New research from McMaster may answer a controversial question: do the blind have a better sense of touch because the brain compensates for vision loss or because of heavy reliance on their fingertips?
The study, published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests daily dependence on touch is the answer.
Even the skies don’t care for blind people in India. After Kingfisher Airlines recently made a woman get off a flight because she was blind, we ran a reality check on other domestic airlines and found that contrary to international practices, most carriers in India do not allow blind people to travel independently.
When we called the tele-booking counters for Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Spice Jet, Go Air and Indigo, requesting to book a ticket for a blind adult who would travel unaccompanied, all of the above refused.
He started learning classical dance when he was only 7. Now at 22, Lingaraju, the only male artiste in Samarthanam's Sunadha dance troupe, is an accomplished dancer.
He has performed in Australia, Italy and the US and at prestigious events like the Hampi and Anegundi festivals in India.
That may sound ordinary, but there is something special about him. He has achieved it in spite of having a partial visual impairment.
India’s print media is among the largest in the world. More than 25 per cent of the world’s blind population is in India.
Yet, India’s 12 million visually impaired people do not have a daily newspaper dedicated to them.
In a small way, Swagat Thorat has been trying to change that. Thorat started working with the blind in 1991 when he conceptualised and wrote a documentary about educational methods for the visually impaired.
In 1997, he made Swantantryachi Yashogatha, a play that featured 88 visually impaired artists, a world record.
A high-flying city executive, who has travelled across the world and helped frame disabled-friendly guidelines for Indian airports, hit an air pocket at Patna last week when a private airline insisted he sign a bond before allowing him to board. The apparent reason: he is visually impaired, and was travelling alone.
In 1928, Jawaharlal Nehru decided to open Indira's eyes to the world. He wrote to his 10 year-old daughter from Allahabad and filled his letters with what amounted to history lessons. The batch of 30 letters that makes up "Letters from a Father to his Daughter" was first published in 1929. And now, a brand new Braille version will reveal their contents to the visually impaired.
Criminal cases will be registered against the head of departments who fail to earmark three per cent of budgetary outlay for welfare of the disabled, according to Disabilities Commissioner K V Rajanna.
Speaking to reporters after a progress review meeting on Friday, Rajanna said he had requested all the departments to issue circulars on reserving funds for the disabled.
Persons with visible disabilities need not approach the medical board for a disability certificate. The certificate could now be obtained from a physician at any local primary health centre, he said.
A legally blind Winnipeg photographer has taken top prize in a national photo competition.
Tara Miller, 39, found out Tuesday she has been awarded the grand prize in the Canadian National Institute for the Blind's Eye Remember national photography competition.
Miller's striking photo of lightning over a sunflower field during sunset taken last summer near Starbuck, Man., earned her top spot.
"I was so excited to get home and see what I got and praying that it worked out," she said of the photograph.
When the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared the Class XII results a month ago, S K Sharma’s students rejoiced. They had all cleared the exams with distinction.
With schools focusing on good results and putting tremendous pressure on teachers to perform, Sharma says he is relieved that his students have performed well. And what sets this Hindi teacher apart from others is the fact that in spite of being visually challenged, he has been able to deliver excellent results every year.
Prashant Ranjan Verma was 19-year-old when he started losing his vision due to a fungal infection caused by wearing contact lenses. He was preparing to become a chartered accountant when he was declared 90% visually-impaired.
Shattered and depressed, he did nothing for the next six years. More than a decade later, Verma had received an award by the government for changing the lives of other visually-impaired persons. He improved accessibility for those, who cannot see, by promoting the use of ICT in their daily life.
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