Hi all, my name is Ronit and I am from northern California. I am a blind genetic counselor, currently working in a fertility clinic at an academic medical center. Genetic counselors help patients understand genetic testing options at various life stages including before, during and after pregnancy, as well as adult-onset conditions like cancer and heart disease. Currently I help patients understand their options regarding genetic testing for embryos during an IVF cycle. We also discuss genetic testing done prior to IVF, family history concerns, and I help patients select egg and sperm donors. I am excited to learn how the monarch may help me with reading long result reports, as well as hoping I can use it to represent diagrams and tables better when I come across them in medical journals. Glad to meet all of you!
Hi @Ronit_Mazzoni ! We are so excited to have you in our rabble of Monarchs! Genetic Counselling was a job that I learned about as an adult and so wish I would’ve known existed when I was a young person choosing a career. I’m looking forward to learning about your experience integrating the Monarch into your work!!!
I am Deborah Armstrong, but my nickname is Debee (pronounced just like Debby).
I’ve read Braille since I was in the first grade, and I first used a Braille display when I worked in tech support at TeleSensory in 1995.
I currently work as the alternate media specialist and tech support for disabled students at De Anza community college in Cupertino, California. It’s a paraprofessional position working mostly with sighted students with learning disabilities. However, the blind students I do serve desperately need better ways to handle their required STEM courses, which is a big reason I’m fascinated by the Monarch. I am regularly asked how the college can better accommodate them with algebra, calculus, statistics and various science courses and always feel inadequate doing so.
I too am looking forward to a multi-line display that will enable me to proofread textbooks I OCR more efficiently.
I am also a part-time student at the same college, and since I used to be a software engineer, I now write code as a hobby. With the Monarch, I am eager to attempt college level math, something I’ve always been afraid to try with just a single-line display.
Hi Debee, just wanted to say hello as you live super close to me. I’m in San Jose, cambrian park area. Nice meeting you!
Yeah, we’ll have to get together for lunch sometime with our Monarchs!!!
Hi, my name is Staci Bickhardt.
I am a TVI for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit in Pennsylvania. I have been doing this for 8 years. I currently work primarily with two high school braille readers this school year. One of my students is piloting the Monarch through APH’s pilot program. I also provide consultative services to a variety of students ages 5 to 20 within the lower part of the county.
This summer I am excited to learn more about the Monarch, and how to better instruct my students in using it. I feel as if, I have been, ‘winging’ it with using the Monarch. Hopefully, I will be able to take what I learn and use it to instruct my students more effectively, as well as, use the Monarch more throughout the school day.
Welcome Debee! Glad to have you and loving that you’re loving the Monarch HIVE course already! 
Welcome Staci! We’re so glad you’re here - and can’t wait to learn alongside you! Have you ever been to Top Rock Park in Quakertown? I love exploring new state and local parks all over and that one looks pretty fun!
Hello everyone,
My name is Ather Jammoa, and I live in the wonderful state of Michigan; go Lions! I would like to offer a brief word of thanks for being accepted into this program, since I am such a strong advocate for Braille and tactile graphics in my state.
I am an assistive technology instructor, working with individuals of all age ranges; I work as an independent contractor for the Michigan Department of Education Resources for Blind and Low Vision, where I primarily teach students in K-12. In addition, I also work for our state’s vocational rehabilitation agency, the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons as an independent contractor, working with younger and older adults alike on all kinds of different pieces of hardware and software. I absolutely love my job, and the reward of seeing people pick up the concepts that are taught to them is so incredibly rewarding.
For many of years, a lot of the individuals that I have worked with, particularly the younger ones have expressed interest in tactile graphics and rendered images for things such as maps. With the Monarch, I am hoping to be able to show them how far we have come with Braille and Tactile graphics. I also cannot wait to show them the possibilities of making their own images using various applications and then being able to look at them on the Monarch themselves to further increase their levels of independence.
I look forward to getting to know more about everyone else in the program in the time we will have together.
@Ather_Jammoa We are so glad you’re here! I’m looking forward to hearing all your insights on braille and tactile graphics on the Monarch! I went on a winter trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan earlier this year - it was snowy and crispy cold which is just how I like it!
Hello,
I am Ed Worrell. I am a small business owner in Great Falls, MT. I started my business 13 years ago after losing my eyesight 4 years prior. My company is OverHere Consulting, wee are the only assistive technology training, sales and support company in MT.
I work with the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, Montana Association for the Blind, MONTech, and MT Blind & Low Vision Services.
I am currently the 3rd Vice President of the Montana Association for the Blind, and the MAB chapter president in Great Falls.
I am hoping to learn how to make the Monarch a bigger part of my life, and help me with running my small business, with all of the non-profit/volunteer work, as well as being able to help all of the students with the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind that already have the Monarch in the state.
Hello! My name is Nathanael Wales. I am a civil engineer, and I work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planning flood risk management and navigation improvement projects as close as New York City, on Cape Cod, in Oregon, and as far away as Guam. Having been blind all of my life and a Braille user since high school, and having studied engineering in college, I am thrilled about the many, many possibilities that the Monarch will provide me–and up-and-coming students. I look forward to using the Monarch to more effectively write and read engineering planning documents, including tables and many, many graphics, pictures, and drawings. I also look forward to using the Monarch with PowerPoint presentations, which are just as important in my professional role as my team and I brief agency leadership.
Having been mentored by other blind STEM professionals just a bit further along in their journeys, and wanting to give back in that same way to those in school and starting their careers, I am honored to be a part of testing and integrating this transformative technology! This summer I look forward to learning how I can integrate the Monarch into the work that I do with PDF, Word, and PowerPoint documents.
Looking forward to RISing with all of you (OK, I’m also a dad, too…).
Hi @Ed_Worrell ! So glad you’re here - it will be so neat to discover all the ways the Monarch can support small business and propose small-business focused solutions for future improvements. Looking forward to learning with you!
Hi @Nathanael_Wales - We just experienced some major flooding here in Frankfort, KY / Louisville, KY. Perhaps we came up in one of your recent staff meetings! 
I’m so interested to learn about how you might integrate tactile graphics on the job using the Monarch - glad you’re here!
Hi @Ed_Worrell, Good to see you here! This is Leslie I am the Outreach Specialist for the NW. We have met a few times at Northern Rockies AER and the MT School for the Deaf and Blind.
Hi @Derek_Czajka, My name is Leslie I am the Outreach Specialist for the NW region with APH. I live just north of you in Washington. Please keep me in mind as a resource.
I also, finished high school and went to college in Eugene so, my guide dog and I would be happy to jump on the train and visit..
Hey Leslie,
It’s great to be included in the group. Thanks for including me, and I hope to learn lots from the courses, and the other people in the group.
Thank you so much for including me. It will be great to give feedback, and learn how the Monarch will help me with running my business and helping with some of my other projects.
Hi,
My name is Liam McCoy. I am located in Saint Louis where I work as a research technician at Washington University School of Medicine. I have been a dual media reader since 1st grade and have used several different braille displays over the years. I am excited to learn the Monarch interface and explore new possibilities with the technology.
Hi @liam.mccoy10 ! Glad to have you in Monarch RISE. Obligatory St. Louis question - have you every ridden inside of the Arch? I saw that folks were inside during the recent tornados… I can’t imagine the swaying! 