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Top 3 Organizations That Provide Assistance for the Blind

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There are many organizations that assist people with disabilities. Blindness can be especially hard to cope with, but there are some top-notch groups that work hard to assist those with sight disabilities.
While many groups are based in the United States, there are organizations for the blind in other countries, such as the National Federation of the Blind United Kingdom. For blind advocacy groups in Canada, search with Canada 411. Here is additional information about three of the top groups for the blind:

 

The National Federation of the Blind

Founded in 1940, the National Federation of the Blind has gone from 16 members to more than 50,000. The NFB has worked to ensure that, unlike in other blind assistance groups, blind members hold the power and the priorities of sighted members never overtake those of the blind. The NFB also works to encourage laws and politicals moves that will benefit blind people.

 

American Foundation for the Blind

This organization seeks to open doors for the blind, specifically with technologies that provide assistance to sight-disabled people. The AFB is based in New York, but maintains centers around the United States, most notably the Public Policy Center that lobbies Congress for laws that to benefit the blind.

 

American Council of the Blind

What started as a magazine for the blind, the “Braille Free Press,” became the American Council of the Blind in 1961. THe ACB focuses mainly on media for the blind, a salute to their Braille Free Press roots. This group draws much attention to Braille publications, radio, and now, with the advent of Braille computers, Internet-based content.

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Finding Free Braille Books for Your Child

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You may have a child that is blind; or perhaps you are part of a library or community group that is seeking Braille books for children. There are many sources available that can help you obtain these types of book for free.

Register at the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. This service is part of the national Library of Congress and provides services for reading disabled, low vision or blind citizens. While you will have to submit documentation of the disability, you will then have access to all materials available through the National Library Service. You will have the ability to search catalogs and request specific books.

The Kenneth Jernigan Library also allows you to borrow books. These books are selected by librarians and set to your child through the mail.

Free Braille books are also available from the American Action Fund. Approximately once a month, your child will get a book or chapter from a book.

The Braille Institute is also a great resource for books. The organization provides free books to children from its Special Collections program.

Another source of free Braille books is the Angel Program at Seedlings Braille Books for Children. Your child and you can select two books per year from their extensive catalog.

In addition, check your local libraries for additional sources of Braille literature for your child. A simple internet search can also help you find outlets that can provide books and other reading material.

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Cytomegalovirus: a Cause of Blindness in HIV Patients

Cytomegalovirus is a form of herpes. It is actually a common strain which many healthy people can be infected with and never know it.  However, if a person with HIV, AIDS or another immune disorder gets this virus, it could lead to blindness.

How Cytomegalovirus Spreads

Always wash your hands thoroughly after coming in contact with the blood, semen, urine or breast milk of another person.  If this person is infected with cytomegalovirus and you touch your eyes with dirty hands, the infection could be spread to you.  It is also possible to get this illness from a blood transfusion, organ transplant or through unprotected sex.

Side effects

People with unhealthy immune systems who catch this virus will start to have many vision problems.  These sight issues can include seeing spots, blurry vision and eventually blindness in both eyes.  In addition, they can develop back pain and chronic bowel problems.

Diagnosis

If you have HIV, AIDS or another serious illness and you are experiencing these symptoms it is important to call your doctor.  An eye doctor can check your retina for inflammation.  Your primary care doctor can also take a urine or blood sample and have it sent out to see if you test positive for the virus.

Treating Cytomegalovirus

If your health is in poor shape, you may need up to two weeks of intense treatment therapy to help your body fight back.  You will be given medication daily injected directly into your veins or inserted with a catheter.  When you doctor believes you are stable, there are a number of oral medications that he can prescribe to you to keep this virus in check.  There is no cure for this illness, but these pills can prevent cytomegalovirus from spreading and will also keep your symptoms under control.  It is important to always take your medication as instructed and to see your eye doctor immediately if vision problems return.  If not managed correctly this illness can cause permanent blindness in people with already weakened immune systems.

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Blindness Prevention

While some people are born blind, others develop blindness due to medical conditions and old age.  It is important to lead a healthy lifestyle to prevent vision problems and blindness.

Food

Eating healthy foods such as carrots and broccoli can benefit your vision.  Many vegetables such as contain beta-carotene, vitamin c and other nutrients that promote health vision.

Don’t Smoke

Smokers are at risk for many other health problems.  Although lung and heart problems are talked about the most, smoking can also effect your eyes.  Smoking can lead to glaucoma and cataracts which in their late stages can cause blindness.

Protect Your Eyes

Take care of your eyes.  Always wear sunglasses at the beach or during a long day in the park.  Don’t use tanning beds and if you do always wear proper eye protection every single time.   Wear goggles when playing rough sports or working with power tools to avoid injuries to the eye.  Always wash off eye make up and mascara before going to bed to avoid frequent eye infections.  Clean your hands well before touching your eyes or putting in contact lenses.

Keep Your Appointments

Go to the eye doctor regularly.  Many eye issues that are caught early can be fixed or stabilized through medication or surgery.  Blindness is more likely to occur with eye injuries or conditions that are left untreated. If a doctor prescribes you glasses, contacts or eye drops it is important to use them as directed.

Lighting

Always use proper lighting when reading, using the computer or doing work.  Straining to see is very bad for the eyes.  If you like to read books in bed while your spouse is sleeping, get a tiny light to stick on to your book so that you can see with out struggling.

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Causes of Blindness

Taking care of your eyes is very important.  No one is exempt from the possibility of becoming blind or visually impaired in their lifetime.  Make it a habit to go for yearly eye exams and to familiarize yourself with the many causes of blindness.

Glaucoma

One in eight blind people are effected by glaucoma.  Glaucoma occurs when fluid builds up in the eye.  If this problem is not managed, vision issues will occur.  Early signs of glaucoma include seeing halos around objects and blurred vision.  If a doctor catches glaucoma early it is treatable and the patients can take medication to prevent blindness.

Diabetes

Many diabetics may develop blindness. Diabetes can causes changes in the eye’s blood vessels.  This can cause retina damage that if caught too late can be irreversible.  It is important for diabetics to call their eye doctor immediately at the first signs of any vision problems.

Degeneration

As the body ages, some people will experience degeneration or malfunction of the retina.  Many older individuals retinas slowly degenerate over the years and the vision loss may not be great enough at first for them to seek help.  Laser treatments are available to help repair the retina if the issue is caught early enough.

Retinitis Pigmentosa

More commonly know as night blindness, this disorder is inherited.  People effected by this condition normally begin to show signs around the age of 10.  Children may complain about not being able  to see at night or in poorly lit classrooms.   Many people with this disorder can develop tunnel vision which later grows into vision so poor that they are considered legally blind by the time they are 18.  Since there is currently no cure for this condition, some people inflected with this illness will have to live their life using an immense amount of light to see.  Others people may go completely blind at some point in their life.

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From Braille to Electronic Cigs

The Braille system of writing is very fascinating. Born from a need for soldiers to communicate silently and in the dark during Napoleon’s campaign, and perfected by a blind child, Louis Braille, the system has provided a means for the blind to read using touch rather than sight. It may be long before our time of cell phones, PDAs, and electronic cigs, but this technological advancement was amazing for its time, when blind reading was basically running your hands across large embossed letters on a copper sheet.

Each character in Braille is separated into a group of six dots, called a cell. By rubbing your finger from left to right across these cells, you are able to ‘read’ the characters by feeling which dots are raised up into bumps and which ones are smooth. However, it can be considered not a perfect system because there are not very many combinations of six dots, and some of those combinations are not use-able because they feel very similar to other dots. For example, two dots in the left column could mean the letter ‘B’, the number ’2′, and the word ‘but’. A single dot can mean a capital letter is next, and A backwards L of dots means that the next set of cells is a number, and etc.

What’s also amazing about Braille is that it also uses sounds to communicate in the same way it uses letters. Just like texting today, you can make illegible sets of characters that don’t make any sense unless sounded out. Like ‘ur’ for texting, meaning ‘your’, you can spell out ‘cd’ in Braille to mean ‘could. Or ‘abv’ to mean ‘above’. While Braille was never meant to be a secret code of sorts, it helps the blind read quicker, as Braille sentences and paragraphs are much larger than ones in traditional text.

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Web-Braille Important Tool for the Blind

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Web-Braille Important Tool for the Blind

Web-Braille is an innovative web-based resource that gives the blind vital access to many thousands of magazines, books and even musical scores as produced by the NLS (National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) division of the Library of Congress. It also includes an ever-expanding collection of locally transcribed titles produced by cooperating partner libraries. One must have a password in order to access the Web-Braille website, and the files offered are in an electronic form of contracted braille that requires that the user have special equipment in order to make it functional.

Web-Braille Content Provides Blind With New Vistas

Since 1992, close to 10,000 titles have been produced by the NLS for downloading from their website. These can also be read online at the Web-Braille library. These titles are added to the collection at the same time that printed braille-books are shipped to libraries serving the blind. Magazines are also available in the Web-Braille format. Generally they can found on the website within a week or less of when the printed-braille version is made available. For the blind who are musicians or composers, there’s also great news. Several thousand braille scores are currently found on the Web-Braille website, with new ones being added each month by the NLS. These scores cover the gamut of musical instruments and styles. Both instrumental and voice compositions are included. This is one of the most popular features on the NLS website. Piano compositions in particular are one of the more prevalent resources.

Access to Web-Braille Website Secure and Blind-friendly

In order to use the website, a user must work with their local coordinating library to set up their account. This includes an email address and user-created password. The library then finalizes the process of activating the blind person’s account. An email is sent once this process is completed. Upon admission to the website, the user will discover that the site is designed with their unique needs in mind. With access, the user can now request items to either be mailed or downloaded at no charge.

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Many Benefits to the Blind From Learning Literary Braille

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Literary Braille and Reading for Pleasure

One of the important considerations that should be made when deciding whether or not to learn Braille is to determine if you only need to read and write basic information like grocery lists, telephone numbers, and other simple lists. If this is the case, then alphabetic Braille or as it used to be called, Grade One Braille, will be adequate for your needs. This is the version of Braille that requires you to write out an entire word, letter by letter. For example, the word “dog” would need to have the separate letters “D-O-G” written out.

However, if you desire to read books, magazines, or newspapers in Braille, you’ll need to learn what is termed Literary or Grade Two Braille, also known as “contracted” braille. This is a form of braille that is condensed in order to allow more characters to be printed in less space. It uses only one cell to represent an entire word, unlike Alphabetic braille.

Many Benefits to the Blind From Learning Literary Braille

Most Braille users would opt for learning the alphabetic and literary versions of braille, for obvious reasons. Knowing only Alphabetic Braille would place a significant limit on a blind person’s ability to discover the world and to make their way through life. It’s important to remember, though, that learning the literary version will take significant time to study before one has achieved mastery. In many instances it may be a year or more before this is accomplished. It is also essential that the blind Braille reader have good sensitivity in their fingers, as the placement of dots on a page in a book, magazine, or newspaper will be much more condensed.

Decision to Learn Braille An Important One

Once you have determined which version of Braille you want to learn, the next step is to decide how you’ll go about learning it. It is recommended that a blind person first have an assessment done of their finger sensitivity to determine whether or not they’ll be able to discern the dot placement of the literary version.

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Supporting the Blind Starts Simply

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The Blind Need Our Support First

For most people who don’t struggle with the everyday challenges associated with being either blind or sight-impaired, it is difficult if not impossible to fully empathize with those that are blind. As hard as one might attempt to imagine the challenges of living in a world of darkness, it is really not possible to fully imagine the struggles the blind face unless one is in fact blind himself. It is likely that if one were to ask the blind what they most want from people who can see, they would simply answer that they wish to be treated as people with the same goals, dreams and desires as anyone else. Rather than spending time feeling sorry for someone who can’t see, it is far better to discover how to become an advocate for them to achieve their full potential.

Supporting the Blind Starts Simply

There are a wide variety of ways to provide this support; they range from doing something as simple as getting educated about the challenges the blind face to petitioning government and business leaders to become more blind-aware and blind-friendly. One could also set aside concerns or anxieties about making connections with the blind and become friends with someone who deals with the challenges of being sight-impaired. Both parties would be better as a result of this kind of engagement. Blind people want most of all to be treated as equals to those who can see. They deserve the same treatment and respect that should be afforded to anyone, regardless of how they might be “different.” More particularly, the blind today need someone who believes in their causes, whether those causes involve learning and promoting the use of Braille, increasing access to employment and education, or advocating for changes in legislation. The best way to support the blind is do something. Getting started is often the best way to overcome fears or concerns about offending. It’s like learning Braille. You learn it one dot at a time. Eventually you’ll get it right. Everyone can begin somewhere to make a positive difference.

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The Blind Must Advocate for the Blind

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The Blind Must Advocate for the Blind

Among the many who would be considered heroes to the blind and low-vision community, perhaps none is more universally revered than Helen Keller. Her story is well-known and has been revisited in movies, on stage, and in the pages of countless books, in addition to many other places. One of the many reasons why Mrs. Keller’s story has value today has to do with the idea of having an advocate. As you will recall, Helen’s parents hired a woman by the name of Anne or Annie Sullivan to help care for their deaf and blind daughter. Anne was herself almost totally without sight. Through heroic perseverance, Sullivan opened the world to Keller by teaching her sign language. Helen Keller went on to become a world-renowned advocate for the deaf and the blind, and is still widely admired today by both the blind and the deaf communities as a remarkable role-model.

Learning Braille a Key to Self-Discovery

This story provides a relevant guide for how the blind should function even today. First of all, it is important that there be someone in place in their lives, especially if the blind person is a dependent child. One of the first and most important things an advocate can do for a blind child is to help them along the pathway to reading. In most instances this will, at the very least, include the learning of braille. As a blind person enters the world of ideas through books and other resources printed in braille, they then can begin to focus on becoming self-advocates. This is the ultimate objective. To be able to stand up for and to seek for one’s own interests is one of the great and fundamental human rights. Helen Keller needed an Anne Sullivan to show her the way. But if she hadn’t chosen at some point to become her own advocate, the tremendous exertions made by her teacher would have had only limited impact. This combination was then, and is still today, the key to full self-discovery for the blind.

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