E-Access Bulletin
New Zealand's first talking bank cash machines (A.T.M.s) have been installed by 13 branches of the country's credit unions, it was announced. All machines installed in future will have speech capability, according to the New Zealand Association of Credit Unions (N.Z.A.C.U.).
Denise Albiston, www.hjnews.townnews.com; Utah; August 10, 2005
Computer scientists at Utah State University have created new technology that helps visually impaired students find their way around campus and be more independent.
The England blind cricket team and former stars Desmond Haynes and Devon Malcolm will help the West Indies set up the country's first cricket team, a move which will increase the sport's growing international network.
Also assisting is the London Community Cricket Association, which set up and coached the England team.
Nancy Remsen, www.burlingtonfreepress.com ; Burlington; August 11, 2005
Richard Erickson is legally blind. He can no longer read an election ballot. To vote at the polls, someone must read the ballot to him and he must say aloud his voting choices.
Karin Shaw Anderson, Dallas; August 4, 2005
A talented 16-year-old schoolgirl in Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., has battled her blindness by becoming a stage performer.
Brittany King's vision began failing about two years ago. Repeatedly detaching retinas and accumulating scar tissue have left Brittany completely blind in her left eye and without peripheral vision and normal sight in her right. The cause of her visual problems has baffled Brittany's doctors. She compensates onstage and off by working harder.
Kolkata; September 5, 2005
PTI; August 25, 2005
PTI; August 25, 2005
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com; Hyderabad; August 23, 2005
Two ophthalmologists from Peshawar are at the L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital, Hyderabad, as part of a training programme sponsored by the Vision 2020 of the World Health Organisation. They are here to specialise in paediatric ophthalmology -- a specialisation needed to counter the alarming prevalence of childhood blindness in developing countries such as India and Pakistan.
Car rally for visually impaired navigators
http://www.deccanherald.com; Bangalore; August 8, 2005
Visually impaired people in Bangalore displayed their skills in reading Braille text during the special Friendship Day Car Rally for blind people, organised on August 7.
Jignesh R Patel, www.newkerala.com; Madhya Pradesh; August 16, 2005
A visually impaired family in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, has proved that blindness is no hindrance to success. Two blind brothers manage their grocery shops successfully while their blind sister is a teacher in a government school.
Telegraph (PTI); New Delhi; August 16, 2005
The Supreme Court has directed the banking service recruitment board to allow a visually handicapped woman to sit for a Probationary Officers' (P.O.) exam.
Four years ago, Amita had challenged the recruitment board's decision to reject her application on the ground that she was visually impaired.
multi-faceted personality, Jyotindra V. Mehta is driven by the belief that disability is a challenge, and no challenge is insurmountable.
In each issue of beyond the I, this column presents a first-hand account of a visually-impaired person's experiences in the 'real' world. Jitender Sharma shows us how an everyday thing as a trip to a market can be fraught with danger.
I decided to go to the market one evening. Little did I realise that I would be undertaking an adventure, albeit not a very happy one.
Only children can demonstrate inclusive love, unfettered as they are from the conditioning of society, finds out Priti Monga, P.R. Officer, at Shroff Charity Eye Hospital in Delhi.
One morning this summer, a group of 10 visually impaired children was brought to Shroff Charity Eye Hospital (S.C.E.H.) in Daryaganj, Delhi, for eye check-ups from a school for blind children. The driver of the bus told staff, in a worried tone, that the children had been sent to the hospital unescorted.
The B.P.O. sector in India has seen tremendous growth, and is poised to grow even further. The doors of a new job opportunity have begun to open for persons with visual impairment and blindness. So why aren't more of them walking through them? Anjali Sen Gupta investigates
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Date: November 15, 2005 to December 8, 2005
Organised by: Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability
Reina Newton Tefs; Naples Sun Times; June 29, 2005
"I like to paint with bright colors because they are easier to see," Janet Ray explained at a reception on June 10. Ray started painting five years ago when she noticed a painting displayed at the Visually Impaired Persons of Southwest Florida (VIP) centre. To see the painting she had to put on her 'coke-bottle' glasses and step close to the wall. The artwork inspired her to give painting a whirl because she knew that the artist who created it was legally blind, like she was.
Rachel Brand, Rocky Mountain News; Colorado; June 10, 2005
Voice recognition technology that turns on lights and opens doors. Reading glasses that double the size of a television screen. A talking microwave oven.
Once designed to help blind, paralyzed and cognitively disabled Americans, such products now are finding a second home among seniors.
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