Remarkable World Commentary Episode #58: Interview with Dan Thompson, Founder, Fresh Start of Jacksonville, Illinois

🎙️ Remarkable World Commentary Episode #58: Interview with Dan Thompson, Founder, Fresh Start of Jacksonville, Illinois | Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA
https://donnajodhan.com/rwc-11-04-2025/

In this deeply moving episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan welcomes longtime friend Dan Thompson, educator, technologist, and community builder, for a candid conversation about hardship, faith, and grit. Dan traces a childhood marked by isolation and abuse, the moment he left home after graduation and survived briefly on the streets, and the steady rebuilding that followed through marriage, service, and a stubborn refusal to accept limits. He recalls fundraising feats and his stint as Illinois's first blind disability adjudicator, where he had to fight for basic accommodations, early lessons in self-advocacy that would shape his life's work.

The heart of the episode is Dan's decades at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired: teaching assistive technology, defining “success” as confidence and practical independence, and tailoring instruction to each student's interests, from podcasting and radio spots to taking apart and rebuilding computers. He shares tactile, hands-on learning (accessible games, field trips, even classroom animals), and explains how his ASPIRE project grew into Fresh Start of Jacksonville, refurbishing computers, coaching on iPhones, and offering one-on-one training so people can thrive at home, school, and work. Dan closes with plainspoken counsel, embrace workarounds, use simple tools like hotkeys and shared links, be patient, help others, and an invitation to his daily “Yes You Can” devotionals, perfectly echoing the episode's throughline of resilience and pay-it-forward hope.

TRANSCRIPT

Podcast Commentator: Greetings. Donna J Jodhan, LLB, ACSP and MBA invites you to listen to her biweekly podcast, Remarkable World Commentary. Here, donna shares some of her innermost thoughts, insights, perspectives, and more with her listeners. Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids, especially kids with disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate, author, site loss coach, dinner mystery producer, writer, entrepreneur, law graduate, and podcast commentator. She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge, skills, and expertise in access technology and information as someone who has been internationally recognized for her work and roles, she just wants to make things better than possible.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Remarkable World Commentary. I am Donna Jodhan, a lifelong disability advocate and one who sees the world mainly through sound, touch and stubborn optimism. I am a law graduate, accessibility consultant, author, lifelong barrier buster who also happens to be blind. You may know me from a few headline moments, as in November 2010, I won the Landmark Charter case that forced the Canadian government to make its websites accessible to every Canadian, not just to sighted ones. In July of 2019, I co-led the Accessible Canada Act with more than two dozen disability groups to turn equal access into federal law and most recently, on June 3rd, 2022. I was greatly humbled by Her Late Majesty's Platinum Jubilee Award for tireless commitment to removing barriers. When I'm not in a courtroom or a committee room or in a pottery studio, you will find me coaching kids with vision loss, producing audio mysteries, or helping tech companies make their gadgets talk back in plain language. Everything I do circles one goal to turn accessibility from an afterthought into everyday practice. I invite you to think of this show as our shared workbench where policy meets lived experience and lived experience sparks fresh ideas. Now, before we jump into today's conversation, let me shine a spotlight on today's Guest changemaker, whose work is every bit as remarkable as the world that we are trying to build. I am pleased to welcome my dear friend Dan Thompson to my remarkable world commentary. Welcome to you, Dan.

Dan Thompson: Well, thank you very much for the honor. I'm looking forward to it.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And we've known each other for so many years, and we started out many years ago when you came into my life, you were my technology expert on a daily basis. And then now, for the past many years, you are my daily devotion specialist. And I welcome you to my show.

Dan Thompson: Thank you.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So, Dan, let's get started. All right.

Dan Thompson: All right.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Then. You've spoken about facing serious adversity. Adversity at a young age. How did those early experiences shape the educator, technologist and community builder that you have become?

Dan Thompson: Well, it gave me great determination to try to become more than my immediate family thought I could and achieve things they thought were not possible. It helped me endure a lot of negativity as I grew up and wanted to do things, and many people said, you can't do that, can't do that. But it made me grow in willpower and determination. Because I was constantly reminded I was retarded and I would end up on public aid and kept in the basement most of my young youth life.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Oh, dear.

Dan Thompson: I had some rather severe punishments that would be. Make your skin cringe. Cringe if I told you I didn't behave quite right. And some of the punishments were quite extreme. So I made it my goal when I got out of school. Never to make anyone else go through that kind of thing and not feel sorry for myself. Even though when I was a youth I thought I got mad because everybody else can go outside and you know, when they're home. But I went home for summer, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving and summers were hell. Sorry for the word, but they I wasn't allowed to have any friends, and it was very isolated. So when I finally became high school, graduated, I actually left home. I walked across the stage with nothing, and my parents very very prejudiced. And I had too many friends that were of not the right color that they thought I should be with. So you can't live with us with these feelings, with these opinions. Be gone. So I had was going to do. When I graduated, I just walked off the stage and lived in the streets for a few weeks. I did things you wouldn't want to do. I ate out of garbage dumps behind gas stations. But and I basked in the basked in the gas station, I think. But I finally got hold of a friend that let me move in with him for a couple months.

Dan Thompson: And then I went to Chicago. To the Illinois. What did they call it back then? It was where you got college prep. But they called it i3 wood. Now. That's right. But it had another name back then. And so I got ready to go to college and but still, when I got out of there I was right back in where I started because I didn't have a job, had no money. So I would go to public and they got $200 a month. The rent was 160. So there were some times when I went without food for a couple of weeks. So I went through the hard, hard knocks. But my faith helped me get through a lot of it. And a lot of the people in the apartment building where I was helped me out quite a bit. And then finally I got got married on March 10th, 1972. And this for years now, and one of my saving graces and helped me get out of stuff. And so I, I started out working at workshops, work and even back then when I would, I would work 12 hours a day also selling newspapers sometimes. And when I would walk home, which Yes, that's a good deal. I'm going to take a bus to that. Homeless people approached me and ask me for money. And even though I didn't have much, I could not say no to them.

Dan Thompson: So I always knew. I remembered when I was there. I was lucky that was. I don't know how far you want me to go with this, but then I, I finished working in the vending stand program and in Illinois, and there is where I started on a flagpole for for 17 days and 14 hours, I completed let's see, 460 mile walks. And I did a lot of fundraising for different organizations. And then I got finally when I wanted to go to college before the rehabilitation person that had me said I wasn't good enough for college, even though I was a top in my class. But he didn't like me. So then a friend of mine who graduated, who got who was in the same school as me, she got that job and sent me to school, and I graduated on the Dean's list and got put on my diploma. And so I that at that point it was, you know, teaching at a couple different schools and finally ended up at Illinois School for the Visually Impaired. And there I walked across the state of Illinois for the disaster relief fund in New York with A911 and that we raised about 15,000, I think. So and then I had the I think you mentioned somewhere in your questions about fresh start and that kind of thing. Do you want me to wait till you ask me about that? Yeah.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Let's just wait. Let's just take each question.

Dan Thompson: I'll try to watch my mouth. Yeah.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Okay, so let me ask you the next question. Then. You spent decades teaching assistive technology at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired. From your vantage point, what did success look like for your students and how did you design instruction to get them there?

Dan Thompson: Well, my idea was success is to be independent and be willing to try new things and then use that knowledge in their everyday life to be more independent. Now, some people, some of my students would be what you call a slow learner, and people give up on them. But I did not. I found something that they could do that I would usually ask them what their interests are and what they like to do, and I would try to find something that would help stimulate that. Here's a few examples. One guy wanted to be an FBI agent. He still, even now I got in trouble for my principal for telling them they can't do that. You can't say you can't do that. That is. That's ridiculous. Because if you're blind total, you're not going to be an FBI agent and go best people in such. So we worked on keyboarding and stuff where he could be at the desk in a place like that or completing reports for other people and doing that kind of thing. And so he finally did get that kind of a thing. And another person. Was really low, partial, and he wanted to fly airplanes, and he wanted to work on an airplane in an airport. Once again, I told him he can't do that, but the principal said. He can't do it. So really, how are we going to fly an airplane? Well, you say maybe one day he can. I say, forget that. But we got it to where he could be in an airport. And what he really wanted to do was look out the window at the airplanes.

Dan Thompson: And so he was a janitor. So he felt happy about that? He felt like he was flying the plane, but he wasn't. So on the brighter end of the scale I would convince the kids how important the computer was an assistive technology was for their success. And somebody tells them they can't do something. Say yes, I can. Give me a chance because I had it happen to my own self. When I went, when I first started applying for jobs, before I had a college education, the minute you walk in, you're blind. You're out. They only give you a chance. And I would try to convince them to let me show you. I can run that machine, or I can do that task. No, that's too dangerous to have you around. So I would try to build a confidence. A confidence in the kids that believe in their self. And don't let people tell you you're not able to do that. But gently convince them, like, do a test, I think. How would you do that? And then use the knowledge you have with computers like making. I tell them how to make podcasts. And I got one guy who really wanted to be on the radio, but he didn't really have the voice for it to be on continuously. So we talked to the local radio station and made commercial podcasts, and several of them got published up there, and I also told them how to take apart their own computer and put it back together again so they wouldn't pay high expenses for repair people to come in with simple things like putting a new hard drive in or putting a new memory in.

Dan Thompson: It's a little bit different nowadays, but we got we got 150 computers from Dell to play with. Belongs to us. And so we gave about 125 of those away eventually through my project called all. Bye bye. Bye. How would we do that? Achieving success by providing individuals with recycled equipment that later on to start, because I couldn't get a lawyer that would help me be a non-for-profit. They wanted to charge a 10 to 15, $20,000. Finally, a friend of mine only charged me 1000. And so I got a fresh start started in 2017. So we can do fundraising, but we still do the same thing. We fix computers for people free, and then anybody who wants to learn how to do it themselves, we're still going to show them how to connect everything up. And and I do the same thing with their iPhones. How to do simple stuff. And then you don't have to pay all the costs become expensive to come over there, and they feel a whole lot more confident About themselves and that they can. I can't tell you how many times a sighted person has wondered, like, what are you doing inside that computer and doing that? Take that stuff apart. And it works when you get it back together? Well, I taught most of that, I taught myself. So I don't know if that covered all your wonders there, but if you want more, I'll tell you more.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Well, when you led the opening doors sessions to families, which stools, stools or strategies can consistently made the biggest difference?

Dan Thompson: And why did you want to make a correction? I didn't actually lead open doors. I was one of the teachers in Open Doors.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Right.

Dan Thompson: Led that thing. But and we dealt with well, let's say birth to six. But I never saw any of those little ones. Mine was usually 4 to 6. And I would find out what games they liked because they were really into games and toys. And so I would find games that they could play on the computer that had speech. And we would play math games and little history games. And then I also told them at that young age how to take the keyboard off the computer and put it back on again, how the monitor up and, you know, take it off how to hook speakers up. I never had them open up the computer because I would get a little bit too much for them. So we would do, you know, word games and stuff and have a contest. And some of the parents, after they got home, said their children just loved those games. And you want to know where we got them. And so we did provide some laptops. Talked to people that we got free, and I still do that and I can't remember. There was a guy I worked with in Nf-b, Robert or Bobby. I can't remember his last name. We had a deal going where he would send me names of who needed the computer, and so I send it to him and he would give it to them. But it got to where too many of them were out of state, and I didn't know people, so I didn't like that. I just quit doing that program. And I like to keep my activities in Illinois and not all over the US, because there's a lot of people in Illinois that need the need, the need, the different stuff. And so if you get what their interest is and start focusing on it and make it fun and they don't realize they're learning.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And.

Dan Thompson: They get in class, first grade or kindergarten. And they can do math, basic math pretty good. And because they play with these games with their moms and dads and we did some other little building projects with Legos and blocks and stuff. And so basically I tried to bring it all down to their level, and I would make sure I found out what are their hobbies or what really makes them interested in stuff. And we would also go out and feed the birds and measure how much they ate every day. And that and in the classroom I had two chinchillas two hedgehogs, two guinea pigs, a rabbit and a squirrel and two parakeets. And then once a year we had 50 chickens. Sometimes patients would have it in their hand.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Oh.

Dan Thompson: Yeah, and you could hear that chickens pecking through the shell if you put it up by your ear. That was a lot of fun. And they got to where they weren't afraid to touch the animal to pick them up. And that was sort of cool, too. 123. I had a hedgehog once and it was cold, and I took her out to clean the cage, and I laid her up in a windowsill and I forgot her overnight, so she froze solid. Sounds not funny, but I looked on Google and it said if you put it on a heat lamp, she comes out of it. And she did. Just as happy as nothing happened.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Wow.

Dan Thompson: Yes, the bunny rabbit was trained to come in and out of his cage when he needed to take care of stuff. We didn't let her wander around because we had that. Because a mother got Another got killed. And so we had squirrel. And then one time we had two opossums in the classroom because a mom got killed with seven. So we got them in bottles with them. And then we found out that you had to enlist your teacher. You can't have them. And after two years old, because they have dormant rabies in it. So when they were a year and a half and put them in the woods and gave them a £50 bag of dog food and like, they wouldn't let go of my fingers because I was their mom or dad or whatever. But the kids thought was cool to put them out there. We had about five kids in class then. We always would take a field trip once a week. So that's sort of what I did there.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Now, you served as the first blind disability adjudicator for the state of Illinois. What did that role teach you about systems, fairness, and the realities people encounter when they seek support?

Dan Thompson: Well when I got there, they thought they had everything set up for me, but they didn't.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Oh.

Dan Thompson: Advocate for myself. Really a lot. And so one of the big things was you were supposed to finish or complete 25 folders or people documents a week, and you had to have a reader. I did, because I'm blind. And so first, they weren't providing the readers any parking space. So it cost them $100 a month to be there. So of course they didn't really want to be there. And I had to go to the top of that security Given the administration manager and say, hey, you're going to have me there. You're going to be you got to provide equal ability for these people to help me. So they did that. But then they wanted her or it was him sometimes to do all the typing up the notes on the computer instead of giving me at that time it was window wise. And then they finally got to be jaws. So that took another fight, and it took a lot of courage to go against the administration or the system, as we call it. Because they come up with all kinds of reasons why you you got this. You got a girl, a person that can help it all up. Just let her do that. Well, what am I doing just sitting on my fat butt, flopping the folder over to her, and I'm doing nothing. So I, I've hired to do a job. So let me do my job. And so we got past that. Well, then the there's a person that took care of all the files for floor, and they would bring you files in that you were supposed to deal with that day.

Dan Thompson: But everything that files in our right is just slap them on top of the filing cabinet and not tell me they were there. So get them down. And I have my reader tell me who their names were, and I write the names, the sticky stuff, and put the name on the on the file folder. Oh, you thought I committed a mortal sin because my supervisor came in and said, you you marred up the file of a of a person's information. I said, how would I do that? Look right there that those dots. I said, that's my way of reading, and that's how I can get that file out independently and take it over to the reader and have a read me some stuff so I can make determinations. So it was overcoming a lot of that. And then and then the next thing was trying to get a scanner so I could scan some of the stuff that was not good. Reading, poor reading, so we could fix it. So of course we had to jump through hurdles for that. So I only worked there for two years. And then I finally got on at ISB in 1992. But and I, and I reminded students of this, remember, your past goes with you and some people. Don't forget it. As a kid, I was a little troublemaker. And Because that's what brats are when they're little. And I was everywhere I was supposed to be. I used to go through the tunnels underneath the campus.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Oh, boy.

Dan Thompson: On top of all the buildings, and one time I climbed up the side of a four story building and sat on the roof, and there the principal to come and get me. But I came down. But anyway, when I applied for a job there that was sort of remembered, and I had 50 interviewed, 50 referrals from other superintendents and people in my career field that taught me and stuff. And I finally had to go to my senator and talk to them. Laura Kent Donahue and told her, look, here's what I got. I have scholar on my diploma and almost straight A's through all my stuff. I have changed, I'm not that boy anymore. So they were forced to be called, and they forced them to hire me. And they were not very nice to me the first year, but then the principal came to me and she says, I want to apologize, you excellent teacher, and I am thankful that we hired you. You're patient and you're good with kids and you and see, back then my kids were low functioning and they would tell me they can't do math. They can't remember they can't do this and that. So I got the idea of doing math in rhyme. And I would, I would make these tapes. I would record them on a they called it. Well, you can record them and hear the music do a lot about the name of them anyway. And some of the kids, even still today that are in their 30s, remember some of those rhymes I did like 50 plus. That's like five plus five is ten. Get yourself a hen hand or something. It's really dumb stuff. And they remember that. And then I did the same thing with history facts. And a couple kids were told or their parents told me they had no long term memory. So we would do poems every Christmas and Thanksgiving program and Easter. And those kids remembered that stuff, and I got them on tape with music in the background.

Dan Thompson: And they were so proud of themselves for doing that. Now of course the higher functions have a lot more. I had them do a lot more challenging things. We had math battles and history quest and and they got awards for that. But I also had them keep track of the birds outside as far as how much we fed them every day and which birds. I'm like birds. I'm a birder, I guess you call it. And we would take field trips to places in town, like the fluid plant to Coca-Cola and Pepsi plant and places where they might wonder how how those things are made or what all happened. And we had a great mobility teacher administrator. We would go out in fields and show them how they cut the corn and pull the beans off the stalk and all that kind of stuff. And I also encouraged them when we walk downtown when they're old enough to do that. Always listen ahead of yourself, because you never know what's going to pull in front of you on, on the sidewalk. And a friend of mine he didn't listen quite well. He was he was my age, and he was a switchboard operator. He doesn't listen, but he walked behind a truck and backed over him and broke his legs.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Ouch.

Dan Thompson: Yeah, but he. So now he has a little trouble in his legs. He's all right now. He's as old as I am. But I share that with him. I said you gotta. And so sometimes we just stand still. I said, what do you hear? First they will say cars. I said, what else? Then they will start saying the names of birds. Or I heard somebody yell to somebody down the sidewalk. You always have to be open. If you're going to be a blind person or low vision. Low vision don't always see everything either partially sighted. So you got to keep all your environmental awareness going all the time.

Dan Thompson: So I wanted to have them increase their confidence in independent travel and just independence all around. So I guess I learned a lot about that.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Help listeners to understand your pedagogy when a student or an adult comes to you with a goal school, work or independent living? How do you assess needs and build a practical training path? Path. Sorry.

Dan Thompson: Well, here's what I do. I start with the very lowest people I used to work with. Low functioning that they could. They talk really well, but they were terrible at math, and they would not really get much higher than eighth grade in school. But I would show them things like how to make coffee, put toast in the toaster and do that, and how to fry an egg without being burned or hurt with them. You know that you can do that ways. And the microwave is a good idea. And we even mopped the plaster and floor, but we did it on our hands and knees because as a person, that's what you'd rather do. If you want to make sure you get everything clean, totally blind. Unless you have a really good layout of your surroundings. But I usually do it on my hands and knees and and then we would see what kind of foods they like and where they were hoping to live when they got to school. And they said, well, with mom and Dad, I said, have you heard of an independent living center? Have you ever heard of.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Yes.

Dan Thompson: Like that. And then they said they would tell their parents about that, and I would invite the parents in to let them see their child is not going to catch on fire if he goes by a stove. You can put your hand over the burner to feel the flame. You know, if you have a pan on it, you can get an idea where it is. And judge where you are there. And there's all kinds of ways to cook and not get hurt. And we showed them how to make coffee because a lot of them love coffee. And then we made simple meals like macaroni and cheese and hot dogs and stuff. And if we ever had a where we had to use a recipe book that had a recipe with more than one thing in it, we would just take it one at a time. And those who couldn't read Braille. And then I had back then, cassettes. But once we got the Victor streams use those. I had a lot of cookbooks, simple recipes that they could listen to. Do that step, stop the picture screen and start it and do that step. And then there's a few really good nowadays. Really good people online. This one called cooking in the dark.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Yes, yes, yes.

Dan Thompson: And there's a couple others a lonely blind chap with Desiree. Renee is another one. And then double tap is another really good one. Anyway, so those weren't available back then. So I would make podcasts and recordings on the Victor String for them to go step by step, and we'd have them prepare lunch and it might.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Be.

Dan Thompson: Sandwiches being very jolly. Or if we had hamburgers we would just put hamburger in the pan.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And.

Dan Thompson: No one, none of it. If you just touch the top of hamburger and press on it, you can tell if it's getting done without having to worry about burning your finger.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Right.

Dan Thompson: So it's all kinds of those things I've learned through life that I teach them mostly not to be afraid.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Aid.

Dan Thompson: Of stove or hot water or coffee pots. And another thing is not to be afraid about plugging stuff in.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Right.

Dan Thompson: Getting the prongs right. I said it's not going to shock you. Put it right in there. And some of the parents couldn't believe their students could plug a plug a radio in or a pod in or whatever. They were afraid of them getting burnt. And the biggest hurdle to overcome is like, if you have something you put in the oven to bake and how the get the baked potato out of there. So you just put a glove on and reach in there and, and you can squeeze it to tell if it's done. Actually that's an example. But so as far as how to make them be independent, I just wouldn't do things like they wanted to do, and I did them with them to show it can be done. And I also made sure I involve the parents so they can see their child is not going to break and fall down and fall apart and suddenly really change their viewpoint since that.

Dan Thompson: There you go. I start with the smallest and work up the more difficult stuff. That's what you really should do.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Right. Now you founded an organization called aspire which involved evolved into the fresh start of Jacksonville. Okay. To devices and to provide one on one training. What problems were you trying to solve? And how does your model actually work from intake to following up.

Dan Thompson: Here's what we do. Way back then. Yeah. First time I thought about doing this is when my superintendent said, hey, the department of what was it? Bureau of Blind Services, I think back then, has a whole bunch of equipment they're getting rid of that they bought through insurance money. And so we have the freedom to go over there and get some of that. So I think. Yeah. So I got some inboxes and various other stuff and brought it back to school. But in the meantime, I found out about the state warehouse. And the state warehouse has all kinds of technology and computers, and I mean, just anything, the various institutions that are not being used. And I said, how can I get those computers and stuff that a blind person could use? Well, you got to be an administrator. Well, I wasn't, so I couldn't do that. So I thought, well, what if I put an ad in the paper saying, I would like to have gently used computers and equipment refurbished to provide individuals with recycled equipment. That's where I got providing individuals with Freecycle, providing individuals with recycled equipment to improve their independence. I can't remember. Not all fit into that whole aspire word. And so once I bought me a truckload of old computers and a large amount of it couldn't be used, but I got out of about 30, I got five.

Dan Thompson: That's all right. The rest I put through recycling. And then Boeing heard about me, and so they gave the school. They had to give it to a facility to get the tax credit. They gave the school 150 Dell computers took those and put them in the basement of one of the dorms. And we would use them in the classroom to show the kids. I said they had to and this is usually seventh grade and up in order to make it in this little computer class that just got started, you have to be able to take everything out of this computer and put it back in and make it run. And that was a goal. And they did. But see, then the the memory sticks came out nicely and it was easy to find ports on the motherboard to connect stuff, whereas now it's a little bit more sophisticated. I can still hook up a motherboard, but sometimes it's hard to hook those cables in the right places. Because they have they're not marked differently and they're not. And then the memory is a lot different. I still do it, but it takes me a little while, but then some of my kids still remember. Yeah. He told us you're not leaving unless you can put one of these together. So we provided about 500 people over the years.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Wow.

Dan Thompson: Computers and laptops. And then we had to put a new CD burner. And that's now, unfortunately, with any program, non-for-profit or something like that, you have lots of what I want to use users that take advantage of the program. I always told them you can't sell the equipment, but you can bring it back and I'll fix it for free. But we had about, I'd say ten people sell the equipment after we fixed it for them. And I found out about it in most cases through the grapevine. And they didn't. We didn't help them anymore. And but most of them were about 10 or 15 people made it through college by our, through our computers because the state wouldn't buy them the equipment. They hadn't proved themselves, they said. And then some of them, if you don't have an ID, which is a plan for career and all that kind of stuff and state they won't buy you equipment. So in those cases we bought well, had to buy we repaired computers for people so they could be they could do at home typing work at home jobs. And so some of them got that, and then some of them got hired like in the state because they were able to learn and practice on their computer equipment at home.

Dan Thompson: And could prove themselves when they want to do whatever efficiency tests they had to take to get the job. And one of those girls still worked in Springfield in the mailing department, I think, for a Social Security disability. And there's a couple others like that. And another two of my other students worked for the military in Rockford. And they fill out contracts for the military, and, and those jobs are only reserved for blind people. Isn't that cool? Yeah, that's just for them. So we have four, three of them there. So getting this stuff in their hands in their homes so they can practice when they need to. That's good. Now, when it got to where we had Victor streams and stuff, I had to raise money to buy that. Some of those things because doors within the Department of Rehabilitation Services. I think they changed their name again. So we would buy them and told them they can't sell them if they need them, bring them back to me, and some of them are still using them ten years later. And we just got done buying three of the new Victor stream threes. And then I still work with people on the new iPhone 16 and stuff. They try to do too much at once. I'm working with right now who's lost a lot of her vision, and she can't learn the iPhone, but she's making it way too hard. And and the people who are teaching her are teaching her really complicated stuff, which is not necessary, because you can do almost everything with that one button on the side or by talking to it. Yeah. So anyway I go on to do go into tangents. Sorry. So there's that.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: You know, technology has really come a very long way from the days of the pocket guide and the stylus. Now we have iPhones and everything. You know, I clock is starting to run down, but I wanted to ask your opinion on this. What would what words of wisdom would you give to today's generation? Should they be trying harder? Should they? What should they be doing? Should they be looking for workarounds? Should they? What? Tell me, in your opinion, what words of wisdom would you want to leave with them?

Dan Thompson: Well, I think they should try to look for workarounds and don't give up and have everybody do things for them. But also, I like to think that God put us here not just to see each other, but to see each other. At least to try to help others when we can help and share our knowledge. And if if we can help somebody financially do it. And not to be afraid of trying new things just because they look scary. One, two simple things I was just thinking about one thing people don't think about is writing hotkeys for your computer. So you only have to press 1 or 2 keys to get a big function going. That's very, very simple. And another one that people always ask me I'll look only lets you send a 20 megapixel 20 Meg file. How do I send something bigger? Well, I told them and is it my handout? I sent you how to take a big file and put it in Dropbox and take that link, paste it into an email. Boom, it's gone. So you can you can still email big stuff even though outlook says no. So I tell people, if it sounds scary, that's all right.

Dan Thompson: Just try it out and see. You might find out it's not as scary as you think. And some people. Here's a good example. I have one girl I know who teaches the iPhone or iDevices, but she's totally blind. But she makes it very difficult and has them do all kinds of tapping. They're doing this and that. But with the iPhone's new one, I don't even go through all that. I show them how you can do all of it. If you're blind with voiceover, with barely even touching your phone, you can just press one button and do it. And I'm dealing with that with a 70 year old girl right now that was going to give up on iPhones, but now she's not. So I guess my last would be patience with each other. Be willing to listen and hear their side of it, and then try to find some halfway mark halfway idea that can make them feel much more independent. And I always give my students lots of compliments about how they are. They're really doing great and everything, and that really builds their confidence and beliefs that they can do it as well.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: You have been an inspiration to me personally. And, you know, I've heard your your personal story over and over. And each time I hear your story, it really it really tugs at my heartstrings. And I think, you know, you are an inspiration to anybody who says, well, I can't do it. I'm going to give up. You did not give up. And you are here today to show us the path. That I want to thank you for that.

Dan Thompson: Autobiography, that little biography I sent you or or my written questions, answers to the other thing with anybody you want.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. So, you know, I don't know what else to say. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And, you know, if ever you wanted to come back and talk to me about more of your inspirational stories, please let me know.

Dan Thompson: And I'd like to also mention I have a devotion called devotion. Yes you can. Anybody can subscribe to. Yeah. And is it all right if I check my email?

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. Go ahead.

Dan Thompson: My email is D Thompson. Wait a minute. I remember my email first. Dmc DMC 031073 at gmail.com DMC. Is that my initials? And then the the daisies when we got married. 031073 at gmail.com. And then just say you want to subscribe to Fresh Start devotional. I send one out every day except Saturday, and I have a prayer list that I send out every Friday.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I see that. Yep.

Dan Thompson: Names only. Yeah.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Well, then it was a pleasure. And I want to thank you again. And hey, if ever you wanted to come back, let me know, okay?

Dan Thompson: Yeah. Thank you for all your friendship and knowing you all these years. Talk to you later.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: You take care now. Bye bye. Bye bye.

Podcast Commentator: Donna wants to hear from you and invites you to write to her at Donna at gmail.com. Until next time.