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

Wed May 4 02:30:25 UTC 2011

Wow! If my whole Ph.D. plan doesn't work out, it's good to know I can
go to a school to make rugs, mufflers and caps all day. And they have
free food?
Arielle

On 5/1/11, Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net> wrote:
> 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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-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org