This week on AFB inform & connect, Thomas Reid: podcaster Reid My mind. A black man with shaved head wearing dark sunglasses. His arms are crossed and there is a smile on his face.

Inform & Connect, the American Foundation for the Blind’s ongoing series created to foster togetherness and camaraderie within the blindness community through informal storytelling and learning about relevant, interesting topics, features special guest Thomas Reid, creator of the Reid My Mind podcast.

Thomas’s podcast contains stories and profiles of compelling people impacted by all degrees of blindness and disability. He also explores his own experiences in his unique way pairing his words with music and sound design. With this strong focus on audio, Reid My Mind is a platform for Thomas to share interviews, stories, opinions in all media formats.

“It’s the message that concerns me,” Thomas says, “not the medium.”

Transcript

Melody Goodspeed: Welcome to another episode, I'm so astounded that we're at 14, it's super exciting... To the American Foundation for the Blind, Inform & Connect series. We started this series to foster comradery and togetherness within the blindness community, and just informing everybody what's going on, and keeping us informed and connected. And today, for our 14th episode, we have our very special guest Thomas Reid, who is the creator of Reid My Mind, blog and podcast. Hey, Thomas. I'm so excited you're here with us, today.

Thomas Reid: Hello, Melody. Thank you so much for inviting me, appreciate it.

Melody Goodspeed: I am blown away that you're here with us today, you guys, I was just talking to Thomas about... Well, his craft is amazing, and we're going to get into that, but his last podcast, you have to, we were talking about equality. You all have to go there. But Thomas, tell us about how you got started, in doing what you're doing.

Thomas Reid: Oh, boy. Okay. You sure you have time?

Melody Goodspeed: I do, we have time, Thomas. Let's do this.

Thomas Reid: Okay, cool. So, I think really, I got him involved in audio because of advocacy, for the most part. And because it was always sort of a passion of mine, that I got away from, after getting into the corporate world, after college. But when I lost my sight in '04, I went through all the same things that many of us go through. And as part of, just not having access to information, I got ahold of a digital recorder. And I started doing some of the things that I would have normally done with a camera, with a recorder. So, recording my daughters, and just kind of hanging out with them and just recording their voices, and doing stuff like that.

Thomas Reid: But then, some years later, a few years after that I started playing around more with it, but then I had a reason to play with it, because I had joined an advocacy organization. I started a local group here with some other people in the Poconos, but then we became a part of the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind. And in that organization, I started working with audio, just to disseminate information. That kind of proceeded, I was getting better at it. I received a scholarship to the Third Coast Festival, and that really kind of energized me, because it also gave me access to an online platform to start sharing some audio, that I started to create for an organization in New York City called Gateway Radio.

Thomas Reid: And so then, I actually started to put that information up on my blog, which existed since 2006, I had started a blog called Reid My Mind. So my podcast again, which was really just kind of sharing the pieces that I was creating for Gateway Radio. I put those on my, and called it, Reid My Mind Radio. So, that's how I got started in the podcast game. But the thing about audio is that, it's always been there, from back in the day in the late '80s, early, probably in the mid '80s. I used to want to be a DJ.

Melody Goodspeed: Right. Well, I can tell that by your podcasts, because the way you do, which leads me into where actually, I wanted to go next. Was, the way you do... I have not heard a podcast as unique as yours. The mixing that you do, and the layering. Can you talk about that? Because there is severe passion, behind that. You can hear it, with just the quality of what you've done.

Thomas Reid: Well, thank you. I appreciate it. I'm glad it's noticed, because that's the fun part of it. That's one of the fun parts, just, the mixing. Like I said, I used to want to be a DJ, so there's a musical component to me that I don't think I really explored that much, or had the opportunity to explore, when I was younger, that much. And while I'm not creating music, necessarily, I'm kind of incorporating music. But sound and audio, I really like that. And I really want to try to find ways to say things less with words, and more so, with other audio components. I think that's a really cool thing.

Thomas Reid: There's podcasts that I've listened to over the years that do such an incredible job of that. From the Radiolabs, the Snap Judgment, there's a bunch of podcasts that have a real audio, and real sound layering. And so, that's the thing.

Thomas Reid: But mine, the other piece of is that I kind of wanted to, I do want it to sound different, and I do want it to reflect me. I like to say that I put the funky in blindness, you know what I mean?

Melody Goodspeed: Yes, you do. You do, buddy.

Thomas Reid: Thank you. Thank you.

Melody Goodspeed: You do.

Thomas Reid: But we don't always look at it that way, right?

Melody Goodspeed: Right.

Thomas Reid: Some people look at it as very stale, and in a hospital environment, or something like that. It doesn't have to be that way, at all.

Melody Goodspeed: Right.

Thomas Reid: Yeah. That's my point.

Melody Goodspeed: No. And I love how you've done that. What I really... One of the things that grabbed me, when I found myself listening to it, there's this one I was listening to earlier, when you were talking about racial equality and the hopes for futures, and how we all need to come together at this time. I loved how you mixed in the audio from, talking about family dinner, and how that's a time when everything's put away. And you'd be present, and in the moment. And that is so important. And I think, especially when we've got so much going on, but going back to what we're talking about is, I love how you're able to incorporate that and make it fun, but yet, it is very important. And you get your point across, in such a creative and direct way.

Thomas Reid: Well, I'm very glad that you said I get my point across, because sometimes I literally worry about that. I wonder, no, really. Because you don't know, when you're creating something, by yourself? You don't know. Because it makes sense, at least for me, it makes sense in my head. But I don't know if it makes sense when it comes out of my head.

Melody Goodspeed: No, it totally, yeah.

Thomas Reid: And that's always what I'm trying to get across. But that part, the dinner part, it's funny because that literally came out of, my youngest daughter one day was sitting there and we just, these conversations came up. But you could tell, she's the one who was like, "Hey, we have rules. And you guys are breaking the rules," because she just was like, "I just need a break from all of this stuff that's going on."

Thomas Reid: And that's what really sparked me. Like, it's not just her who needs a break, we all need a break sometimes. But you know what? We really don't get to take a break. That was sort of the... Not everyone gets to take a break, from these issues. And so that was, when it came from my daughter. She's 16, my youngest. That really just, stuck with me. So I was like, "Oh, you know what? This is a great way to tell that."

Melody Goodspeed: Yes. And, it really is. And then, you know what? We don't get to take a break from it. But, one of the things I've really enjoyed about conversations with you, and I'm just, from my own personal experience. There are days, and I'll be honest for me, that I want to take a break of blindness. It's just, sometimes when you've got that, and these things pile up, but... And you don't get to take a break from it, but it's finding those things that do. And I love your view on sight loss, and what you can do as an individual, is so authentic to me. Can you share that with us?

Thomas Reid: Yeah. I think we can do, whatever we want to do. It's just about, it's the doing it, just getting up and trying it. We don't... I think I learned something, early on with sight loss, that sort of stuck with me. Hopefully, I think I've been an optimist type of person all my life and actually, that's probably more of a struggle as I get older. Just, to remain optimistic.

Thomas Reid: But early on, I noticed that, I needed wins. What I call, wins. I say this a lot, I think on the pod. Every now and then. Like you say, sometimes you just wake up and everything is going wrong. You know what I mean?

Melody Goodspeed: Right, always.

Thomas Reid: You drop something off the dresser. You're like, "Damn it. I can't find it."

Melody Goodspeed: Yes.

Thomas Reid: You know? And that, while normally, so to other people, it's not a big deal. But it becomes a big deal. And when you're in that position, when you're feeling low like that, it just, it drops you further down.

Melody Goodspeed: It does.

Thomas Reid: And those are the days where I said, "I need a win," because... And that win doesn't have to be really big. Right?

Melody Goodspeed: Right.

Thomas Reid: There was one time, early on, where I had a shelving unit or something like that. I needed to put that together. And I felt great, after I put it together. And like I said, it's not a big deal. It's not a big deal at all. It wasn't a big deal. But to some people, they would be like, 'You can't put that together."

Melody Goodspeed: Right.

Thomas Reid: But then, it was a win. I felt it was a win, and then back then, when my daughter was little... Really, I'll talk about my kids, all day.

Melody Goodspeed: Yeah.

Thomas Reid: But my little one, she was like three. And she used to do this thing where, she was just like, "Yeah, we did it." And she just raised her arms up like, "Yeah!" And then she was like, "Daddy is the man. Daddy is the man."

Melody Goodspeed: I love it.

Thomas Reid: It doesn't get, I'm telling you, to this day. I'm like, "Hey, can I get a, 'Daddy is the man'?" Sometimes I need a "Daddy is the man," you know what I mean?

Melody Goodspeed: Yeah. We all need that, yeah.

Thomas Reid: Yeah, for real. But those are the wins.

Melody Goodspeed: They are.

Thomas Reid: So, wherever you can find a little win, it doesn't have to be really big. If you just, you made a nice, whatever. Or you got to, you completed something you were trying to do online. Whatever, take it. Take it, and enjoy that win. It's important.

Melody Goodspeed: It is. And I get it. I tell my boss that quite often, who's here with us. I'll be like, "Suzan, I need a win today." And it does... And I've noticed, when you put it out there in the universe? The win usually happens, when you're open to it.

Thomas Reid: That's so true. That is so true.

Melody Goodspeed: Yeah. And I think when you become, when you were talking about, with dropping something. And the other, it happened to me other day, and I'm crawling around the floor. And it's like, "Oh my gosh, it's taking me five minutes to find this earring back." And, you want to scream. But, you're so right. We have to, those wins are so critical. And, I agree with you wholeheartedly, on that.

Melody Goodspeed: So, when you started really getting into other people's stories. I really like how you highlight people's stories, because you have that unique aspect of it, too. So I know you interviewed Megan Aragon, who is here at AFB, on her employment challenges. And employment is such a huge thing, we focus that on, one of our, what we focus on at AFB, to boost that and make a level playing ground for people. So that, we are on level playing ground, with our sighted peers. Can you tell a story, how you think about employment, when it comes to blindness?

Thomas Reid: Wow. Well, you mentioned Megan's story, and Megan's story was so good to me. When we first had that conversation, it was like, it was, I don't want to say perfect. But in a way, it was a perfect adjustment story. Because, from all the people that I've spoken to online and offline, about blindness, there were all of the components. There was the denial. Man, she was a good denier. And it was like-

Melody Goodspeed: Yeah.

Thomas Reid: I mean that in a good way-

Melody Goodspeed: Yes, yes.

Thomas Reid: ... because she found so many little tricks, and it's like, "Wow, if you could take that same energy and work with it, you can still use those tricks."

Melody Goodspeed: Yes.

Thomas Reid: But you will feel better, because you're just going to accept it. And that goes into employment, when we talk about employment, to me, that was one of the first things I realized when I started to meet other people. And just realize, what people were doing. It's like, man. As an employer, I would definitely hire way more people with disabilities, way more blind people, because the adaptations and the ability to think on your feet. Obviously, this isn't everyone, right?

Melody Goodspeed: Right.

Thomas Reid: So, let's just be real. Because, this is not everyone, but for those who are doing that. That, to me, is extremely powerful. I was fortunate enough when I was younger, in the game, and I wanted to make a move from finance into IT. My first manager there in the IT area, he knew I didn't have a degree in IT, but he knew I was doing the work. And he knew that I had a drive, to do it. And he knew I had the ability to learn. And he was the first person to say, "You have all that, I'm not worried. I'd rather you, because you're going to put the time and the effort, as opposed to somebody who's already doing it, or has a degree. And I don't know what they're going to do."

Melody Goodspeed: Yeah.

Thomas Reid: And that was the truth. And that's always stayed with me. And so I say, "I see that." And, there are people out there who believe that. And, it's not easy. I don't want to make it sound like it's easy. But I think when it comes to employment, we have to... You have to be your publicist. You have to be your best, your most advocate person. You have to be that person, for yourself, and go out there and really sell it. And you have a lot to sell. You have a lot to sell.

Melody Goodspeed: No, I completely agree with you because, and I want to talk about that acceptance piece. And I don't know about you, but I noticed, because we both had eyesight loss, in our adulthood. But, for me, it's when I hit that acceptance mark, like we were talking about those wins, that we talked about earlier. That's when I noticed those, more. And I don't know if it was that shift into an acceptance. What are your thoughts on that? Because I really feel like, once that acceptance hits and talking about, like we were talking. But we do, I think you become so creative in thinking about, "How am I going to," we're just like, "I'm snapping right now, because it's just boom, boom, boom. Okay. How am I going to get through this?" Even, before you walk out your door.

Thomas Reid: Yes.

Melody Goodspeed: I don't know how we're all not face plant, by the end of the day, with all the extra thinking. But it's that... Some kind of shift, with acceptance.

Thomas Reid: Yeah. There's an energy that comes with that. And, I'm not a... I believe in energy, I really do believe in that. And there's an energy about, whether it's just confidence. Acceptance does bring about confidence, because you start to believe in yourself. And when you go out there, and you're a confident person, you're actually... Back is up straight, you're walking with some confidence. You're talking with confidence, you shake a person's hand with confidence. There's nothing about you, that says you can't.

Melody Goodspeed: Right.

Thomas Reid: And so, if they do have that belief, they're not going to feel it, I don't think. I think they feel that positive energy, that you hit them with. It happens.

Melody Goodspeed: It does.

Thomas Reid: Right away. And so, I think that's a part of accepting it, and just moving on and focusing on the positive stuff. And knowing that yeah, the negative things are going to happen, but they don't have to... You don't have to stay there.

Melody Goodspeed: Right. I think you, definitely the feeling it, but letting it go. But it is so true because you know, if someone's in a bad mood, you're like, "Oh, geez." Even we can tell that, right? You may not be able to see, you can still know that.

Thomas Reid: Oh, yeah.

Melody Goodspeed: And then also, but if someone later comes in the room, and like, "Wow, that person's really lighting up this place," you just know it because it's like, "I'm strong, I'm confident, I'm going to do this. We're rocking it, today."

Thomas Reid: Absolutely.

Melody Goodspeed: Like you and I are doing, right now.

Thomas Reid: All right. There we go.

Melody Goodspeed: I love it. So, I definitely hear that acceptance piece, and the confidence piece. And I think that is like, when we talk about our community or anybody, anybody who's on this call right now. You walk in with that confidence in what you're doing, and I think leading with integrity, which I also know is huge for you. No matter how it happens, it gets you through those difficult conversations, and it gets you through those difficult times to be able to get to those wins.

Thomas Reid: Indeed.

Melody Goodspeed: I've learned a lot of that, listening to you.

Thomas Reid: Oh, thank you. I'm going to have to get that, take that and put it on a podcast. Because, that's-

Melody Goodspeed: Yes, yes.

Thomas Reid: ... That's a good commercial, for my podcast.

Melody Goodspeed: Exactly.

Thomas Reid: Yeah.

Melody Goodspeed: So can you tell us, because I know... and I'm really excited, because we know this. But, I know that you use your podcast, but what are some other projects you're working on? Can you share with us, please?

Thomas Reid: Sure, sure. I guess the big one, right now... I am working on a couple of other podcasts, but I guess I can't really talk about those, because they're not necessarily mine but, working with some other people. And the big one, I guess is really, I just had the opportunity to do audio description, on a Netflix project. I've been working on trying to do some voiceover projects, and I've done a couple over the years. Last two years or so, done a couple of smaller voiceover work, as well as an audio description project. And that was, I think I talked about that on the podcast. That was for, if you guys are familiar with Alice Sheppard, who is an extremely talented dancer, and she is... A wheelchair, she uses a wheelchair. She's really cool, I had a chance to describe a project, there.

Thomas Reid: But the latest one was a Netflix project, it's called Skindecisions, Before and After. Skindecision is all one word, the way they write it out. And it's on Netflix. And so you can, if you turn on the audio description, you will hear Thomas Reid, narrating to you.

Melody Goodspeed: That is awesome.

Thomas Reid: Yeah, it was so much fun. It was really cool. The coolest thing about that though is that, if you listen to the podcast again, anything that I'm talking about with audio description, I'm usually talking about, or I try some way to build that in there, about blind people being a part of that. I think that's been something that I've been thinking about for quite some time, because it is... It's not only a quote unquote service, for blind people, but there's no reason in my mind, that blind people cannot be a part of that. So whether it's narrating, whether it's the quality control. Some people might say I'm crazy, but I think blind people can actually write audio description. Now, I'll tell you what I mean by that.

Melody Goodspeed: Yeah, please do.

Thomas Reid: Obviously, okay. We may not be able to see everything that's going on the screen, and there's different degrees of that, too. But a big part of audio description is the wordsmithing. And, I know a lot of talented blind writers, who could participate in that process. So I don't think it's as outlandish as other people may think, when they first hear it.

Melody Goodspeed: I completely agree with you on that, Thomas.

Thomas Reid: Cool. Yeah. Why not, right?

Melody Goodspeed: Well, yes.

Thomas Reid: Mixing. Yeah. All of those components could be done by blind people, in some way.

Melody Goodspeed: Yes. And I'm saying this, from my personal standpoint, of my new attempt to do audio narration, and you have been my sounding board for that. But the more we get into audio description and the conversations that are arising, because, it is. It's really exploding, especially with all the efforts that are being done out there. I completely agree with you. And what does that do? That opens up job opportunities. And, I even had a conversation earlier today that we, ongoing conversations, that this is, "Nothing for us, without us."

Thomas Reid: Absolutely.

Melody Goodspeed: As we have that, right there. And there are things that, talents that we definitely have, that are unique. And quite frankly, needed.

Thomas Reid: Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's, even more than just the job opportunities, what would that do for a young blind child, to know that that was described in any way, that blind people were a part of that process? That's powerful. To me, I think that's powerful.

Melody Goodspeed: It's very powerful.

Thomas Reid: To say, "Oh wait, this is not just another service for me?" It's like, blind people don't always have to be takers of services. Like, we do. Right?

Melody Goodspeed: Right.

Thomas Reid: So to me, that's the empowering piece. And that's really, I love the process of doing narration. I probably more love, the process of creating a podcast, I'll just be honest. I love everything about that. It's more creative than just narrating. No disrespect to narrating, it's a lot of creative stuff. You have to learn to use your voice, in voiceover stuff.

Melody Goodspeed: Oh, yes.

Thomas Reid: But the big thing for me is, "Hey, blind people can do this. You see blind people can do this now. Start hiring blind people, y'all. I don't have to be that blind person, but start hiring blind people, because there's a lot of us who want to do it." That, to me, is really cool. I like that.

Melody Goodspeed: It is. I like it. And I want to transition over here, I mean, I might drop for you, right there. Because I love the fact of just, imagine, a child that's blind, growing up and saying that exact thing. Like, "I can do this." And giving them that, is extremely powerful. Amazingly powerful. And to grow up with that type of attitude. And it was just, awesome.

Melody Goodspeed: So Thomas, this goes right into my thing, before we go into Q and A. You are so passionate, and if you could give advice to someone who maybe, are reluctant, or maybe they feel like they're not in a winning spot right now. What advice would you give them to move forward, charge ahead?

Thomas Reid: So, okay. You may not like this advice, but it's the most true thing that I can say. And, it's very simple. It's, start. Because a lot of times, and I know I'm guilty of this, we have these passions, and we think about them in a certain way. We think we have to be the best, right out of the gate. We think we need the best equipment, we need, "I need the best guitar. I need the best," whatever. But, no. You really don't, you truly do not. And you're never going to get there, if you don't start. So I'm always telling people, "Just start."

Thomas Reid: And starting could mean, if you wanted to go back, if you want a new career, well go ahead and start doing that. A lot of things that people want to do in their lives, you don't necessarily need anybody, nowadays. You want to be a writer, you want to be an IT guy, start making something. Start writing, start programming. Do something, right now. Take a class on it, right now. And you can do that without money, like iTunes University, and all of that. Coursera, has classes. You can start now. And, to me, that is honestly the best piece of advice that I could give. Because, if I didn't just start playing with a digital recorder-

Melody Goodspeed: That's exactly what I was thinking about.

Thomas Reid: Yeah, it was, it would have never happened.

Melody Goodspeed: That is awesome. I like it. Take the first step. I love it. Well, I'm going to move over. And I want to say, this went by too fast.

Thomas Reid: Yeah, we done already?

Melody Goodspeed: No, we're going to Q and A. We're way fast.

Thomas Reid: Oh, my goodness. What's going on?

Melody Goodspeed: I know, we were in the moment, man.

Thomas Reid: Wow.

Melody Goodspeed: Yes, well I would love, I'm going to open up to Suzan, for questions and answer time.

Thomas Reid: Cool. I hope we get questions.

Melody Goodspeed: We are going to get.

Suzan Henderson: Hey guys. Question and answer is open, so send those to me. I have one for you, Thomas. This is a great conversation. And I want your daughter in my corner, too.

Melody Goodspeed: Oh, yes.

Suzan Henderson: She sounds awesome.

Thomas Reid: She is.

Suzan Henderson: I can imagine that you get inspiration from your children. Where else do you get inspiration from?

Thomas Reid: Ooh, wow. That's so funny, because I'm trying to find new ways of getting inspiration. I'm looking, I think I'm one of those people who wanted to be creative, growing up. And so, I'm really starting to try to get into my creative side. So, I've been doing the podcast. But I'm looking for new things, too. So other podcasts, books, music. Music is definitely a thing. If you listen to the podcast, you know I am a child of hip hop. I grew up in, I'm from the Bronx. Shout out to the Bronx, all day. And, I get inspiration, where other people might see whatever they see, I don't care. I'm not going to get into that conversation, but I do get inspired, because there's so much creativity that comes from my borough. So, I get inspired by that. Movies, all of that, all of that type of art.

Thomas Reid: And I really want to try to even get into other forms of art, because just in some of the conversations I'm having with people around audio description, and some of the descriptions that are being done on pieces of art, I think that's so cool. And it's like, "Wow. If I'm going to do this, get inspiration and really explore creativity," knowing that there's audio description, where I can still have access to that? That just feels so good. So, I want to find more of that.

Suzan Henderson: I love that. That's awesome. Alexa is here, and she has a comment. She absolutely loves your energy.

Thomas Reid: Oh, thank you.

Suzan Henderson: And we have a good question from Marsha, she wants to know where to find your podcast.

Thomas Reid: Marsha. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. Marsha, if you are a podcast listener, you just open up your favorite pod catcher, and you type in Reid, R-E-I-D, My Mind. Three separate words. Radio. So, it's Reid My Mind Radio, and it will come up. Or you go to Reid My Mind, again. R-E-I-D-M-Y-M-I-N-D.com, and you can find it there. But I'm on all, iTunes, Spotify, I'm on all of those.

Suzan Henderson: You're everywhere.

Melody Goodspeed: Yeah.

Suzan Henderson: Okay. So we have another question, from Kim Owens. She has a comment. She loves your podcast, and she wants to thank you.

Thomas Reid: Thank you.

Suzan Henderson: But she's also asked if, she's interested in being on your podcast. Is there a way to apply?

Thomas Reid: Oh, that's interesting. No, I don't have a way to apply. One of the things that I'm trying to get better at doing is, producing in advance. But what you can definitely do is, send me an email. I don't want to make it too, yeah. Just send me an email. You can send it to reidmymindradio@gmail.com.

Melody Goodspeed: And that's, R-E-I-D.

Thomas Reid: Thank you. Yeah. R to the E, I-D, as I say. Yeah.

Suzan Henderson: And we have another question and comment, from our friend, Roy Samuelson. He says, you've created your own opportunities with your podcast, which has created even more opportunities for your talents. What advice would you give to others, who want to create their own opportunities?

Thomas Reid: Well, same thing. I would say, just go ahead and start it. Because that's, Roy brought up a really good point, and that's, I didn't necessarily... Again, I started just with a blog. And, I've always liked the audio, but I didn't know where it was going to take me. And I still don't know, where it's going to take me. I'm just kind of, I'm riding. I'm just riding, wherever it goes. I would like to say that I'm more strategic, about certain things, and maybe I want to try to get there. But quite honestly, just start doing it, because you don't know where it's going to go. You really don't. Even if you are strategic, you don't know where it's going to go, because it is not always going to work out the way you think. But it won't work out at all, if you don't start it.

Suzan Henderson: Melody, do we have time for one more question? I know we're at -

Melody Goodspeed: We do.

Suzan Henderson: Okay. Our dear Lee Huffman. What access technology do you use, and how were you introduced to access technology?

Thomas Reid: Oh, nice question. I was introduced to access technology through my local BVS, I believe. Bureau of Blindness and Visual Service, out here in Pennsylvania. I'm in Pennsylvania. And so, I am a JAWS user. I am, mainly a JAWS user, it's my most, technology that I'm using, right now. And my iPhone. But in terms of producing audio, it's all strictly on the computer, for the most part.

Thomas Reid: I'm a REAPER user, shout out to REAPER, which is the digital audio workstation, or DAW, that I use. They have done, between them and the blind community, it's just such a great story because the blind community worked with that particular DAW, and just created some additional software to really make REAPER work for us.

Thomas Reid: One of the same people who created NVDA was really responsible, was mainly responsible for that. There's a lot of other people involved, but I just love that story.

Melody Goodspeed: It's awesome.

Thomas Reid: Of just, the community working to make its own way. So, that's the main tech that I use, right now.

Melody Goodspeed: I love it. Thank you Lee, for your question. Thank all of you, for your questions. And Thomas, just, I was going to ask if, how could people reach you. But let's do it again, anyway.

Thomas Reid: Okay.

Melody Goodspeed: If they want to reach you or, where do they go?

Thomas Reid: Yeah, so you could go to, you can email me if you want, reidmymindradio, R-E-I-D, my mind radio, @gmail. I am on Twitter. I'm way more active on Twitter, than I am on any other platform. So I would say if you're on Twitter, I am @ts, R-E-I-D, tsreid. My website is reidmymind.com. And again, Reid My Mind Radio, wherever you get podcasts.

Melody Goodspeed: Thank you so much.

Thomas Reid: Thank you Melody, this was fun.

Melody Goodspeed: And I just want to say, you've brought up so many great points today, and just to tag on. We're better together, at creating a life of no limits, if we work together. No matter our circumstance. I can't thank you all enough for being here today. If you want to learn more about AFB and our programs, please visit our website at afb.org. And, thank you so much again Thomas, for being here-

Thomas Reid: Thank you.

Melody Goodspeed: ... and sharing with us, and giving us so much to think about. And, I can't wait to go dive back into your podcast. I have to finish the one I was in, today. So, thank you so much for being here.

Thomas Reid: Thank you for inviting me, Melody. I appreciate it. This was a lot of fun.

Melody Goodspeed: Yeah, it was.

Thomas Reid: And, a shout out to AFB, and everybody out there.

Melody Goodspeed: Thank you, Thomas.

Thomas Reid: Thank you.

Melody Goodspeed: Have a great day, everybody. Enjoy the rest of your week.