[nabs-l] [Blindtlk] FW: Blindness in the News

[Jedi]

The best story was the one about the wedding. But really and truly, 
these stories, when taken together, paint a rather bleak picture of 
blind existance.

Respectfully Submitted

Original message:
>  Hi, everyone.

> Here are some blindness-related news stories from the past few
> days you all might be interested in.  Enjoy!

> Chris Nusbaum

> "A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)

> ---- Original Message ------
> From: "Roberthansen1970 at gmail.com" <roberthansen1970 at gmail.com
> Subject: [Blindtlk] FW: Blindness in the News
> Date sent: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:23:51 -0700 (PDT)




> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Robert Hansen" <Robert.Hansen at chicagolighthouse.org
> Sent: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:12:57 Pacific Daylight Time
> To: "roberthansen1970 at gmail.com"
> <roberthansen1970 at gmail.com>,"conibodyworks at gmail.com"
> <conibodyworks at gmail.com>,"don.gillmore at gmail.com"
> <don.gillmore at gmail.com
> Subject: FW: Blindness in the News



> From: crisintern
> Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 2:07 PM
> To: LIGHTHOUSE; zapemantus at earthlink.net; randyvirden at att.net
> Subject: Blindness in the News

> Blindness in the News
> April 28, 2011




> 1.   Company paints word pictures of the wedding for the visually
> impaired

> The Globe and Mail

> April 27, 2011



> 2.   Lack of funding may spell end of classes for visually
> impaired

> Daily News

> April 25, 2011



> 3.   Marine Drive crossings unsafe, say vision impaired

> BC Local News

> April 27, 2011



> 4.   New device puts vision impaired in the picture

> Physorg

> April 28, 2011



> 1.   Company paints word pictures of the wedding for the visually
> impaired



> ["Nobody puts on a show like the Royal Family": A member of the
> household cavalry rides down the Mall adorned in Union flags
> ahead of Friday's Royal wedding.  | Reuters]





> TORONTO - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail



> Feast your ears on this: A Toronto-based media company will
> provide a live described-video broadcast of the royal wedding so
> that blind and low-sighted people across the country can enjoy
> all the pomp and pageantry of the big day.



> "An event like the royal wedding is something that we think
> should be accessible to all Canadians," says David Errington,
> president of Accessible Media Inc.



> "It's the first time that any event of this magnitude has ever
> been DV'd live," says producer Simone Cupid.



> Described video is much different than colour commentary: It's an
> art form unto itself, especially when done live, Cupid says.



> "A colour commentator offers interesting facts and details, and
> where we are and some history about that place, whereas we're
> trying to fill in the gaps for somebody who doesn't have the
> advantage of sight," she says.  "It's our job to fill in the
> crowd's expression when [Kate Middleton] comes out of the
> carriage, her mother's expression the first time she sees her in
> her wedding dress, William when he sees her coming down the
> aisle, the frescoes that are painted on the ceiling of the
> abbey."



> The two "describers," Sarah Mennell and Ruth Barrett, were chosen
> after an audition in which they described footage of the 1981
> wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.



> They are now busy researching everything from who will be in the
> audience to the type of horses that will be pulling Middleton's
> carriage.



> "That's where the art comes in, is what's worth describing and
> what isn't," Mennell says.  "It's a question of learning to pick
> out very quickly what you're seeing and what you want to convey
> to an audience."



> They are also learning to abide by the cardinal rule of described
> video: "We refrain from using any turn of phrase or word that
> pertains to sight," Cupid says.  "So we would never say something
> like, 'William looks at his bride,' because all you're doing is
> reminding your audience that they can't look and they can't see."



> There is a huge amount of hype surrounding the wedding, which is
> guaranteed to be a massive spectacle, and describing it live to a
> visually impaired audience is sure to be a massive challenge,
> Barrett says.  But it's also going to be a fun one.



> "Nobody puts on a show like the Royal Family," she says.



> The broadcast will be available on The Accessible Channel -
> TACtv.



> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/company-paints-word-pictures-
> of-the-wedding-for-the-visually-impaired/article1999475/



> 2.   Lack of funding may spell end of classes for visually
> impaired



> VAN NUYS: Lack of funding may shut down campus for visually
> impaired.



> Sarah Greenseid contentedly worked her yarn on a recent morning,
> her perpetual smile not entirely masking the anxiety felt by the
> visually impaired 99-year-old.



> "It's really too bad, the possibility of the school not
> continuing," Greenseid said during a textile arts class at the
> Van Nuys School for the Blind, located in a rented classroom
> behind St.  Andrew's Lutheran Church.  "It's a very important
> part of everyone's life to have a place to come to where we can
> share our same problems, interact and still have a class.



> "I will be sad if it doesn't continue."



> As the Daily News reported in 2010, the school, also known as
> Visually Handicapped Adults of the Valley, is in a month-to-month
> struggle to keep offering the two classes it's managed to sustain
> this year.  If the money isn't raised to cover classroom rental,
> the 39-year-old operation will have to close on May 19.



> The main reason for the school's dire financial straits is the
> loss of its annual $75,000 Los Angeles Community Development
> Department grant, due to budget cutbacks and a restructuring of
> the agency's qualification criteria.



>  Fundraising campaigns have kept the school going, and there are
> last-ditch efforts to stave off closure.



> Ophthalmologists Kerry Assil and Thomas Tooma have each donated
> $6,000 Lasik surgeries to be raffled off for the benefit of
> Retinitis Pigmentosa International, the school's parent
> organization, named for a genetic eye condition that leads to
> incurable blindness.



> Each $25 donated will earn an entry in the raffle.  Other details
> are at www.rpinternational.org.



> "We hope that the donation from NVision Laser Eye Centers will
> help RPI reach its financial goals to help save the Van Nuys
> School for the Blind because its program provides training for
> the social, emotional and physical implications related to losing
> one's vision," Tooma said in an emailed statement.



> "It is their lifeline to the light," Tooma continued.  "Without
> that school, they are in the dark.  That darkness is interrupted
> for at least 48 hours during the week when they go to the school.
> It also provides them lunch and they are even sent home with
> food."



> Back at the St.  Andrew's campus, close to a dozen visually
> impaired people were diligently making their rugs, mufflers and
> caps.



> "I've been coming here for nine years; I also go to ceramics on
> Monday," said Patricia O'Connor of West Hills, who was creating a
> colorful wall hanging.  "It's almost like a family to us, we've
> been meeting here for so long and we enjoy it so much.



> "It gives people who have vision problems something really
> worthwhile to do, and we can see the benefits of our own work."



> The school's search for a less-expensive venue has, so far,
> proven fruitless.  The church is not unsympathetic, but has its
> own funding needs and rents out its campus to other
> organizations, including a Montessori preschool, to make ends
> meet.



> "Our people are low-vision and many of them completely blind, so
> it's tricky to find another place for them," noted Laura Carlone,
> the school's site coordinator.  "Here we have access to a kitchen
> and the run of the place, along with the preschool."



> For Greenseid, who began volunteering at the school 29 years ago
> and became a student when her eyesight started to fail, the
> weekly class has become an important part of her independent
> existence.



> "It keeps me busy," the Sherman Oaks nonagenarian said.  "I do my
> own cooking, bookkeeping, banking and some shopping.  My
> lifestyle is dependent on doing as much as I can as often as I
> can.  Coming here is one of my very high priorities.



> "Every day that I come here is important," Greenseid added.  "I
> relate to the students and it's very rewarding.  It's a way from
> them to get out of their homes."



> http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_17925739





> 3.   Marine Drive crossings unsafe, say vision impaired



> [EyeDeal_4698.jpg]



> A group of vision-impaired West Vancouver residents are sounding
> the alarm on the district's pedestrian crossings.



> Eye Deal, a four-year-old association with 35 members, is
> concerned about the allotted time for pedestrians at the
> municipality's crossing, particularly the lights along Marine
> Drive.



> "Our fear is the vision impaired do not have the time to cross
> before the lights change," said Blair Baillie, the association's
> honorary secretary.



> Even with his sight, Baillie said, he sometimes finds it
> difficult to make it to the other side before the flashing hand
> appears.



> In addition, not all the crossings have sound indicators to let
> the blind and vision impaired know when it's safe to leave the
> sidewalk, he noted.



> These factors make vision impaired people nervous, Baillie said.
> Often they'll rely on sighted pedestrians but it's not always an
> option, he said.



> "It just seems to me there are a bunch of things we should and
> could be doing," Baillie said.


> The organization has approached the district before with its
> concerns.  This time they're taking them to the engineers.


> The district's pedestrian-timed signals are set up to allow
> people one second to cover one to 1.2 metres.  If anything, the
> time allotment is generous compared to other municipalities, said
> Raymond Fung, the district's director of engineering and
> transportation.



> There is a general misunderstanding regarding what each signal
> means, he said.  The walk sign indicates when one can safely
> leave the sidewalk, while the hand requires one to stay on the
> curb - it does not indicate a person should already be across the
> street.


> Between 11th and 19th along Marine Drive, five of the eight
> traffic lights have audible pedestrian signals.  The district is
> adding the beepers as it upgrades intersections, Fung said.

> The municipality has an accessibility and inclusion policy.
> Recommendations from the Advisory Committee for Disability - such
> as fitting audible walk signs, creating accessible transit
> shelters and insuring grades are suitable for people in
> wheelchairs to board busses - have been adopted over the years.


> Creating intersections that facilitate pedestrians' requirements
> and traffic follow is always juggling act, Fung said.


> "We have to balance the needs," he said.



> Eye Deal


> Eye Deal aims to spotlight all issues affecting visually impaired
> people in the district.  The association recently extended its
> membership to include all age groups.  It organizes everything
> from transportation to outings downtown to supplying talking
> books to members to information sessions.  "We are looking for
> more volunteers," Baillie said.  "There are more things we would
> like to do."



> http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/120808764.html





> 4.   New device puts vision impaired in the picture



> (PhysOrg.com) -- Visually impaired people may soon have greater
> access to graphical information thanks to a new device developed
> by Monash University's Faculty of Information and Technology.



> The device, called GraVVITAS, is a standard tablet PC with touch
> screen technology that uses vibration and sounds to guide the
> visually impaired user around a diagram.



> It is designed to enable the user to build a picture of the
> entire graphic in their mind.



> Currently, visually impaired students are using tactile diagrams
> to understand graphics.  These raised shapes and textures are
> produced on a particular type of paper by special purpose
> printers, known as embossers.  This method can prove to be
> extremely costly and can take months to produce a textbook.



> The Faculty of Information and Technology's Professor Kim
> Marriott and PhD student Cagatay Goncu are working with Vision
> Australia to develop the new technology, that will make accessing
> diagrams for visually impaired students easier.



> "The idea stemmed from a visually impaired student that I had
> years ago in a unit that was very diagrammatic," Professor
> Marriott said.



> "This particular student had major problems understanding the
> diagrams using the methods that were available to them at the
> time.  We wanted to try to increase accessibility to diagrams and
> graphics in educational material, which is a huge issue for the
> visually impaired."



> The device, which is currently a prototype, has small external
> vibrating motors that attach to the user's fingers.  These motors
> buzz when an object displayed on the screen is touched.



> Cagatay Goncu said voice prompts and sounds also help to guide
> the user to read the diagram.



> "The basic idea is to guide the user to find the object by using
> sound.  Touching the object causes the sound to stop and a voice
> explains what that object is and any other information associated
> with it," Mr.  Goncu said.



> "If it's something on the left side, you will hear something in
> your left ear and vice-versa."



> Developing the technology has involved extensive testing with
> visually impaired volunteers, which has allowed researchers to
> have a better understanding of how they read diagrams.



> The next stage of development will involve collaborating with
> haptic feedback specialists from the Faculty of Engineering who
> will further refine the touch technology associated with the
> device.



> http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-04-device-vision-impaired-pictur
> e.html




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