simon Bonenfant:
Network with lots of different people who have done what you are looking to do.

Jeff Thompson:
You can find more TVI Toolbox episodes on the web at www.blindabilities.com. You can also find our Job Insights episodes where we focus on vocational rehab and transitioning to the workplace.

Simon Bonenfant:
And so often I've met people who have finished their journey but say they wish that they found the people they did at a younger age because they can network and mentor more.

Jeff Thompson:
And now welcome, soon to be 10th grader, self-driven, Simon Bonenfant.

Jeff Thompson:
Welcome to Blind Abilities. I'm
Jeff Thompson and I'm at the National Federation of the Blind Convention 2018 in Orlando, Florida. And I caught up with an old friend of mine. I shouldn't say an old friend of mine but a friend of mine from back in the Audioboom days and his name is Simon Bonenfant. How are you doing, Simon?

Simon Bonenfant:
I'm doing good how are you, Jeff?

Jeff Thompson:
Good. Just surprised to catch up with you because I've known you for four, five years and here we are here. You looked me up and it's just a great time to catch up with you and your mom.

Simon Bonenfant:
Oh yeah it is, has been.

Jeff Thompson:
So this is your second convention.

Simon Bonenfant:
My third.

Jeff Thompson:
Third.

Simon Bonenfant:
Yeah, I'm enjoying the convention, I'm enjoying the exhibit hall mostly and I also want to mention to you that I also live in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jeff Thompson:
What keeps bringing you back to the convention?

Simon Bonenfant:
I've been a part of NFB for a very long time and I have a lot of friends here that I know including you, Jeff, as one of mine. And I also enjoy learning about the technology too. I use a lot of HumanWare products and I use Apple products so I went to the different seminars and the different exhibit booths that have been here and I really enjoy that part of it.

Jeff Thompson:
What's your big excitement in the exhibits this year?

Simon Bonenfant:
I like the Google booth. I went to the Google booth I saw the Google Home that's the smart speaker that they have. I also went to Freedom Scientific that was very nice, cool. Yeah so I went to those booths. I enjoy that.

Jeff Thompson:
Did you get a load of the Aira stuff going on?

Simon Bonenfant:
Yeah I heard about Aira. I heard about that and it's very nice program. I heard that they have a free program for the people at the convention.

Jeff Thompson:
Yeah that program you can download the app right to your phone. You call up an agent and get service that way. Did you give that a try yet?

Simon Bonenfant:
No, I did not. I might do that maybe today or tomorrow just download the app and see if I can use it. And I heard about the there's glasses you can use too.

Jeff Thompson:
The new Horizon glasses just came out so give that a shot, get some instant access to information. So you went to the sessions and how were they going today?

Simon Bonenfant:
They were very good. I went to the general session today and that was very nice. And the part I like the most is they did a ... every state got up and they talked about their attendance at the convention and every state got to talk about themselves a little bit. And it was kind of cool because for Pennsylvania, I think Pennsylvania cheered the loudest we were screaming and yelling and having a good time. But we actually chanted the Eagles chant because the Eagles are Super Bowl Champions this year so that was kind of fun.

Jeff Thompson:
Rub it in. Rub it in. So you're going to a camp in a couple of weeks here?

Simon Bonenfant:
Yes I am. Yes, I'm going to a place called the Summer Academy down in Penn State Pennsylvania. It's a three week camp. They teach all blindness skills. They teach daily living skills, cane travel. They do all that kind of thing. It's going to be good for me because I'll be getting my independence and I'm actually going into 10th grade in high school. I've been getting more independent. I've actually done a lot of getting independent in this convention I've met a lot of people. And I actually was able to navigate the exhibit all myself, which at first I thought it was going to be giving me a little trouble but I made it around. I made it through and I found what I was looking for. I got around so I'm going to that camp for three weeks next Saturday actually I'll be leaving for that camp. Yeah I will be doing that and maybe I'll give a little recap on one ability after that of how it went and all.

Jeff Thompson:
Oh, we'll look forward to that. Can you tell us a little bit about your mathematics and your science and your school?

Simon Bonenfant:
Yes, well I just finished doing algebra, math and now I'm going into geometry next year. And I'm also going to be taking physics next year. It's going to be an interesting process for me.

Jeff Thompson:
So what kind of tools do you use, what kind of adaptive technology or accessible devices, alternative techniques do you use in that area?

Simon Bonenfant:
Well, for school mostly I use a BrailleNote Touch by HumanWare that's a relatively new device. For math, last year, I actually transferred back over to a bit of a low tech solution. I transferred over to the Perkins Brailler which had used in my early days but I transferred back to that because I find it was easy for me to do equations and read all my lines better and things like that. And next year, I'll be going to physics and actually, well, hopefully going to be using equipment from a company called Independent Science which a good friend of mine, Cary Supalo, he runs that company and he made all different talking science equipment and I'm going to be using that for my physics next year.

Jeff Thompson:
So when you talk about HumanWare you talked about the BrailleNote Touch. Did you check out the Brailliant that they have out now?

Simon Bonenfant:
Yes I did. Yeah I actually went to a session on HumanWare and I heard about the Brailliant and I went to the booth and I took a look at that. And the BrailleNote Touch for those of you who don't know it's by HumanWare. It's actually a braille note taker running Android on it. So, it's basically the first modern blind note taker and it's actually a certified Google tablet. And what's kind of neat is any kind of app that's on the Google Play store which is sort of like the Android of Apple so say equivalent to the Apple App store. So, anything that's on the Google Play store can be downloaded to the BrailleNote Touch and be used. And so it really opens up the playing field for the blind of note taking to have equal access to a lot of different, more opportunities and programs.

Simon Bonenfant:
And another thing that's neat about it is it has a screen on the device and what that's used for is blind users can actually type on the screen, type braille on the screen and it can be displayed for sighted viewing so it's really bridging the gap of blind and sighted. I've said this to a lot of people that out of all the generations and decades to be blind, this is probably the most exciting, and most fun and most accommodating era because of all this technology that's there. It's really accommodating.

Jeff Thompson:
Yeah I can tell your passion when you started talking about technology. What other type of technology do you utilize for school?

Simon Bonenfant:
Well I use a MacBook, I have the MacBook Boot Camp so I'm running Windows on it and I use that for Microsoft Word and other applications like that. I use this screen reader called NVDA which is a free screen reader, stands for Non Visual Desktop Access. And I also use JAWS as well. I also use iPhone which has been very helpful for me. An iPhone is a great tool. I've used seeing AI and other different apps like that.

Jeff Thompson:
Oh great, you're in the 10th grade and you got summer camp coming up here. Have you been starting to look towards college in the near future?

Simon Bonenfant:
Yes, I have been. I'm not exactly sure what college I want to go to exactly but I know a career I want to get into. I want to work as a technology teacher for the blind. And teaching JAWS, NVDA, voiceover, things like that. Because in my state and the country there's a real need for that expertise in the blind world. You know there is always something I heard from people that, "If you love what you do you never work a day in your life." And me doing that job would be me not working a day in my life because I have a passion for teaching people technology. And I'm actually starting, I'm trying to, in the future, hopefully I'll be starting a little bit of a tutoring business of tutoring people on using technology, assistance technology devices on trying to get that started in the near future.

Jeff Thompson:
I heard you're actually helping other students, tutoring them.

Simon Bonenfant:
Yeah, I have been doing that. Yeah.

Jeff Thompson:
What's that like?

Simon Bonenfant:
That's been good. I really want to give back to my community and technology is the way that I can do that. I would kind of say that I'm kind of like self-taught in technology. I'm involved in an online blind community on the service called Skype and a few other places where they kind of get me into using all kind of technology. I never really got any formal school training in technology and all it's been kind of me asking people or me just kind of playing around with programs and getting the knowledge, and I want to give back to the people in the community who are learning or to have an outlet where they can ask questions and talking things. In my technology exploration was when I found Audioboom which is where the Blind Abilities communities’ community channel started and I was involved with that for a very long time.

Jeff Thompson:
And you were actually part of that. You're part of the community that helped make that keep going for four years.

Simon Bonenfant:
I was and I tell people about my technology journey, I always imagine Audioboom because that was a real good outlet for me. I learned a lot. I met a lot of people through that community. It was really like a family, like a Blind Abilities family. So that's what it was kind of like.

Jeff Thompson:
I can't help but the time I heard your voice break it was really something because you were kind of like the child of the group, was like the kid. Also when you came on one time on a YouTube video you were speaking for your school, fundraising I believe it was. Also and I called my wife, Lorie, I said, "It's Simon, his voice changed."

Simon Bonenfant:
Yes I was doing some fundraising for school. The school that I previously went to was a school for the blind called St. Lucy School that's in Philadelphia. And I went there for all my grade school and that was a very nice school. That taught me a lot of good things. Taught me how to use a cane, cane travel, and braille. And it really taught me to be mainstream in a sighted classroom where I am in high school now, because it's the only blind school in the country that has a certain setup. And the way that they run their school is they actually partner up with a sighted school and they merged the blind students in with the sighted students and that gets the blind students, that gets us ready for high school and the challenges that's going to face and that has helped me tremendously. Now I can say I'm in a mainstream school called Archbishop Carroll High School. And the school I'm going to now is Catholic school and the St. Lucy School that's the blind school that one is Catholic as well. That's been my kind of schooling and education.

Jeff Thompson:
In that process, have you used teachers for the visually impaired like TVI's that are provided by the districts?

Simon Bonenfant:
Yes. I am working with one currently with two actually. Two teachers of visually impaired that are very good to me, they work very well with me.

Jeff Thompson:
Oh that's great.

Simon Bonenfant:
Yeah they're very good they help me with math and technology and a lot of other good things and they're very good.

Jeff Thompson:
A good resource.

Simon Bonenfant:
Oh yeah, very good.

Jeff Thompson:
So Simon, what advice would you have for someone who is in high school and considering transitioning into college one of these days and employment or going to camps or stuff like that? What advice would you have for them as they look forward to this journey?

Simon Bonenfant:
Well one advice I would have for them is network with lots of different people who have done what you are looking to do and find information from them. I know that some of my best friends are my best mentors and that's because I've reached out to them and talked to them. One of my friends, her name is Marta, she's an independent blind woman, and she went through a training center and she's one of my role models. And that's because she went through the things that I am planning to do and would like to do for my life, and I use her and you
Jeff and people all from Blind Abilities as a resource because it's people that have gone through what I'm planning to go through. It's good to tap in and network to people that's how you find about things, like I found NFB.

Simon Bonenfant:
And so often I've met people who have finished their journey but say they wish that they found the people they did at a younger age because they can network and mentor more. Meet as many people and ask some questions as many people as you need to and as you want to and that are going into your same fields. And I would also say too, keep an open mind and meet people who are maybe not going into the exact same thing that you want to go into but you can learn something from everyone in this world.

Jeff Thompson:
That's great. Well Simon, thank you so much for taking your time out of the convention. I know those exhibits are a lot more fun than sitting with me doing a podcast.

Simon Bonenfant:
Oh it's a great time, definitely great.

Jeff Thompson:
But it's been a long time coming. Like we said Audioboom was something where we all met, a big community and now there's hundreds of us out there and we get to meet up sooner or later.

Simon Bonenfant:
Yeah, I've known you for four years. I just figured that out today, I've known you since 2014 when I came on to Audioboom.

Jeff Thompson:
Well, now you're on Blind Abilities podcast.

Simon Bonenfant:
Yeah, yeah there you go.

Jeff Thompson:
Alright, thank you very much Simon.

Simon Bonenfant:
Yeah, thank you.

Jeff Thompson:
Simon, if someone is interested in learning from you and want to get a hold of you how can they do that?

Simon Bonenfant:
Well, there's a few ways. You can either access me via Twitter @thetechkid123. That's t-h-e-t-e-c-h-k-i-d-1-2-3. And you can also find me where I most am more responsive is via Skype, and my Skype name is blindkid55, that's b-l-i-n-d-k-i-d-5-5.

Jeff Thompson:
All right, thank you.

Simon Bonenfant:
Thank you.

Jeff Thompson:
Such a great time to finally meet up with Simon Bonenfant. He's got such great self-determination and drive, I'm sure he's going to succeed in all his endeavors.

Jeff Thompson:
And if you or someone you know who is visually impaired or blind, be sure they contact their state services, their vocational rehab and begin to carve out your pathway to success today. And thank you Chee Chau for the beautiful music. You can follow Chee Chau on Twitter @lcheechau.

Jeff Thompson:
I want to thank you all for listening. We hope you enjoyed. And until next time, bye bye.

 

[Music]  [Transition noise]

When we share what we see through each other's eyes...

[Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence]

...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities.

Jeff Thompson:

For more podcasts with the blindness perspective:

Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com

On Twitter @BlindAbilities
Download our app from the App store:
'Blind Abilities'; that's two words.
Or send us an e-mail at:info@blindabilities.com
Thanks for listening.