Blindness « Disabilities – Conditions

Articles & Publications

• Braille's Decline Hinders Blind Adults (JournalGazette – 4/25/10)
  Fewer than 10 percent of the 1.3 million legally blind people in the United States can read Braille, according to a study released last year by the National Federation of the Blind. More startling, according to the federation, only 10 percent of legally blind children are being taught Braille.
• Creative Work: Blind Photographers (FWD – 7/17/10)
  I love looking at work by other disabled photographers, and when I discovered the Blind Photographers group on Flickr, I was drawn not only to the images, but to the way that people write about photography and their relationship with the lens and the camera.
• Diet Linked to Macular Degeneration (The Republican – Sept. 2007)
  Risk factors for this condition and what may help to prevent it.
• Legal Clinic for Blind May be a First (ABA Journal – Jan. 16, 2008)
  When attorney Nicholas Pomaro offers advice to clients at a Chicago legal aid clinic believed to be perhaps the only one in the country focusing on issues faced by those who are blind, he has one big advantage in understanding their concerns. He's blind, too…
• First Cell Phone that Reads to the Blind and Dyslexic (Medical News Today – Jan. 28, 2008)
  An exciting product line that will revolutionize access to print for anyone who has difficulty seeing or reading print, including the blind and learning disabled.
• Vision Problems (AARP)
  There are many types of eye problems and visual disturbances. These include blurred vision, halos, blind spots, floaters, and other symptoms. 

Organizations & Services

• Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired
  Their mission: To advance the independence of people who are blind or visually impaired and help prevent vision loss through services and education.
• Bookshare.Org
  Goal is to make the world of print accessible to people with disabilities.
• Braille Bug (American Foundation for the Blind)
  Answers questions about what Braille is, and offers a reading club, games and secret messages.
• National Federation of the Blind
  The largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.
• New Braille Display Finally Delivers the Whole Internet to the Blind
  A prototype hydraulic and latching mechanism could bring to blind computer users something they've never had before: a full-page. Right now, refreshable Braille displays are slow and unwieldy, allowing a user access to the equivalent of one line of text at a time. For this reason, the vast majority of Internet content and computer applications are unavailable to the blind. What's worse, these displays are often horribly expensive.

Resources: Websites & Blogs

• Derek Paravicini
  Derek is an extraordinarily talented pianist, despite being blind and having severe learning difficulties. He plays entirely by ear, and has a repertoire of many thousands of pieces that he has memorised – jazz, pop and light classical – and he is a great improviser.
• Fred's Head (blog)
  A database that contains tips, techniques, tutorials, in-depth articles, and resources for and by blind or visually impaired people.
• Blind Access Journal (blog)
  Darrell Shandrow's blog about the quest for the greatest possible access to all information available in the world around us.