Welcome to DonnieTown! A place where every pawsome person has a chair! I’m CJ, an all around creative human. Gamer, streamer, blogger, story teller and hobby photographer. There’s just one difference between me and the general population of readers visiting DonnieTown. I’m Deafblind! But that doesn’t mean I live in a world of total darkness and silence. My eyes and ears buffer – A lot – Kind of like a bad internet connection. I enjoy finding different ways to do the things I love. I just have to take a different path to achieve the same thing as my sighted and hearing peers. DonnieTown isn’t just a place where I share all the things important to me. It’s a safe space for a growing community of like minded people. Grab your chair and make yourself comfortable while you take a look around. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it and decide to stay.
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain. – Vivian Greene
Latest Blog 👇
- How to Talk to a Deafblind Person Without PanickingDear Readers, As I continue my journey through the wonderfully chaotic world of Deafblindness, I’ve noticed something rather interesting about the people around me. Most people want to help. They truly do. Unfortunately, many of them panic slightly first. Some become overly cautious, as if I’m a rare museum artifact that might crumble into dust if approached too quickly. Others suddenly forget how human interaction works altogether. And then there are the brave souls who point vaguely into the distance and say things like, “It’s over there,” as though I possess GPS built into my forehead. So, in the interestContinue reading “How to Talk to a Deafblind Person Without Panicking”
Hobby Photography 👇
I enjoy the challenge of doing things that many people don’t expect of someone who is Deafblind. Photography might be one of those things you don’t expect. So let me explain how it works. When I had more eyesight, I started out with compact cameras, followed by a bridge camera – one of those things that behaves like a compact but has more settings and a built in lens that zooms obnoxiously far. They don’t tend to have a viewfinder. Instead you look at a digital screen to frame your shot. Easy if you only have 5% eyesight, right? – Nope! Over time my eyes have become more sensitive to light and those tiny screens became impossible to see outside. So I stopped. Then one day on a walk with my caregiver and sister Jessy, she handed me her DSLR and asked me to take a portrait shot of her. I was excited when I realised that looking through the viewfinder blocked out a lot of the bright daylight and enabled me to frame the shot. Not that I see anything in great detail. Not even through a viewfinder, but I see colors and large objects and can use that to my advantage. I thought that portrait shot would be the first and last time I ever held a DSLR – I was wrong. Jessy gifted me a Canon 2000D with an 18-55mm lens. I gifted myself an 18-200mm lens. Now I can’t put that thing down! Jessy often helps me by pointing out cool things worth snapping a shot of and happily sorts through my photos to remove those that are so blurry, you would never tell what it is. For me though, photography isn’t about making that perfectly framed, incredibly sharp shot. It’s about using the lenses to create art and show you the world through my eyes!
👇 Gaming & Streaming
How Do You Game When You’re Legally Blind?
Pretty much like anyone else! I just rely more on my other senses. Oh, and did I mention I also have hearing loss? But honestly, that doesn’t stop me from doing what I love—gaming.
👇 The Pawcademy
When you gather 10, 20, 50 or 100 paws or tailwags during livestreams, you earn a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Diamond Certificate—each one shinier and sassier than the last. With that certificate, you’re not just a regular viewer anymore—you’re an official Pawcademy Member™ (fancy badge and all
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