News and issues on the disabled 6 Nov 2024
Azmi Anuar
Contents
1. Cascade PBS USA - Visually impaired Washingtonians face unique obstacles to voting
2. RNIB UK - RNIB responds to Chancellor’s first budget of the new government
3. CitiNewsroom Ghana - Ghana Blind Union advocates for advanced healthcare services for members
4. Philippine Star - Caring for loved ones with disabilities
5. In Forum - Support group meeting set in Fargo for people who are blind and sight impaired
6. Spectrum News USA - Beer raises awareness about mobility tool for blind or visually impaired
7. Hindustan Times India - Blind man attempts to burn tyres of poll official’s car to garner attention
8. Science News Explores India - This young engineer built an affordable electronic braille reader
9. Ely Standard UK - Inspired by Nature' project concludes after 18 months
10. The Times of India - Education dept launches camp to aid special-needs children
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1. Cascade PBS USA - Visually impaired Washingtonians face unique obstacles to voting4 Nov 2024
The options
Voters with needs for ballot accessibility have a couple of options. King County provides an online ballot-marking option for voters with vision impairments to cast their ballot privately, according to the county website. Once completed, the voter must print their own ballot and return it by mail, use a ballot drop box, or visit a Vote Center.
Carpenter points out how few people, including disabled people, own a printer anymore, and traveling to a voting center might not be realistic.
“[Voting centers] are only usually open on weekdays during business hours. So for anyone who works, that’s not feasible,” Carpenter said.
Those who can travel to a voting center can vote on an Accessible Voting Unit, designed to enable people with seeing disabilities and partial hearing disabilities to vote independently. Those who are deafblind could require a co-navigator, usually hearing and seeing, to help fill a disabled person’s ballot, according to Ryan Bondroff, who is deafblind and a vocational rehab counselor based in the SeaTac area.
“The co-navigator reads each question, and the [deafblind] person answers by selecting a choice. Then their co-navigator writes or fills the circle box on that selected item. It can be a very tedious and time-consuming task,” Bondroff said.
Jamal Mazrui, who is blind and has hired a co-navigator in the past, says having one dampers his voting experience in multiple ways.
“It does mean less independence because then my vote isn’t a private experience. And depending on the politics of the person who’s assisting me, there can be some awkwardness,” Mazrui said.
Mazrui, among many with seeing and hearing impairment, voted in person Oct. 19 at an event hosted by the Seattle Public Library. King County Elections partnered with the National Federation of the Blind of Washington to provide one-time weekend voting access for people with disabilities prior to election weekend.
The King County Elections office relies heavily on “trusty messengers” to spread the word about events such as the one on Oct. 19, according to Naheed Aaftaab, language access and community outreach supervisor at King County Elections.
“We try to do things proactively, but we don't always get it right. Often we do our work through invitation. [...] So we rely a lot on [the] community reaching out to us to tell us what they need,” Aaftaab said.
Kendall LeVan Hodson, chief of staff at King County Elections, helped manage the Oct. 19 event, recognizing that accessible voting units are not perfect, yet an important stride forward for independent voting.
“Democracy is really important, and it’s the time of year where people really feel that, so seeing them get to come in and cast an independent ballot and feel like they have their voice heard … it’s something that always fills my cup,” Hodson said.
The next weekend when accessible voting units will be available will be the weekend of Nov. 2, right before the election, according to Aaftaab and Hodson.
For Mazrui, accessibility issues go beyond
casting a vote; they prevent him from exercising his full democratic right to
participate in electoral campaigns.
Other political limitations
“Not being able to do things like phone banks … has dampened [my independence] because I really wanted to be able to participate in that way as well, and I haven’t found an accessible way to do that,” Mazrui said.
Receiving fair, unbiased candidate information is another key factor for any voter looking to make a decision on whom to support. Various organizations for the disabled foster opportunities for community members to access information in their preferred method of communication, according to Bondroff. The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc., used to include election information as part of their community classes, according to Bondroff, but that was 10 years ago.
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2. RNIB UK - RNIB responds to Chancellor’s first budget of the new government4 Nov 2024
Healthcare
RNIB welcomes the additional investment announced for the NHS. This funding will be crucial to tackle the long waiting lists for ophthalmology. In England alone, there are 608,000 people waiting for their first consultant-led ophthalmology treatment as of August 2024 – with over 210,000 waiting for longer than the 18 week target. Ophthalmology also has the highest number of people waiting for follow-up appointments, higher than any other NHS speciality.
Although the Chancellor has pledged that investment will be in place to help ensure people wait no longer than 18 weeks for appointments, it’s important to note that a number of eye conditions require time critical treatment. In many cases, patients would need to be seen far sooner than the 18 weeks target to prevent sight loss.
We agree with the Chancellor’s comments that a cash injection alone will not fix the NHS; reform and transformation is needed to improve eye care services and prevent avoidable sight loss. The ten-year plan also has the potential to overcome some of the barriers that blind and partially sighted people face when receiving reasonable adjustments in healthcare, including getting health information in accessible formats.
Ensuring that blind and partially sighted people get equitable access to health care will help the UK Government’s prevention mission. It’s crucial that the shift to digital, including the NHS App and patient portals, are designed in consultation with accessibility experts and representative groups. We also recommend in-depth user testing by blind and partially sighted people, and for non-digital methods to continue to be available.
Social care
RNIB also welcomes the Chancellor’s announcement to provide additional funding to local authorities, allowing them to deliver essential public services. This includes £600 million designated for social care services. It’s vital sensory support services, including vision rehabilitation, are able to benefit from this investment.
Although this additional investment is a step in the right direction, more resources will be needed to address underfunding across the social care sector, including within vision rehabilitation services. We will be monitoring the impact of this announcement closely.
Employment and welfare
It’s disappointing not to get clarity on the UK Government’s plans to reform health and disability benefits, with very little detail in today’s budget, including how the Government plans to save £3 billion from the benefits bill over the next four years. We will continue campaigning for a benefit system where people can afford an adequate standard of living and manage the extra costs that come with sight loss. In our conversations with Ministers, we will also be stressing all employment support for disabled people must be voluntary and not impact people’s entitlement to financial support through the social security system.
We welcome the funding announced to support disabled people into work, including £115 million for Connect to Work, a new supported employment programme. For this to succeed, ongoing Access to Work delays must be tackled. Employers involved in the Connect to Work programme should also be encouraged to take part in RNIB’s Visibly Better Employer Standard, so they consistently provide an accessible and inclusive workplace.
Education
We’re pleased to hear of the £1 billion uplift in funding for special educational needs and disabilities provision. It’s vital this funding is ringfenced and reaches local authority vision impairment (VI) services.
We’ve previously welcomed the UK Government’s commitment to recruit 6,500 teachers and reiterate our call for this to include Qualified Teachers of children and young people with Vision Impairment (QTVIs).
Getting around
The increase in funding to intercity and local public transport will benefit blind and partially sighted passengers if it results in an increase in services. It’s vital that these additional services, and rolling stock, have accessibility factored in from the beginning.
More money to maintain roads should help fix poor quality pavement and road infrastructure. Potholes are a tripping hazard for blind and partially sighted pedestrians and can result in cyclists cycling on pavements rather than roads, becoming an additional moving hazard.
We’re concerned, however, about the 50 per cent increase on the cap for single bus fares, from £2 to £3. While many people with sight loss have concessionary travel passes that allow them free or reduced bus travel, many fall short of the criteria, are not sure of the criteria or application process, or face similar difficulties. Additionally, many blind and partially sighted people travel only when accompanied by a friend, family member or carer, so this fare increase could result in more difficulty for people with sight loss getting around.
Cost of living
As we head into the winter, the UK Government’s extension of the Household Support Fund is welcome and much needed.
With nearly 80 per cent of people with sight loss aged 65 or older, we remain concerned that the UK Government has removed universal entitlement to the Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners. We continue to support Age UK’s call for the decision to be reversed and RNIB is promoting awareness of the importance of checking entitlement to Pension Credit through our social media channels, as a qualifying benefit for retaining the Winter Fuel Payment.
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3. CitiNewsroom Ghana - Ghana Blind Union advocates for advanced healthcare services for members4 Nov 2024
The Executive Director of the Ghana Blind Union, Dr Peter Obeng-Asamoah, has made a passionate appeal to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to expand its coverage to include specialised and advanced healthcare services for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
In an interview with Channel One TV, Dr Obeng-Asamoah highlighted the economic and social challenges that blind individuals in Ghana face, underscoring the urgent need for a more inclusive health policy that considers the specific healthcare needs of people with disabilities.
Dr. Obeng-Asamoah described the current healthcare coverage available to blind individuals under the NHIS as insufficient, with minimal provisions made for the unique challenges faced by those with visual impairments.
Blind individuals in Ghana, Dr. Obeng-Asamoah explained, are more likely to face economic hardships due to barriers to employment and accessibility. He pointed out that a significant portion of the visually impaired population is either unemployed or underemployed, especially those residing in rural areas with fewer opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.
Dr Obeng-Asamoah elaborated on the health challenges that come with ageing, noting that as blind individuals grow older, they are as susceptible as others to conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and other age-related ailments.
He urged that the NHIS should specifically focus on making advanced healthcare services accessible to the visually impaired community, which might include regular screenings, specialist consultations, and affordable access to medications for chronic diseases.
“There is no policy that shows that we are getting anything more. And this thing is quite serious because you take it for the fact that a lot of blind persons and for that matter, persons with disability don’t have jobs, those in the rural areas, those who are unemployed, yes, those who don’t have jobs and they are growing older. So, therefore, many of them will not have pensions.
“We know that with old age comes a lot of ailments like hypertension, diabetes, and other things that affect almost everybody but these people don’t have any source of income. And so when these ailments set in, healthcare, he eludes most of them.
“They don’t just get it. So that is an area that we are hoping that our government will look into these things. But for blind persons, as we stand right now, there is no special priority given to us.”
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4. Philippine Star - Caring for loved ones with disabilities5 Nov 2024
After a series of eye surgeries in the US (18 surgeries from 1982 to 1989 due to glaucoma), Jaime Silva, more known to family and friends as Jimmy, and his wife Helen decided to change the focus of their lives. Instead of travelling back and forth to the US for his eye treatments, they opted to stay at home in Manila to take care of their daughter Erica and build their family. Later on, they were blessed with a son, Sandro. In 1989, his eyesight continued to deteriorate, from low vision to total blindness.
While in Grade 7, he was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma, and had to wear corrective glasses. As a teenager, Jimmy enjoyed solving math problems, and did sketches and drawings. This encouraged him to take up architecture. “I never thought my glaucoma would be a hindrance to my profession. Though I had constant headaches, and my eyesight a concern, I persevered to finish the course. After passing the board exams, I worked for an architectural office for experience, and eventually started my own practice,” shares Jimmy
This December, Jimmy and Helen will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. Jimmy tells us “Between eye surgeries in the US, I studied orientation and mobility and later learned Braille. I had so much time that I found a new passion, listening to spoken books. At that time, it was more on four-track cassette tapes and flexible phonograph discs. That was when I started to read, and read, and read.”
When we asked him what advice he could give to those with disabilities, he said, “I would advise that they first try to find out what they really want to do. This is where their passion will begin. Once they have decided on what to do, they should start learning everything about it, not only to be good at it, but to be better than the other person. Most important is that they should continue and not stop learning, but aim to be the best. As JFK would say, ‘We do not do things because they are easy, but we do things because they are hard’.”
Jimmy, vice chair, Sub Commitee on Accessibility on Built Environment and Transportation, National Council on Disability Affairs, shares 10 insights on caring for and being with loved ones with disabilities:
1. Dining. A sighted person can verbally explain to the blind person, where each type of food, like fish, vegetable, meat or rice, is located on his plate. The sighted person can use the clock orientation to explain where the specific food is located. The key is to use the clock orientation to inform the blind person where the food is located on his plate. If the blind person is served food, avoid serving him chicken with chicken bones, fish with fish bones, and seafood with shells.
2. Directing the blind person to the chair. To assist the blind person, the sighted person can take his hand and make him touch the back rest of the chair, then make him touch the seat of the chair. That way, he will know how far he is from the chair, and where the chair is facing.
3. Assisting the blind person when walking to go to another location. When bringing the blind person from one location to another, the sighted person offers his right elbow. The blind person will hold on to the sighted person’s right elbow with his left hand. As they walk together, the blind person will be one half step behind the sighted person. If they need to make a turn, the sighted person informs the blind person a few steps before, they they will make a right or a left turn.
4. Descriptive videos. A blind person can watch the same videos that the sighted person watches. One of these is the subscription program “Sero from Serotech.” This subscription includes not only movies and television series, but also podcasts, World News, documentaries, Entertainment, Sports, History, Technology, Geography, and many more. To better understand descriptive videos, there will be a voiceover, narrating what is happening on the screen.
5. Blind person at the pharmacy counter. Together with other customers, the blind person is standing in front of a pharmacy counter, where other customers are also waiting to be attended to. After a few minutes, the pharmacist then steps in front of the blind person and waits for the blind person to give his order. What should the pharmacist do? The pharmacist should tap the arm of the blind person, to inform the blind person, the pharmacist is talking to him.
6. Appreciation of building facade. One day, a graduating student of architecture visited me at the office and asked me to comment on her thesis. After we discussed the floor circulation of her design, and I gave my observations, she asked me how I’d be able to appreciate the building facade. I told her that a sighted person will appreciate the building differently from a blind person. The sighted person will appreciate the building visually, through its proportion, color, balance, and other aesthetic design features. On the other hand, the blind person will not appreciate the building facade, but will appreciate the building by experiencing the different functions and areas, as he walks through and experiences the building.
7. Misuse of PWD IDs for discounts. The law requires retail establishments to accommodate discounts to PWDs in restaurants, drug stores, department stores, groceries, transportation fares, movie houses, hotels, and other retail establishments. Unfortunately, many non-PWDs are able to secure PWD IDs, by falsifying their health conditions. It is important to understand that these PWD IDs should only be used by persons with permanent disabilities. These types of permanent disabilities include blindness and visual impairment, deafness and hearing difficulties, ambulatory disabilities, and developmental and intellectual disabilities.
8. Audible and visual announcements in transportation terminals. A blind passenger will always request assistance at the airport to bring him to the waiting area near the assigned boarding gate. Unfortunately, sometimes, these assigned boarding gates are changed and broadcast visually through television monitors inside the transportation terminal. The blind person will not know of the new assigned boarding gate, if no audio announcements are made. In short, if we want these transportation terminals to be accessible and inclusive, announcements must be both in the audio and visual medium, for the blind and deaf to be aware of the change in gate assignments.
9. Text to audio device. Not all websites are accessible to the blind. Many materials downloaded from the websites are in PDF format, but some still are not computer readable. These barriers hinder the blind person from downloading research materials needed for school or for work. The same conditions are experienced on digitized online platforms. A website is considered accessible and inclusive when the text is computer-readable, the photos or drawings or other forms of graphic features have alternative text features explaining what is shown.
10. An office environment. When a PWD is hired in an office, he is expected to co-exist with the other employees. He undergoes orientation to familiarize himself with office policies and procedures. In addition, the company modifies the architectural office facilities to be accessible to the PWD, and expects the PWD to be productive. The PWD should adapt and interphase with other employees. On the other hand, the company should also conduct disability seminars, to orient the other employees, on how to understand and interact with PWDs, so they can be independent and productive.
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5. In Forum - Support group meeting set in Fargo for people who are blind and sight impaired4 Nov 2024
FARGO — Insight, a local support group for people who are blind and sight impaired in the Fargo area, has announced the focus of its next monthly meeting.
Amy Osvold, a vision rehabilitation specialist from North Dakota Vision Services School for the Blind, will present on anxiety and depression as it relates to the loss of eyesight.
Anyone with sight loss and their family members are encouraged to attend, a news release from Insight said.
The event will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, in a different location from its usual meetings.
Insight's November meeting will be held at the downtown Fargo Public Library, 101 4th St. N., in the library’s large meeting room, instead of its usual location at the Northport library.
For more details, call Allan Peterson, Insight facilitator, at 701-282-4644.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
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6. Spectrum News USA - Beer raises awareness about mobility tool for blind or visually impaired4 Nov 2024
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A beer is raising awareness about white canes, which allow people who are blind or visually impaired to navigate the world.
Tap Tap C is a collaboration between Triple C Brewing Company and Lions Services Inc., a nonprofit that makes products for the military while helping those blind and visually impaired.
Triple C released the beer in October because Oct. 15 was White Cane Awareness Day.
Lions Services President and CEO Philip Murph said the campaign aims to increase visibility about blindness.
“Blindness comes in different degrees and not everyone can appear to be blind, even though they may be. And also that not everyone that is blind wants to have assistance,” Murph said.
Laurie Ledwell has been an employee at Lions Services for 16 years.
Ledwell, who is legally blind, uses her sense of touch to run a sewing machine to create helmet bands for the military.
At Lions Services, almost half of the staff is blind.
“This is a place where your blindness is not considered a handicap because they help us,” Ledwell said.
One form of assistance they provide is by placing markings on the floor to assist her in using her white cane, enabling her to navigate independently.
“I couldn’t walk by myself without it,” Ledwell said.
However, she said not everyone recognizes this mobility tool outside her job.
Tap Tap C, a West Coast IPA, aims to change this.
“I think just putting yourselves in other people’s shoes and looking at some different perspectives is always a good way to go through life,” Triple C Brewing Company President Chris Harker said.
Part of the proceeds will benefit this nonprofit, which helps people who are blind or visually impaired have an independent life.
“I feel like I’m a productive member of society because, you know, I have a job and I’m being productive every day,” Ledwell said.
With her white cane, Ledwell said, she has her cherished independence.
“You have more of a life to where you don’t have to be lead. You could do normal things, you know, go out in the community,” Ledwell said.
Lions Services makes chin straps, a hydration system carrier and the Army rucksack.
Sighted employees check the products before they are complete.
The proceeds will help Lions Services establish a care system to help its employees and the blind community with employment, housing, clothing or mental health assistance.
Tap Tap C is available in cans and on draft.
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7. Hindustan Times India - Blind man attempts to burn tyres of poll official’s car to garner attention5 Nov 2024
Pune: A 45-year-old blind person tried to burn the tyres of Chinchwad assembly returning officer Anil Pawar’s Brezza car at 4:30 pm on Monday. According to the police, preliminary enquiry has revealed that the suspect Vinayak Sopan Ovhal’s actions were not related to the upcoming assembly elections.
Ovhal had submitted multiple applications to Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) seeking benefits under the Ramai Awas Yojana Gharkul (housing scheme) and Rasvanti Shop schemes but received no response. Frustrated and seeking attention from the media, he resorted to the drastic measure, police said.
To draw attention to his plight, he had broken the windows of the municipal commissioner’s official vehicle during the August 15, 2024 flag-hoisting ceremony. Ovhal recently submitted his nomination as an independent candidate. The police have registered an offence under relevant provisions of law and taken him into custody.
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8. Science News Explores India - This young engineer built an affordable electronic braille reader5 Nov 2024
Yash Mehta, 14, got the idea for his first science fair project on a trip to Old Delhi, India. There, he visited a school for blind students. Yash noticed that none of these students used electronic braille readers. They were just too costly. So once he got home, he built a more affordable one.
Yash’s device uses tiny spinning motors to create vibrations. They feel like the bumps of braille letters. Then, he tested it with students at the Blind Relief Association in New Delhi, India. Students were able to read braille on his device with 86 percent accuracy, compared with print braille.
An aspiring engineer, Yash did this project as an eighth grader at the Durham Academy in Durham, N.C. His research earned him a finalist spot in the 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. He also won the first-place Technology Award at the competition. This program is run by Society for Science, which also publishes Science News Explores.
Here, Yash shares his science fair experiences and advice.
What was your favorite part of this project?
“I’ve always been a hardware guy. I’ve never been capable of software,” Yash says. But building his device required learning how to code. He learned a lot from watching YouTube tutorials and reading Reddit threads. Picking up that new skill was cool. “But I would still say hardware was my favorite part,” he says. “I love 3-D modeling, so having everything fit in the first time, it was just pure excitement.”
What’s the most important thing you learned?
“Use your mistakes to your benefit,” Yash says.
At first, he wanted to build a braille display based on a TENS machine. This type of device uses electric current to relieve pain. Yash thought electrical pulses could mimic the feeling of braille bumps on users’ fingers.
But it didn’t work.
“Once I tried out the TENS unit and realized it didn’t work, I had most of the stuff already done,” Yash says. “I only had to change the actual way of spreading information to the finger.” Figuring out he didn’t have to start from scratch helped Yash power through the development of his motor-based device.
What’s next for you?
“I’m planning on adding OCR” into the device, Yash says. OCR stands for optical character recognition.
Right now, Yash’s machine translates text from a computer into braille letters. But with OCR, it could translate printed text or handwritten notes into braille. “I would probably go back to the Blind Relief Association and get more feedback with my new prototype,” he adds.
Any advice for science fair newbies?
“Try to find something that you think could be done at your skill level,” Yash says. “Even if you have to grow a little bit more in knowledge.” Also, ask people in your community what problems they need solved. “I think that’s the most important part — getting first-hand feedback.”
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9. Ely Standard UK - Inspired by Nature' project concludes after 18 months5 Nov 2024
The 'Inspired by Nature' initiative, steered by Babylon ARTS, partnered with organisations such as Ely Museum, the National Trust's Wicken Fen Nature Reserve, and Highfield Littleport Academy.
It was supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The scheme aimed to enhance access to the arts and heritage, fostering inclusivity and accessibility at Babylon Gallery, Wicken Fen, and Ely Museum.
A significant outcome of the project was the creation of a 'Nature Group', in collaboration with CamSight and Vision Norfolk.
This group, comprising individuals with low vision and blindness, participated in sensory walks, boat trips, and workshops led by artist Tom Adams.
Together, they developed an audio piece titled 'The Lantern Men', which was a central feature of the 'Sensing Nature' exhibition held between February and March 2024.
Inspired by Nature project connects low vision people to nature (Image: CamSight)
The 'Sensing Nature' challenge encouraged local communities to engage with nature and submit their creative impressions for consideration in the exhibition of the same name.
The exhibition was curated by Babylon Arts' 'Young Associates' group, known as the Basecoat Collective.
Two members of the group were awarded digital badges for 'Audio Describing & Recording for the Visually Impaired', a first from Badge Nation, for their work on seven artworks in the exhibition and ten artworks from the Babylon Summer Open.
Additionally, Babylon Arts produced 'raised drawings' of artworks on display for tactile access by visitors with visual impairment.
Project partners at Wicken Fen and Ely Museum also benefited from these raised drawings, enhancing accessibility for visually impaired visitors.
Ely Museum organised handling sessions for the public and the low vision group, allowing them to touch artefacts related to working the Fenland landscape.
The museum also expanded access to its collection through the raised drawings.
Babylon Arts collaborated intensively with Highfield Littleport Academy, conducting a series of workshops led by artists Kaitlin Ferguson, Amy Wormald, and Lyn Pryor.
The workshops resulted in the creation of prints, ceramics, and a large-scale artwork titled 'Deep Time', which now hangs in the school hall.
The artwork, which portrays the landscape of Wicken Fen and the fossils beneath, incorporates some of the children's own prints.
The project also led to several accessibility improvements at Babylon Gallery.
These included enhancements to lighting and the doorbell, as well as changes to the labelling, print, signage, and brochures within the exhibition space.
Babylon ARTS project connecting low vision people with nature concludes (Image: CamSight)
Following training from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), a workplace poster was designed to guide staff on engaging with colleagues and customers with low vision.
The project revealed a previously untapped and enthusiastic audience, as demonstrated by a comment in the visitors' book during the 'Sensing Nature' exhibition: "The effort made for accessibility is genuinely heartwarming. No improvements necessary."
The project culminated in Babylon ARTS achieving the RNIB's Visibly Better Employer standard.
This recognition signals Babylon ARTS as an organisation that supports and welcomes individuals with low vision or blindness to the workplace, committing to making necessary changes to facilitate their access.
As it stands, Babylon ARTS is the only cultural organisation in the country to have been awarded the Visibly Better Employer standard.
A spokesperson from Babylon ARTS said: "Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been privileged to deliver a programme that developed creative approaches to facilitate connection and engagement with nature for people with low vision, children, young people, and the public.
"We are delighted to have completed this project with some truly transformative outcomes and increased awareness."
For more information about the project and to read the 'Nature Group' case study, visit the Babylon Arts website.
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10. The Times of India - Education dept launches camp to aid special-needs children4 Nov 2024
Hubballi: Dharwad's education department launched a medical evaluation camp for children with disabilities. The camp, in collaboration with the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), health department, and KMC-RI, aims to medically assess and treat 1,632 identified children.
According to the department, the camp will be conducted at three places in the district. The programme was launched on Oct 30 by organising a camp at Govt Model Primary School, TCW Dharwad. Children from Dharwad City, Dharwad rural, and Kalaghatagi taluk attended the camp. Approximately 282 children from different parts participated in the camp. Children were identified as eligible for equipment.
Another camp was organised at the BEO Office of Hubballi City, Hubballi, on Monday. Children from Hubballi Rural, Hubballi City, and Kundagol taluk, around 390 children, were examined by special doctors. The doctors identified children suffering from various conditions such as hearing impairment, locomotor disease, and eye problems at the camp. The third camp will be organised for the children of Navalgund taluk on Nov 5.
SM Hudedamani, nodal officer, told TOI that the purpose of this project is to identify children with defects, provide them with corrective surgery and equipment, and enable them to participate in school activities. A team of specialist doctors examines the children and recommends equipment delivery or surgery. Various equipment like tricycles for children, hearing aids for the hearing impaired, and spectacles for visually impaired children will be provided soon.
He said that children with visual impairment, multiple disabilities, speech and hearing impairment, physical and mobility impairment, and mental retardation were identified at the camp. Doctors from the Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (DIMHANS) and KMC-RI were involved in examining the children.
Ashok Sindagi, block education office, Dharwad, said that specially abled children find it difficult to engage in all activities. He said that the aim of coordinated education is to enable them to participate in necessary activities and reach the expected level.
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This Google Group news service has been made possible by courtesy of the Society of the Blind in Malaysia