Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Glaucoma Awareness Month & Resources for Free/Low-Cost Eye Exams & Eyeglasses

Excerpt from: Disability.gov (click for full article)

 

Glaucoma affects more than 2 million Americans over the age of 40, though nearly half are unaware that they have this eye disease, since it presents no early symptoms. Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness and, once vision is lost, the damage is permanent. The National Eye Institute recommends regular annual exams for early detection. However, doing so can be challenging for people with disabilities and the elderly, as they are often on limited incomes.

Fortunately, there are many national and state resources available to provide financial aid to people with vision problems. In recognition of National Glaucoma Awareness Month, below is information on free or low-cost resources for eye exams and eyeglasses.

Nothing Uncomfortable At All

Excerpt from: Planet of the Blind (click for full article)

 

Ah but the biggest problem is that disability still troubles the public nerve. (A public nerve besotted with advertising, hence, a nerve that believes--for in America the nerves believe--that there's an easy road ahead if we just whistle or lip synch like Beyonce.) So we are expected to say that even the most difficult and perilous things are easy. Forget that the New York City subway system is inaccessible to people who use wheelchairs; forget that the meager elevators in that system are often malfunctioning, so a man with a wheelchair will, should he actually get on the subway, find himself trapped, unable to exit. Or forget that blind people still have no access to movies or television or public performances. Or forget that the majority of American universities don't teach sign language or, if they do, don't recognize it as a language that might meet the university's advertised foreign language requirement.

Each if threes failures will, in turn prevent people from getting ahead, And my job is to cheer up the audience?

Beware the Hallmark. I like uplift as much as the next man or woman but I don't think it can come at the expense of communitarian politics.

If you create what the disability rights movement likes to call 'an even playing field" you lift up your black brothers and sisters, and your deaf ones, and your Latino ones, your blind ones. And please stop pretending Its easy.

How One College is Weeding Out Potential Faculty with Disabilities

Excerpt from: Planet of the Blind (click for full article)

 

See this article by Colleen Flaherty at Inside Higher Education. Obviously I'd be out of the running for a position at California's Azusa Pacific University. Apparently sight is an expectation for faculty, as well as weight lifting.

Elderly U.S. drivers not tested for blind spots

Excerpt from: The Oakland Press (click for full article)

 

Elderly people with a certain type of blind spot were less likely to see pedestrians in time to avoid hitting them in a driving simulator, according to a new study.

“In the UK and parts of Europe, in order to have a license, you need to be tested for central blind spots, but in the U.S. you don’t have to,” lead author Matthew Bronstad told Reuters Health.

In his simulator test, people with blind spots often could not respond in time to a hazardous situation, said Bronstad, an instructor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Blind spots at the center of the field of vision, or “central field loss,” are usually caused by macular degeneration, damage to the retina that occurs with age. About 1.75 million people in the U.S., most over 65 years old, have this kind of vision loss, according to a 2004 study.

10 Famous Blind People Who Changed the World

Excerpt from: disaboom (click for full article)

 

Helen Keller - (June 27, 1880-June 1, 1968) Helen Keller was an American author, activist and lecturer who was the first deaf/blind person to graduate from college. She was a tireless advocate for people with disabilities and numerous other causes.

Stevie Wonder – (Born May 13, 1950)  Stevie Wonder is an American singer-songwriter-record producer and multi-instrumentalist. A list of famous blind people wouldn't be complete without this composer's name. Wonder penned such hits as "Ebony and Ivory" that aided the civil rights cause in a non-violent way.

Ray Charles - (September 23, 1930-June 10, 2004) Ray Charles was an American pianist and musician whose gritty and soulful voice shaped the sound of rhythm and blues.

Claude Monet - (November 14, 1840-December 5, 1926) Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting. By 1907, he had become quite famous, but began having serious problems with his eyesight and started to go blind.  Even though his eyes continued to get worse, he never stopped painting.  At the end of his life, when he was almost completely blind, he painted one of his most famous murals of water lilies.

National Federation of the Blind Comments on Belgian Euthanasia of Deaf Men Losing Sight

Excerpt from: National Federation of the Blind (click for full article)

 

The National Federation of the Blind, the largest organization of blind people in the United States with over 50,000 members, including many deaf-blind individuals,  commented today on the state-sanctioned death by lethal injection of deaf twins in Belgium.  Upon learning that they were also going blind, the deaf twins sought and were granted euthanasia.

 

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “This disturbing news from Belgium is a stark example of the common, and in this case tragic, misunderstanding of disability and its consequences.  Adjustment to any disability is difficult, and deaf-blind people face their own particular challenges, but from at least the time of Helen Keller it has been known that these challenges can be met, and the technology and services available today have vastly improved prospects for the deaf-blind and others with disabilities.  That these men wanted to die is tragic; that the state sanctioned and aided their suicide is frightening.”

More on Double Euthanasia in Belgium, National Federation of the Blind Reacts, and Other Suicides in the News

Excerpt from: Not Dead Yet (click for full article)

 

Read through the comments on any of the countless articles covering these suicide stories and you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone reacting like this:

• “It’s their body, their choice.”
• “When people decide they need to end it, they should be able to get help to do so.”
• “It’s too bad they had to use violent means – animals can get euthanized; we treat animals better than humans.”

The lack of statements like those struck me because they’re common sentiments expressed in article “comments,” and interactions on Facebook when people react to “double euthanasia” of Marc and Eddy Verbessem, the identical twins whose deaths are still making news.

I think that we don’t see those comments in the cases of Aaron Swartz and the military because those people are valued.  I know that euthanasia proponents say that their movement is all about respecting individual choice, but why are the “choices” of  Marc and Eddy Verbessem “respected” while the suicides of military personnel and the suicide of Aaron Swartz are treated as preventable tragedies?  The answer, of course, is that euthanasia isn’t about “respect,” but agreeing that another person’s continued existence is pointless.

Belgium: “Double Euthanasia” of Deaf Twins Losing Vision and Reactions from a Deaf-Blind Blogger

Excerpt from: Not Dead Yet (click for full article)

 

I agree with Coco – the Deaf-blind organization in Belgium should speak out on this.  In fact, I think it would be a big mistake for organizations and individuals outside of Belgium not to speak out about this double-killing.  Otherwise, the discussion will be dominated by Belgian euthanasia apologists, euthanasia advocates of all stripes, and bioethicists talking out the “problem” of “extreme” cases.  And then everyone will forget – until the next and more extreme killing comes along.

FEMA Extends Disaster Recovery Tools for Those Who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Blind

Excerpt from: Loan Safe (click for full article)

 

Five tools new to help people who are deaf, hard of hearing or blind are being used for Hurricane Sandy disaster response by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

At New York disaster recovery centers, survivors who are blind or have low vision are using text-to-speech software and a variety of magnifiers to access FEMA information. Survivors who are deaf or hard of hearing are offered enhanced listening devices, iPad 3s with real-time-video remote sign language interpreting apps, and captioned phones to get disaster recovery information accessible to them.

These five assistive technology tools are part of a kit that costs FEMA less than $4,000. For price comparison, a single sign-language interpreter at one disaster recovery center can cost more than $400-a-day. (Federal law mandates that equal access to effective communication be available the entire time that a recovery center is open, usually eight hours daily.) On-site interpreters are available upon request, but for immediate access, interpreters are provided via on-line Wi-Fi and cellular connections, similar to the use of Skype.

Working a ‘dream job’ at the SEC

Excerpt from: Washington Post (click for full article)

 

Less than one-tenth of 1 percent of nearly 2.8 million employees are blind, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Since 2001, the number of workers with severe “targeted disabilities” such as deafness, missing extremities or paralysis decreased by 6 percent. Blindness is also a targeted disability, and in recent years the government has increased its number of workers in that category.

Although the EEOC has not set specific hiring goals for those with severe disabilities, a 2010 executive order called for an additional 100,000 workers with general disabilities by 2015.