What's Inside
- Students create yet another smart cane for blind.
- Why designers are making video games for blind people.
- Blind fashion designer to feature in braille book to be sold at mainstream stores.
- Intruder gets into bed naked with 86 year old blind resident in care home.
- Making travel more accessible to the blind.
- 21 of the best examples of highlighting disability in art.
- Beep baseball, blind archery, blind cricket and more in the sports section.
- And, more than 65 articles about blindness and blind people from the entire world.
Editorial By Chris Hofstader
Welcome to the seventy second week of our publishing Blindness Briefs. This is an especially good edition with more than 65 articles in it so we're certain you'll find something of interest.
I'm going to take this opportunity to write a bit about World Blind Herald and some of the changes you will observe in the coming weeks. First, instead of publishing all of our content for a given week on Tuesdays, we will be publishing Blindness Briefs on Tuesdays, Science Briefs on Wednesdays and our Featured Perspective on Thursdays. Other WBH content like WBH Extras, Announcements and such will be posted when they are ready and have no fixed schedule. Readers who follow us on Mastodon (@[email protected]) will see a post when these articles go online and those who subscribe will receive an email every Thursday containing links to and summaries of what was published this week. We've received requests from a number of readers to spread out our content a bit and we aim to please. This also makes our publication process easier so it's a win all around.
Another change is that we are starting the process to redesign our web site. This will not likely effect our blind readers much but those who are low vision and our sighted friends will enjoy a better visual experience and the entire project will look more professional.
As always, we are looking for more people to join WBH as writers so, if you have a story related to blindness to tell, please go to our author guidelines page. We have good editors so if you've a good story, we can make it sound great.
We hope you enjoy this edition of Blindness Briefs.
How It's Organized
WBH Weekly Blind News Digest is a very simple page to read. The categories are at heading level 2 and the stories are links at heading level 3. So, navigation to the sections and stories you find interesting is quite simple.
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Braille
British Vogue's first braille edition released to 'delight' of editor
British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful said the fashion and publishing ‘industries have a great deal to do still’ on inclusivity. This story comes to us from: The Independent.
Technology
Students Create Smart-Sticks For The Blind
Students Create Smart-Sticks For The Blind. This story comes to us from: YouTube.
Why developers are designing video games for accessibility
People have these expectations: 'Blind folks don't want video games. Why would they? That's a visual thing.' But that's not true always. This story comes to us from: PBS.
Blindness Organizations
Lions help empower blind, visually impaired
Since 1925, when celebrity and advocate Helen Keller asked the Lions Club to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness, Lions have championed the cause of the visually impaired. This story comes to us from: gatesvillemessenger.com.
Belleville nonprofit for blind, visually impaired reopens after damage from severe storms
MindsEye Radio, an information service for the blind and visually impaired, had to make other arrangements while they were out of their building. This story comes to us from: FOX 2.
Prevent Blindness Issues Call for Nominations for the 2023 Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children's Vision Award
Annual Award Recognizes Outstanding Public Health Efforts to Improve the Vision Health of Children in the United States. This story comes to us from: Yahoo Finance.
Prevent Blindness declares May 15-21 as Inherited Retinal Disease Genetic Testing Week
… genetic disorders that can cause severe vision loss or even blindness. … of students with visual Impairments, eye care providers and more. This story comes to us from: Ophthalmology Times.
Government continues to raise awareness toward blind and partially sighted persons
Mrs. Browne noted that each blindfolded individual will be accompanied by either a blind or visually impaired person, as well as a sighted person. This story comes to us from: SKNVibes.
CIA, DuBois Lions Club partner to provide smart glasses to local man
The fundraiser is to purchase glasses for Rend, who has retinitis pigmentosa, and is legally blind, and has been since 1991. This story comes to us from: Courier Express.
Education
Blind fashion designer Nikki Hind to feature in first braille book series in mainstream stores
Nikki Hind is recognised as Australia's first legally blind fashion designer, though many people still laugh out loud when she tells them that. This tory comes to us from: ABC.
Tactile books help blind and visually impaired children to celebrate coronation
Across the country and around the world, millions of us enjoyed watching King Charles III's coronation on screens and televisions; but for blind and visually impaired children, being involved in such an historic occasion requires a little more thought. This story comes to us from: ITV News Meridian.
Beyond Braille – BrailleDoodle Enables STEM Learning and Art Activities for Blind Children
Developed by Daniel Lubiner, a veteran special education instructor and former art teacher to blind students, the BrailleDoodle promises to make learning fun for blind children. This story comes to us from: Technology Today – EIN News.
UTME: Okebukola lauds Oloyede on equal opportunity initiative for blind candidates
Chairman of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), Prof. Peter Okebukola, has commended the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Is-shaq Oloyede for showing interest in the education of blind candidates and other physically challenged ones. This story comes to us from: The Sun Nigeria.
Hundreds of Persons with Disabilities Participating in University Enrollment Tests in Indonesia
The series of exams starts today, May 8, with 59 people who are blind or have impaired visions as well as 616 disabled people taking the tests in 47 state universities' UTBK centers. This story comes to us from: Tempo.co English.
Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and Blind receive big donation that had been held for five years
A quarter of a million dollars from the estate of Zeita Parker has been donated to the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and Blind. This story comes to us from: WLBT.
Blind ISU graduate contemplates her time at college
Disability services was the only place where Mattick consistently met another person, but she still didn't get to interact with the other five. This story comes to us from: East Idaho News.
Georgia Academy for the Blind graduates receive 3D yearbooks from students in Mercer
Graduating seniors at the Georgia Academy for the Blind got Touch 3D yearbooks created by students from Mercer University School of Engineering. This story comes to us from: 13WMAZ.
Employment
Vet advocate lobbying for blind worker support
The National Industries for the Blind is lobbying Congress this week to add more programs supporting hiring blind workers. This story comes to us from: Fox 5 DC.
How Employment Services training helped this legally blind job seeker
Sylvia Bernert, who was born in India and became legally blind, learned through resources from Employment Services from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to find her current job in Taylorsville, Utah, in 2022. This story comes to us from: Church News.
Transportation
Chicago to make Sidewalks safer for blind Residents
The ruling would help blind pedestrians cross busy streets. This story comes to us from: mystateline.com.
Partially Blind NJ Woman Thinks She Got On Plane to Florida, Ends Up in Jamaica
Beverly Ellis-Hebard thought she had boarded a flight to Jacksonville, Florida; boy was she surprised. This story comes to us from: Inside Edition.
Discrimination and Inaccessibility
Manolo Blahnik class action alleges website not accessible to blind, visually impaired users
New York residents could include the 400,000 in the state who are visually impaired, according to the American Foundation for the Blind's 2015 report. This story comes to us from: Top Class Actions.
Safety
Halifax walking tour gives sense of challenges faced by blind
A walking tour of Halifax on Sunday gave participants a chance to experience firsthand the barriers blind and partially sighted people face in navigating city streets. This story comes to us from: CBC News.
Witnesses asked to come forward after blind man struck by vehicle
The brother of a Kelowna man is asking for public help to track down the vehicle that struck and injured his brother, who is blind. This story comes to us from: Castanet.
Man Says He Went Blind After SpaceX Construction Injury
A man has accused SpaceX of failing to implement proper safety procedures at its Brownsville, Texas, facility. This story comes to us from: Law360.
Blind man, 88, reported missing located safely
He was described as being a white man who is 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 200 pounds, with brown eyes and white hair. He is also legally blind. This story comes to us from: ABC6.
Poverty
Blind woman who shares a room with eight children appeals for RDP house
The woman, Yvonne Maluleke (40), lives in absolute poverty and has to share the one-room house with the whole family. This story comes to us from: Letaba Herald.
Crime
Care facility cited after naked man able to get in a bed with a blind resident
He was in bed with the resident who is blind and has dementia and was crying at the time. This story comes to us from: KTIV.
Plymouth woman accused of stealing from elderly blind couple
Plymouth woman accused of stealing from elderly blind couple. Sammi-Jo Dillon is charged with six counts of fraud, burglary and theft. This story comes to us from: Plymouth Live.
Guide Dogs
First blind man to use a seeing-eye dog was a Tennessean
When you see a blind person with a seeing-eye dog, remember that this practice started with a young man from Nashville. This story comes to us from: Elizabethton.com.
Duchess Sophie Joins Puppy Class in Florals & Wedges at Big Help Out
Patron of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Duchess of Edinburgh takes part in a puppy class at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association Training Centre at a pop-up Coronation Cafe on May 8, 2023. This story comes to us from: Footwear News.
Politics
Blind couples walk in together to cast vote in Bengaluru
Two visually challenged couples — Mahesh R and wife Rajalakshmi and Shivaraj and wife Asha — came to the Kendriya Vidyalaya at Bengaluru's CV. This story comes to us from: Times of India.
Young's bill to help the blind offset cost of technology with tax credit
Todd Young (R-IN) introduced a bill last week that would help blind and visually impaired Americans afford expensive adaptive technologies. This story comes to us from: Ripon Advance.
NFB Applauds the Introduction of the Access Technology Affordability Act in the Senate
The National Federation of the Blind, the transformative advocacy organization of blind Americans, applauds the introduction of the Access Technology Affordability Act of 2023 (S. 1467) in the United States Senate by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD). Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Ron Wyden (D-Or), and Todd Young (R-IN) are original co-sponsors of the bill. This legislation removes an education and employment barrier commonly experienced by blind Americans. This story comes to us from: WCBC.
Lifestyle
Our Mission Is to Live Our Lives”: A Deafblind Professor on the Meaning and Value of Life
Hellen Keller remains the best-known person who lived a fulfilling life despite being both blind and deaf, but Japan has a deafblind hero of its own. This story comes to us from: Nippon.com.
Mom Who's Going Blind Faces Disability With Humor
Regina Papale Mullen has a rare genetic condition called Stargardt Disease. It's causing her to lose her ability to see. This story comes to us from: YouTube.
"Pains of being 1st born": Nigerian lady cries bitter tears as mother goes blind
A young woman has lamented bitterly on social media after her mother suddenly went blind. This story comes to us from: Legit.ng.
Meet the Adventurer: Amar Latif on making travel more accessible to the blind
The blind Glaswegian explorer and TV personality discusses sensory discovery and making travel more accessible to blind and low-sighted people. This story comes to us from: National Geographic.
Art and Artists
Why Binoy Karamen's visual-less 'Blindfold' is an ambitious experiment
An extraordinary film without any visuals, Blindfold follows the life of a visually challenged lottery seller in Kozhikode. This story comes to us from: – The Week.
Unseen' tells the story of Pedro, a blind undocumented immigrant
Unseen a documentary that was recently screened at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, tells the story of a blind, undocumented immigrant. This story comes to us from: AsAmNews.
Astonishing moment blind and autistic pianist Lucy, 13, stuns at Coronation Concert
Tens of thousands of spectators at King Charles's Coronation Concert were left speechless this evening as 13-year-old blind and autistic pianist performed. This story comes to us from: TheDaily Mail.
Blind singers in tune with society
On the screen, six visually impaired people sit huddled together with microphones in front of them. This story comes to us from: Chinadaily.com.cn.
21 of the Best Films, Books, and Shows Spotlighting Experiences of Disability
Culture and the arts have witnessed a sea change when it comes to diversity and inclusion in recent years, but disability representation remains regrettably low. It’s improving, but at a comparatively glacial pace. All the more reason to enjoy, celebrate, and share some of the groundbreaking and beautiful works that have helped to move the needle in this space. This story comes to us from: Vogue.
Blind presenter Lucy Edwards hosts Eurovision description show
A blind presenter has launched a new podcast which will include audio descriptions of iconic moments from the Eurovision Song Contest.
Lucy Edwards, from Birmingham, lost her vision 10 years ago when she was 17. This story comes to us from: BBC.
Why Bride of Frankenstein is the greatest universal monster movie
The kind blind man is perhaps the most important character in the movie. This story comes to us from MovieWeb.
Christchurch's popular blind piano player without income after instrument breaks beyond repair
Christchurch's popular blind piano player, known for playing around the city with his faithful dog beside him, is without an income after his piano broke beyond repair. This story comes to us from: Newshub.
'Blindness was the only lasting impact': Warner Robins man has a passion for music
Blind Warner Robins, Georgia man uses music to express emotions. E.Z. Cleghorn has always loved music. This story comes to us from: 13WMAZ.
Mom Going Blind Writes Children's Book About Coping With Loss
Regina Papale Mullen is going blind. She has written a children's book for her son, and other kids, about using humor to cope with adversity. This story comes to us from: Inside Edition.
State of Art: Anchorage Community Theater's 'Wait Until Dark
This week on State of Art we’re talking about the stage thriller “Wait Until Dark.” The Anchorage Community Theater production tells the story of a blind woman who gets caught up in a tension-building game of cat and mouse with dangerous criminals. This story comes to us from: Alaska Public Media.
Blind man defies odds to author book
A 40-year-old man, Abdulrahman Awal, has defied odds and authored a 63-page book titled 'The Blind Man's Perspective'. This story comes to us from: Daily Trust.
Sports and Athletes
OPED-BLIND-BOXER-COMMENTARY-DMT
The people Keith Rosson, legally blind, trains with have consciously made room for him in a sport that he never thought would be accessible to him. This story comes to us from: Yakimaherald.com.
[Flintshire woman to skydive with Red Devils for charity][7]
Christine's brother John has been supported by Blind Veterans UK since 2009 when he lost his sight due to macular degeneration. This story comes to us from: Wrexham Leader.
Beep Baseball: Adapted game lets visually impaired, blind kids play ball
For the past 8 years, visually impaired or blind children have been able to take a swing at America's pastime thanks to a modified version of the game that focuses on other senses. This story comes to us from: CBS 58.
Legally blind student competes in archery
"B" Liborio, a legally blind archery student in Orange County, Florida is gearing up for a summer of archery competitions. This story comes to us from: FOX 35 Orlando.
Upstate NY blind man completes first karate competition
Matthew Killian, 23, competed last month in his first-ever karate tournament. He took home two gold medals under the tutelage of Hanshi Rande. This story comes to us from: YouTube.
Ashleigh Malone to play blind cricket for Australia
ASHLEIGH Malone, the daughter of Euroa's Christine and Peter Malone, has been selected to compete in the first ever Australian women's blind cricket team. She got the exciting news earlier this month that she and 13 teammates will head to Birmingham, England in August to compete against the English and Indian women's blind cricket teams in the International Blind Sporting Association (IBSA) World Games. This story comes to us from: Mansfield Courier.
Blind man treks 500 miles across Europe for charity
A man with sight loss has trekked five hundred miles across Europe to raise funds for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). This story comes to us from: South London Press.
Partially-Blind 86-yr-Old Woman Walks 13 Miles to Raise Funds for First Mosque
With leg ulcers, arthritis, and nearly blind eye, 86-year-old Maja Hasan has challenged her pains to walk for 21 miles to raise funds for the first mosque in Egham, Surrey. This story comes to us from: About Islam.
Santa Cruz physical therapist teams with blind veteran to climb Mount Everest
A blind veteran is on pace to make history by summiting the tallest mountain in the world.; by his side is a Santa Cruz man who is helping the veteran climb the tallest mountain on every continent. This story comes to us from:
In Memoriam
One of last surviving D-Day veterans passes away in Dorset
A TRIBUTE page has been set up for Dorset D-Day veteran and Blind Veterans UK Ambassador, Edward Gaines. This story comes to us from: Bournemouth Echo.
Geraldine M. Weiss Obituary
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Foundation for the Blind at AFB.org. This story comes to us from: Lebanon Daily News.
Weirdness
In Australia, scientists begin vaccinating koalas against chlamydia
The aim is to test a method for protecting the beloved marsupials against a widespread disease that causes blindness, infertility and death. This story comes to us from: NPR.
Shaquille O'Neal's elevator story sparks speculation that Stevie Wonder isn't actually blind
Shaquille O'Neal's encounter with Stevie Wonder in an elevator has people speculating that the musician might not be blind. This story comes to us from: UNILAD.