Luggage locators, an electronic transmitter-receiver pair, are often used by travelers to find their bags at airport baggage claims. People who are visually impaired have discovered a wider range of uses. Luggage locators may be attached to garbage cans out on the curb. That way, after the garbage has been picked up, the empty cans are more easily found. The small devices can also work with items that tend to get misplaced, like keys. By attaching the receiver to a key ring, lost keys can be quickly recovered.
To read more about luggage locators and other helpful tools, visit
www.afb.org/ seniorsite.asp?SectionID=68 and click on
“Featured Tips and Products Newsletter.”
It all started with the letter P. It was that one special day in preschool when the focus was on the letter P. They had planned to wear pajamas, paint pictures in purple and pink, eat popcorn and pretzels and pretend to be pirates. Perfect!
I had dropped my daughter Jillian off at school and about two hours later received a call from her teacher. She called to say that
Jillian had “freaked out” in class. The teacher explained that the class had been pretending to be pirates and when she put a patch on Jillian’s eye, she had thrown her hands out in front of
her as if trying to reach out for something and fallen to the fl oor screaming for help.
We went immediately to see Jillian’s pediatrician. He was skeptical, as we hadn’t noticed any vision issues with Jillian, but he said we would check it out. I stood with Jillian at one end of a long hallway while our doctor stood by the eye chart at the other end. A nurse covered one of Jillian’s eyes and she read the chart with no problem. Then, the nurse covered the other eye.
“MOMMY, HELP ME!”
My heart nearly stopped as Jillian instantly threw her hands up in front of her and started calling out for me. “Mommy, Mommy, help me!” I was standing right next to her within arms reach of her right shoulder. I spoke softly to her, telling her I was right there. She looked in my direction as if searching for me. I grabbed her hand and started to cry. The doctor looked completely shocked. Hesaid, “Jillian, can you see the eye chart on the wall?” She moved her head all around as if
searching the sky and ground and everywhere in between. Our doctor then said, “Jillian, can you see me?” and she stood very still and
softly murmured, “I hear you.” The doctor left us in the examination room and called to get her in immediately at the children’s hospital. I was terrified. What was wrong with my baby girl? Had she always
been blind in one eye? If not, why was she not able to see—all of sudden—out of one eye? How could we have missed that?
A week later, the ophthalmologist told us that Jillian had amblyopia. I had never heard the word but I soon learned that amblyopia is
“partial or complete loss of vision in one eye caused by conditions that affect the normal development of vision.”* With amblyopia, the
brain favors one strong eye over the weaker one. The weak eye is eventually ignored by the brain, and therefore the brain cells related to
eyesight do not mature normally. Amblyopia is the most common cause of monocular blindness, partial or complete blindness in
one eye. It affects an estimated two to three percent of children in the United States. So, yes, Jillian had basically become blind in
one eye because her brain had all but ceased communicating with the weak eye. The doctor explained that there is no surgery to correct
amblyopia. The most common treatment is to force the brain to start using the “bad” eye by putting a patch over the “good” eye.
THE BEST WE COULD EXPECT
Jillian wore an eye patch for ten to eleven hours a day for three years. Her limited vision led us to the decision to home school
during that time. At the end of third grade, our ophthalmologist said that Jillian had made as much progress as she could with
the eye patch. The vision in her weak eye had improved to 20/40 with the assistance of eyeglasses. We were told that was the best
we could expect. Jillian was so excited to return to public
school. She started fourth grade feeling a little nervous, but with high hopes. Her fourth grade teacher was fantastic. She was quick to point
out Jillian’s strengths, but equally concerned about her weaknesses. She told me that Jillian could answer questions verbally and recite her
times tables perfectly, but then she would fail the written math exam. I assumed that Jillian needed to see the ophthalmologist about
adjusting her eyeglasses prescription. When we saw him, he agreed that she needed a slight change, but said it shouldn’t be causing
her problems in school. He had nothing else to offer. That afternoon I sat at my computer and typed into Google the words “vision” and “learning.” I found pages and pages of information about
something called vision therapy. I didn’t know if this would help Jillian, but I was willing to try anything. I clicked on one of the links to find a vision therapist in our area. With a silent prayer, I dialed the number.The first thing I discovered about vision therapy is that 20/20 eyesight is not 20/20 vision. Eyesight is merely the basic ability to
“see.” Vision is the ability to identify, interpret, comprehend, and act on what is seen. Visual memory, visual concentration, eye teaming,
and focusing skills all come into play with vision therapy. At Jillian’s first vision therapy appointment, I was drawn to a wall in the hallway. It was plastered with photographs of patients of all ages accompanied by their success stories. I enjoyed learning about a high school
student who, after overcoming an eye muscle weakness that caused double vision, went on to be the pitcher on her university’s softball team. I was also inspired to hear about the man who was able to achieve his dream of becoming a Navy Seal.I learned that vision problems are as troubling for adults as they are for children and teens. Undiagnosed and untreated vision challenges follow adults into their later years, sometimes disrupting careers. As it turns out,
many adults have solved serious problems through vision therapy.
NO TEAMWORK
After Jillian’s initial consultation, we were told that one of her most worrisome and immediate problems was that her eyes were
not teaming together. They were working independently of each other. The therapist explained that this is a common result of eye
patching. With normal vision, both eyes work cooperatively, sweeping easily from side to side. However, as Jillian would read a line in
a page of text, her left eye would read a few words to the middle of the line and then her right eye would try to take over for the other
half of the line. Her vision was causing not only reading difficulties, but troubles with math and handwriting as well. Jillian embraced the challenge of vision therapy. She knew that schoolwork was
harder for her than most others in her class. She had told me she wished her teacher would not hang up her drawings or stories on
the wall because they were not as pretty as other students’ work. It was a relief to her to find out there was someone specially trained
who could help her. Jillian did vision therapy exercises four or
five nights a week at home, and worked an hour every week in the vision therapist’s office. Many vision therapy instruments are unique
and creative. Some are unique in that they have been engineered specifically for vision problems. Others are creative: simply a ball on
a string, a newspaper, a chalkboard, a mirror, golf tees, a low balance beam. One unique tool is the translid binocular interactor (TBI), which fl ashes a bright white light, alternating between the left and right
eye at nine cycles per second. In Jillian’s case, the goal of the TBI was to stop the brain from suppressing her weak eye. Suppression
comes from the brain’s desire to have a clear image and to protect against double vision. Another tool used to correct amblyopia is
the standing cheiroscope. The cheiroscope looks something like binoculars or an oldfashioned viewfinder. Jillian would use a pencil
to trace a drawing while looking through this device, which immediately revealed if Jillian was suppressing her weak eye or not. The picture would be incomplete if she was only using one eye.
LITTLE BO PEEP WITH NO SHEEP
One of Jillian’s favorite exercises involved the near-vision vectogram. In this exercise, images of storybook characters like Humpty
Dumpty, Little Bo Peep, and Old King Cole are presented on transparencies. The vectogram has polarized lenses. The result is that when Jillian would look at the images and then tell the vision therapist, for example, that Humpty Dumpty’s hat was missing or Little Bo Peep
had no sheep, the therapist knew that Jillian’s brain was suppressing her right eye. Jillian graduated from vision therapy fifteen
months after she began. What an amazing transformation had taken place! When she recently turned 11, we went to see her
pediatrician for an annual physical. He was so pleased with how well Jillian was doing. He said he was glad that the ophthalmologist
had been so helpful. I said, “He wasn’t. We found vision therapy.”
That was, perhaps, a little unfair to the ophthalmologist. The eyeglasses and eye patching did help Jillian to make progress,
but at that point Jillian was almost like a car with a good engine but poor steering. Jillian also needed the development that the vision
therapist was able to help her accomplish. Jillian now wears one contact lens instead of glasses. She is doing so well in school and
is much more aware of her surroundings. She loves riding her bike and scooter and I don’t worry as much as I used to about her safety. It’s nice to be on par with all mothers who worry about skinned knees and elbows instead of the gut-wrenching fear that she won’t see a car until it is too late. Years ago, we wondered why our purpleand-
pink-pajama-wearing princess would be so distraught over wearing a pirate eye patch. Now we know. It took a six-year roller
coaster ride of good days and bad days to find answers. What a journey it has been. Jillian’s odyssey may have started with the
letter P, but it has now reached the letter A. That is, with the exception of a B+ in math, all the A’s she got on her last report card. ▼
_________________________
*Webster’s New World Medical Dictionary
For more information about vision therapy,
visit: www.covd.org and www.visiontherapy.
org.
The author also welcomes visits to her
website: www.thejillianstory.com
Growing Up Blind in Springfield: A Blind Skateboarder's College Experience.
In this segment, we bring you our final part in our series Growing Up Blind in Springfield by looking at the college experience. KSMU’s Jennifer Moore reports.
The whole idea for this series was born several months ago when I was eating lunch on the Missouri State University campus one day and saw out the window a skateboarder with a white cane. I had never seen a blind skateboarder before, but before I could reach him, he boarded a shuttle and was gone. I was determined to track him down, though, and finally did through other means.
[Sound: Skateboard approaching on sidewalk, stopping]
“I’ve been skateboarding for about ten years. I started skating when I was twelve,” he said.
Cameron Black, a sophomore, was born and raised in Oklahoma before his family moved to Lake of the Ozarks area right before he went to college. Black was born with a condition known as Peter’s Anomoly, which caused his blindness since birth. As a fifth grader in Oklahoma, his special education class met in a broom closet, where he worked on his Perkins Braille writer.
One thing that’s hard to miss about Black is his attitude. Black said God has blessed him beyond measure.
“He didn’t give me my sight—that’s the only bad part. I don’t have any other disabilities. And I really honestly wouldn’t even call blindness a ‘bad part.’ I quite enjoy it,” he said.
Black says he wasn’t always this positive, though. High school? Yeah, that was rough, he says.
"People I knew were getting cars, and my older sister got a car, and I wasn’t ever going to get a car and I knew that. People I knew were playing basketball and football and stuff, and I couldn’t do any of that. But I knew there had to be a good side to being blind. There had to be some positive way to look at it,” he said.
And so he began to think about how he could help the next generation of kids with disabilities. He was accepted at Missouri State.
“It doesn’t surprise me if there were a lot of blind students here. Because the reason I came here [is] probably the same reason they came here: on the internet, I was researching colleges when I graduated. And this is the third best school in the country for a blind student,” he said.
In December, MSU’s website was deemed the best in a survey of 183 university websites when it comes to being accessible for the blind, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Also, Black told me the campus is ideal for the visually impaired.
“Geographically, it’s very easy to get around as a blind person. This campus is very compact. It’s easy to memorize. It’s easy to get around by yourself when you can’t see,” he said.
It’s also the only university in the state with both a blindness skills specialist program, and an orientation and mobility program—two programs dedicated to producing teachers of the visually impaired.
Black directed me to a man on the third floor of Meyer Library who is known for going the extra mile to assist blind students with research, text books or technology: Steve Sullam.
"We’re mostly into translating stuff into accessible formats that people with disabilities can read. And this would mean that it would be either in Word—which they can read with their JAWS program. Or in Braille: we have a program that translates text into Braille, and then we emboss it, and then they would be able to read it that way,” he said.
The JAWS program he’s referring to is a talking computer program; the software includes a voice that reads what is on the screen. He shows me an example.
[Sound: Jaws program ‘talking’]
[Sound: “Okay, so let’s see what we’ve got for homework…”
Keys typing… ]
MSU also organizes dinners and get-togethers for its blind students and their families. And its Disability Resource Center makes sure its students get notes in either a word document, or in Braille.
Dr. Chris Craig, director of Drury University’s department of education and child development, is largely credited with building MSU’s program to where it is today.
“You know I was going to school at a time in college, Jennifer, before there was the Americans With Disabilities Act, or before there were a lot of those kinds of protections and supports. We’ve come an awful long way,” he said.
And he’s speaking from experience; he himself has been blind since he was 16.
"If you’re visually impaired and you’re going to go out and to student teaching, or a practicum in a building that you haven’t been in before, you know, you’ve got to go in there and get your orientation and figure out your strategies for how you’re going to work effectively with children, even though you can’t see them. [Laughs] It’s one of those kind of deals. And it’s not always the easiest thing to do, but where there’s a will there’s a way. And so, I think for those going into teacher education or some of those applied fields, they have to really think ahead, and map out how they’re going to get there…and once they’re there, how they’re going to get the job done, and what resources they need to get it done,” he said.
[Sound: Skateboard on sidewalk]
Cameron Black says he has not shaped his life around his blindness; he has shaped his blindness around his life. Since our interview, he’s left MSU and is now seeking a job with the Missouri School for the Blind.
“I think that if you try hard enough, you can even let the smallest thing slow you down. I think there are some people in this world who, for some odd reason that I don’t understand, are determined to be slowed down, are determined to be unhappy and not live their life. And I think they’d find that they were lot happier and they’d enjoy their life a lot more if they would just approach their challenges. Because everybody is disabled in some sort of way. My way is more noticeable than anyone else’s way. But everybody has some kind of problem, something that might slow them down, even when it’s not visible,” he said.
The Art Of Prosthetic Eye Making
Ocularists Number Only A Few Hundred In The Country
By Stephanie Steinberg, Special to CNN
(CNN) -- Most craftsmen bask in glory when others admire and gush over their art, but a compliment is the last thing Christie Erickson wants.
"I don't want the general public to know what I do is fake," Erickson says. "It's best if it's not noticed at all."
Erickson is an ocularist, or trained technician who makes prosthetic eyes. While some call it a skill, Erickson says recreating the "personality," "emotion" and "sparkle" conveyed in a person's eye is an art.
Each eye "tells a story and reflects a lot," Erickson explains.
Erickson and her son Todd Cranmore are two of the six ocularists in the state of Washington and among the few hundred in the country. Because no school teaches ocularistry, people who want to enter the profession must spend 10,000 hours, or five years, of apprenticeship to become certified.
The career blends the fields of art and science -- as only people with a creative side and anatomical knowledge can duplicate the organ that gives the gift of sight.
Painting the pupil is a difficult part of the crafting process. "It's really hard to paint something round," Erickson says.
It's a common misconception that prosthetic eyes are made of glass, but they're actually designed using acrylic materials and paint. The only nonacrylic piece is the silk thread placed on the eye's surface to simulate veins.
Today, no member of the American Society of Ocularists, which includes 200 professional ocularists in the United States and Canada, makes glass eyes, according to Christine Boehm, the society's education chairwoman. She explained that acrylic eyes last longer, fit easier and can better match the color of the original eye.
"There aren't many people left who make glass eyes," says Boehm, who has been an ocularist for more than 25 years in Toronto.
The art of eye making dates back to the fifth century B.C., when Romans and Egyptians painted clay eyes and wore them over eye sockets. In the 1500s, the Venetians crafted blown-glass eyes that could be worn inside the sockets, but the globes were uncomfortable and sometimes shattered.
It wasn't until World War II that eye makers switched from glass to acrylic, because Americans couldn't import glass from Germany. To their delight, ocularists found acrylic eyes didn't break like glass ones and the material was more flexible to mold. For several decades, stock eyes were mass produced as a one-size-fits-all concept. But production has since evolved into the handmade craft of today that brings makers and patients together to custom fit the perfect eye.
Erickson can spend four days making an eye look real. "It's a challenge, but I do enjoy a challenge," she says.
Erickson, who has crafted prosthetic eyes for 30 years, took up the trade after her son Tim lost his eye in an accident. Tim, who was 3 years old at the time, was watching his father fix a tractor when a bolt flew off into his eye. Tim was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, but the eye was damaged beyond repair.
The Ericksons decided to get Tim a prosthetic eye before he entered kindergarten so kids wouldn't taunt him about his shrunken and callused eye.
"We wanted him of course to be whole again and have nobody notice it," Erickson says, adding that she would have traded places with her son if she could have.
"You're watching your child go through this, you'd give anything to have it be yourself instead of them," she says.
After agonizing over Tim's lost sight and overcoming the pain by seeing him "made whole" again, Erickson decided she wanted to help others erase the suffering she had felt. Erickson apprenticed in between raising four kids, and eight years later she had her professional ocularist license.
Erickson's younger son Todd tossed around the idea of attending medical school, but ultimately decided to follow his mother's path and become an ocularist. The two run Erickson Labs Northwest in Kirkland, Washington, where thousands of patients have come through their doors.
While prosthetic eyes were made of glass before World War II, most are formed with acryilic materials today.
Erickson, 58, and Cranmore, 36, make their patients' eyes together. While Cranmore says he has friends who could never work with their mothers, both Erickson and Cranmore say they love collaborating on a project that takes 30 to 40 hours to complete.
"It's helpful to have someone come in who hasn't been staring at (an eye) for an hour and a half and say, 'Oh, you're missing this color' or 'I think you need to start again,' which thankfully doesn't happen that often," Cranmore joked.
Despite being a very specialized field, it's not in danger of losing professionals. Similar to Erickson and Cranmore's business, the art form tends to be passed down within families. Members of the American Society of Ocularists are mostly second-, third- and fourth-generation ocularists.
Most patients seek a prosthetic eye -- which costs around $3,000 -- after an accident or disease such as cancer or diabetes. Erickson says more people lose their eyes to disease than injuries today, but she has seen accidents involving bungee cords, golf balls and rocks flying out of lawn mowers.
"There's still the typical 'Christmas Story' of the BB gun injuries," she added.
Less than 1% of the population requires an ocular prosthesis, according to Boehm, who says she often sees people in public who could benefit from one.
"I think there are a lot of people out there that don't realize they would be a good candidate for an ocular prosthesis, and they don't realize that's something they can get," she says.
Marysville, Washington, resident J.D. Blackwell, who lost an eye in a skiing accident 16 years ago, recently got a prosthetic eye from Erickson. He compared his new blue eye to contact lenses.
"When you first get them, you're quite aware of them, but after a while, you don't even notice it," Blackwell says.
In the past few months Blackwell has worn the eye, he's noticed a difference in the way people respond to him. He pointed out one interaction with a Costco employee stationed at the exit.
"About 10 feet before I got to her, she gasped and said, 'Oh, my God, you've got the most gorgeous blue eyes,' " he recounts while laughing.
Erickson wishes no one needed her talents but says she's honored when patients let her into their lives to aid the healing process.
"It's an amazing thing to be able to be a part of somebody's life and that transformation from the tragedy, the grief ... and for us to be able to just heal, pray and love them through it," Erickson says. "And also (give them) a dang good-looking eye."
1961: The first eye cornea transplant to be performed in Youngstown allows William Wagner, 75, of Salem, to see clearly again after five years of blurred vision. The operation was performed in St. Elizabeth Hospital by Dr. Paul Ruth and Dr. George Pugh.
I believe in organ donations because someone donated their cornea so I could have a corneal transplant to try to save my eye in 2002. I'm an organ donor. They may have anything but my eyes which aren't able to be used. Are you a donor yet?
Organ Donation: Pass it On
Posted Tuesday, July 19, 2011, at 8:39 AM
Give a Gift of Life A gift with a major impact -- one that will long be remembered with gratitude -- takes just a bit of preparation. When you become an organ donor, you can save the lives of up to 8 people. And if you donate tissues like blood cells, bone or corneas, you can help even more. Organ transplantation was once considered an experimental procedure with a low success rate. Many transplanted organs survived just a few days or weeks. But researchers have transformed transplant surgery from risky to routine. It's now the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage organ disease. Each day, about 80 Americans receive a lifesaving organ transplant. "The outcomes of transplantation are really so good these days that it truly makes a difference for the people who receive organ transplants," says Dr. Sandy Feng, a transplant surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco. "The organs are clearly lifesaving." The problem now is that there aren't enough organs to meet the demand. In early 2011, more than 110,000 people were on the nationwide waiting list for an organ. An average of nearly 20 of them dies each day while waiting. The kidney is the most commonly transplanted organ. More than 16,000 kidney transplantations were performed in the U.S. last year. The wait, though, can be long. In February 2011, nearly 90,000 people were on the national waiting list for a kidney. Next most commonly transplanted is the liver, with more than 6,000 surgeries in 2010. That's followed by the heart, lungs, pancreas and intestines. You can donate some organs -- like a kidney or part of your liver -- while you're still alive. You have 2 kidneys but really need only one. And the liver can re-grow if part of it is removed. But donating these organs requires major surgery, which carries risks. That's why living donors are often family or friends of the transplant recipient. Most organs, though, are donated after the donor has died. The organs must be recovered quickly after death to be usable. Many come from patients who've been hospitalized following an accident or stroke. Once all lifesaving efforts have failed and the patient is declared dead, then organ donation becomes a possibility. "When a person dies, it can feel like a burden to a family to make decisions about organ donation," says Feng. "So it would be a real gift to a family to indicate your decision to be an organ donor while you're still alive, so they don't have to make the decision for you." In addition to organs, you can donate tissues. One of the most commonly transplanted tissues is the cornea, the transparent covering over the eye. A transported cornea can restore sight to someone blinded by an accident, infection or disease. Donated skin tissue can be used as grafts for burn victims or for reconstruction after surgery. Donated bones can replace cancerous bones and help prevent amputation of an arm or leg. Donated veins can be used in cardiac bypass surgery. "I personally knew a young woman who died and was an organ donor. The day of her funeral her husband received a card in the mail expressing thanks to him and his wife for the donation and telling him that her cornea had already been transplanted affording the gift of sight to someone else. The wife of a friend of mine who was an organ donor received notice that his donation had helped some burn victims. I have another friend who was waiting for a liver, he was getting desperate in his wait but finally did receive the transplant. He is doing so well now and realizes that without the unselfishness of the donor he might not be here today," states Ruth Dockins. To become an organ donor you can go to www.organdonor.gov/stateMap.asp it takes less than 10 minutes to register. Then note on your driver's license that you are a donor, tell your family and friends, your physician and faith leader about your decision.
UGA hosting conferences on low vision treatment Posted: Jul 15, 2011 4:13 AM EDT Updated: Jul 15, 2011 4:13 AM EDT
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - The University of Georgia is set to host a conference on low vision treatment.
The inaugural Aniridia and Low Vision Research Symposium is set to run Friday through Sunday at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Conference Center. It coincides with the Aniridia Foundation International 2011 "Make a Miracle" Medical Conference, which began Wednesday and runs through Sunday, also at the Georgia Center.
Aniridia is a rare, congenital eye disorder characterized by a complete or partial absence of the iris, or colored part of the eye.
The two events together will be the largest international gathering focused on treating aniridia on the broad range of developmental and ocular disorders associated with the disease.
More on my niece whose 2 years old son has to patch is eye. Wonderful news. It's a success with Orto patches the doctor gave them. She reordered a new box from Ortopadsusa.com. Keep in mind the first few weeks were rough chasing a little boy down to wear his patch. She also got the snake rewards poster below. Amy said it was the best $1.95 she ever spent. Her 5 year old daughter even started wearing her PatchPal on her glasses. Both are sold at this site.
3" x 2-1/8" medium - boys
Recommended for ages 2 to 4 years 50 individually wrapped patches per box
5 Designs with glitter accents: Trains, Soccer, Planes/Stars, Aliens, Dragons. $18.10
I work with Rosemary here at 211info. We sit opposite each other. I can easily make eye contact with her when we talk back and forth. It took me a while to realize that, even though she looks right back at me, she could only see the outline of my face and body.
Rosemary has been on an interesting path since her optic nerve got wiped out after a stroke and rendered her blind. She was in her late forties then. For the next several years, she was a client of the Commission for the Blind where she received vocational rehabilitation services.
Over the past few months since I arrived at 211, I’ve gotten bits and pieces of Rosemary’s story. A few strings stand out for me: One, she can tell when someone is smiling by the tone of the person’s voice. Two, she can tell the difference between a Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke, thanks to her ability to distinguish color.
But the third piece blows me away. It’s about something that never should have happened. It’s about job discrimination.
Job hunting as finding a needle in a haystack
Rosemary did go back to work after she became blind. But a couple of years ago, she got laid off. She then began a long and unsuccessful search for an unpaid internship to boost her chances of getting back into the work force.
After contacting five workplaces and explaining her blindness as well as the accommodations provided to her by the Commission for the Blind, not one of them was willing to talk with her in person. “How could I prove that I could perform a job if I couldn’t get one?” she said. She believed she was a victim of job discrimination because of her blindness, but all she could do was forge ahead and keep trying to get hired.
The sixth workplace she approached, about a year and a half ago, was 211info and the management said yes, we’d like to talk to you. After the interview, they said, yes, come and work here. Remember, this was set up as a win-win situation - a chance for Rosemary to get back into the job market and a chance for 211info to benefits from the skills of a much-needed volunteer.
The Commission for the Blind delivered her closed caption TV screen to the 211 office as well as a reader that can decode the printed word and “read aloud” to her. The Commission also installed computer software that automatically enlarges whatever is on her screen. 211 staff (they’re great!) set up her work station and off she went.
A happy ending to a daunting job search
Rosemary may be blind but she has been very successful here. A few months ago, she was hired as a half-time employee. Senator Jeff Merkley sent her a letter extending his “personal congratulations.” “You are to be commended for taking advantage of the valuable services the Commission provides,” he wrote. “Your placement at 211 Information Services is testimony of your hard work…” he continued.
Rosemary was thrilled that her achievement was noticed from such high places.
I think much of Rosemary’s hard work, as Sen. Merkley put it, was about persevering after constant and needless rejection, not about learning to thrive as a blind person in a primarily sighted workplace. She came to 211info with a great resume reflecting years in the electronics field, part of that time training co-workers as a lead department supervisor. As her co-worker, every day I can see she has a gift for organization and a penchant for details. Communication skills, check. Team player, check.
“I didn’t think I’d ever work again because nobody would take me on,” she told me. “But here at 211, they weren’t afraid of my disability.”
My intention in writing this post is not about tooting the 211info management team horn. Rather, it’s about recognizing that employers may have a ways to go in putting aside their biases against people with disabilities. For 211 and other nonprofit agencies that interface daily with disadvantaged people, we need to continually set an example by demonstrating a non-judgmental approach in our hiring practices. We need to live our mission of commitment to making the world better for people less fortunate – not only as service providers but as employers.
What a wonderful story. I too am partly blind and have a job. I never thought I would work again to having a job has opened up new opportunities. I work for a hearing doctor. I'm blind in my right eye and low vision in the left.
My father who is a wonderful woodworker sent me this story about Woodworking at Blind, Incorporated Blindness Training Center.
George Wurtzel, Industrial Arts Instructor at Blind, Inc. Blindness Training Center, discusses one of the specialty tools he and his students use when woodworking, along with the general philosophy behind teaching blind students the art of woodworking.
For more information go to:
http://www.blindinc.org/ or
http://www.blindinc.org/contact.html
To continue the theme of useful Firefox extensions, I also find myself using Image Zoom all the time.
This extension adds another option to the context menu (the one that pops up when you use the right click button). With it installed, you have the option to increase the size of the image (i.e. zoom in) right there in the web page. You don't have to copy and paste it into another program or open it in its own page, you can just zoom in right there. Very useful!
In particular, I find it useful when shopping (either in Amazon or eBay) and the accompanying image is just too small to make out. Now I right-click on the image and zoom in. I have also found it useful on those DIY project pages when the illustrations are just too tiny to help.
Some images do not have good resolution, so, when you zoom in, the image 'pixelates' and becomes blurry. But that is not Image Zoom's fault. Give it a try. You will like it.
Microsoft Imagine Cup favourite Team Note-Taker brings the blackboard closer
IT was a packed house at Team Note-Taker's final presentation in front of the Imagine Cup judges this morning.
The team was clearly a crowd favourite - the room was almost at full capacity packed with journalists, senior Microsoft executives and senior executives from other leading organisations and competitors that didn’t make it through to the final round.
The team from Arizona State University have designed a portable device that increases note-taking speeds.
The concept was born out of frustration by legally blind team leader David S Hayden.
Mr Hayden had been using technology for vision impaired people called a monocular, which is basically a small telescope.
“The problem with the monocular is that you have this great chalkboard and now that you need to see what’s on this board you need to zoom in, so you zoom in and you have a limited field of view ,“ Mr Hayden said.
“You take some notes, you look up, you find your spot, you commit something to memory, you go down, you write some notes, go back up...
"You’re cycling constantly between notes and board ... the low vision student can’t keep up with his fully sighted peers.
Mr Hayden said the “board, no board” delay saw him withdraw from several classes, something he felt was unacceptable.
There are other existing technologies, such as using human note-takers, but Mr Hayden says tests have proven taking their own notes helps people commit things to memory.
And computerised note-takers that use a laptop camera are not very useful in math and science classes, as students are still required to enter specialised symbols and mathematical forms not readily available on a keyboard.
Note-Taker is mounted on a flat surface and plugs into a tablet PC.
The camera is controlled using software built by the team which allows users to move to the part of the board they want to see by swiping their finger across the screen. They can zoom in by tapping on the screen.
To remove the “board, no board” delay, the Note-Taker puts the user’s view of the board on the left hand side of the page, with a word processing software that supports handwritten and typed notes on the right.
This allows users to see the board and type at the same time without constantly having to refocus.
“I took it into an abstract algebra class for the first time and I was able to take notes and I was just sort of emotionally overwhelmed afterward," Mr Hayden said.
"I realised after class I wouldn’t have to go back into my text books.”
The team even accounted for poor light quality in classrooms by adding contrast enhancement option in their design.
It even inverts the light giving an effect similar to what you see when you look at camera film negative; handy if the classroom uses an old fashioned chalkboard.
Mr Hayden’s emotional presentation was interrupted with rounds of applause throughout the demonstration.
For a device that is supported on a Microsoft platform, the aesthetic of the Note-Taker device looks surprisingly like it could belong to a certain competitor who shall not be named, not at this conference.
While the video quality is incredibly high, Mr Hayden told news.com.au the files take up very little space on a tablet hard-drive. And if obsessive students do want a complete archive of their notes, the team are working on a cloud storage solution.
“Certainly a semester worth of video could fit on the tablet but beyond that if you want to keep your notes in classes you’re going to need to be able to go back to them,” he said.
The front runners say regardless of the outcome of tomorrow’s results, the team are working on getting their prototype into production pronto.
“We might start a business, or we’re go to go into production with another company but we really want to get this into people’s hands,” team member Michael Astrauskas said. Claire Connelly is in New York covering the Imagine Cup courtesy of Microsoft
A team of students from the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing in the Fulton Schools of Engineering has created a technology device to assist low-vision students with note taking. The Note-Taker team effort won them the top award at the Imagine Cup 2011 for Software Design. David Hayden, the inventor and a low-vision student, created the device after struggling with note taking in the classroom. Several students at ASU now use the device in class.
This video was produced and edited by Walter Cronkite student, Justine Garcia, an OKED videographer/editor.
My husband Pat and I went to the Aiken Farmer's Market and met a dear couple from Bamberg, SC who sell honey. We bought a bottle of local honey. If you eat local honey it helps with allergies. Well I need help because I have a prosthetic eye. I take Allergra to reduce the swelling plus Aiken had a high pollen count. We were amazed at how many hive Colston Honey Bee Farms have. My father has been a beekeeper on and off for years. The Clayton have over 500 hives at their farm. Stop by their table if your at the Aiken Farmer's Market.
Lions Club donation serves visually impaired at library
By BRETT NUCKLES
Published: Friday, July 8, 2011 9:56 AM EDT
New Albany Branch Library Director Joseph Yersavich sits at the low-vision reader donated by the New Albany Noon Lions Club. Also pictured are (from left): row one-club member Diane Smith, Cyndi Smith of Universal Low Vision Aids, club member Randy Sims; row two-club members Richard Golden, Timothy Kennedy, David Gill and President Howard Apothaker.
Readers tired of squinting to see small type will appreciate the newest addition to the New Albany Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
The library's new low-vision reader, donated by the New Albany Noon Lions Club, makes it easy to read small print.
The simple electronic device works as a magnifier. A camera zooms in on what is placed on the loading tray and translates the result to a computer display above it.
Using the device is a snap, even for readers who aren't tech-savvy, and library employees will be on hand at all times to provide assistance, said Library Director Joe Yersavich. "Once you know how to turn it on and how to use the magnifying knob, it's very, very easy," he said.
The device can display full-color images, and the user can adjust zoom and contrast to fine-tune the display.
It will be permanently parked at a table near the library's front desk.
The $2,200 device represents the Noon Lions Club's biggest contribution to the community in its two-year run, said member Diane Smith.
"There's a need for these kinds of visual aids in the community, but they are so expensive that the average person can't afford it," Smith said.
The library serves the low-vision population in a variety of ways already, Yersavich said, providing large-print books as well as audiobooks.
The new reader is an extension of those efforts, he said.
"I couldn't thank the Noon Lions Club enough for thinking of us," he said.
"This was a very thoughtful gift and it's something we think people are going to take advantage of."
The Noon Lions Club also is ramping up efforts to assist New Albany's visually impaired in other ways, Smith said.
The club provides financial assistance to help residents get glasses and eye exams, but relies on community members to get in touch.
"We feel there are a lot of people out there that need eye exams and glasses, but we just don't know who they are," Smith said.
Residents can drop off their used glasses in a box at the library. The club helps to pay for redistribution.
To inquire about vision assistance or membership contact the New Albany Noon Lions Club at 614-561-9501.
"There's a need for these kinds of visual aids in the community, but they are so expensive that the average person can't afford it."
After graduation, native Missourian hopes to help disabled
THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Thirty-year-old Bryan Alkire knew he would face some challenges when he enrolled last August at Washburn University’s School of Law. The Topeka resident, whose main interest lies in transactional law, is partially blind and partially deaf. “It hasn't been easy,” Alkire said. “I nearly quit at the end of the first week. It was orientation week, and I didn't have much of a clue about where to go and was generally overwhelmed with the material. People outside of our assigned study groups just weren't coming up and talking to me.” By Thursday of that first week, Alkire told his study group that he was considering quitting because of technical snafus, his inability to find places in the law school building and his feelings of being overwhelmed. “One of the group members, a lady named Christi, basically said that I wasn't going to quit on them and that she and the group would help me out,” he said. “After that, they helped me get to places until I could learn the route to get there on my own.” Alkire, a native of Lexington, Mo., who was born partially paralyzed and with a severe hearing loss, was interviewed about his life and law school experience via email.
Tell me about your earlier education. “My education can be divided into two phases: pre-blindness and post-blindness,” Alkire said. After graduating from Lexington High School in 1999, he went to Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and political science. “About six weeks before I was set to graduate in May of 2003, I started losing my vision,” he said. “I completed the last semester of work and graduated that December. Then I started on my blind life skills journey.” In 2005, Alkire spent five months at the Helen Keller National Center in Sands Point, N.Y., where he learned everything from technology to basic Braille and cooking. Two years later, he attended Lions World Services for the Blind in Little Rock, Ark., where he worked on blind skills and completed a job training program for the Internal Revenue Service. “In October of 2007, I moved to Kansas City where I worked for the IRS for six months until my declining vision became too bad to do my job and I had to resign,” he said. In April 2010, Alkire spent a couple of months at Alphapointe Association for the Blind, where he brushed up on his blind skills to make sure he was ready to return to an academic environment.
Tell me about the onset and cause of your disabilities. “I was born three months premature,” Alkire said. “As a result, I've always had severe hearing loss and a partially paralyzed right arm, hand and fingers.” In 2003, he lost most of the vision in his left eye when the retina detached and surgeries to reattach it resulted in a thick layer of tissue growing over the inside of the eye. Later, he developed acute angle glaucoma in his right eye. Surgery to correct that condition triggered the same type of thick membrane on the inside of that eye. In the past eight years, vision in his right eye has been reduced to light, some color and some motion. Why did you decide to go to law school? “I've always been interested in the law ever since I was a kid,” Alkire said. “I always loved to argue with people — so law school just seemed natural.” His plan was to take a year off after his college graduation and then enroll at a law school or get an education degree so he could teach high school social studies. “Chances are pretty good that if I hadn't gone blind I would be teaching high school social studies in some small town in Missouri,” he said. “But when I lost my vision, I figured teaching was pretty much closed off as classroom management would just be too difficult. “So after learning blind skills and failing to find a job or unable to remain with the IRS, I figured law school fit my skill set and would help me gain employment.”
What challenges have you faced in law school? “The biggest challenge of law school is socializing with my peers,” Alkire said. “I have difficulty communicating with them because I can't always hear them clearly when in a noisy environment, such as the halls or in the classroom before and after class.” He said his law school friends are limited to “those few with the courage to come up and introduce themselves to the deaf-blind guy” and a few other people he has met over the past year. “Unfortunately, I don't have a study group,” he said. “Since I'm hard of hearing and since my computer is all auditory, it makes no sense to study in the library. Besides, since I have to patiently wade though material that others can find at a glance, it would be slow going to study with me.”
When will you graduate and what do you hope to do once you graduate from law school? “I hope to graduate in either May or December of 2013,” Alkire said. “I'm hoping to go into general practice serving disabled clients with whatever legal help they need, whether it's a dispute with their landlord, real estate transaction, drawing up a will or advocating for them in a discrimination case.”
Charleston, SC – Local author and business owner Alicia Chisholm has written the first in a series of children’s books about Little Lee-lee, a pre-teen girl with juvenile diabetes.
The Adventures of Little Lee-lee and Sir Tickle, the Friendly Pickle follows Little Lee-lee as she is diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and rebels against her doctor’s orders. As the challenges of her disease mount, Little Lee-lee turns to her imagination, manifested in the form of Sir Tickle the Friendly Pickle, in order to cope. Sir Tickle helps Little Lee-lee endure hospital stays, overcome bullying at school, and finally shows her exactly what her future will hold if she chooses to not care for her diabetes as instructed.
Diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 12, Alicia Chisholm has transformed her own childhood experiences into a fantasy world where cars look like ladybugs, hospital rooms have rainbow waterfalls, patients rest in beds made of gold covered with precious gems, and Little Lee-lee’s physician is a skateboard-riding teddy bear with a green and red Mohawk.
Lee-lee’s story educates while entertaining, which is Ms. Chisholm’s purpose for authoring this series. Alicia admits to not following her doctor’s orders and ignoring her diabetes, and as a result she lost her sight before the age of 30. After multiple surgeries and experimental organ transplants, Alicia concluded that her mission in life is to provide educational resources for children with juvenile diabetes in order to prevent them from making the same mistakes she made and suffering the same fate. This book is the very first step of her journey, and a shining example of what can be accomplished with faith and determination.
Few child-centric resources are currently available for juveniles with diabetes, and Alicia Chisholm’s book has already garnered accolades from physicians and educators:
Dr. Timothy Lyons comments, “The story of Little Lee-lee will appeal to all children and young people faced with the challenge of Type 1 diabetes, and carries a message that is vital for their future health.”
Jennie Ariail, a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina, who “[knows] something about the potentially deadly effects of Type 1 diabetes…urge[s] all primary care physicians, all endocrinologists, and all pediatricians to have copies of Little Lee-lee and Sir Tickle, the Friendly Dill Pickle in their offices and to recommend this book as essential reading for all children newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and their families.”
DoctorsAllston Kitchens, Barbara Hildreth, and Laura Lee Kinney from Tidewater Internal Medicine at Roper St. Francis agree that “we know Alicia will be a blessing to many. And Chisolm’s book is a must read for every diabetic child and his or her family.”
Shawn McKenna, Director of the Individual Gifts Program for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation comments: "I've read the book and found it educational and an enjoyable read, appropriate for children of a certain age group, as an inclusion,give-away in our "Bag of Hope" which is distributed to newly-diagnosed type 1 patients and their families."
--Alicia Dulaney Chisolm has published "The Adventures of Little Lee-lee and Sir Tickle, the Friendly Dill Pickle," the first in a series of children's books involving an adolescent girl with juvenile diabetes.
For more information go to : http://www.myhealingherbs.org/Leelee%20and%20Sir%20Tickle%20book.html
Corneal Transplant Gives Newborn The Gift Of Sight
by Chris Arnold
POSTED: 10:54 pm CDT July 3, 2011UPDATED: 3:06 pm CDT July 5, 2011
SHREVEPORT, La -- Usually the birth of a new child is a time to celebrate, but that wasn't the case for one area family.Ashton and Joanna Poole welcomed their daughter, Georgia Kate into their family on June 16th.When she was born though, Joanna noticed something different about her daughter."As soon as she was born they handed her to me I noticed her eyes, they were a cloudy white blue," said Joanna Poole.The Neonatologist and Pediatrician examined Georgia Kate and couldn't find anything wrong. It wasn't until the Pediatric Ophthalmologist examined her that they found the root of the problem.Georgia Kate was diagnosed with a rare condition called Peter's Anomaly. The condition causes the corneas and lenses to adhere to each other. The condition is only found in 0.04% of people in the world.The condition has left Georgia Kate practically blind since birth.It prompted the Poole's to seek help from the doctors at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas. The doctors at the facility performed a corneal transplant on Georgia Kate's right eye last Tuesday, which instantly restored her vision to that eye.With a surgery to the left eye and possible more to follow after that and travel expenses, the bills are adding up."It's definitely not going to be cheap by any means, Texas Children's is not in network for our insurance," said Joanna Poole.That's when the community decided to step in.Members of the Bossier City Fire Department will be putting on a Fourth of July to benefit Georgia Kate and her family.The "Fight for Sight" Barbecue will be held at Bass Pro Shop at the Louisiana Boardwalk tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m.All proceeds will go towards off setting some of the Poole's medical costs.
To see a video interview with the parents go to: http://www.ktbs.com/news/28437587/detail.html
“This is the wave of the future,” Dr. Solomon says. “In five to ten years, all surgeries will be done with the laser.”
The first laser in the Southeast, and one of the first in the country, to correct cataracts recently arrived in the Lowcountry. Local ophthalmologist Dr. Kerry Solomon was chosen to be one of the first to use the brand new laser technology for cataract correction – the most commonly performed surgical procedure in the United States. Because of Dr. Solomon’s leadership in the ophthalmology profession, he has been involved in the development of the technology and was asked to use it and offer feedback. The only other four lasers in the United States are currently located in Utah, Texas, Missouri and New York.
The femtosecond laser is developed by LenSx and is the same technology used to perform LASIK procedures. By using a laser for cataract correction, ophthalmologists are able to plan and customize each procedure based on patient anatomy as well as create more precise and consistent incisions. “This is the wave of the future,” Dr. Solomon says. “In five to 10 years, all surgeries will be done with the laser.” Light entering the eye passes through its lens. The lens focuses that light on the retina at the back of the eye. A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s lens. A clouded lens interferes with how light passes through it, in much the same way that fingerprints or smears on a window interfere with your view of what is on the other side of the glass. Cataracts affect more than 22 million Americans age 40 and older with more than 30 million expected to have cataracts by 2020.
In the early days of cataract surgery, patients would have to limit their activity for four to eight weeks and they still needed glasses. About 20 years ago, ultrasound technology was introduced and cataract procedures became much more efficient and safer. Plus, the recovery time was shortened to just a few days. The laser is located at Physicians Eye Surgery Center in Charleston. Dr. Solomon is affiliated with Carolina Eyecare Physicians, which has offices in Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, North Charleston, Summerville, Moncks Corner and Walterboro. Dr. Solomon has been performing cataract correction surgery since 1990 and has been named one of the “Top 50 Opinion Leaders in the Fields of Cataract and Refractive Surgery” worldwide. Dr. Solomon is also is a leader in the field of LASIK vision correction, having performed the first LASIK procedure in South Carolina. He regularly travels the world speaking about LASIK and cataract procedures. For more information go to: http://www.drkerrysolomon.com/
Coach Margaret Radecki is all smiles as Milly, 10, shows what she can do.
This story comes from Melbourne Australia
Gym bending over backwards to help
LOCAL gymnasts will show vision-impaired kids the ropes at a fun 10-week gymnastics workshop.
Essendon Keilor Gymnastics Academy will run the workshop, which promotes balance, agility and spatial awareness.
The club received a $2500 grant from the State Government’s Youth Foundations Victoria to run a program that benefits the community.
Director Christy Hemphill said skills acquired in gymnastics were beneficial for children with low vision and the workshop encourages more vision-impaired children to get involved.
“For children with vision impairment, falls and bumping into things can often be a daily event,” Ms Hemphill said. “Gymnastics teaches safe landing techniques, fall prevention and how best to control and manipulate your body.
“It is the foundation of all sports, providing balance, discipline, flexibility, coordination and motor skills.”
Ms Hemphill said gymnasts would be coupled with vision-impaired five to 15-year-olds in gymnastics, trampolining and cheerleading. Fifteen volunteers will deliver the free program every Friday from July 15, at 194 Roberts Rd, Airport West, from 7-8pm
The activity is one of many in the early intervention class meant to help foster students' senses, stimulate their residual vision and facilitate interaction in social settings, Russell-Brown said.
The center provides services for a spectrum of visual impairments: Some students experience low vision, while other students are blind.
The organization, which turns 60 this year, recently surpassed a goal of raising $3.5 million. It did so over the course of two capital campaigns. The figure reflects the cost of purchasing and renovating its building at 1750 S. Big Bend Blvd.
Over time, the organization has grown to serve young people from birth through high school, form partnerships and provide support to families. Now, it is looking for ways to expand its services and build awareness throughout the St. Louis metro area.
Behind the work at Delta Gamma
During a tour of the facility, Russell-Brown explained how she uses themes to emphasize spatial relationships during the Buddy Builders class, which includes young people from birth to age 3.
On Wednesday, stars took the spotlight. In a room illuminated only by a blacklight, stars had been positioned next to various glowing objects. She planned to ask students to find the stars by directing them to the assorted objects.
In a play yard outside, stars had been placed next to a group of drums and a set of wind chimes. Older students can then practice orienting themselves to the auditory clues and locate the associated stars, Russell-Brown said.
The area features other devices aimed at piquing students' curiosity and raising their awareness of the environment, including:
a wall to which commonly used sports gear has been attached
a pool with a school of magnetic fish that can be hooked with a pole
a sewer grate and a raised step placed along a sidewalk path
Other activities are intended to raise students' awareness of the people around them. They practice making eye contact with speakers and the students sitting next to them.
Executive director talks organization's history in St. Louis Debbie Naucke has served for 16 years as executive director of Delta Gamma and has worked with the organization since the late 1980s.
She remembers when the group operated at a rehabilitated building at Henry Avenue and Manchester Road, less than a month into her hiring. Less than a year, a fire destroyed the building.
Delta Gamma employees became nomads, eventually leasing a "very inadequate building" off of Kingshighway Boulevard that few people wanted to visit. There, they only served students from birth to age 3 with education and therapy, generally in a home-based setting.
But that changed beginning in about 2000, Naucke said. Families approached Delta Gamma to say that their children, who had worked with the organization as infants, were struggling with school and social skills. So the organization began a new program for older students.
Employees knew they would need more room to accommodate its growing client base.
The organization rented space at The Heights community center, The Center of Clayton and other places, Naucke said. Because the group didn't have a home, it had little visual presence.
Then in February 2008, Delta Gamma bought the building that had housed Arts of Asia, a retailer that had gone out of business. The building had sat empty for a year. By September, Naucke said, the economy tanked, leaving Delta Gamma in a difficult financial position to make the upgrades and pay off the site.
To raise the funds necessary for the purchase and renovation, the group launched the first of two capital campaigns with a goal of raising $3.5 million. It was a "mammoth undertaking" for a group the size of Delta Gamma, Naucke said.
Delta Gamma began operating at the building in September 2009. While it didn't make the $3.5-million mark in that first campaign, Naucke said, a $250,000 matching grant from Lighthouse for the Blind-St. Louis enabled the group to raise the remaining $500,000.
"I'm very excited that we've reached our goal," Naucke said.
Looking to the future
Since starting its programs for older students, Delta Gamma has grown to offer athletic training, social outings and a tandem bike team.
It also offers an annual summer challenge trip in which students travel out of state to learn new skills such as sailing and surfing. On Thursday, for example, Naucke and a group of students departed for a four-day trip to the Apostle Islands, where they will camp and kayak.
Delta Gamma uses those activities and its educational services to give students skills that can be used in the workplace, Naucke said. Seventy-five percent of people who are blind or visually impaired are unemployed, she said, so Russell-Brown starts equipping students at an early age with the social skills they will need to succeed.
In recent years, Delta Gamma has twice partnered with Stages St. Louis to expose students to the theater. Students performed the self-written play Ropes at Maryville University and recently put on a production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
Students at Glenridge Elementary School in Clayton have provided the center with three-dimensional artwork used to provide instruction in identifying common packaged grocery items. They have also served as sighted guides to Delta Gamma students during an annual run.
Delta Gamma is now looking at what to do in the future, and it's likely that more outreach will be involved. The organization wants people who are sighted to feel comfortable with those who have visual impairments.
"Ultimately, our kids have to live in a sighted world, and we want to bring them together," Naucke said. It already has hosted events at its rock-climbing wall that welcomed young people from both backgrounds.
As for the future, she is optimistic.
"I feel like there's endless possibilities," she said. To find out more go to: http://dgckids.org/
Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments 1750 S. Big Bend Blvd.
Richmond Heights, MO 63117 Phone: 314-776-1300 Fax: 314-776-7808 Email:info@dgckids.org
Sandy YESnick is one of only 17 licensed, board certified low vision therapists in the United States. Her unique skills & extensive experience allow her to maximize your remaining vision, which combined with Dr. YESnick's vision-enhancing aids, enable partially sighted patients to live independent & meaningful lives. This reduces caretaker responsibilities on the spouse & family. Many patients, whom had given up hope, retain their dignity to perform life's daily tasks, i.e., cooking, grocery shopping, managing finances & medication & getting around in their community. Get Your Life Back from vision loss by calling (702) 966 2020 today.
Ophthalmologists awarded for breakthrough deviceTwo ophthalmologists have been recognised for devising an environmental chamber to prepare donor tissue for corneal transplant surgery. Professor Roger Buckley (right) and Madhavan Rajan (left), of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, won first prize in the Medical Technology category of the Spotlight Competition, organised by Health Enterprise East (HEE), which is an NHS regional partner organisation. HEE said the equipment would transform corneal transplant surgery and lead to faster recovery of vision. Further development has been planned by the inventors at Anglia Ruskin University's Vision & Eye Research Unit and a grant of £2,000 to develop the chamber was part of the prize. Also pictured is Robert Donald, intellectual property manager, HEE.
Pat and I just left the Aiken Farmer's Market and met a dear couple from Bamberg, SC who sell honey. We bought a bottle of local honey. If you eat local honey it helps with allergies. Well I need help because I have a prosthetic eye. I take Allergra to reduce the swelling plus Aiken had a high pollen count. We were amazed at how many hive Colston Honey Bee Farms have. My father has been a beekeeper on and off for years. The Clayton have over 500 hives at their farm. Stop by their table if your at the Aiken Farmer's Market.
Check out more about honey at the Nation Honey Board at: http://www.honey.com/nhb/about-honey/
I have always had low vision but was never trained with low vision aids until 2011, ten years after I lost sight in my right eye. I want to help others know there are resources out there and not to live life "not seeing".
“This is the wave of the future,” Dr. Solomon says. “In five to ten years, all surgeries will be done with the laser.”
