Penny Hall's sensitive fingers are her eyes. As a massage therapist, she uses those fingers to good advantage. "I thoroughly enjoy my work," says Hall, 63, who has been in the field since 1998.
Hall is blind but that’s no disability for her. In fact, some of her clients are thankful that she's blind because they are self-conscious about their bodies, she said. But regardless of the shape of the person on the massage table, Hall's first concern is comfort.
At present, a student in the general category pays Rs. 300 (as a draft) as application fee, while SC/STs pay Rs 100. The proposal seeks to bring the application fee for the blind on par with SC/STs.
However, the waiver can be availed only for those courses for which applications are still open.
‘‘The proposal is as good as passed. We are just waiting for a formal notification,’’ Vij says.
The book gives readers a glimpse into the lives of some extraordinary teenagers who share their perspectives on issues related to growing up with visual impairment.
The twelve authors are aged between 13 to 19 years. Their book is a compilation of introspective writings. It speaks about concerns that they feel are most important to them. These are, namely, independence, inclusion, intelligence, inspiration, idealism and imagination.
The eighth National ‘A’ Chess Championship for blind people was held at Sangli from Febuary 20 to 27 2006.
All India Chess Federation for the Blind, organisers of the tournament said: the tournament was played on round robin basis, with two rounds played every day according to FIDE and International Braille Chess Association rules.
In addition to the top ranking players, competitors included the top 16 men and eight women from the National ‘B’ tournament.
Warren Logan’s hands skim the 15-century marble bust, tracing the lifeless eyes, the slightly agape mouth, the precisely chiselled fur.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s (Kansas City, U.S.A.) new touch tour is among programmes at more than 100 museums in the country that attempt to do what once was thought impossible - making art accessible and even visible to visually impaired people.
U.S., scientists have unveiled their vision for a bionic man, where biology is merged with electronics to make limbs, organs and senses ‘better, stronger, faster’.
Blind sailor Alison Gunn successfully completed her solo voyage around the Isle of Wight (U.K.). Alison, 39, undertook her challenge on a 17 feet trimaran to raise money for Lymington Sailability, a U.K. based voluntary organisation that gives disabled people the chance to sail. Her husband Keith and friends were in a support boat to guide and encourage her.
This is for the first time that a state's cricket team of visually impaired players is going abroad to play a one-day series.
Before leaving for Pakistan, the captain of the Punjab team Gurpreet Singh Machhiwara said that all members of his team are very confident of winning the series, “We will do our best to beat them.''
The team members include: Parminder Singh, Gurbir Singh Dehlon, Salinder Singh, Sandeep Kumar Trivedi, Gurpreet Singh Machhiwara, Balwinder Singh, Rajinder Singh Cheema, Murari Lal, Satinder Kumar, Harjinder Singh and Manwinder Singh.
“I feel absolutely amazing. It shows disability is no barrier to achievement.”
The Art Institute of Chicago (U.S.) offered the blind and vision-impaired people the opportunity to ‘see’ by touching replicas of a few of its most popular works.
The museum re-created a handful of its art on tactiles. The technology involves making replicas of artwork on portable, machine-etched plastic that enable visually impaired people touch and feel them.
'Smart cane', developed by I.I.T. in consultation with the National Association for the Blind, is a boon for the country’s nine million visually impaired people. Besides easy commutation, it will also enable safe exit during an emergency.
The Islamabad Cricket Association of the Blind had a five wicket win over team Punjab(India) on 24th April. This is the home team’s second consecutive win in the series.
Zeeshan Abbasi (102) and Anees Javed (86) starred for Islamabad as they overhauled Punjab's score of 320 in the 21st over. The visitors made 320 for seven in the stipulated 35 overs. Garpreet Singh and Maninder Singh scored 96 and 90 runs, respectively.
Now the hosts lead the series 2-0. In the first match, they defeated Punjab(India) by eight wickets.
For more than 50 years, both visually impaired and sighted people have found friendship and a helping hand in the ‘Friendly Circle for the Blind’. But the group’s monthly gatherings could soon become thing of the past as it has only 10 members now.
Based in the U.S., the group was found in 1953 to offer blind people an outlet to get out of the house and meet people. It had nearly 100 members then.
British Computer Society charity Ability Net and the Royal National Institute of the Blind, have launched a scheme that accredits websites accessible to people with disabilities.
The See it Right with UseAbility scheme will involve human testers with a variety of disabilities rather than just automated testing. Organisations that act on all the recommendations from the assessment can display an accessibility logo.
A five-day exhibition of art and craft products made by visually impaired children was held in Mumbai from December 7, 2005. It was organised by Happy Home and School for the Blind.
Inaugurated by actor Victor Banerjee, the exhibition highlighted the abilities of visually impaired children. "This is organised so that the public can learn about the abilities of the visually impaired children. They just need an opportunity to be independent and lead a meaningful life as contributing citizens," said Meher Banaz, principal of the school.
B.N.P. Paribas, France's largest bank is to make its A.T.M. services accessible for visually impaired people. Financial technology provider, Diebold has supplied 265 voice-enabled Opteva cash machines to the bank and these will be installed in its branches through the second quarter of 2006. The service will be available in six languages.
Diebold, a global leader in the financial self-service industry, has provided text-to-speech technology through its partnership with Nuance Communications, a global leader in speech and imaging solutions.
A slew of changes have been suggested to the Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T.), Delhi and Ministry of Tourism, Government of Delhi, for its Bus Rapid Transit system. The proposed changes aim to provide a passenger-friendly transport system for all.
I.I.T.- Delhi's, Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme and RITES have been entrusted the task of planning and designing the system.
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (C.N.I.B.) has released a study, which indicates that many blind, visually impaired educated people live in poverty because they can not find work. Many of the barriers they faced 30 years ago still exist.
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