Blindness Briefs – Edition 75 – World Blind Herald

What's Inside

Designing "with" and not "for" disabled people.
Robots that are more disabled friendly.
ViewPlus partnering to work on greater access to science for blind.
Blind women working to detect breast cancer in India.
Blind student falls victim to Twitter scam.
Blind woman raped, dies from suicide upon release from hospital.
Blind woman with guide dog finds lost woman with dementia.
An action packed sports section.
And, about 55 articles about all things blindness from all over the world.

Editorial By Chris Hofstader

Welcome to the 75th edition of Blindness Briefs. As the editor of this weekly World Blind Herald feature, it seems like we only started yesterday, not 75 weeks ago. I'm pretty proud of being able to publish approximately 55 news articles and about a dozen science articles every week for roughly a year and a half.

Last week, I led the editorial with a statement about how frustrating it is to see a ton of work going into high tech replacements for white canes and that I know zero blind people who tell me that they want such a product. I said it was an example of designing "for" blind people rather than "with" blind people. Coincidentally, the top article in this week's technology section is a full article on the notion of designing with rather than for people with disabilities. I recommend reading that one in full.

I hope you enjoy this week's 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.

Braille

Blind 10-year-old girl from Elkhart qualifies for National Braille Challenge

Blind 10-year-old girl from Elkhart qualifies for National Braille Challenge. This story comes to us from: WNDU.

Technology

Don't invent for, invent with!” Designing digital solutions inclusive of people with vision impairment

Mainstreaming disability inclusion. In the WHO European Region, approximately 90 million people have vision impairment or blindness. This story comes to us from: world Health Organization (WHO).

Making AI delivery robots disability-friendly and 'cautious pedestrians

One mobility aid it currently struggles to recognise is a white cane, used by blind and visually impaired people. This story comes to us from: BBC.

Hi-tech eye tests to be introduced in Hong Kong to spot disease that can cause blindness earlier

Derek Hodkey and HKU dean of medicine Lau Chak-sing unveil a new hi-tech glaucoma screening programme. This story comes to us from: South China Morning Post.

FCC Delays Implementation of New EAS Requirements

FCC extends deadline for the requirement that television broadcasters aurally describe visual but non-textual emergency information. This story comes to us from: TVTechnology.

Independence Science and ViewPlus Technologies partner to create science access tools

“Working together, we are confident that the best possible products will be produced to provide real-time access to students who experience blindness. This story comes to us from: Purdue University.

Mum of visually impaired twins designs VR simulator to show life through their eyes

"There are so many differences in what a visually impaired person can see. This story comes to us from: Belfast Live.

Blindness Organizations

During National AccessAbility Week, advocates say Ontario has a long way to go

The Canadian National Institute for
the Blind's Come to Work program helps people who are blind, have low vision or are deaf-blind. This story comes to us from: CBC.

Our Commitment to Civil Rights

We cannot and will not divide ourselves, and advocate for only one narrow set of civil rights. As one of AFB's leading advocates, Helen Keller, wrote. This story comes to us from: American Foundation for the Blind.

Apparent suicide event reported at Industries for Blind

Talladega County Sheriff’s deputies, AIDB security and NorthStar paramedics responded Friday afternoon to what appeared to be a death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Alabama Industries for the Blind’s Talladega campus. This story comes to us from: The Anniston Star.

AFB Announces Shay Assad as New Trustee

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)—one of the nation's premier organizations for improving the lives of people with vision loss—has announced the election of Shay Assad to its national board of trustees following the June 2020 board meeting. This story comes to us from: American Foundation for the Blind.

See Sport Differently tackles barriers to physical activity

The new See Sport Differently campaign will support blind and partially sighted people to get involved in sports and physical activity. This story comes to us from: Association of Optometrists.

Louisville's Clifton neighborhood will soon be home to a multi-million-dollar museum

The American Printing House for the Blind is expanding its footprint in Louisville, creating a new $22 million museum focused on blindness. This story comes to us from: Courier-Journal.

7563 Whitfield County and Dalton students helped by Prevent Blindness Georgia

Without early detection and treatment, uncorrected vision problems can lead to permanent vision loss and learning delays. This story comes to us from: Daily Citizen.

Education

Two local students graduate from SC School for the Deaf and the Blind

Aiken residents, Jacob Cooper and Da'Quan Whetstone, are now graduates of the SC School for the Deaf and the Blind. This story comes to us from: WJBF.

The Indian woman who writes exams for others who can't

In 2007, a blind man asked Pushpa to guide him across a busy road in Bengaluru, a teeming metropolis in southern India, and this launched her on her volunteer work as an exam scribe. This story comes to us from: The BBC.

Summer reading program is back at library for the blind

After a pandemic-related break, OLBPH will offer a free Summer Reading Program from June 1 to July 31 for Oklahoma students with visual or other disabilities. This story comes to us from: Duncan Banner.

SAHRC monitors building of deaf and blind school in Mpumalanga

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has vowed to keep a close eye on the construction of a residential school for children with disabilities in Mpumalanga following revelations that the provincial government was spending R11-million to rent boarding facilities for the deaf and blind pupils. This story comes to us from: SundayWorld.

Fighting Financial Difficulties, Visually-Challenged Boy Clears Maharashtra HSC Exam

Soham completed his education till class 10 at Pragati Blind School in Badlapur. This story comes to uus from: News18.

Visually impaired high school senior strives to become teacher for blind students

A graduating senior from Chaparral High School who is blind wants to use her experience to help blind students learn. This story comes to us from: El Paso Matters.

Employment

Visually impaired jobs push

Jeff Spantikow has spent the last 19 years working at Industries for the Blind and Visually Impaired in West Allis. This story comes to us from: Yahoo Canada Style.

Power of touch: how blind women are helping detect breast cancer in India

A scheme training visually impaired women to use their heightened tactile abilities benefits patients and examiners. This story comes to us from: The Guardian.

Blind workforce thriving at Phoenix fulfillment center

It's especially meaningful at the Arizona Industries for the Blind, when you look around and the men and women doing it. This story comes to us from: ABC15 Arizona.

Discrimination and Inaccessibility

Letter: Make America's currency accessible and inclusive

On March 10, Harriet Tubman Day, the American Council of the Blind, (ACB) held a demonstration in Lafayette Park in Washington D.C. This story comes to us from: Buffalo News.

Safety

Blind man moves motorcycle that blocks his way on tactile pavement.

The disabled (OKU) community in Malaysia faces daily challenges while trying to go about their life because most facilities here are not disabled-friendly. This story comes to us from: The Rakyat Post.

Poverty

Opinion: Grassley bill would break down barriers between patients and needed treatments

For those facing the threat of vision loss, for example, recent years have seen the development and approval of new treatments for leading causes of blindness, but affordability issues are of concern. This story comes to us from: The Des Moines Register.

Crime

Blind grad student falls victim to fake Twitter promo, loses $1,000 for laptop

A grad student in need of a new laptop lost a thousand dollars in a fake Twitter promotion. MASN Reporter Roch Kubatko is in the business of covering the Orioles, not selling laptops, but for a few days, his Twitter feed had multiple posts about a laptop giveaway for charity. One of his followers, Tim Utzig, believed the posts were real. This story comes to us from: WMAR.

Thug who left man blind in one eye after kicking his head is jailed.

Drug-fuelled John Shooter, 30, left his victim blind in one eye and with a boot imprint on his face. This story comes to us from: The Sun.

DeWitt man charged with embezzling money from 90-year-old blind woman

If convicted of embezzling from an elderly blind woman, Peter Counseller faces a possible sentence of decades in prison. This story comes to us from: Lansing State Journal.

A 58-year-old blind woman was raped, the woman committed suicide after returning from the hospital

Accused Lokesh Naik raped the woman on May 30 and escaped. After this heinous crime, the victim woman was admitted to the hospital. Yesterday, Friday, the woman who returned to the town committed suicide by consuming poison because she thought that old age was not her fault. This story comes to us from: PiPa News.

Guide Dogs

Blind Paralympian, Her Guide Dog Help Find Missing Woman With Dementia: 'It Was Incredible

A blind Paralympian and her trusted canine are hailed as heroes after they managed to locate an elderly woman who went missing on Vancouver Island. This story comes to us from: International Business Times.

Legal

Website Accessibility: The ADA And Access In Cyberspace

Web accessibility for people with disabilities is also a stated priority. This story comes to us from: JD Supra.

United Airlines' Website Inhibits Legally Blind, Suit Says

Plaintiff Sumaya Hussein, who is legally blind, said in a complaint that … accessible and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. This story comes to us from: Law360.

REPORT: Man Suing Los Angeles Angels, Former Outfielder Juan Lagares For Allegedly Making Him Go Blind

after claiming that Lagares threw a ball into the stands last summer, with it slamming him in the face and leaving him blind. Doing so Tuesday, David Mermelstein filed the lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court. This story comes to us from: The Daily Caller.

Business

Accessible tech advocate Haben Girma gets CFO audience

Girma, the first blind and deaf woman to graduate from Harvard, is set to speak at Gartner's 2023 CFO & Finance Executive Conference. This story comes to us from: CFO Dive.

Kodiak Sciences to Present at Upcoming Investor Conferences

Kodiak Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: KOD), a biopharmaceutical company committed to … to prevent and treat the leading causes of blindness globally. This story comes to us from: Yahoo Finance.

Lifestyle

Dining in the Dark: Inside Nairobi Hotel Served by Blind Waiters

Nairobi continues to establish itself among the top-tier destinations in offering unparalleled experiences in the tourism sector; an event seeks to take the experience a notch higher by offering customers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the mystique of dining in complete darkness. This story comes to us from: Kenyans.co.ke.

Karnataka man marries blind woman from Bengal

The woman had lost her eyesight four years back due to tumour. This story comes to us from: ETV Bharat.

Art and Artists

School girl sings "Coat of Many Colors"

Blind girl sings the noted Dolly Parton anthem on TikTok. This story comes to us from: South African.

A Blind Look at Collective Blindness

After seeing my art, strangers were often confused to learn that I was in fact legally blind. For them, my artistic abilities seemed incompatible with blindness. This story comes to us from: Resilience.org.

He's a blind boy painting with a purpose. This is what he is raising money to do

Gunner was born blind, which means he relies on his other senses like touch and hearing. This story comes to us from: News Channel 5.

Mary Tyler Moore nearly blind in final years, husband reveals: ‘Hid it very well'

Sitcom star Mary Tyler Moore hid the fact that she was almost blind for nearly 30 years before her death, beginning in the late 1980s. This story comes to us from: NZ Herald.

Chalke Valley composer who became blind in the ICU teases new work

A blind and hearing-impaired composer who contracted a rare neurological virus at the age of 29 has recorded a new work about his stint in the intensive care unit. This story comes to us from: Salisbury Journal.

Fear as Jamie Foxx left 'paralyzed, blind' from 'brain clot

Health details have been revealed regarding actor Jamie Foxx's medical condition after a report claimed he is paralyzed and blind. This story comes to us from: Vanguard News.

Sports and Athletes

Amateurs Including Blind Golfer Take on Pro Golfers

Best of Beat The Pro from the 2022 KLM Open on the DP World Tour. This story comes to us from: YouTube.

Blind man competes in jiu-jitsu competition

Melbourne man Kadek Artayana faces off with an opponent at an International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation competition. This story comes to us from: The Age.

Blind skateboarder Richard Moore overcomes life's obstacles one trick at a time

As Richard Moore rolls around his local skate park on the edge of Adelaide's CBD, he makes it look easy as he jumps, spins and slides. This story comes to us from: ABC News.

Blind athletes to compete in goalball tournament in Smyrna this weekend

Twelve men's teams and eight women's teams are slated to compete. This story comes to us from: Cobb County Courier.

Round-up: England Partially Sighted and Blind teams in action

England Partially Sighted defeated France 4-0 at St. George's Park, while England Blind men's team were in action at the IBSA Grand Prix. This story comes to us from: England Football.

'I always felt like the gym wasn't accessible' – The struggles blind people face to stay active

More than half of blind people engage in less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week, compared to 27% of the UK average. This story comes to us from: Sky News.

Photos: Blind sailors take on the Charles every Saturday morning

Blind sailors and their instructors sail on a boat called the Fresh Start on the Charles River Saturday in Boston. The SailBlind program, run by the Newton-based Carroll Center for the Blind, launched sailboats onto the Charles River Saturday morning crewed by. This story comes to us from: Boston Herald.

In Memoriam

Dominic Leopardi Obituary (1946 – 2023

In lieu of flowers, donations in Dominic's memory may be made to the American Foundation for the Blind. This story comes to us from: – Legacy Remembers.