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Rajasthan lends a helping hand for children with special needs

A group of women spending several hours outside a room in a government school in Amer block in Rajasthan is a common sight these days. This room is no ordinary classroom, but a resource room for children with special needs who have so far gone unnoticed in the traditional schooling system. However, with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act coming into effect, the needs of differently-abled children are coming into focus.

Tamil dictionary in Braille soon

A dictionary of contemporary Tamil will shortly be available in Braille form.

The work, based on the 2008 Tamil-Tamil-English dictionary brought out by Chennai-based Crea-A, has been published by 25-year-old Indian Association for the Blind (IAB), which is Madurai based.

S.M.A. Jinnah, founder and secretary general of the association, says that 33 differently abled persons, including 20 visually challenged and three orthopaedically challenged persons, were involved in the production of the dictionary.

Get ready to see things in dark

Now, there is an exciting new activity in town. It scares you stiff even as it lights up the dark recesses of your mind. No, you don't come to see it. Rather you experience it. Dialogue in the Dark, as it is called, takes one down a dark expanse.

Everyday chores like visiting a park, shopping in the mall and taking a boat ride -- one learns to do in total darkness. Howzzat! The hour-long programme is an eye-opener in fact.

Thrill-a-minute

This visually impaired is adept at manouvering gatka

Once believed to be a male bastion, Gatka— a traditional form of Sikh martial art is also being practiced by the fairer sex now. Determined to learn this form of self-defence, many Punjabi girls are also picking up the art.

On Guru Gobind Singh's birthday, the residents of City Beautiful were enthralled with breath-taking performances on Nagar Kirtan on Tuesday.

Now, a mobile phone designed for senior citizens

Teaching elderly people how to use a cellphone can be frustrating.

Businessman Jagdishbhai Patel experienced this first-hand when he was planning to buy a new mobile phone for his father, 62-year-old Nangibhai Vishrambhai Patel. Most handsets in the market either had too many features or had tiny buttons on a small keypad.

“My father is growing old and his shaky fingers end up pressing two or more buttons at the same time,” he says.

Visually impaired boy steals show

King c3,DK Chopra muttered as the five hour long contest entered the endgame. It may have seemed unusual to onlookers for the player to call out his move, but then his opponent was a visually impaired boy who went on to beat Chopra in the final round of the Chennai Open chess tournament here on Wednesday.

The lanky, 16-year-old Darpan Inani,wearing blue glasses, rose to his feet and felt the chessboard to close out the game, and his mother, sitting beside to help him make the moves, could barely conceal her delight.

Blind shot putter hoists Tricolour

Sixteen-year-old Sandeep Shalu, a shot putter and discus thrower, was the proud chief guest yesterday in a Republic Day function celebrated in Sham Nagar by NGO Baba Vishvkarma Dal. Shalu hoisted the National Flag and, apart from him, nearly 25 other blind students from the entire state who had won medals in different games were honoured at the event for their achievements.

Blind man drives car in the US

A blind man in the US is said to have created history by driving a car around a race track in a test which could one day lead to all visually impaired people taking to the roads, a media report said.

Mark Riccobono, 34, successfully navigated his way round the Daytona International Speedway in Florida, overtaking a van and dodging some cardboard boxes thrown in his way, the 'Daily Mail' online reported.

Drugs to treat age-related blindness

Researchers at the University of Kentucky, US, compared eyes donated by deceased AMD patients with those of healthy individuals. The healthy were found to have three times higher levels of dicer, an enzyme, in their retinas.

Low levels of dicer cause the build-up of a genetic material alu, which becomes instrumental in killing off light-sensitive retinal cells in advanced "dry" AMD, the journal Nature reported.

Sivaji star opens spa with a difference

Actor Shriya Saran’s newly opened spa in Lokhandwala, called Shree Spa, promises to rejuvenate the mind and body through improved blood circulation, memory and sleep. It also offers relief from fatigue, depression, hangovers, jetlag, PMS and electromagnetic stress. There are also treatments for removal of toxins and boosting the immune system through hormone secretion.

Samsung 150+ netbooks available with Saksham for visually impaired at subsidised cost

Samsung 150+ netbooks are available with Saksham at subsidised cost of Rs. 9200 for visually impaired. The market cost of the same netbook is around Rs. 15000 and this netbook is coming with atom based processor, 1 gb of ram and 250 gb hdd.

Aplication form for the same can be downloaded by visiting www.saksham.org.
For any query you can call on 011-42411015 or send mail at info@saksham.org.

This information was provided by Saksham.

Blind sculptor recreates untouchable masterpiece

When blind sculptor Felice Tagliaferri was forbidden to touch one of Italy's most famous statues, he decided revenge was best served not just cold but stone cold.

Tagliaferri, 41, spent much of two years creating his marble interpretation of "Cristo Velato," or "Veiled Christ," a 1753 masterpiece that he has neither seen nor touched.

Giuseppe Sanmartino's exquisitely detailed sculpture of the body of Christ lying wrapped in a fine shroud is one of the prime tourist attractions in Naples.

First Tamil mailing list for the visually impaired - Valluvan Paarvai

Yes! the name of the tamil mailing list is "VALLUVAN PAARVAI".

As you all know that technology has helped all visually challenged to breath the air of independence on par with the sighted at all levels. In this context, both N V D A and E SPEAK has provided voice synthesisers for most of the regional languages in India.

Blind Pakistani reporter dreams of peace

Sania Zaidi sits in the R. Premadasa stadium press box as the World Cup drama unfolds beneath her.

Nothing unusual about that except the 28-year-old Pakistani journalist has been blind since childhood and is on a mission to promote better relations between Pakistan and India.

"I want cricket to promote peace, courtesy and courage which we have been lacking in our wonderful world. I can't see it but I can sense it and am here at this World Cup to promote my mission," Sania told AFP.

Visually impaired radio jockey reaches out through his voice

He cannot see but has always wanted to reach out to people through his voice. Now Rishi, 21, is doing just that, thanks to Panjab University's community radio Jyotirgamaya that gave him a chance to host a radio show.

Enthusiastic and determined, Rishi, who goes by only one name, does not want his visual disability to come in the way of his dreams. 'I always listened to radio and fantasised to explore the world with the help of my voice,' a visibly excited Rishi told IANS here as his programme went on the air recently.

Aladdin Rainbow

The versatility of the Aladdin Rainbow video magnifier enables a user to view a variety of objects, pictures, and printed materials including magazines in full-color. The Rainbow offers six settings including full color, black and white, and several selectable foreground and background colors allowing the user to choose which setting best suits his or her individual viewing needs., , This system also features an extremely large depth of field for viewing three-dimensional objects and a smooth, non-glare reading table which permits reading heavy books.

Aladdin Pro 75

Developed with a faster refresh rate allowing for longer reading sessions and reduced eye strain, the Aladdin Pro 75 uses proven Aladdin technology helping individuals who may observe screen flicker when relying on peripheral vision for reading. The Pro 75 can display your printed materials in high-contrast black text on a white background and white text on a black background. The user can also display vertical or horizontal line markers and shadow mask to help track text and reduce glare.

Aladdin Classic

The Classic is a black and white video magnifier designed for use by people who have visual impairments (including "legal blindness") which make it difficult or impossible for them to read ordinary printed materials., , Utilizing the easy-to-use picture control selector, the Classic can display your printed materials in high-contrast black text on a white background or white text on a black background. The white text on black or negative image is ideal for glare reduction.

VERA Reading Machine

This elegant wooden stand-alone reading machine is designed for those who are blind or with low vision who want to continue reading easily and independently. The VERA System takes a picture of your printed material with its scanner and then reads the text in crisp, clear speech through an internal synthesizer. You can also view it on a computer monitor or television in large format. VERA's easy to understand keypad has large keys with colorful tactile markings and intuitive placement.

Simon Reading Machine

The Simon reading machine is the world's lightest. This elegant and powerful device represents the culmination of two decades of experience in designing and manufacturing assistive devices, widely used and known by Robotron’s blind and vision-impaired customers all over the world. , , This remarkable reading machine combines all the attributes one should look for in a reading machine: speed, reading accuracy, simplicity of use, low weight and small size.

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