Watching Philippe sing his songs, you’ll notice he can be a bit of a one man band — he’ll sing, he’ll play the guitar, he’ll do the percussion all at once, sometimes he’ll even throw in a harmonizer effect to create harmonies by himself.

Born blind in Clair, New Brunswick, Philippe started his musical journey at five years old, and he can play almost any instrument you can name. He learns songs by ear and adds his own flavour to them, and is a prolific songwriter himself.

“I did not have it so easy when I was younger,” he shares, noting that he has anxiety. “I got intimidated a little bit during school, [. . .] maybe it was because I was too shy.”

Music, however, helped him make friends and improve his confidence as he grew older.

Philippe frequently played gigs at restaurants and bars, and made some money doing so. But the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to that. “I had to adjust to that,” he says.

During the pandemic, he started working with organizations like CNIB and Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada to increase his ability with technology, and from them, learned about Neil Squire. He enrolled in Neil Squire’s Digital Jumpstart program.

Through Digital Jumpstart, he received a laptop with Windows 10, a new keyboard, Microsoft Office 365 and NVDA.

“Just to receive a computer from Neil Squire, it changed everything,” he shares.

With his instructor, he has been learning how to use NVDA and Microsoft Narrator, as well as the features of Microsoft 10, which he had previously never used before. While he initially struggled with doing the lessons virtually, he has come to embrace it.

“At the beginning, I was having some issues sending some emails,” he says. “It’s a lot of details sending an email, you left click in some places, especially with an attachment, but right now I can do that, I’m so proud of that.

“Now that I’m doing this, whether it’s with Narrator or NVDA, it’s a gamechanger. I can go to the internet, I can go to Google, or Facebook, or anywhere. I don’t have any issues so far navigating on the internet.”

He also received dimensional fabric paint, which marks the buttons on his microwave at home, as well as the stove, washing machine, and dryer, giving him greater independence at home by making it easier for him to use those appliances.

Since his time in Digital Jumpstart ended, Philippe has continued participating in Neil Squire’s Solutions program.

The future looks bright for the young musician. With his first album released in 2010, he’s looking forward to releasing his second album in the near future. Thanks to the help he’s received from many organizations, Philippe has been enjoying putting musical shows on Facebook Live.

He wants to enter the job market, and expresses interest in giving back as a volunteer as well — particularly in the areas of music and technology.

“A huge thanks to all you guys — Neil Squire, CNIB, Vision Loss Rehab, and some other organizations as well,” Philippe says. “I’m really touched. It touches my heart a lot all of the help I am receiving, and I’m humbled by all of that. [There’s] almost tears in my eyes, I mean it.”

Listen to Philippe’s original song, “All Over the World”:

Tags: assistive technology, New Brunswick, Solutions, technology