Is blindness treatable?

THE government plans to eradicate preventable blindness by 2020 as part of global efforts to eliminate the disease, the Health Education Officer of the National Eye Care Programme, Ms Amina Kingo, has said. She told the ‘Daily News’ in Dar es Salaam yesterday that Tanzania had an estimated 360,000 blind persons, or one per cent of the current population and the main strategy was to make sure that newly born children did not lose their sight from treatable causes.

“October 8-10, this year will be dedicated to eye screening clinics for children and continue to monitor their sight status until they reached 15 years old,” Ms Kingo said. Adults also would be checked and treated, she added. Tanzania is a signatory of the 2003 Global Initiative for the Elimination of Avoidable Blindness that aims to reduce visual impairment by 80 per cent.

The theme for this year’s day on the campaign against blindness is “vision for children.” The day is held annually on October 10 and will be marked at national level this year in Bagamoyo where the Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof David Mwakyusa, is expected to be the guest of honour. Apart from being born blind, there are a number of infections that lead to loss or impaired vision.

Ms Kingo mentioned some of them as River Blindness disease, caused by parasites carried by tiny flies that dwell along rivers and cataract, caused by an opaque or cloudy area that develops in the lens of the eye. The condition can take months or even years, sometimes without the person realising it. Vitamin A deficiency also causes loss of sight. Globally, blindness affects an estimated 45 million people and about 135 million are visually impaired.

However, 80 per cent of that vision loss is preventable usually through simple hygienic procedures such as washing the hands and face. Many cases are also treatable. Projections estimate the numbers to climb to 75 million blind people and 200 million visually impaired persons by 2020 if urgent coordinated action is not taken.

Two visually impaired women were molested

Two students were molested recently when they walked from the Tun Sambanthan monorail station to the Kuen Cheng Girls’ High School in the morning.

This adds to the recent alarm about molesters on the prowl in Brickfields, particularly near Jalan Tun Sambanthan and the KL Sentral transport hub. Several visually impaired women recently came forward to say that they had been molested in the area.

In a bid to deter sex offenders, KL City Hall is installing closed-circuit television system at the overhead bridge linking the school and the monorail station.

City Hall will also ensure that all the lights in the overhead bridge function properly between 6am to 8am and police will station their officers there.

“The bridge has been installed with more than 20 fluorescent tubes but some of them were out of order on the morning of the incident,” said Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun who brought City Hall officers to inspect the site yesterday.

He said he would also write to the school to station guards at one end of the overhead bridge to beef up security.

Four visually impaired women were reported to have been molested within two months; two of them had been harassed three times each.

Malaysian Association for the Blind deputy executive director Godfrey Ooi wants the police to give the matter serious attention.

College teaches students daily life of the visually impaired!

No one said college would be easy. Now imagine doing a good part of your studying blindfolded. Without the benefit of sight, you have to learn to do such tasks as crossing a road, cooking a meal, making a phone call, using a computer -- in short, pretty much everything sighted Canadians do without thinking twice.

That's the considerable challenge facing students at Mohawk College's campus in Brantford who have enrolled for one or both of the programs that will qualify them to instruct the blind and visually impaired.

"Our students experience what they will be teaching," says Cheryl Richesin, co-ordinator of the Orientation and Mobility and Rehabilitation-Teaching post-grad programs.

O and M, as it's called, teaches the blind and visually impaired -- anyone from very young children to seniors -- how to get around using a long cane, a guide dog or high tech equipment such as GPS and other electronic devices. Rehabilitation-Teaching instructs everyone, again from the very young to the elderly, how to live independently; that could be learning to cook, using a talking computer or a low-vision device, Braille instruction, and so on.

Both programs began at Mohawk in 1991, Richesin says, and they are the only ones of their kind taught full time in English in Canada. The O and M course accepts 10 students per year and the Rehab course accepts 20. Each course lasts 10 months -- a bit longer than the usual academic year -- because there is a work experience component to complete. Tuition for each course is about $2,800.

WOMEN STUDENTS

Richesin puts the average age of her students from the mid-20s up to the 30s, although "it's not unusual to have some students who are in their 50s." Women dominate both courses, with just three men enrolled this year, Richesin says.

One of the few men who have been through the O and M program is Troy LaPlante, a psychology graduate of Dalhousie University in Halifax. Now a pre-school resource consultant for the W. Ross Macdonald School in Brantford, which teaches the blind, the deafblind and the visually impaired, LaPlante went to Mohawk as an alternative to teachers' college.

"I wanted to be able to teach people, but I didn't like the idea of being in a classroom," says LaPlante, who graduated from Mohawk in 2004.

LaPlante says some of the key attributes needed for anyone considering either of the Mohawk courses are an innovative outlook, problem- solving skills and the ability to work as part of a team.
They also shouldn't be frightened by having plenty to do. "I didn't anticipate how much work there was going to be," LaPlante says.

Deborah Despres completed the O and M program last year and is now enrolled in Rehabilitation-Teaching. A Mohawk graphic arts graduate, Despres worked at an assortment of part-time jobs -- including one as a passenger screener at Hamilton International Airport, which taught her a lot about patience -- before finding her niche.

She says it's the human side of the job that attracted her, and expresses no concern about employment after she graduates next summer: "I'm pretty confident. I've taken the course seriously."

And agencies such as the CNIB take the Mohawk grads seriously in return. Although starting pay isn't exceptional -- Richesin puts it in the higher $30,000 range -- she also points out there's a job for virtually every grad and even opportunities abroad. Some of her former students are now teaching in the U.S., Egypt, England and Hungary.

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QUICK FACTS

- Both programs at Mohawk are post-grad and applicants need a degree or a diploma.
- Each course lasts about 10 months.

- A good part of the student's training is done while they are blindfolded.

- Mohawk is the only college to offer these programs in English.

Visually impaired tourists use GPS to visit BC

Twenty-five blind tourists are bound for B.C. today, armed with talking global positioning systems that can make four senses feel tantamount to five.

The technology, developed by the California-based Sendero Group, emits a satellite signal connected to a worldwide mapping database. The signal tells the database what direction the GPS user is heading, and the mapping system routes an auditory message back to the user advising of attractions, services and restaurants in the area.

"Most people think this technology is for finding your way, but actually it's so you can get lost, and then it allows you to get un-lost," said Mike May, the visually-impaired president and founder of the Sendero Group, who began developing GPS technology for the blind in 1994.

He started the technology-based travel program for the blind, called WayFun Adventures, in 2003. This year's tour, which involves 25 adventurers and 15 guide dogs, begins in Victoria today and will wind up in Vancouver on Sunday.

"This is a great opportunity for blind people to go out. It's a chance to explore and push your limitations, and to travel in a totally new place using . . . the talking GPS," said Jim Kutsch, president of the Seeing Eye, a New Jersey-based charity that is co-sponsoring the event.
Kutsch went on his first WayFun tour last year with his wife, Ginger. He explained that travelling is as rewarding an experience for the blind as it is for sighted people, especially when its joys and challenges are met by a group.

"There's more to touring than just sight. There's the climate differences, there's the different smells, the different feel, the different sounds," said Kutsch. "There's lots of things in the environment for somebody who's used to paying a little more attention to non-visual cues."

May said demand for his trips already exceeds capacity, and has had to turn down 20 applicants for this year's tour, so he's thinking about scheduling more tours.

"The group aspect is great because we learn from each other and we also set the bar higher by pushing each other to do just a little bit more than what we're used to from our normal comfort zones," he said.

The Kutschs are going next year, too.

"We've been looking forward to it all year long,"said Kutsch, whose wife is also visually impaired.

Visually impaired babies

A baby born with a handicap often breaks a parent's heart.If you want to see heartbreak turned into inspiration, see what happens with babies born blind at Atlanta's Center for Visually Impaired. It is Friday's Wes Side Story.Babies born blind often go thru multiple operations trying to find something that will at least let them see shadows -- because the parents know their development depends on seeing something.

If they see nothing, simple things like walking will take them twice as long to learn."A typical child, a sighted child, they're motivated to move by the toys they see and they want to get closer to them," said mother Martha Hummer.A blind child is motivated by the sound of mom's or dad's voice. Music can be a motivator. Even smells can make them crawl or reach out.Jacqueline Howard at the Center for Visually Impaired uses her music to give blind children the understanding of simple words that they need to know.

"It's hard for the concept of up and down, so we teach them through music," Howard said. "We teach the concepts of stop and go -- lots of different concepts -- through music."The mother of Senia McCowan said her daughter had trouble approaching a curb at a crosswalk."Something as simple as walking off the curb," she said. "Because to her it looks different, so she's learning how to feel for the edge of the curb, just reach to step down."The children learn from touch, smell, sound -- about dangers they might face.

They learn the difference between friendly dog barking sounds and threatening growls. They even learn simple movement thru dancing with their parents.At the end of the class the children will know when to go forward and when to stop, and every mother and dad in the room thinks Jacqueline Howard is a miracle worker for that.

Visually impaired babies

A baby born with a handicap often breaks a parent's heart.If you want to see heartbreak turned into inspiration, see what happens with babies born blind at Atlanta's Center for Visually Impaired. It is Friday's Wes Side Story.Babies born blind often go thru multiple operations trying to find something that will at least let them see shadows -- because the parents know their development depends on seeing something.

If they see nothing, simple things like walking will take them twice as long to learn."A typical child, a sighted child, they're motivated to move by the toys they see and they want to get closer to them," said mother Martha Hummer.A blind child is motivated by the sound of mom's or dad's voice. Music can be a motivator. Even smells can make them crawl or reach out.Jacqueline Howard at the Center for Visually Impaired uses her music to give blind children the understanding of simple words that they need to know.

"It's hard for the concept of up and down, so we teach them through music," Howard said. "We teach the concepts of stop and go -- lots of different concepts -- through music."The mother of Senia McCowan said her daughter had trouble approaching a curb at a crosswalk."Something as simple as walking off the curb," she said. "Because to her it looks different, so she's learning how to feel for the edge of the curb, just reach to step down."The children learn from touch, smell, sound -- about dangers they might face.

They learn the difference between friendly dog barking sounds and threatening growls. They even learn simple movement thru dancing with their parents.At the end of the class the children will know when to go forward and when to stop, and every mother and dad in the room thinks Jacqueline Howard is a miracle worker for that.

Barbados use Braille in exams!

A teenager who became the first visually impaired student to sit the "screening test" in Braille has been presented with BDS$23,000 in Braille equipment.

Janeil Odle, passed for Combermere School. She was presented with the equipment by the minister of education Anthony Wood who encouraged her to show her classmates that "a disability does not mean lack of ability".

"We hope that through your efforts and your achievement, other physically disabled students will be motivated in school", he said to the teenager who is aspiring to be a criminal lawyer.

The equipment was provided by the Barbados Children's Trust.

Director of the trust, Michael Pemberton, explained that the equipment to help visually impaired persons included the Open-book Programme, which allows the blind person to scan printed documents as well as a Personal Digital Assistant.

Combermere School principal, Vere Parris, said training and orientation for staff has been provided on how to deal with persons with disabilities.

"We have provided the necessary training and orientation for staff... a seminar was conducted discussing communication, socio-emotional and environmental aspects and physical needs, so that her life at Combermere will be a happy one," he stated.

Janeil is a former student of Irving Wilson and Wilkie Cumberbatch schools.

Combermere has produced a number of successful students who were disabled. Among them the late Kregg Nurse who suffered with multiple sclerosis and who went on to successfully do his first degree and KerryAnn Ifill who was the first blind student to be admitted to the school and who has since completed a first degree and recently graduated with an MBA in business.

Video games for the visually impaired

The greatest symbol of this is the Wii console from Nintendo. Its innovative wireless control -- the Wiimote -- has even non-gamers excited as they swing it through the air to control, say, a tennis racket on the screen.

Wii's Wiimote may play a pivotal role in bringing the visually impaired into the electronic gaming fold.

But not quite everyone has been reached. One group is still largely ignored by video game makers: the blind.

With that in mind, a team of researchers at the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab in Massachusetts set out this summer to make a music-based video game that's designed for mainstream players and also accessible to the blind.

Appropriately, perhaps, they incorporated the Wiimote into the game-play, though it's optional.
The resulting DJ game, designed for the PC, is called AudiOdyssey. In it, players try to lay down different tracks in a song by swinging and waving the Wiimote in time with the beats. Or they can just use keyboard controls.

The game reminded this writer of my lack of any rhythm whatsoever. I used the keyboard version, where you're instructed to follow the beat by hitting an arrow key. Miss a beat and you get an ugly sound. Things sounded pretty ugly. But I did start to get a little better after 15 minutes and was awarded occasionally by crowd cheers. It's a fun game. And I got a kick out of it.

So did 41-year-old Alicia Verlager. For her, though, the fun is a bit more significant. She's visually impaired.

"Play is one of the ways in which people build relationships," she notes. "It's fun to take on the challenge of a game and take turns encouraging and laughing at each other's sillier mistakes. That's the experience I am really craving in a game -- the social aspects."
Don't Miss

AudiOdyssey is presently single-player only, and there's no scoring system. But a multiplayer online version will be released in a few months. Intriguingly, players in this version won't necessarily know whether their opponent is blind -- and it won't make a difference in the game.

"Ideally, they shouldn't even know that it is designed with the visually impaired in mind, since we want to make a 'mainstream' game," says Eitan Glinert, a 25-year-old grad student at GAMBIT and the lead researcher on AudiOdyssey, which is his thesis.

That said, "after they find out that the game is designed to be accessible, it increases awareness," he adds.

Though using the Wiimote isn't necessary, Glinert believes it's a more fun and expressive option. From a development standpoint, getting the Wiimote to work with a PC game (it's meant to be used only with Nintendo's Wii) was a considerable engineering challenge.

And players who want to use the device will have to do a little extra work, as well, including linking a Wiimote to a PC wirelessly via Bluetooth signal (instructions on how to do this are included with the game).

Verlager believes AudiOdyssey's use of the Wiimote makes it unique among accessible games. It's also, as far as she knows, the first accessible music game for blind players. A startup called All inPlay offers online games, including poker, designed to allow play between blind and sighted users.

For Verlager, it's important that games be mainstream and inclusive -- rather than "special" and for blind players.

"I really get frustrated with the way blind people are portrayed as if they live in isolation from the rest of the world and have no sighted family or friends," she says.

Media, which includes video games, "is something people share and participate in together, a way of building relationships and exploring feelings and attitudes about real life," she says.

For now, AudiOdyssey is an "early concept prototype," says Glinert. But "ultimately, we'd love to bring the game to consoles," he adds. "If we get the chance we'll definitely move quickly on that."

Taxis vs. service dogs for the visually impaired

Broadcaster Bill Jurek remembers the night he was working late at a radio station and needed a ride home.

He and a friend stood outside on Michigan Avenue to hail a cab. But when the driver pulled up and learned about a third passenger, a guide dog, he refused.

“I was leaning in the car to talk to him and he started driving away,” Jurek recalled.

It was the first time Jurek had been denied a ride since getting his dog, even though service is guaranteed by federal and state laws.

“Normally, I give the benefit of the doubt to people,” the 57-year-old Long Grove resident said. “But what I did was I filed a … consumer services report” with the city.

Nothing came of it, he said. At least not right away.

Six months later, Jurek got involved in an undercover program produced by NBC through his job as a newsman and announcer for the network.

Acting as decoys, Jurek and another woman who worked with the Guild for the Blind stood outside with their guide dogs in tow to hail cabs. If a driver refused them a ride or passed them, one of the producers of the project would hail the same cab farther down the street.

“[The producer] noticed that they had not taken the person with the guide dog,” he said. “These cab drivers kept saying ‘No, no, it’s my car, I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.’”

The NBC report did catch the interest of consumer services, Jurek said. “Action was taken on my behalf and my case actually came up for a hearing.” He won.

That was about 10 years ago, not long after Jurek lost his sight in 1995 from a retina problem complicated by glaucoma.

The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired, a nonprofit social service agency, estimates that there are about 15,000 visually impaired or blind people in the city of Chicago. Of those, the agency estimates that several hundred use guide dogs.

Since that time, Jurek said, the city has made strides to correct the problem. “I’ve seen an improvement where drivers are more inclined to take a guide dog.”

“To the best of my knowledge, obviously it’s still a concern, but there are training programs in place and cab drivers know the consequence for refusing service,” said Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for Chicago’s Department of Consumer Services.

But according to Jurek, the suburbs are still cause for concern. That’s because each municipality controls its own taxi cab licensing. There is no single licensing body like the city’s Department of Consumer Services Public Vehicle Division.

Retired Cook County Judge Nicholas Pomaro, now director of the Lighthouse’s Kane Legal Clinic, noted a recent allegation pending in federal district court that claims a suburban cab company denied a couple access to transportation.

“What we’re looking for, not for monetary gain, we’re just looking to see that people have the right to live like anyone else,” Pomaro said.

Cab improvements in the city The training for city drivers that McCaffrey referred to is a two-week class at the Public Chauffeur Training Institute at Harold Washington College in the Loop. The 20-year-old class is required of potential drivers before they take their licensing exam.

Jurek, formerly a full-time presenter for the class who also works for the Lighthouse's CRIS Radio, said more emphasis was placed on the service dog aspect after the NBC sting.

During the first week of training, a member of the Guild for the Blind visits to lecture on accommodating blind or visually impaired patrons as well as their guide dogs, according to Anna Blum, dean of public agency and special programs at Harold Washington College.

Students also learn about the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois White Cane Law. These laws give those with visual or hearing impairments, or other physical disabilities, who are accompanied by a service dog, the right to use public transportation and enter establishments just as anyone else would.

Under Chicago’s municipal code, a cab driver can be fined $500 and have his license suspended for 29 days if he denies a ride to a person accompanied by a service dog. If, after a notice and hearing, the driver repeats the offense, his license is revoked. This, according to the Illinois Attorney General’s Web site, is a violation of the Guide Dog Access Act and a misdemeanor.
The Web site also notes that violation of the White Cane Law—though a misdemeanor—can land a person in jail for up to a year with a $1,000 fine.

McCaffrey said he doesn’t know the exact number of drivers prosecuted for ride refusal, or specifically, refusal due to service dogs in the city. “I would say our success rate in prosecuting is good.” If the complaint is valid, and the person is willing to testify, he said, “we prosecute as many of them as we can.”

Why no dogs?Many students are hearing about these laws for the first time, according to Kathy Austin, coordinator for the adult rehabilitation department at the Guild for the Blind and a full-time class presenter.

“Sometimes there’ll be 20 students in the classroom from 19 different countries,” Austin said. “They’re not familiar with our laws.”

Some drivers reason that religious beliefs interfere with allowing a dog in the car.“I had one guy on a Sunday morning tell me ‘No, you can’t bring the dog in my cab because I pray in the backseat,’” Jurek said.

Some followers of Islam may consider dogs to be an outdoor animal that is impure.

“It’s considered unclean only in the sense that when you’re going to pray or something, it mustn’t lick you,” said Zafar Malik, who is of the Muslim faith and works as the associate dean for development and university relations at East-West University in Chicago.

If the dog were to lick him or his clothes, Malik said he would wash that part before prayer.
“Provided you are visually impaired or you need the dog for protection or for any other reason,” he said, “then it’s perfectly fine” for it to be in the cab.

Pomaro said a fear of the unknown might also cause a driver to deny a ride.“If [drivers are] not related to or have particular dealings with a person who is blind or visually impaired, there’s a lack of understanding and they’re fearful,” he said. “Some people are just fearful of dogs.”

Cab drivers who can’t accommodate a service animal should consider a career change said Roxanne Calibraro, director for alternative dispute resolution services for the Better Business Bureau of Chicago.

“If that is the problem for them, perhaps they are in the wrong industry because they are serving the public,” she said. She also uses a guide dog to navigate the streets.

No two suburbs are exactly alike According to Calibraro, the Better Business Bureau of Chicago hasn’t handled complaints regarding the issue because it’s not within the bureau's jurisdiction. “We would send [the complaints] to the city,” she said.

Suburbs handle cab regulations and driver instruction differently. Jurek said he would like to see a countywide training program established.

In the city of Evanston, for example, an incident regarding a guide dog and a taxi several years ago prompted additional instruction. “Since then, what we did was carve out a section of training for drivers to explain the law as it stands [and] where these dogs are allowed,” said Steve O’Sullivan, the city’s license and measures inspector.

Some cab companies that operate in the suburbs institute their own training programs. The Village of Oak Park doesn’t offer one, but does license two companies—Blue Cab and Red Cab—according to Sandra Sokol, the village clerk.

Blue Cab trains its own drivers, Sokol said. She said she doesn’t know whether Red Cab, a newer company, has instituted any sort of instruction.

Sokol said Oak Park hasn’t heard such complaints. If they were to receive one, she added, “certainly we would try to resolve whatever happened first.”

But cab companies typically handle complaints well, Jurek said. “The companies in the suburbs are aware,” he noted. “If you bring a complaint to them, they usually advise drivers.”

When it comes to complaints McCaffrey doesn’t know the exact date, but said it’s been a long-standing requirement to install Braille placards in the back of city cabs that give instructions for filing complaints. It is unknown whether this is the case for cab companies operating in the suburbs.

Austin said Braille instructions in cabs don’t always help. “Not all blind or visually impaired people know Braille, especially people who have lost their sight later in life,” she said. “So the Braille’s going to be fairly useless.”

According to Pomaro, not everyone knows the best way to file a complaint, either.

“They’re certainly welcome to come [to the Chicago Lighthouse] and I’ll do everything I can to remedy the situation,” he said. “They can contact the city of Chicago at 311 and that’s very good, too.”

Cabs as a necessityFor a blind or visually impaired person, a cab is sometimes an essential or a preferred form of transportation.

“It makes them feel safer to take the cab so, to be treated unfairly by the cab driver, that kind of defeats the purpose of the safety factor of the taxi,” Jurek said.

Taxis are part of his everyday routine, and he uses a company in the suburbs that he has trusted for years.

“I live far enough away that I couldn’t walk to the train station,” he added. “So I have to take the cab to get to the train station in order to get into the city.”

Now, the Illinois General Assembly’s failure to reach consensus on the budget has jeopardized many CTA, Pace and Metra routes.

Without more funding, the CTA’s route 127 Madison/Roosevelt circulator that Jurek takes to get to the Lighthouse faces possible elimination. Fortunately, for him, the Pink Line is within walking distance.

Austin said the cuts might mean an even bigger demand for cabs.

“It might force [the blind and visually impaired] to take that mode of transportation,” she said. “That could be a significant expense because cabs certainly are more expensive than busses and trains.”

But the problem is larger than dogs and cabs. Discrimination isn’t limited to the blind or visually impaired and others requiring service dogs to get around.

As with any issue, Pomaro noted that educating the public is necessary to stop the problem before it starts.

“That takes time and effort,” he said. “It isn’t done overnight.”

India: Cyber space for the visually impaired

Chennai based NGO (non-government organization) has set up an Internet centre for visually challenged people to use cyber space for free. A 36 years old Govind Krishnan, who is partially blind had developed the organization five years ago.

This is only centre in the country, where visual challenged people can walk and browse Internet free of charge. Sify has provided unlimited Internet access to the centre. The centre has Job access with speech (JAWS) facility, an audio based software, which allows the visually challenged to use computers at will.

New sports for the visually impaired

JINGLING balls and fluorescent shuttlecocks were seen flying through the air at a sports day for visually impaired people.

There were a variety of sports for participants to try their hand at, from goal ball, badminton, trampolining, squash and football.

The sports had been specially adapted so all visually impaired people and their families could play together.

The event at Chesterton Sports Centre was organised by British Blind Sport.

Ryan Armes, east regional development officer, said: "The day was a great opportunity for children with visual impairments to try a variety of sports. We now hope to set up a regular sports group in the Cambridgeshire area."