Blindness in the News

[inuvik]

Actually, what bothers me about this story is not that they think it's the only thing blind people can do (as wrong as that may be).

It's the discrimination towards sighted people, not allowing them to be masseurs, that gets my goat. Reverse discrimination!

[mlm828]

Did anyone else see the sketch on SNL lampooning New York Gov. David Paterson? If, not, you can watch it here.

As a public figure and a public official, the governor is fair game for satire, parody and criticism, and I suspect that as a career politician, he probably has a pretty thick skin. But I didn't like the way the skit perpetuated stereotypes about blind people. And, frankly, I didn't think it was all that funny.

Opinions, anyone?

[inuvik]

OOPS, can't watch it here in Canada. Bummer.

[hoosier]

I happened to catch that on The View. I thought it was in very poor taste. It actually made me cringe. I know that everyone is fair game but emphazing his blindness just seemed wrong.

[bjobsessed]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEIZLxFyFA&feature=related

Give it a few seconds for the skit to start.

Here it is on youtube. I did not see it on SNL but I didn't find this either. I also know that everyone is fair game but I don't think it's right to make fun of a disability at all.

[inuvik]

Found this today. I don't understand--if this was a problem for all guide dogs, wouldn't we have heard more? Maybe because it is a new guide dog? And why don't they cover snow in the training?

Visually impaired woman unable to leave house due to snow

Updated: Sun Jan. 18 2009 17:46:34

The snow may be melting, but it's still piled up in some areas. All the snow is causing problems for a visually impaired Calgary woman who relies on her seeing-eye dog.

Diane Allard hasn't been able to leave her house by herself for a month because the snow piled on the curb confuses her dog Bracken.

"The problem is the dog is trained to stop at every curb and that's when I have to safely cross the street and right now she cannot even see the curb because all the curbs are covered with snow or ice."

Allard says Bracken gets confused when she can't see the curb and the dog doesn't know where to guide her. To make matters worse, Bracken is a young dog and joined the family two months ago. Allard hasn't been able to keep up the dog's training.

"I'm worried she might possibly forget, she might not work as well, she's no longer with a professional trainer, she's with me so it's a scary thought."

Allard says she has phoned 311, but it wasn't helpful.

"I asked them if they can clear the street which would clean off the curb and they said no, not our job."

Allard says the City of Calgary has been unsympathetic to her situation basically telling her she has to wait until the snow melts. Some melting has taken place, but there's a long way to go.

Ric McIvor is the alderman for the area. He's sympathetic to Allard's situation.

"The problem is when you start with special treatment, and I'm not saying special treatment isn't warranted, it probably is, but then where do you draw the line?"

A spokesperson for the Roads Department told CTV News that crews are now able to target trouble spots and that someone will be looking into the situation.

Allard hopes that means she'll be able to walk safely in her own neighborhood soon.

[hoosier]

That is weird. I can see the point, that the dog is trained to identify the curb etc., but surely they plan for such situations. What about those who live in areas where there aren't curbs? What if you went walking in the park or in the country and came to an intersection? There usually aren't any markings so do the dogs just walk blithely on, oblivious to potential danger? Here, everyone is supposed to shovel their own walk and of course there are those you absolutely will not. And how can it be "special treatment" for the town to refuse to clean the curbs? I am sure there are the elderly and others who don't like to have to climb a pile of snow just to be able to cross the street either!

[bjobsessed]

I totally agree with you. Hoosier. It does and doesn't make sense from the dog's point of view. As for 'not our job', it seems to be that no one can look past the one asking for the request and see the bigger picture--like the elderly and me etc.--and not just this woman.

I had a similar experience once back when I was in high school. Of course, people are more aware now than they were then but obviously, things like this still happen. Our town high school has about five different levels in it. It's old and not accessible at all. When I started grade nine, the school would not even consider putting an elevator in saying it was way to much expense for one person. Not too long after that, they put one in for two students! Of course it is still there today and is now used by many. Needless to say, I was not impressed. I don't remember how long after I started high school they did that but it was before I was done so less than four years.

Instead of the elevator, the school board paid a taxi both ways to take me to another high school about 10 miles away. That school was only on two floors, and no elevator. They arranged my schedule so I only had to do the stairs once a day.

[inuvik]

Jan 19, 2009 20:05:40 GMT -5 hoosier said:

That is weird. I can see the point, that the dog is trained to identify the curb etc., but surely they plan for such situations. What about those who live in areas where there aren't curbs? What if you went walking in the park or in the country and came to an intersection? There usually aren't any markings so do the dogs just walk blithely on, oblivious to potential danger? Here, everyone is supposed to shovel their own walk and of course there are those you absolutely will not. And how can it be "special treatment" for the town to refuse to clean the curbs? I am sure there are the elderly and others who don't like to have to climb a pile of snow just to be able to cross the street either!

Good points. I never even considered parks and things like that, where paths could cross without curbs. It still seems to me that if this was a common problem, we would have heard more about it in the news in the past.

As for Calgary refusing to clean the curbs, I do know that Calgary has a policy of only plowing on major arteries and bus routes. If this woman's street is not a transit route, then she is out of luck.

[carl1951]

This story has nothing to do with blindness, but does have with deafness.

I didn't know where to place the story.

A researcher in England has a promising treatment for deafness. He has been able to grow the Sterocilia. (I think I spelled it right.)

I didn't catch the whole story. It was on a radio program broadcast from the BBC.

Interesting.

Later, Carl

[carl1951]

And.......more news:

I'm not selling anything, just giving you some new news from the Federation of the Blind:

"Louis Braille Coin Will be Launched into Space."

National Federation of the Blind and NASA Confirm Historic Flight

Baltimore, Maryland (March 26, 2009): In a surprise announcement at the
launch ceremony for the new Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar, NASA
announced that the new commemorative coin celebrating the life and work of
the inventor of the reading code for the blind will fly on a future space
shuttle mission. The announcement, by NASA Deputy Administrator for
Educational Programs Dr. Joyce Winterton, came at the end of the official
event announcing the availability of this beautiful new coin, which will help
the National Federation of the Blind to increase Braille literacy in the
United States.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar symbolizes the power of
knowledge and future opportunities for blind children across America. It is
therefore fitting that this historic coin will be part of a mission to
uncover the secrets of the universe. Perhaps someday a Braille reader will
also be part of such a mission."

Dr. Joyce Winterton said: "NASA believes strongly in the importance of
educational opportunities for everyone, and that is why we have partnered
with the National Federation of the Blind to help create programs that
enhance scientific study for blind youth. Launching the first coin ever to
contain tactile, readable Braille into space symbolizes NASA's commitment to
the spread of knowledge by every means and to every individual."

The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar goes on sale to the general
public at noon today. Those interested in ordering a coin should visit
www.usmint.gov or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). For more information about
the National Federation of the Blind and the Braille Readers are Leaders
campaign, visit www.braille.org.


Later, Carl

[doobrah]

From Broadcast Engineering magazine:

Television for the visually impaired
People without vision impairments are not as apt to realize how television program material that is highly visual — with lots of action and little or no dialogue — can be nearly incomprehensible to someone with impaired vision. Video description, a narrative of the key visual elements in a television program, is not entirely new. Both PBS and the Turner Classic Movies channel provide a service though which narrations for the visually impared are inserted at natural pauses in the dialog of the program. Due to the infrequency of this type of programming, the FCC has placed requirements on the networks to address this issue. This new rule is part of a broader FCC effort to make technology more reachable to people with disabilities.

On July 21, 2000, the FCC adopted video description rules that will make television more accessible to people with visual disabilities. These rules will commence with the calendar quarter April to June 2002 (Docket 99-339). Using the same logic that inspired the FCC's plan to move from analog to digital, the law requires broadcasters affiliated with the ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC networks in the top 25 television markets (as determined by the Nielsen Designated Market Areas, or DMA, rankings) to provide a minimum of 50 hours per calendar quarter (roughly four hours per week) of described primetime and/or children's programming.

The FCC is also requiring multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), such as cable systems and satellite systems, with 50,000 or more subscribers to provide video description for the same amount and type of programming on each of any of the top five national nonbroadcast networks they carry, as determined by national prime time audience share.

In addition, the FCC also says that “Any broadcast station, regardless of market size, will be required to pass through any video description it receives from a programming provider if the broadcast station has the technical capability necessary to do so.” This applies to MVPD players as well.

The Commission also ruled that any broadcast station or MVPD that provides local emergency information as part of a regularly scheduled newscast, or as part of a newscast that interrupts regularly scheduled programming, “will be required to make the critical details of this information accessible to persons with visual disabilities in the affected local area.” This includes narration for those facilities that put up emergency information in the form of crawls or scrolls.

[inuvik]

Great idea! But I sure hope it is "optional" for the viewer, like CC (can be turned on or off). I don't want to listen to narration in the pauses in my TV shows. I'm sure it will be optional.

[carl1951]

Dec 16, 2008 14:06:29 GMT -5 inuvik said:

OOPS, can't watch it here in Canada. Bummer.

Can you go online to nbc and get the past shows of snl?

Just a thought.

Later, Carl

[carl1951]

"Blind Man Driving"

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/07/31/GA2009073103174.html

This is an article from the Washington Post.

It's about a prototype vehicle to enable the blind to drive.

Later, Carl