Blindness Education

[Ms. Kathy]

Taare Zameen Par could change the face of education in India
14 Apr, 2008, 0730 hrs IST,Ambika Naithani, TNN
Source Link: India Times economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Media__Entertainment_/Entertainment/Taare_Zameen_Par_could_change_the_face_of_education_in_India/articleshow/2950104.cms

Taare Zameen Par (TZP), a Hindi movie based on the story of a 10-year old dyslexic boy, has triggered action that could change the face of education in India. May be because of their proximity to all Bollywood action, authorities in Mumbai seem to be the most inspired of the lot. From this year, Mumbai's civic body, which runs 1188 schools, will start 12 classrooms for autistics. But that is natural for a film that on December 31, just 10 days after its release, persuaded the CBSE to grant extra time to special children during examinations. These special children include visually impaired, physically challenged and dyslexic students.

The movie also had a spillover effect on Chandigarh, union territory (UT) and the capital of Haryana and Punjab Chandigarh's education administration has decided to start a course for teachers to deal with children with learning disabilities. The programme, which started with screening the movie, will sensitise the 2,500 participating government teachers to the needs of such children. This will be the first such course for teachers anywhere in the country.

That TZP is causing a change of heart is not surprising but that it took so long for a film to do so certainly is. Films with a message, especially those which help us understand people who are physically challenged, have been around for years. There was Koshish, released in 1972, which focused on the hearing impaired. Then Sai Paranjpe's Sparsh, re leased in 1980, focused on blindness.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Khamoshi, released in 1996, once again touched upon the hearing impaired. Bhansali's Black (2005) visited the territory of the visually challenged in a stunning way.

What is surprising is that TZP has succeeded in moving so many people and institutions to action. Why? Lyricist Javed Akhtar says the answer does not lie in the films but the society. "It is the society that influences a particular kind of film. For example, in the 80s India cinema was at its nadir because the kind of audience that was coming to the theatres in those days," says Akhtar.

According to him, the middle class, which provides the bulk of the audience for films that break a formula has been constantly changing. "In the 50s and 60s, the middle class consisted of people who were educated but still had strong connections with their extended family in villages. The middle class of 1980s, was largely from the industrial belts and consisted of people who were no longer in touch with their family in villages.

Today's middle class is much more sophisticated and that's why you see so many different sorts of films that are being made," he says. The reaction to TZP therefore taps into the psyche of a slightly more sophisticated set of people who really would want to reach out to the disadvantaged.

Can more more films like TZP change the way society treats the physically challenged? Says Jasmine Wadhawa of GiveIndia, a donation platform for around 100 NGOs, "It would help. But remember people have short memories. It doesn't work unless you show the problem repeatedly to people." Ms Wadhawa is right. Public memory is indeed short. Impact, like vapour is born and gone. Ms Wadhawa to ratify this point, talks about donations made during the period of these movies' releases. "There wasn't a sudden in crease in the amount donated for a cause that was high lighted by a movie in that particular phase," she adds.

Take another example, Welham Boys' School. Dev Lahiri, principal, Dehradun-based Welham Boys' School says, "Yes TZP did create a certain amount of awareness but what is important is to translate it into action and sustain it We tend to react emotionally but the passion wears off like a flash in the pan." Mr. Lahiri's action orientation can be gauged by the new assisted learning centre that will come up in Welham Boys' and shall have 12-15 students at any point of time. "We are hoping that things move in the right direction so that we soon ask some other schools to con tribute to the centre. Thus, the idea is to cater to the students from other institutions too," adds Mr Lahiri.

While TZP has inspired many constituencies, the most prominent step was taken back in 1988. It was then that In dia-born and New York-based film director Mira Nair's first movie, Salaam Bombay gave birth to a Salaam Balak Trust (SBT).

Nair's movie depicted the miserable lives of street children in India. Deeply inspired by the movie, Nair' mother Praveen Nair registered the trust shortly in December, 1988. The trust was started with Rs 8-9 lakh that was collected from the movie's premiers held in Delhi, Bombay and Kolkata. "Mira didn't make any money from the movie," reminisces Praveen.

She also recalls how she was warned against taking the plunge. "People told me that I had no idea about street children. They said it would be like striking our heads against the wall," recalls Praveen who started by working with 20-25 boys out of an office situated at the Delhi Railway Station. Today, the trust works with around 4000 street children.

Salaam Bombay also stirred the government's conscience, though a little late. Back in 1988, the government had no provision for street children. Then in February 1993 they started with a "Scheme for Assistance to Street Children" under the Ministry of Welfare. Impressed by the movie, UNICEF screened the movie the worldover.

Even if the passion is short-lived, such films do start a debate in the society. Akhil Paul, director, Sense International (India), an NGO that deals with deafblind children says that after the movie Black in 2005, it has become simpler to explain dual impairment. "I met a senior government official in the ministry of social justice and empowerment for a proposal to include deafblind children in schools under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The official couldn't understand what sort of children we were referring to. But after I explained Rani Mukherjee's role in Black, the official could instantly relate to the cause," says Mr. Paul. Rani Mukherjee played the role of a deafblind girl in the movie. While earlier Hellen Keller was the only example, with the release of Black, it has become simpler for people to relate to the cause. But Mr Paul cautions that such movie can also have a negative effect. "They showed young Rani being beaten up in Black which caused fear among some people," says Mr Paul.

This, however, did not elicit the kind of response that Sense International expected. They had a special screening of the movie and sent out leaflets. People who came in donated small amount ranging from Rs 200-1 ,000 and thereafter there were no repeat donations. The road for challenged people has never been easy, and films can only be the first step to the eventual solution, but then as Akhtar says: "Sophistication of audience is the first step to becoming sensitive." And being sensitive, the first step to being civilized.

[Ms. Kathy]

Rehab Program Helps People Overcome Vision Loss

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - 09:53 AM Updated: 10:20 AM
PhotoVideo
Source Link: www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/health___fitness.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-13-0007.html

By Julie Henry
Health & Fitness Reporter
NBC17.com

RALEIGH, N.C. – A free job training program offers a return to independence for people who have lost their vision. For Maggee Jespersen of Raleigh, the program has been a godsend.

Discuss This Story

“I really want to get a job,” she said.

The program is funded by federal and state tax dollars and is run by the N.C. Division of Services for the Blind.

Students come from all over the state for training at the center. Jesperson and her service dog, Worster, have been coming for classes since September.

“I’m taking two classes of computer and two classes of Braille at this time and I’m hoping to get a customer service job,” said Jespersen, who has had low vision all her life.

Each spring, students take a break for a week to allow staff members to use the facility and experience the training programs the way their clients do. Complete with blindfolds, caseworkers and other staff from the seven district offices spend their days at the center, located on the campus of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind.

They do everything just like the students – practicing skills like cooking and reading Braille, and learning about assistive technology, including specialized computer programs.

Olivia Rowe, who works with teens in the Fayetteville district office, found that without sight, even familiar tasks became difficult.

“Even though my experience told me that I knew how to use that keyboard,” said Rowe. “I’m now visually impaired, so it’s a different use that I have to undertake.”

Clients, or consumers as they are called, have a variety of vision problems, from limited vision to total blindness. And many have lost their sight as adults, making job retraining even more important, said Assistant Director Mary Flanagan.

“If an individual is interested in becoming employed or if they are already employed and are having difficulty keeping their job because of their vision loss, they should contact us,” said Flanagan.

Training programs can last several months, so students are eligible to stay on campus in dormitory style housing at no charge. The ultimate goal is to get them back into their local communities where they can be productive and taxpaying citizens.

In addition to the blindfolds, staff members also tried simulators for other vision problems, like macular degeneration. You’ll have a chance to try it too, and find out more about the vocational rehab program at our Health and Fitness Festival coming up this weekend at the State Fairgrounds. Click here for more details on the activities and free health screenings we’ll be offering.

Source Link: www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/health___fitness.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-05-13-0007.html

[Ms. Kathy]

Blind Babies Foundation still thriving
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 | 7:33 PM By Cheryl
Source Link: abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=6639850

JenningsOAKLAND, CA (KGO) -- There is an agency in the Bay Area that's been helping families with blind babies for 60 years. Here are some of the people whose lives have been changed dramatically, thanks to the Blind Babies Foundation of Oakland.

Jim Gammon plays trumpet for the hot house vintage jazz band, when they perform, now and then, around the Bay Area. The music that's so sweet to our ears, is being played by a man who's been blind from birth.
"To be a trumpet player means you got to practice every day," said Gammon.
Story continues belowAdvertisementJim's day job is at UC Berkeley, where he is a specialist for the blind and visually impaired disabled students' program.
"It's a Braille keyboard, with an audio component," said Gammon.
He is a huge success by any measure, as a husband, father, businessman and musician. He has a master's degree in special education, all because his family got help for him from the Blind Babies foundation when he was just 7-months-old.
That's right after the foundation started 60 years ago.
"In general, society approaches people with, especially blindness by thinking you couldn't do that, there's no way you could do that as a blind person," said Gammon.
But Jim's parents got some life-changing advice from the Blind Babies Foundation, which sent an in-home counselor.
"You don't have to abandon your dreams for your child, what you have to do is alter them to meet the needs of your child," said Gammon.
Jeri Hart is a vision impairment specialist with the Blind Babies Foundation. She's been working with 3-and-half-year old Tyler and his family since Tyler was a week old.
"He's doing so well, it's been so exciting to see how far he's gone," said Hart.
Tyler has very low vision, hearing impairments and multiple disabilities.
Jeri teaches Tyler's mom and dad about things most of us take for granted, if we have sight. She says 80 percent of learning takes place in the early years.
"And if you don't have vision, if a baby doesn't have vision, they're not seeing all those everyday things that you do," said parent Elizabeth Brogna.
"A baby won't reach for you when they hear you, they get quiet and they get still, because they're listening for you, so they reach with their ears, not with their hands, until you teach them to reach up," said Blind Babies Foundation Board President Dottie Bridge.
Bridge says it serves more than 500 children every year in the Bay Area like Tyler. It's helped thousands of families in its 60-year history.
"We're able to see families monthly, weekly, bi-weekly, depending on the need of the family," said Bridge.
"It's very important that babies who have a visual impairment are referred as early as possible for services," said Jeri Hart.
"She had wonderful suggestions, ideas, showed us things to do with Tyler, even showed us how to interact with tyler," said Brogna.
That includes verbalizing everything they do, every step, slowly, over and over again, with reinforcements from signs that label everything in the house.
"When you're parents who come home with a child with a disability, you don't know what to do, how to hold your child. Oh my gosh, your head is reeling and your heart is breaking," said Brogna.
"There were still all these questions and she came in and just looked at him as this beautiful little baby," said
Tyler's 13-month-old brother, Alexander, has full vision and no disabilities. Tyler's now advanced to the point where the two boys fight over toys just like any other kids.
Specialists like Jeri become a close part of these families and their work makes an enormous difference in helping blind children reach their full potential, just like Jim.
"If you're allowed to grow up unencumbered by people's attitudes of what you can't do, then you can do whatever you want to do," said Gammon.
The Blind Babies Foundation is holding its 60th Anniversary Gala Saturday, February 7th, at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco. Cheryl Jennings is the emcee.
If you are interesting in attending there are some tickets still available by calling [phone] extension 18. Related Link:
Blind Babies Foundation 60th Anniversary

[Ms. Kathy]

Why Braille is brilliant
Source Link: newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45340000/gif/_45340386_braille_matrix466.gif

Few inventions have been as simple yet liberating as Braille. To mark the 200th birthday of its inventor Louis Braille, former British home secretary David Blunkett explains how it shaped his life by providing him from an early age with a window on the world.

Picture a little boy of four. He arrives at school - boarding school - for the first time. Worried, sometimes even frightened, but determined not to cry.

Picture then a little boy with a contraption in front of him on his desk the following morning. A stylus (to him, a pin with a wooden knob on the top) in which he's expected not only to press downwards to make what he considers to be a "hole" in thick paper, but the daunting prospect of being told that he's going to operate from right to left.

That little four-year-old was, of course, me. And yes, I was expected, along with all my fellow pupils, to use an old-fashioned Braille writing frame which had the six-dot system invented by Louis Braille, born on 4 January 1809, to produce the alphabet and much more.

The reason why it was necessary to write from right to left was that, in those days, without the sophistication firstly of mechanical and then of electronic Braille production, the dots had to be pressed downwards and, when turned over, would provide a mirror image.

It was therefore not only necessary to write from right to left, but also to reverse the actual letters so that with the exception of letters like A and C, other parts of the alphabet had to be reversed. D had to be written as an F. In Braille, this is exactly the mirror image - and therefore came out on the opposite side exactly as you'd read it left to right.

If all this sounds complicated, it d**n well was!


Thankfully, new systems were developed as I went through the education system which allowed the production to be bottom-up (with the dots punctured upwards from left to right, immediately readable by the user).

Despite all its difficulties in those early days, this system was nevertheless a liberator for me and hundreds of thousands of blind men and women like me.

Invented by Louis Braille at the age of 15, the idea came from a soldier who had served in the Napoleonic army in Poland and had attempted to devise a system that could, with night-time manoeuvres, allow messages to be sent and instructions to be passed from hand to hand.


It didn't work, because the system was too complex and the soldiers didn't get it. Not surprisingly, because to read Braille without being able to see you need to develop sensitive finger ends.

Finger ends which, unlike mine, need to be protected from burns developed whilst cooking, or rough handling of gardening implements and the like. My fingers have developed what in a sighted person might be called "cataracts", but I still plough on.

Art of oratory

All those years ago, Louis Braille decided that it was crucial that he should be able to read and, above all, to be able to write down his thoughts.

Two hundred years later, when chairing a meeting it is vital that I have an agenda on my own that I can refer to without reference to someone else. It is vital that I have notes even when I shy away from actually reading speeches verbatim.

It's no secret that I found reading statements at the Despatch Box in the Commons a trial. Statements have to be read verbatim because the print version has been handed out, whereas of course speeches are an entirely different matter and much more up my street - as, of course, with answering questions.

With a set of notes you can make a speech having learnt the art of oratory at a very early age. In fact it's probably a question of cause and effect. My own development of oratory came from the fact that by using notes I could overcome the difficulty of not being able quite so fluently as I would wish to skim over a written page of Braille - for Braille doesn't have the opportunity to provide highlights.

You can't simply write Braille in large form so that as with print you can "catch your eye" on something that it is absolutely vital to deliver or to emphasise. Underlining is possible, but more out of technical form than in terms of being able to quickly highlight what needs to be referred to and at what point.

Therefore, for me, Braille has been a method of ensuring that I can work on equal terms, using my own initiative and doing it in my own way.


For others, it has been an absolutely vital way of ensuring private correspondence and, with more recent developments, being able to demand bank statements which allow privacy rather than relying on someone else to read them (perhaps a neighbour) at a time when confidentiality could be crucial.

In the future, so many of the public forms and communications we receive could easily be put in Braille by the use of computer software and the transcription equipment now readily available to public authorities.

My staff use exactly such software, along with Braille embossers, in order to be able to produce material for me on a regular basis.

So, as we celebrate the 200th birthday of Louis Braille, we lift a glass at the New Year to thank him for the ingenuity, the confidence and the determination that ensured that others like him sought and gained independence, equality and dignity.

Whilst doing so, we should recognise the critical role of organisations working with and on behalf of blind people, such as the Royal National Institute of the Blind here in the UK, whose support and resource base is crucial to making this old invention come alive in imaginatively new ways.

The year 2009 will indeed, here and across the world, be a chance to recognise this form of communication as an essential liberator, a window on the world for children reading their books (under their bedcovers, as I did), or adults being able to go about their business with confidence - and with the certainty that very few other people will be able to read their secrets.

[Ms. Kathy]

Reporter follows in footsteps of blind
[This reporter learns what the blind must learn for orientation and mobility concerns by experience. For the rest of her journal--she's doing a daily post--go to this URL: www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/02/10/TEMPORARILY_BLIND_--_a_colum.ART_ART_02-10-09_A6_SVCQTEK.html?sid=101]

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 3:02 AM
By Amy Saunders

As I slipped on the mask, my confidence faded to black along with my world.

For four weeks I had interviewed Pilot Dogs students, followed them on walks, recorded their successes and setbacks. I understood basic guide-dog training: the commands, the routes, the common mistakes.

I felt sufficiently prepared, then, for an experiment: taking a guide dog on a short walk, blindfolded.

Yet the succinct advice one student offered before I left made no mention of skill or technique.

"Trust your dog," he said. "That's all you need to know."

Outside the school, my first impression of blindness seemed embarrassingly obvious: Wait. How can I walk like this? I can't even see. I can't see.

Before I could speak, trainer Steve Hoyt offered instructions: "Find your dog; find your harness."

Frantically, I waved a hand around in search of my black Labrador, a slight rush of self-pity washing over me.

The comfort of finding Tory didn't last long as she and I set off for a walk around the block nearest the school.

My harness hand bounced with the dog's wiggling stride as I staggered to follow her down the sidewalk. Not until I felt grass beneath my feet did I discover the crookedness of my path.

When Tory paused at the first curb, I reached out my right foot to feel for it. Realizing that I'd stopped short, I pawed the pavement until I nearly stumbled over the edge.

The sound of passing cars made my heart race, even though I knew I was in no danger. Seven-year-old Tory is a guide-dog veteran, and Steve, like all the school's trainers, wouldn't let anything happen to me.

Still, the walk was terrifying.

Working to gain control, I tried to visualize the route I'd followed many times when accompanying the students. I pictured the buildings I'd pass and the alleys I'd cross.

I tried to show off my mental map when Tory stopped at a curb: I asked Steve whether we should turn right onto Rich Street.

"This is the parking lot," he told me.

I thought I'd have a huge advantage over the students, having studied the area first with my eyes. Blindfolded, though, I had no idea where I was.

The walk was simple -- few decisions, no street crossings -- yet I struggled to manage it.

And I'm not even Randy Bailey, who hadn't walked much in years.

Or Elaine Brittain, fearful that a fall could break her bones.

Or Phil Jackson, who can neither see nor hear his surroundings.

Yet for me, even Tory swerving on the sidewalk proved problematic. I didn't understand what she was doing, worried where she was taking me.

I slowed my steps, pulling on her in a moment of uncertainty: What if she continues into the street?

Tory didn't, though. She wouldn't.

"She's just taking you around some leaves," Steve told me. "She doesn't want you to step on them."

In other words: Trust your dog; that's all you need to know .

---

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These are the other titiles for her jouranl entry:
Blind trust
This three-day look at Pilot Dogs 'boot camp'
Sunday: Owner-dog introductions
Sunday: Public can lend a hand in a variety of ways
Monday: Two weeks of training
Tuesday: Final tests
Tuesday:Reporter follows in footsteps of blind

[Ms. Kathy]

www.brl.org/index.html

[Ms. Kathy]

<<Back
Advocates upset about bill on deaf, blind schools

February 16, 2009 1:05 PM ET

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Parents and advocates say a bill making tweaks to educational services for the deaf and blind doesn't do anything substantive.

They say House Bill 296, sponsored by Rep. Ken Sumsion, R-American Fork, makes small changes in governance to the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind but doesn't address whether the institution should be split into one school for blind students and another for deaf students.

Ron Gardner, president of the Utah chapter of the National Federation for the Blind, calls the bill window dressing.

Sumsion, who was part of a 2-year task force to improve the Utah schools, says the group did skirt some difficult issues, but he calls the bill a good first step.


On the Net:

House Bill 296: le.utah.gov/ 7/82009/htmdoc/hbillhtm/HB0296.htm


Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, www.sltrib.com

Source Link:LocalNews8.com Idaho Falls, Pocatello - Weather, News, Sports www.localnews8.com/global/story.asp?s=9852315&ClientType=Printable

[Ms. Kathy]

School for blind still emphasizes Braille

Source Link: www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-brailleschool,0,4254281.story

By PHYLLIS COULTER | The (Bloomington) Pantagraph
2:12 AM CDT, May 22, 2009

NORMAL, Ill. - When Sara and Travis Edwards of Hudson discovered that both their children were blind, they did the research, accepted support and decided early that learning Braille would be part of their education.

They are in a minority today. With so many technology-driven communication options for people with impaired vision, some believe that Braille, a system of raised dots read by touch, may be fading away.

Not so here. Thomas Metcalf School in Normal currently has seven students learning Braille, including the Edwards children. At Illinois State University, where Metcalf is a laboratory school, students studying to teach visually impaired students must learn Braille.

Ethan Edwards, 6, and his sister, Elissa, 4, have a genetic condition, Leber's congenital amaurois (LCA), that allows them to have only limited light perception and no functional vision. There was no doubt they would learn Braille.

"I felt if they didn't learn Braille, they could not learn to be independent or successful," their mom said.

"Ethan comes home excited about learning to read," she said. She frequently buys him new Braille books because he memorizes the stories so quickly.

They are lucky to have access to a school that teaches Braille to so many students, said Patti Gregory-Chang, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois.

"That is awesome and unusual," she said of having such resources in a community of this size.

She said many parents have to fight their school districts to get access to Braille for their children. Some may not offer Braille because of cost, a lack of training among special education teachers or a bias toward teaching print reading to even low-vision students.

"`Blind' is not a four letter word," said Gregory-Chang who is an attorney, mother of two, community volunteer and avid Braille reader. She couldn't have the career and lifestyle she has without reading Braille, she said.

Fewer than 10 percent of the 1.3 million legally blind people in the United States read Braille, and just 10 percent of blind children are learning Braille, according to a National Federation of the Blind study released in March.

"If it was a racial minority with only a 10 percent reading rate, we'd be going nuts," Gregory-Chang said. "Or if it was a suburb with that level of literacy , wed be going nuts. Why is it OK (for people who are blind)?"

In the 1950s more than half the nation's blind children were learning Braille. Many teachers ask students to rely on audio texts, voice-recognition software or other technology, according to the report.

Audio learning is no substitute for Braille, said Gregory-Chang, noting audio recordings don't spell and don't punctuate.

Jan Harrell, a vision facilitator at Metcalf dismisses critics who consider Braille "to be difficult, too outdated, a last resort."

Far from dying out, Braille is flourishing at Metcalf, she said. "It's unusual for us to have so many Braille readers," she said.

Some parents and students are reluctant to learn Braille. Sometimes it's because it is part of accepting blindness; other times it's because it means a new school and new teachers.

"A lot of parents are going through grief" about their children's vision loss, said Chris Clark, ISU special education assistant professor specializing in teaching future teachers of children with vision impairment.