Greetings. For those that have the PAC Mate Omni from Freedom Scientific, you might be interested to know that a maintenance release was put out a couple of days ago. This is not a major release, just some bug fixes and other small enhancements. If none of the following fixes/enhancements offer anything to you, then you can probably skip this one. The issues addressed are as follows:
• Added support for new non-PCL based HP printers.
View a list of compatible printers.
• Corrected an issue with Printing documents from FSEdit using a Bluetooth equipped printer.
• Added the ability to emboss via the infrared port.
• Corrected an intermittent problem where the PAC Mate would not always turn on after being left off for a period of time.
• Continued refinements and enhancements of global contracted braille entry and Unified English Braille Code (UEBC) support.
To download the update and read other related information, then visit this page to get the Omni 6.2 maintenance release. Enjoy.
Saturday, January 17
VR Stream and Book Share
Greetings. I received the following announcement from the Victor Reader Stream Newswire yesterday regarding the recent launch of the new BookShare.org website. For those that use BookShare, you might find this information of interest. Enjoy.
***
Dear Victor Reader Stream Friends:
The launch of the new Bookshare.org site has prevented playback of the DAISY version of Bookshare books on the Stream. In preparing the new site Bookshare
needed to reprocess their books to accomodate new external book sources to support their expanded services. This reprocessing caused a problem with the
DAISY version of their books which they have now corrected. If you re-download your book from Bookshare.org it should now play on your Stream.
Also, with the new zip format for the Bookshare.org book many of you have noticed some new files that are present in the DAISY version of the book. These
include files ending in .css, xsl, and DTD. You have asked if these files are required by the Stream. The answer is no but they require such a small amount
of space that you do not need to remove them from your SD card. It is ok to unzip all the files of the Bookshare.org DAISY zip file into a sub-folder of
$VRDTB. These new files will not affect the Stream.
Thank you,
The HumanWare Team
***
Dear Victor Reader Stream Friends:
The launch of the new Bookshare.org site has prevented playback of the DAISY version of Bookshare books on the Stream. In preparing the new site Bookshare
needed to reprocess their books to accomodate new external book sources to support their expanded services. This reprocessing caused a problem with the
DAISY version of their books which they have now corrected. If you re-download your book from Bookshare.org it should now play on your Stream.
Also, with the new zip format for the Bookshare.org book many of you have noticed some new files that are present in the DAISY version of the book. These
include files ending in .css, xsl, and DTD. You have asked if these files are required by the Stream. The answer is no but they require such a small amount
of space that you do not need to remove them from your SD card. It is ok to unzip all the files of the Bookshare.org DAISY zip file into a sub-folder of
$VRDTB. These new files will not affect the Stream.
Thank you,
The HumanWare Team
Voting round begins
Greetings. The voting round for the second annual Blind Bargains Access award has begun. Visit this page to cast your vote in any or all of 11 different categories. Be sure to vote by 5pm Eastern on January 25 in order for your vote to count. Only one submition per person is permited, so be sure to vote for as many things in that one submition as you like. Multiple entries will disqualify your votes. Other than bragging rights, I don't think that any actual prizes are given to the winners. However, in this online age, bragging rights are often enough. Enjoy.
Thursday, January 15
What's new in Windows 7
Greetings. The following link on the new Windows 7 First Look is taken from the Blind Cool Tech podcast where Rick Harmon reviews some of the new things and differences in the upcoming Windows 7 version which is said to be out later this year. We'll see if that stays on track and if Windows 7 comes out on time. Several things to keep in mind here:
1) This is a beta or unsupported version of Windows. Though it may sound "cool" and neat, unless you happen to have a computer sitting around and want to take a spin with it, or unless you know what you're doing, it's best not to tinker with it.
2) If you do have an extra machine sitting around or if you do know what you're doing, and you're blind/low vision, currently no AT software is supporting the upcoming Windows 7 version. Some software may run, such as JAWS and S.A. to Go, as Rick demonstrates, but these packages are NOT (previous word in all caps) supported under Windows 7.
3) If you have any problems with said AT software and try to contact the vendor for help, you likely won't get any since, as stated in the previous bullet point, the software is not supported. Does this mean it will never work with 7? Absolutely not. But be patient, give it some time. I expect that we'll begin hearing much more about support for Windows 7 in the coming months and at some of the different conferences, such as ATIA and CSUN.
All that said, here are some notes on Windows 7 that Rick mentioned, but for full details, listen to the podcast, linked above. Also, note that things may and probably will change from what you hear on the podcast to the full release of Windows 7, so don't count on everything you hear being the same or included.
* There's no email client currently in Windows 7.
* Internet Explorer 8 is included.
* There are fewer security alerts and U.A.C. messages, for better or worse.
* And more.
The link above is a direct link to either play or download the MP3 file of the podcast that Rick does. Even though this appeared in Blind Cool Tech, I expect that Rick's podcast is apart of the series that he offers from his Blind Geek Zone website.
I know things will change and the support from AT people through JAWS will change from now till the release date. However, it's always fun hearing what's coming soon to a computer near you. Enjoy, and to those that may still try Windows 7: good luck.
1) This is a beta or unsupported version of Windows. Though it may sound "cool" and neat, unless you happen to have a computer sitting around and want to take a spin with it, or unless you know what you're doing, it's best not to tinker with it.
2) If you do have an extra machine sitting around or if you do know what you're doing, and you're blind/low vision, currently no AT software is supporting the upcoming Windows 7 version. Some software may run, such as JAWS and S.A. to Go, as Rick demonstrates, but these packages are NOT (previous word in all caps) supported under Windows 7.
3) If you have any problems with said AT software and try to contact the vendor for help, you likely won't get any since, as stated in the previous bullet point, the software is not supported. Does this mean it will never work with 7? Absolutely not. But be patient, give it some time. I expect that we'll begin hearing much more about support for Windows 7 in the coming months and at some of the different conferences, such as ATIA and CSUN.
All that said, here are some notes on Windows 7 that Rick mentioned, but for full details, listen to the podcast, linked above. Also, note that things may and probably will change from what you hear on the podcast to the full release of Windows 7, so don't count on everything you hear being the same or included.
* There's no email client currently in Windows 7.
* Internet Explorer 8 is included.
* There are fewer security alerts and U.A.C. messages, for better or worse.
* And more.
The link above is a direct link to either play or download the MP3 file of the podcast that Rick does. Even though this appeared in Blind Cool Tech, I expect that Rick's podcast is apart of the series that he offers from his Blind Geek Zone website.
I know things will change and the support from AT people through JAWS will change from now till the release date. However, it's always fun hearing what's coming soon to a computer near you. Enjoy, and to those that may still try Windows 7: good luck.
Wednesday, January 7
My dog and his love
Greetings. I received this from an email list. This looks like one of those poems/stories that may be passed around the net, mainly because it's so true. Enjoy.
He's with me 24 hours a day.
And never a word is able to say.
But he can say more with a look or two,
such as I Love You, My Whole World Is You!
As I do my chores throughout the day,
He's by my side, every step of the way.
When I stop to eat, you can bet he's there,
sitting of course, in his favorite chair.
And if some night I decide to go out.
He'll hang his head, and kinda pout.
He sits by the window,
until I come home.
Sits there and waits so patiently.
Hoping to catch a glimpse of me,
can't wait till I put the key in the door.
He's barking and jumping, and barking some more.
Then as I lay me down to sleep.
He's there by my side, his vigil to keep.
And I thank the Lord, in the heaven above.
For My Best Friend, My Dog and His Love!
He's with me 24 hours a day.
And never a word is able to say.
But he can say more with a look or two,
such as I Love You, My Whole World Is You!
As I do my chores throughout the day,
He's by my side, every step of the way.
When I stop to eat, you can bet he's there,
sitting of course, in his favorite chair.
And if some night I decide to go out.
He'll hang his head, and kinda pout.
He sits by the window,
until I come home.
Sits there and waits so patiently.
Hoping to catch a glimpse of me,
can't wait till I put the key in the door.
He's barking and jumping, and barking some more.
Then as I lay me down to sleep.
He's there by my side, his vigil to keep.
And I thank the Lord, in the heaven above.
For My Best Friend, My Dog and His Love!
Sunday, January 4
Guided by Love
Greetings. I found the following article from the Fort Worth Star Telegram. It's written bya friend of mine and a fellow classmate from my August 30, 2008 Seeing Eye class, Liz Campbell. Liz does a great job of describing how she got her first dog, life with her first dog, and then the transition to the second dog. She also provides some tips on interacting with a guide dog. This link is for the print version, without all of the extra links and stuff, of the article called Guided by Love. If you want to read the full version, which has some video and audio links that go with the story, then go to http://www.star-telegram.com/living/story/1118953.html Enjoy.
Saturday, January 3
What is a service animal?
Greetings. I received the following article from an email list. Though the article is long, it does a good job of describing service animals and presenting arguments, both for and against, what can constitute a service animal. Personally, I applaud the effort by the DOJ to limit the definition of a service animal. Too many people are trying to make their own definitions of which animals to use and trying to justify them with conditions which I don't think are legit disabilities, or lifestyle limiting conditions that provoke the use of a service animal. Also, too many people are ordering certificates that claim to protect the person and say that their animal is a service animal, when it may not be. And, too many people are training their own service animals. I understand the reasons why someone might want to train their own service animal. There may be qualified people out there that can do this. However, when there's a problem, like when someone questions if that person should be using a service animal, or if they ever need to prove that they need a service animal or to justify the animal that they are using, there's no school or other organization to back them up. For instance, if someone ever doubts that Gucci, my Seeing Eye dog, is a service animal or disagrees with any of the techniques I use with her, I can always tell them to call the school, knowing that The Seeing Eye will straighten them out. Someone without a school can't do this as easily. Finally, I think that the only animals that should be defined as service animals are dogs and monkeys. In the eighties, a lot of publicity was made of monkeys helping those who were paralysed in some way. As long as the animal has been trained to actively performa task that benefits the person, such as getting things for a paralysed person or guiding a blind person, even detecting and preventing a seizure or low blood sugar incident, then they fit the definition of a service animal in my view. Those animals, such as monkeys, that just ride around in carriges and don't appear to offer any benefit, do not. Think I'm stretching things, read the article below and look for the woman in it who pushes her monkey in a carrige, but calls it a "service animal." Those with mental conditions or who want a "therapy" or "comfort" dog also don't fit the definition of service animals. Basically, the definition is too broad and needs some narrowing. If someone can show me how taking a pig on an airplane is a comfort, for them or the pig, then I'll gladly reconsider. As you can see, this is a hot issue in the blind community right now and a number of people have strong opinions on it. Enjoy and as always, please excuse any formatting errors.
***
Creature Comforts - Assistance Animals Now Come in All Shapes and Sizes - NYTimes
January 4, 2009
Creature Comforts
By REBECCA SKLOOT
ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT IN A SUBURB of Albany, a group of children dressed as vampires and witches ran past a middle-aged woman in plain clothes. She gripped a leather harness — like the kind used for Seeing Eye dogs — which was attached to a small, fuzzy black-and-white horse barely tall enough to reach the woman’s hip.
”Cool costume,” one of the kids said, nodding toward her.
But she wasn’t dressed up. The woman, Ann Edie, was simply blind and out for an evening walk with Panda, her guide miniature horse.
There are no sidewalks in Edie’s neighborhood, so Panda led her along the street’s edge, maneuvering around drainage ditches, mailboxes and bags of raked leaves. At one point, Panda paused, waited for a car to pass, then veered into the road to avoid a group of children running toward them swinging glow sticks. She led Edie onto a lawn so she wouldn’t hit her head on the side mirror of a parked van, then to a traffic pole at a busy intersection, where she stopped and tapped her hoof. ”Find the button,” Edie said. Panda raised her head inches from the pole so Edie could run her hand along Panda’s nose to find and press the ”walk” signal button.
Edie isn’t the only blind person who uses a guide horse instead of a dog — there’s actually a Guide Horse Foundation that’s been around nearly a decade. The obvious question is, Why? In fact, Edie says, there are many reasons: miniature horses are mild-mannered, trainable and less threatening than large dogs. They’re naturally cautious and have exceptional vision, with eyes set far apart for nearly 360-degree range. Plus, they’re herd animals, so they instinctively synchronize their movements with others. But the biggest reason is age: miniature horses can live and work for more than 30 years. In that time, a blind person typically goes through five to seven guide dogs. That can be draining both emotionally and economically, because each one can cost up to $60,000 to breed, train and place in a home.
”Panda is almost 8 years old,” her trainer, Alexandra Kurland, told me. ”If Panda were a dog, Ann would be thinking about retiring her soon and starting over, but their relationship is just getting started. They’re still improving their communication and learning to read each other’s bodies. It’s the difference between dating for a few years and being married so long you can finish each other’s sentences.”
Edie has nothing against service dogs — she has had several. One worked beautifully. Two didn’t — they dragged her across lawns chasing cats and squirrels, even pulled her into the street chasing dogs in passing cars. Edie doesn’t worry about those sorts of things with Panda because miniature horses are less aggressive. Still, she says, ”I would never say to a blind person, ’Run out and get yourself a guide horse,’ because there are definite limitations.” They eat far more often than dogs, and go to the bathroom about every two or three hours. (Yes, Panda is house-trained.) Plus, they can’t curl up in small places, which makes going to the movies or riding in airplanes a challenge. (When miniature horses fly, they stand in first class or bulkhead because they don’t fit in standard coach.)
What’s most striking about Edie and Panda is that after the initial shock of seeing a horse walk into a cafe, or ride in a car, watching them work together makes the idea of guide miniature horses seem utterly logical. Even normal. So normal, in fact, that people often find it hard to believe that the United States government is considering a proposal that ’ would force Edie and many others like her to stop using their service animals. But that’s precisely what’s happening, because a growing number of people believe the world of service animals has gotten out of control: first it was guide dogs for the blind; now it’s monkeys for quadriplegia and agoraphobia, guide miniature horses, a goat for muscular dystrophy, a parrot for psychosis and any number of animals for anxiety, including cats, ferrets, pigs, at least one iguana and a duck. They’re all showing up in stores and in restaurants, which is perfectly legal because the Americans With Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) requires that service animals be allowed wherever their owners want to go.
Some people enjoy running into an occasional primate or farm animal while shopping. Many others don’t. This has resulted in a growing debate over how to handle these animals, as well as widespread suspicion that people are abusing the law to get special privileges for their pets. Increasingly, business owners, landlords and city officials are challenging the legitimacy of noncanine service animals and refusing to accommodate them. Animal owners are responding with lawsuits and complaints to the Department of Justice. This August, the Arizona Game and Fish Department ordered a woman to get rid of her chimpanzee, claiming that she brought it into the state illegally — she disputed this and sued for discrimination, arguing that it was a diabetes-assistance chimp trained to fetch sugar during
hypoglycemic episodes.
Cases like this are raising questions about where to draw the lines when it comes to the needs and rights of people who rely on these animals, of businesses obligated by law to accommodate them and of everyday civilians who — because of health and safety concerns or just general discomfort — don’t want monkeys or ducks walking the aisles of their grocery stores.
A few months ago, in a cafe in St. Louis, I met a man named Jim Eggers, who uses an assistance parrot, Sadie, to help control his psychotic tendencies. Eggers looks like a man who has been fighting his whole life. He is muscular, with a buzz cut, several knocked-out teeth and many scars, including one that runs ear-to-chin from surgery to repair a broken jaw. Eggers avoids eye contact in public — he walks fast down streets and through stores staring at the ground, jaw clenched. ”I have bipolar disorder with psychotic tendencies,” he told me as he sucked down a green-apple smoothie. ”Homicidal feelings too.”
Eggers’s condition has landed him in court several times: a disturbing-the-peace charge for pouring scalding coffee onto a man under his apartment window who annoyed him; oneyear probation for threatening to kill the archbishop of St. Louis because of news reports about church money and molestations by priests in other cities (which the archbishop had nothing to do with). In describing his condition, Eggers says it’s like when the Incredible Hulk changes from man to monster. His vision blurs, his body tingles and he can barely hear. According to his friend Larry Gower, who often serves as a public liaison for him, in those moments, Eggers gets extremely loud. They both agree that Sadie is one of the few things keeping Eggers from snapping.
Sadie rides around town on Eggers’s back in a bright purple backpack specially designed to hold her cage. When he gets upset, she talks him down, saying: ”It’s O.K., Jim. Calm down, Jim. You’re all right, Jim. I’m here, Jim.” She somehow senses when he is getting agitated before he even knows it’s happening. ”I still go off on people sometimes, but she makes sure it never escalates into a big problem,” he told me, grinning bashfully at Sadie. ”Now when people make me mad I just give them the bird,” he said, pulling up his sleeve and flexing his biceps, which is covered with a large tattoo of Sadie.
Soon after what he calls ”the Archbishop Incident,” Eggers got Sadie from a friend who owned a pet store. She’d been neglected by a previous owner and had torn out all her feathers, so Eggers nursed her back to health. He didn’t initially train her as a service animal, he says; she did that herself. When Eggers had episodes at home, he’d pace, holding his head and yelling: ”It’s O.K., Jim! You’re all right, Jim! Calm down, Jim!” One day, Sadie
started doing it, too. He soon realized that she calmed him better than he calmed himself. So he started rewarding her each time it happened. And he has had only one incident since: he dented a woman’s car with his fist on a day when he’d left Sadie at home.
Eggers didn’t think to use any special language to describe Sadie until he tried to take her on a bus and the driver said that only ”service animals” were allowed. Eggers went home and looked up ”service animal” online. ”That’s when it all fell into place,” he told me. He learned that psychiatric service animals help their owners cope with things like medication side effects. Eggers takes heavy doses of antipsychotics that leave him in a fog most of the day. So he trained Sadie to alert him with a loud ringing noise if someone calls, or to yell ”WHO’S THERE?” when anyone knocks on the door. If the fire alarm goes off, Sadie goes off. If Eggers leaves the faucet running, Sadie makes sounds like a waterfall until he turns it off.
Eggers got a service-animal bus pass for Sadie and began taking her everywhere. (He has special insulated cage panels to keep her warm in winter.) For years, few people objected. Then, in the spring of 2007, Eggers went to have his teeth cleaned at the St. Louis , Community College dental-hygiene school, and officials there told him that Sadie wasn’t allowed inside because she posed a risk to public health and wasn’t really a service animal. ”All I can say is, they were lucky I had Sadie with me to keep me calm when they said that,” Eggers told me.
He filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (O.C.R.), which initiated an investigation. Its conclusion: the school wrongfully denied access based on public-health concerns without assessing whether Sadie actually posed a risk. (Several top epidemiologists I interviewed for this article said that, on the whole, birds and miniature horses pose no more risk to human health than service dogs do.)
But Eggers is still fighting that fight. According to the O.C.R., the school ”exceeded the boundaries of a permissible inquiry” by questioning Eggers about his disability. But that didn’t change the school’s conclusion: it labeled Sadie a mere ”therapy animal.” If that label sticks, it will mean that Sadie isn’t covered by the federal law that protects service animals and guarantees them access to public places.
Stories like Eggers’s involve two questions that are often mistakenly treated as one. The first: What qualifies as a service animal? The second: Can any species be eligible? ,,
There are two categories of animals that help people. ”Therapy animals” (also known as ”comfort animals”) have been used for decades in hospitals and homes for the elderly or disabled. Their job is essentially to be themselves — to let humans pet and play with them, which calms people, lowers their blood pressure and makes them feel better. There are also therapy horses, which people ride to help with balance and muscle building.
These animals are valuable, but they have no special legal rights because they aren’t considered service animals, the second category, which the A.D.A. defines as ”any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair or fetching dropped items.”
Since the 1920s, when guide dogs first started working with blind World War I veterans, service animals have been trained to do everything from helping people balance on stairs to opening doors to calling 911. In the early ’80s, small capuchin monkeys started helping quadriplegics with basic day-to-day functions like eating and drinking, and there was no question about whether they counted as service animals. Things got more complicated in the ’90s, when ”psychiatric service animals” started fetching pills and water, alerting owners to panic attacks and helping autistic children socialize.
The line between therapy animals and psychiatric service animals has always been blurry, because it usually comes down to varying definitions of the words ”task” and ”work” and whether something like actively soothing a person qualifies. That line got blurrier in 2003, when the Department of Transportation revised its internal policies regarding service animals on airplanes. It issued a statement saying that in recent years, ”a wider variety of animals (e.g., cats, monkeys, etc.) have been individually trained to assist people with disabilities. Service animals also perform a much wider variety of functions than ever before.”
To keep up with these changes, the D.O.T.’s new guidelines said, ”Animals that assist persons with disabilities by providing emotional support qualify as service animals.” They also said that any species could qualify and that these animals didn’t need special training, aside from basic obedience. The only thing required for a pet to fly with its owner instead of riding as cargo was documentation (like a letter from a doctor) saying the person needed emotional support from an animal. Legally speaking, the D.O.T.’s new policy applied only to airplanes — the A.D.A.’s definition of service animal stayed the same. But for those looking online to find out whether they could take their animals into stores and restaurants, the D.O.T.’s definition looked like official law, and people started acting accordingly.
Soon, a trend emerged: people with no visible disabilities were bringing what a New York Times article called ”a veritable Noah’s Ark of support animals” into businesses, claiming that they were service animals. Business owners and their employees often couldn’t distinguish the genuine from the bogus. To protect the disabled from intrusive questions about their medical histories, the A.D.A. makes it illegal to ask what disorder an animal helps with. You also can’t ask for proof that a person is disabled or a demonstration of an animal’s ”tasks.” There is no certification process for service animals (though there are Web sites where anyone can buy an official-looking card that says they have a certified service animal, no documentation required). The only questions businesses can ask are ”Is that a trained service animal?” and ”What task is it trained to do?”
If the person answers yes to the first and claims that the animal is, say, trained to alert him or her to a specific condition (like a seizure), additional questioning could end in a lawsuit. And in many cases, according to Joan Esnayra, founder of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society, the outcome of those lawsuits depends largely on the words people use to describe their animals. ”If you say ’comfort,’ ’need’ or ’emotional support,’ you’re out the door,” she says. ”If you talk about what your animal does in terms of ’tasks’ and ’work,’ then you stand a chance.”
Case in point: When the dental school questioned Eggers about whether Sadie was a service animal, he said she kept him ”calm.” If he had said that she alerts him to things like attacks and doorbells, his case might have been stronger. ;. ;
According to Jennifer Mathis, an attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, ”A lot of times when people with legitimate service animals lose these cases, it has to do with the fact that they don’t explain their service animals well.”
Rather than risk a lawsuit, many business owners simply allow the animals, even if they doubt their legitimacy. Then they complain to the Department of Justice that the A.D.A. is too broad in its definition of ”service animal,” and too restrictive of businesses trying to protect themselves from people who fake it. Which many people do.
In October, a man in Portland, Ore., took his dog on a bus, claiming that it was a service animal. While getting off the bus, the dog killed another dog that was riding as a ”comfort animal.” (In Portland, comfort animals are allowed on public transportation.) A few days later, an editorial appeared in The Oregonian with the headline ”Take the Menagerie Off the Bus.” It opened with: ”No offense, ferret lovers.... Your pet... may offer emotional support. But it shouldn’t be roaming the aisles of a ... bus or train.” It argued that the story of the dead comfort dog was proof that people had stretched the legal definition of service animals to include a virtual zoo of animals.
Lex Frieden, a professor of health-information science at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and a former director of the National Council on Disability, sees the issue differently. ”People shouldn’t be able to carry their pets on a plane or into a restaurant claiming they’re service animals when they’re not,” he says. ”But that has nothing to do with what species a service animal is.” The appropriate response in those situations isn’t a species ban, he says, but rather strict punishments for people who pose as disabled. ”It’s fraud,” he points out, ”and it results in increased scrutiny of people with legitimate disabilities.”
In June, in an effort to clarify the confusion surrounding service animals, the Department of Justice proposed new regulations to explicitly include psychiatric service and exclude comfort animals. This was part of a sweeping revision of the A.D.A. intended to increase protection and access for the disabled, which was widely applauded. But tucked into that proposal were a few lines that worry advocates and people with disabilities: the D.O. J. proposed limiting service animals to a ”dog or other common domestic animal,” specifically excluding ”wild animals (including nonhuman primates born in captivity), reptiles, rabbits, farm animals (including any breed of horse, miniature horse, pony, pig or goat), ferrets, amphibians and rodents.”
This summer, the D.O.J. held a public hearing in Washington and invited anyone who would be affected by the proposed changes to argue for or against them. Many pleaded their cases in person, others by letter. The arguments in favor of species restrictions came primarily from businesses concerned about having to alter facilities, rebuilding seating areas, say, to make room for miniature horses. Several service-animal organizations and people with disabilities argued that banning reptiles and insects was fine but that excluding miniature horses and primates simply went too far. In their defense, they cited things like dog allergies, the long life spans of several species and monkeys’ opposable thumbs. After considering the arguments, last month the D.O.J. submitted a final proposal to the Office of Management and Budget. Until there’s a ruling, neither office will comment on the issue or say whether the species restriction was removed or revised after the public hearings.
Jamie Hais, a spokeswoman for the D.O.J., said she couldn’t comment on why the department suggested the species restriction. But its proposal expressed concerns about ’ public-health risks and said that when the original A.D.A. was written, without specifying species, ”few anticipated” the variety of animals people would attempt to use.
”That’s simply not true,” says Frieden, who was an architect of the original A.D.A. While drafting the regulations, he said, Congressional staff members had long discussions about defining ”service animal” and whether a trained pony could qualify. ”There was general consensus that the issue revolved around the question of function, not form,” he says. ”So, in fact, if that pony provided assistance to a person with a disability and enabled that person to pursue equal opportunity and nondiscrimination, then that pony could be regarded as a service animal.” They discussed the possibility of birds and snakes for psychiatric disorders, he said, but one of their biggest concerns was that the A.D.A. shouldn’t exclude service monkeys, which were already working with quadriplegics. Since then, however, monkeys have become the most contested assistance-animal species of all.
On a rainy day in November, I walked through a T. J. Maxx store in Springfield, Mo., with Debby Rose and Richard, her 25-pound bonnet macaque monkey — one of the most controversial service animals working today. Rose was wearing brown pants and a brownand-gold-patterned shirt. Richard was wearing a brown long-sleeved polo over a white Tshirt with jeans and a tan vest that said ”Please Don’t Pet Me I’m Working.” Richard stood in the child seat of Rose’s shopping cart, facing forward, bouncing up and down, smacking his lips and grinning as Rose pushed him down the aisles.
Richard is a hands-on shopper. If Rose pointed at a sweater or purse she liked, or a pair of shoes, his hand darted out to touch them. As we passed a pair of tan, fuzzy winter boots that Rose particularly liked, Richard leaned out of the cart and quickly licked one on its toe. ’
People stared as we walked. ”Why do you have him?” they’d ask.
”He’s a service animal trained for my disability, kind of like a seizure-alert dog,” Rose told them, again and again., ,,
”Can I pet him?”
”He doesn’t like to be touched,” she’d say, ”but you can give him five.”
People raised their hands, and Richard gave them five.
That Rose isn’t bothered by people looking and asking questions is impressive, considering that she has agoraphobia and severe anxiety disorder with debilitating panic attacks. Until getting Richard four years ago, she required heavy doses of anti-anxiety drugs just to go out in public. ”I couldn’t have come in this store before Richard, let alone handled all these people talking to me,” she said. ”Now I like it.”
Rose adopted Richard in 2004; he was badly neglected and near death. She and two of her six children — whom she raised as a single mother — run an exotic-animal shelter. Rose says she believes that Richard was trained as a service animal for his previous owner, an elderly woman whose son gave Richard away when she died. He had been neutered, and his tail had been surgically removed. He’d also had his large and potentially dangerous canine teeth pulled, a procedure commonly done with service monkeys for safety (and often cited as one of several ethical concerns with using wild instead of domesticated species for such jobs).
As Richard returned to health, Rose realized that he had begun to recognize her panic attacks before she did. Her doctor suggested that she train him to help with her disorder, then wrote a letter approving of him as a service animal, saying that Richard was ”a constructive way to avoid use of unnecessary medications.” Rose took that letter to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, got permission for Richard to accompany her in public and has been drug-free ever since. She ordered a service-animal ID certificate online; she even got a restriction on her driver’s license saying that she can’t operate a car without a monkey present. Now he sits in her lap with a hand on the wheel while she drives, and she never leaves home without him.
But the number of places Rose and Richard can go is decreasing. In September 2006, after receiving complaints that Richard was sitting in highchairs in restaurants, touching silverware and going through a buffet line with Rose, the Health Department sent a letter to all local restaurants announcing that Richard was a risk to public health and not a legitimate service animal. It instructed businesses to refuse him access and to call the police if Rose protested. Businesses posted the letter on their doors and in their bathrooms; soon Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences, where Rose was attending nursing school, refused Richard access, too. Stories started appearing about Rose and her monkey in the newspaper and on TV. ”Suddenly,” she told me, ”everyone knew I had a mental disorder.”
Rose dropped out of school and filed a lawsuit against her local Health Department, the nursing school, Wal-Mart and several other local businesses that had forbidden Richard access, saying that they violated the A.D.A. Kevin Gipson, director of the local Health Department, told me that he had asked Rose to show him what ”tasks” Richard performed that would qualify him. ”She couldn’t,” he said.
Defining ”task” is often a point of contention in these cases, especially with psychiatric service animals, whose work generally can’t be demonstrated on command. Before going to T. J. Maxx, I saw Rose begin to panic while sitting in her lawyer’s office talking about her case. Her face flushed; her voice quivered. Richard, who had been dozing in the chair beside her, leapt onto her arm and began stroking her hair. He hugged her, rubbed her ear and cooed while she talked. She immediately calmed down. ”He snaps me out of it before the attacks happen,” she said. ”If they start at night, he’ll turn on the light and get me a bottle of water.”
For Gipson, that’s really beside the point. ”Even if Richard is a legitimate service animal,” he told me, ”if he poses a public-health risk, the A.D.A. says he can be excluded. And we believe primates pose a significant health risk.”
Rose says that Richard is perfectly safe and immaculately clean. She showers and blow-dries him every day and uses hand sanitizer on him regularly, and he always wears diapers. But that doesn’t impress the Health Department. Monkeys can carry viruses, like herpes B, which are essentially harmless to them but usually deadly to humans. Those viruses can be transmitted through saliva and other bodily fluids. In 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study titled ”B-Viruses From Pet Macaque Monkeys: An Emerging Threat in the United States?” saying that 80 to 90 percent of adult macaques like Richard carry herpes B. It’s possible to test them for viruses, which Rose does every year with Richard, but those tests often give false negatives. Plus, Gipson told me, ”he could catch it any time from contact with other monkeys, which we know he’s had.” Five days before the Health Department banned Richard, a local newspaper ran pictures of him and several other monkeys hanging out at Rose’s family’s sanctuary.
According to Frederick Murphy, former head of viral pathology for the C.D.C. and codiscoverer of the Ebola virus, the threat that viruses from service monkeys present to humans is essentially unknown. There have been a few cases of primate-lab workers contracting herpes B from macaques — mostly from being bitten — but no cases of people being infected by service monkeys, which are usually capuchins.
The bigger concern, according to several experts, is potential aggression. ”People think monkeys are cute and like humans, but they’re not,” says Laura Kahn, a public-health expert at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton. ”They’re wild animals, and they’re dangerous.”
Critics of noncanine service animals tend to focus on disease perhaps because that’s the only way to legally exclude any service animal under the current A.D.A. But on the whole, Bradford Smith, former director of the University of California Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, says, ”I would tend to think the disease argument is really a proxy for other concerns, like having to let any person who says their parrot or horse is a service animal enter into public areas.”
Rose’s case is sometimes held up as an example of why the A.D.A. should be rewritten to exclude primates as service animals. But in fact, Frieden says, it’s an example of how the original A.D.A. works well as it was written, since it allows broad use of service animals while still leaving room to protect the public health. ”Some situations have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis,” he says. ”You can’t legislate fine lines — that’s just not a functional law.”
Frieden is very clear about his belief that it would be a huge loss if concerns about specific cases jeopardized the use of all noncanine service animals, especially the capuchin monkeys trained to help quadriplegics. The capuchins attend ”monkey college” at Helping Hands, a nonprofit organization in Boston, where they fetch remote controls, put food in microwaves, open containers, vacuum floors and flip light switches, all in exchange for treats. Helping Hands capuchins are captive bred, which minimizes the risk of picking up diseases, and they’re provided specifically for in-home use. The proposed species restriction might make it impossible for people to transport capuchins or keep them in their homes because of zoning restrictions. The thought of this makes Helping Hands’s founder, M. J. Willard, shudder. ”There ought to be a more nuanced way if somebody just thinks it through,” she says. ”Even just minor requirements of verifying the legitimacy of a service animal would solve a lot of the current problem.”
Frieden agrees. He suggests that perhaps a national committee could be appointed to develop certification standards for all service animals as well as a formal process for preventing and punishing service-animal fraud. Doing so might solve part of the controversy, he says. But not all of it. Particularly when it comes to species questions.
”Many people try to make this issue black and white — this service animal is good; that one is bad — but that’s not possible, because disability extends through an enormous realm of human behavior and anatomy and human condition,” Frieden told me. In the end, according to him, the important thing to remember is this: ”The public used to be put off by the very sight of a person with a disability. That state of mind delayed productivity and caused irreparable harm to many people for decades. We’ve now said, by law, that regardless of their disability, people must have equal opportunity, and we can’t discriminate. In order to seek the opportunities and benefits they have as citizens, if a person needs a cane, they should be able to use one. If they need a wheelchair, a dog, a miniature horse or any other device or animal, society has to accept that, because those things are, in fact, part of that person.”
Rebecca Skloot teaches nonfiction at the University of Memphis. Her first book, ”The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” will be published by Crown in spring 2010.
....... , Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
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Creature Comforts - Assistance Animals Now Come in All Shapes and Sizes - NYTimes
January 4, 2009
Creature Comforts
By REBECCA SKLOOT
ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT IN A SUBURB of Albany, a group of children dressed as vampires and witches ran past a middle-aged woman in plain clothes. She gripped a leather harness — like the kind used for Seeing Eye dogs — which was attached to a small, fuzzy black-and-white horse barely tall enough to reach the woman’s hip.
”Cool costume,” one of the kids said, nodding toward her.
But she wasn’t dressed up. The woman, Ann Edie, was simply blind and out for an evening walk with Panda, her guide miniature horse.
There are no sidewalks in Edie’s neighborhood, so Panda led her along the street’s edge, maneuvering around drainage ditches, mailboxes and bags of raked leaves. At one point, Panda paused, waited for a car to pass, then veered into the road to avoid a group of children running toward them swinging glow sticks. She led Edie onto a lawn so she wouldn’t hit her head on the side mirror of a parked van, then to a traffic pole at a busy intersection, where she stopped and tapped her hoof. ”Find the button,” Edie said. Panda raised her head inches from the pole so Edie could run her hand along Panda’s nose to find and press the ”walk” signal button.
Edie isn’t the only blind person who uses a guide horse instead of a dog — there’s actually a Guide Horse Foundation that’s been around nearly a decade. The obvious question is, Why? In fact, Edie says, there are many reasons: miniature horses are mild-mannered, trainable and less threatening than large dogs. They’re naturally cautious and have exceptional vision, with eyes set far apart for nearly 360-degree range. Plus, they’re herd animals, so they instinctively synchronize their movements with others. But the biggest reason is age: miniature horses can live and work for more than 30 years. In that time, a blind person typically goes through five to seven guide dogs. That can be draining both emotionally and economically, because each one can cost up to $60,000 to breed, train and place in a home.
”Panda is almost 8 years old,” her trainer, Alexandra Kurland, told me. ”If Panda were a dog, Ann would be thinking about retiring her soon and starting over, but their relationship is just getting started. They’re still improving their communication and learning to read each other’s bodies. It’s the difference between dating for a few years and being married so long you can finish each other’s sentences.”
Edie has nothing against service dogs — she has had several. One worked beautifully. Two didn’t — they dragged her across lawns chasing cats and squirrels, even pulled her into the street chasing dogs in passing cars. Edie doesn’t worry about those sorts of things with Panda because miniature horses are less aggressive. Still, she says, ”I would never say to a blind person, ’Run out and get yourself a guide horse,’ because there are definite limitations.” They eat far more often than dogs, and go to the bathroom about every two or three hours. (Yes, Panda is house-trained.) Plus, they can’t curl up in small places, which makes going to the movies or riding in airplanes a challenge. (When miniature horses fly, they stand in first class or bulkhead because they don’t fit in standard coach.)
What’s most striking about Edie and Panda is that after the initial shock of seeing a horse walk into a cafe, or ride in a car, watching them work together makes the idea of guide miniature horses seem utterly logical. Even normal. So normal, in fact, that people often find it hard to believe that the United States government is considering a proposal that ’ would force Edie and many others like her to stop using their service animals. But that’s precisely what’s happening, because a growing number of people believe the world of service animals has gotten out of control: first it was guide dogs for the blind; now it’s monkeys for quadriplegia and agoraphobia, guide miniature horses, a goat for muscular dystrophy, a parrot for psychosis and any number of animals for anxiety, including cats, ferrets, pigs, at least one iguana and a duck. They’re all showing up in stores and in restaurants, which is perfectly legal because the Americans With Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) requires that service animals be allowed wherever their owners want to go.
Some people enjoy running into an occasional primate or farm animal while shopping. Many others don’t. This has resulted in a growing debate over how to handle these animals, as well as widespread suspicion that people are abusing the law to get special privileges for their pets. Increasingly, business owners, landlords and city officials are challenging the legitimacy of noncanine service animals and refusing to accommodate them. Animal owners are responding with lawsuits and complaints to the Department of Justice. This August, the Arizona Game and Fish Department ordered a woman to get rid of her chimpanzee, claiming that she brought it into the state illegally — she disputed this and sued for discrimination, arguing that it was a diabetes-assistance chimp trained to fetch sugar during
hypoglycemic episodes.
Cases like this are raising questions about where to draw the lines when it comes to the needs and rights of people who rely on these animals, of businesses obligated by law to accommodate them and of everyday civilians who — because of health and safety concerns or just general discomfort — don’t want monkeys or ducks walking the aisles of their grocery stores.
A few months ago, in a cafe in St. Louis, I met a man named Jim Eggers, who uses an assistance parrot, Sadie, to help control his psychotic tendencies. Eggers looks like a man who has been fighting his whole life. He is muscular, with a buzz cut, several knocked-out teeth and many scars, including one that runs ear-to-chin from surgery to repair a broken jaw. Eggers avoids eye contact in public — he walks fast down streets and through stores staring at the ground, jaw clenched. ”I have bipolar disorder with psychotic tendencies,” he told me as he sucked down a green-apple smoothie. ”Homicidal feelings too.”
Eggers’s condition has landed him in court several times: a disturbing-the-peace charge for pouring scalding coffee onto a man under his apartment window who annoyed him; oneyear probation for threatening to kill the archbishop of St. Louis because of news reports about church money and molestations by priests in other cities (which the archbishop had nothing to do with). In describing his condition, Eggers says it’s like when the Incredible Hulk changes from man to monster. His vision blurs, his body tingles and he can barely hear. According to his friend Larry Gower, who often serves as a public liaison for him, in those moments, Eggers gets extremely loud. They both agree that Sadie is one of the few things keeping Eggers from snapping.
Sadie rides around town on Eggers’s back in a bright purple backpack specially designed to hold her cage. When he gets upset, she talks him down, saying: ”It’s O.K., Jim. Calm down, Jim. You’re all right, Jim. I’m here, Jim.” She somehow senses when he is getting agitated before he even knows it’s happening. ”I still go off on people sometimes, but she makes sure it never escalates into a big problem,” he told me, grinning bashfully at Sadie. ”Now when people make me mad I just give them the bird,” he said, pulling up his sleeve and flexing his biceps, which is covered with a large tattoo of Sadie.
Soon after what he calls ”the Archbishop Incident,” Eggers got Sadie from a friend who owned a pet store. She’d been neglected by a previous owner and had torn out all her feathers, so Eggers nursed her back to health. He didn’t initially train her as a service animal, he says; she did that herself. When Eggers had episodes at home, he’d pace, holding his head and yelling: ”It’s O.K., Jim! You’re all right, Jim! Calm down, Jim!” One day, Sadie
started doing it, too. He soon realized that she calmed him better than he calmed himself. So he started rewarding her each time it happened. And he has had only one incident since: he dented a woman’s car with his fist on a day when he’d left Sadie at home.
Eggers didn’t think to use any special language to describe Sadie until he tried to take her on a bus and the driver said that only ”service animals” were allowed. Eggers went home and looked up ”service animal” online. ”That’s when it all fell into place,” he told me. He learned that psychiatric service animals help their owners cope with things like medication side effects. Eggers takes heavy doses of antipsychotics that leave him in a fog most of the day. So he trained Sadie to alert him with a loud ringing noise if someone calls, or to yell ”WHO’S THERE?” when anyone knocks on the door. If the fire alarm goes off, Sadie goes off. If Eggers leaves the faucet running, Sadie makes sounds like a waterfall until he turns it off.
Eggers got a service-animal bus pass for Sadie and began taking her everywhere. (He has special insulated cage panels to keep her warm in winter.) For years, few people objected. Then, in the spring of 2007, Eggers went to have his teeth cleaned at the St. Louis , Community College dental-hygiene school, and officials there told him that Sadie wasn’t allowed inside because she posed a risk to public health and wasn’t really a service animal. ”All I can say is, they were lucky I had Sadie with me to keep me calm when they said that,” Eggers told me.
He filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (O.C.R.), which initiated an investigation. Its conclusion: the school wrongfully denied access based on public-health concerns without assessing whether Sadie actually posed a risk. (Several top epidemiologists I interviewed for this article said that, on the whole, birds and miniature horses pose no more risk to human health than service dogs do.)
But Eggers is still fighting that fight. According to the O.C.R., the school ”exceeded the boundaries of a permissible inquiry” by questioning Eggers about his disability. But that didn’t change the school’s conclusion: it labeled Sadie a mere ”therapy animal.” If that label sticks, it will mean that Sadie isn’t covered by the federal law that protects service animals and guarantees them access to public places.
Stories like Eggers’s involve two questions that are often mistakenly treated as one. The first: What qualifies as a service animal? The second: Can any species be eligible? ,,
There are two categories of animals that help people. ”Therapy animals” (also known as ”comfort animals”) have been used for decades in hospitals and homes for the elderly or disabled. Their job is essentially to be themselves — to let humans pet and play with them, which calms people, lowers their blood pressure and makes them feel better. There are also therapy horses, which people ride to help with balance and muscle building.
These animals are valuable, but they have no special legal rights because they aren’t considered service animals, the second category, which the A.D.A. defines as ”any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair or fetching dropped items.”
Since the 1920s, when guide dogs first started working with blind World War I veterans, service animals have been trained to do everything from helping people balance on stairs to opening doors to calling 911. In the early ’80s, small capuchin monkeys started helping quadriplegics with basic day-to-day functions like eating and drinking, and there was no question about whether they counted as service animals. Things got more complicated in the ’90s, when ”psychiatric service animals” started fetching pills and water, alerting owners to panic attacks and helping autistic children socialize.
The line between therapy animals and psychiatric service animals has always been blurry, because it usually comes down to varying definitions of the words ”task” and ”work” and whether something like actively soothing a person qualifies. That line got blurrier in 2003, when the Department of Transportation revised its internal policies regarding service animals on airplanes. It issued a statement saying that in recent years, ”a wider variety of animals (e.g., cats, monkeys, etc.) have been individually trained to assist people with disabilities. Service animals also perform a much wider variety of functions than ever before.”
To keep up with these changes, the D.O.T.’s new guidelines said, ”Animals that assist persons with disabilities by providing emotional support qualify as service animals.” They also said that any species could qualify and that these animals didn’t need special training, aside from basic obedience. The only thing required for a pet to fly with its owner instead of riding as cargo was documentation (like a letter from a doctor) saying the person needed emotional support from an animal. Legally speaking, the D.O.T.’s new policy applied only to airplanes — the A.D.A.’s definition of service animal stayed the same. But for those looking online to find out whether they could take their animals into stores and restaurants, the D.O.T.’s definition looked like official law, and people started acting accordingly.
Soon, a trend emerged: people with no visible disabilities were bringing what a New York Times article called ”a veritable Noah’s Ark of support animals” into businesses, claiming that they were service animals. Business owners and their employees often couldn’t distinguish the genuine from the bogus. To protect the disabled from intrusive questions about their medical histories, the A.D.A. makes it illegal to ask what disorder an animal helps with. You also can’t ask for proof that a person is disabled or a demonstration of an animal’s ”tasks.” There is no certification process for service animals (though there are Web sites where anyone can buy an official-looking card that says they have a certified service animal, no documentation required). The only questions businesses can ask are ”Is that a trained service animal?” and ”What task is it trained to do?”
If the person answers yes to the first and claims that the animal is, say, trained to alert him or her to a specific condition (like a seizure), additional questioning could end in a lawsuit. And in many cases, according to Joan Esnayra, founder of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society, the outcome of those lawsuits depends largely on the words people use to describe their animals. ”If you say ’comfort,’ ’need’ or ’emotional support,’ you’re out the door,” she says. ”If you talk about what your animal does in terms of ’tasks’ and ’work,’ then you stand a chance.”
Case in point: When the dental school questioned Eggers about whether Sadie was a service animal, he said she kept him ”calm.” If he had said that she alerts him to things like attacks and doorbells, his case might have been stronger. ;. ;
According to Jennifer Mathis, an attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, ”A lot of times when people with legitimate service animals lose these cases, it has to do with the fact that they don’t explain their service animals well.”
Rather than risk a lawsuit, many business owners simply allow the animals, even if they doubt their legitimacy. Then they complain to the Department of Justice that the A.D.A. is too broad in its definition of ”service animal,” and too restrictive of businesses trying to protect themselves from people who fake it. Which many people do.
In October, a man in Portland, Ore., took his dog on a bus, claiming that it was a service animal. While getting off the bus, the dog killed another dog that was riding as a ”comfort animal.” (In Portland, comfort animals are allowed on public transportation.) A few days later, an editorial appeared in The Oregonian with the headline ”Take the Menagerie Off the Bus.” It opened with: ”No offense, ferret lovers.... Your pet... may offer emotional support. But it shouldn’t be roaming the aisles of a ... bus or train.” It argued that the story of the dead comfort dog was proof that people had stretched the legal definition of service animals to include a virtual zoo of animals.
Lex Frieden, a professor of health-information science at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and a former director of the National Council on Disability, sees the issue differently. ”People shouldn’t be able to carry their pets on a plane or into a restaurant claiming they’re service animals when they’re not,” he says. ”But that has nothing to do with what species a service animal is.” The appropriate response in those situations isn’t a species ban, he says, but rather strict punishments for people who pose as disabled. ”It’s fraud,” he points out, ”and it results in increased scrutiny of people with legitimate disabilities.”
In June, in an effort to clarify the confusion surrounding service animals, the Department of Justice proposed new regulations to explicitly include psychiatric service and exclude comfort animals. This was part of a sweeping revision of the A.D.A. intended to increase protection and access for the disabled, which was widely applauded. But tucked into that proposal were a few lines that worry advocates and people with disabilities: the D.O. J. proposed limiting service animals to a ”dog or other common domestic animal,” specifically excluding ”wild animals (including nonhuman primates born in captivity), reptiles, rabbits, farm animals (including any breed of horse, miniature horse, pony, pig or goat), ferrets, amphibians and rodents.”
This summer, the D.O.J. held a public hearing in Washington and invited anyone who would be affected by the proposed changes to argue for or against them. Many pleaded their cases in person, others by letter. The arguments in favor of species restrictions came primarily from businesses concerned about having to alter facilities, rebuilding seating areas, say, to make room for miniature horses. Several service-animal organizations and people with disabilities argued that banning reptiles and insects was fine but that excluding miniature horses and primates simply went too far. In their defense, they cited things like dog allergies, the long life spans of several species and monkeys’ opposable thumbs. After considering the arguments, last month the D.O.J. submitted a final proposal to the Office of Management and Budget. Until there’s a ruling, neither office will comment on the issue or say whether the species restriction was removed or revised after the public hearings.
Jamie Hais, a spokeswoman for the D.O.J., said she couldn’t comment on why the department suggested the species restriction. But its proposal expressed concerns about ’ public-health risks and said that when the original A.D.A. was written, without specifying species, ”few anticipated” the variety of animals people would attempt to use.
”That’s simply not true,” says Frieden, who was an architect of the original A.D.A. While drafting the regulations, he said, Congressional staff members had long discussions about defining ”service animal” and whether a trained pony could qualify. ”There was general consensus that the issue revolved around the question of function, not form,” he says. ”So, in fact, if that pony provided assistance to a person with a disability and enabled that person to pursue equal opportunity and nondiscrimination, then that pony could be regarded as a service animal.” They discussed the possibility of birds and snakes for psychiatric disorders, he said, but one of their biggest concerns was that the A.D.A. shouldn’t exclude service monkeys, which were already working with quadriplegics. Since then, however, monkeys have become the most contested assistance-animal species of all.
On a rainy day in November, I walked through a T. J. Maxx store in Springfield, Mo., with Debby Rose and Richard, her 25-pound bonnet macaque monkey — one of the most controversial service animals working today. Rose was wearing brown pants and a brownand-gold-patterned shirt. Richard was wearing a brown long-sleeved polo over a white Tshirt with jeans and a tan vest that said ”Please Don’t Pet Me I’m Working.” Richard stood in the child seat of Rose’s shopping cart, facing forward, bouncing up and down, smacking his lips and grinning as Rose pushed him down the aisles.
Richard is a hands-on shopper. If Rose pointed at a sweater or purse she liked, or a pair of shoes, his hand darted out to touch them. As we passed a pair of tan, fuzzy winter boots that Rose particularly liked, Richard leaned out of the cart and quickly licked one on its toe. ’
People stared as we walked. ”Why do you have him?” they’d ask.
”He’s a service animal trained for my disability, kind of like a seizure-alert dog,” Rose told them, again and again., ,,
”Can I pet him?”
”He doesn’t like to be touched,” she’d say, ”but you can give him five.”
People raised their hands, and Richard gave them five.
That Rose isn’t bothered by people looking and asking questions is impressive, considering that she has agoraphobia and severe anxiety disorder with debilitating panic attacks. Until getting Richard four years ago, she required heavy doses of anti-anxiety drugs just to go out in public. ”I couldn’t have come in this store before Richard, let alone handled all these people talking to me,” she said. ”Now I like it.”
Rose adopted Richard in 2004; he was badly neglected and near death. She and two of her six children — whom she raised as a single mother — run an exotic-animal shelter. Rose says she believes that Richard was trained as a service animal for his previous owner, an elderly woman whose son gave Richard away when she died. He had been neutered, and his tail had been surgically removed. He’d also had his large and potentially dangerous canine teeth pulled, a procedure commonly done with service monkeys for safety (and often cited as one of several ethical concerns with using wild instead of domesticated species for such jobs).
As Richard returned to health, Rose realized that he had begun to recognize her panic attacks before she did. Her doctor suggested that she train him to help with her disorder, then wrote a letter approving of him as a service animal, saying that Richard was ”a constructive way to avoid use of unnecessary medications.” Rose took that letter to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, got permission for Richard to accompany her in public and has been drug-free ever since. She ordered a service-animal ID certificate online; she even got a restriction on her driver’s license saying that she can’t operate a car without a monkey present. Now he sits in her lap with a hand on the wheel while she drives, and she never leaves home without him.
But the number of places Rose and Richard can go is decreasing. In September 2006, after receiving complaints that Richard was sitting in highchairs in restaurants, touching silverware and going through a buffet line with Rose, the Health Department sent a letter to all local restaurants announcing that Richard was a risk to public health and not a legitimate service animal. It instructed businesses to refuse him access and to call the police if Rose protested. Businesses posted the letter on their doors and in their bathrooms; soon Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences, where Rose was attending nursing school, refused Richard access, too. Stories started appearing about Rose and her monkey in the newspaper and on TV. ”Suddenly,” she told me, ”everyone knew I had a mental disorder.”
Rose dropped out of school and filed a lawsuit against her local Health Department, the nursing school, Wal-Mart and several other local businesses that had forbidden Richard access, saying that they violated the A.D.A. Kevin Gipson, director of the local Health Department, told me that he had asked Rose to show him what ”tasks” Richard performed that would qualify him. ”She couldn’t,” he said.
Defining ”task” is often a point of contention in these cases, especially with psychiatric service animals, whose work generally can’t be demonstrated on command. Before going to T. J. Maxx, I saw Rose begin to panic while sitting in her lawyer’s office talking about her case. Her face flushed; her voice quivered. Richard, who had been dozing in the chair beside her, leapt onto her arm and began stroking her hair. He hugged her, rubbed her ear and cooed while she talked. She immediately calmed down. ”He snaps me out of it before the attacks happen,” she said. ”If they start at night, he’ll turn on the light and get me a bottle of water.”
For Gipson, that’s really beside the point. ”Even if Richard is a legitimate service animal,” he told me, ”if he poses a public-health risk, the A.D.A. says he can be excluded. And we believe primates pose a significant health risk.”
Rose says that Richard is perfectly safe and immaculately clean. She showers and blow-dries him every day and uses hand sanitizer on him regularly, and he always wears diapers. But that doesn’t impress the Health Department. Monkeys can carry viruses, like herpes B, which are essentially harmless to them but usually deadly to humans. Those viruses can be transmitted through saliva and other bodily fluids. In 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study titled ”B-Viruses From Pet Macaque Monkeys: An Emerging Threat in the United States?” saying that 80 to 90 percent of adult macaques like Richard carry herpes B. It’s possible to test them for viruses, which Rose does every year with Richard, but those tests often give false negatives. Plus, Gipson told me, ”he could catch it any time from contact with other monkeys, which we know he’s had.” Five days before the Health Department banned Richard, a local newspaper ran pictures of him and several other monkeys hanging out at Rose’s family’s sanctuary.
According to Frederick Murphy, former head of viral pathology for the C.D.C. and codiscoverer of the Ebola virus, the threat that viruses from service monkeys present to humans is essentially unknown. There have been a few cases of primate-lab workers contracting herpes B from macaques — mostly from being bitten — but no cases of people being infected by service monkeys, which are usually capuchins.
The bigger concern, according to several experts, is potential aggression. ”People think monkeys are cute and like humans, but they’re not,” says Laura Kahn, a public-health expert at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton. ”They’re wild animals, and they’re dangerous.”
Critics of noncanine service animals tend to focus on disease perhaps because that’s the only way to legally exclude any service animal under the current A.D.A. But on the whole, Bradford Smith, former director of the University of California Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, says, ”I would tend to think the disease argument is really a proxy for other concerns, like having to let any person who says their parrot or horse is a service animal enter into public areas.”
Rose’s case is sometimes held up as an example of why the A.D.A. should be rewritten to exclude primates as service animals. But in fact, Frieden says, it’s an example of how the original A.D.A. works well as it was written, since it allows broad use of service animals while still leaving room to protect the public health. ”Some situations have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis,” he says. ”You can’t legislate fine lines — that’s just not a functional law.”
Frieden is very clear about his belief that it would be a huge loss if concerns about specific cases jeopardized the use of all noncanine service animals, especially the capuchin monkeys trained to help quadriplegics. The capuchins attend ”monkey college” at Helping Hands, a nonprofit organization in Boston, where they fetch remote controls, put food in microwaves, open containers, vacuum floors and flip light switches, all in exchange for treats. Helping Hands capuchins are captive bred, which minimizes the risk of picking up diseases, and they’re provided specifically for in-home use. The proposed species restriction might make it impossible for people to transport capuchins or keep them in their homes because of zoning restrictions. The thought of this makes Helping Hands’s founder, M. J. Willard, shudder. ”There ought to be a more nuanced way if somebody just thinks it through,” she says. ”Even just minor requirements of verifying the legitimacy of a service animal would solve a lot of the current problem.”
Frieden agrees. He suggests that perhaps a national committee could be appointed to develop certification standards for all service animals as well as a formal process for preventing and punishing service-animal fraud. Doing so might solve part of the controversy, he says. But not all of it. Particularly when it comes to species questions.
”Many people try to make this issue black and white — this service animal is good; that one is bad — but that’s not possible, because disability extends through an enormous realm of human behavior and anatomy and human condition,” Frieden told me. In the end, according to him, the important thing to remember is this: ”The public used to be put off by the very sight of a person with a disability. That state of mind delayed productivity and caused irreparable harm to many people for decades. We’ve now said, by law, that regardless of their disability, people must have equal opportunity, and we can’t discriminate. In order to seek the opportunities and benefits they have as citizens, if a person needs a cane, they should be able to use one. If they need a wheelchair, a dog, a miniature horse or any other device or animal, society has to accept that, because those things are, in fact, part of that person.”
Rebecca Skloot teaches nonfiction at the University of Memphis. Her first book, ”The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” will be published by Crown in spring 2010.
....... , Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Friday, January 2
Seeing Eye kicks off 80th anniversary
Greetings. 2009 is a notable year on a number of fronts, not the least of which is that it's the 80th anniversary of The Seeing eye. Below find information on how The Seeing Eye will kick off the celebration of their 80th year. I received this from their email list. Links are provided where appropriate. Enjoy.
***
President and CEO of The Seeing Eye Jim Kutsch, with Seeing Eye® dog Colby at his side, will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, January 6, ringing in a year-long celebration of the school's 80th anniversary.
Founded in Nashville on January 29, 1929, the oldest existing school to train dog guides expects to match its 15,000th dog with a blind person sometime during the anniversary year. The organization moved to Morris County, N.J., in 1931 and has been in its current location, just outside Morristown, since 1964.
"We are very excited about this opportunity to ring the opening bell," said Kutsch. "Since its beginning, The Seeing Eye has relied on the financial support of many of the corporations represented within the stock exchange. And many executives of those corporations have supported us – and continue to support us – both financially and as members of our Board of Trustees. Philanthropic organizations like The Seeing Eye would not exist without the support of corporate America."
The event can be viewed live on CNBC television at 9:30 a.m. (ET) or online at http://www.nyse.com/attachment/liveflashbell.htm
The archived video will be available by finding The Seeing Eye's event page on http://www.nyse.com/events/Cal_1194896449734.html
beginning 30 minutes after the event.
The visit to Wall Street will be the first of numerous celebrations taking place throughout 2009. Among those events will be a reunion of current Seeing Eye dog users, dedication of a historic marker at the school's original Nashville location, and a number of regional fundraising events across the United States and Canada.
We hope you'll find the opportunity to celebrate with us!
Teresa Davenport
Director of Communications
***
President and CEO of The Seeing Eye Jim Kutsch, with Seeing Eye® dog Colby at his side, will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, January 6, ringing in a year-long celebration of the school's 80th anniversary.
Founded in Nashville on January 29, 1929, the oldest existing school to train dog guides expects to match its 15,000th dog with a blind person sometime during the anniversary year. The organization moved to Morris County, N.J., in 1931 and has been in its current location, just outside Morristown, since 1964.
"We are very excited about this opportunity to ring the opening bell," said Kutsch. "Since its beginning, The Seeing Eye has relied on the financial support of many of the corporations represented within the stock exchange. And many executives of those corporations have supported us – and continue to support us – both financially and as members of our Board of Trustees. Philanthropic organizations like The Seeing Eye would not exist without the support of corporate America."
The event can be viewed live on CNBC television at 9:30 a.m. (ET) or online at http://www.nyse.com/attachment/liveflashbell.htm
The archived video will be available by finding The Seeing Eye's event page on http://www.nyse.com/events/Cal_1194896449734.html
beginning 30 minutes after the event.
The visit to Wall Street will be the first of numerous celebrations taking place throughout 2009. Among those events will be a reunion of current Seeing Eye dog users, dedication of a historic marker at the school's original Nashville location, and a number of regional fundraising events across the United States and Canada.
We hope you'll find the opportunity to celebrate with us!
Teresa Davenport
Director of Communications
Second annual access awards
Greetings and Happy New Year. Despite the extra second added at 5:59:60pm on new Year's Eve, we've finally made it to 2009. BlindBargains.com are accepting nominations for their secodn annual Access Awards. I don't think that any actual awards are given out for the winners, other than bragging rights, but perhaps that's enough. If you want to participate, nominations must be submitted by 5pm Eastern on January 14. After that point you can visit their site to cast your vote for who you think should be the winner in each of 11 different categories. Visit this page to submit your nomination in the Access Award. Have fun.
Sunday, December 21
2008 year end review
Greetings. As I sit here and reflect, I’ve just finished listening to The Seeing Eye’s holiday message, which they send out each year about this time. This year though, they sent it on CD. I don’t know if this is a recent change or something that they’ve been doing for a few years, sending the message on CD that is, but it’s great! I love being able to listen to the message on my computer, and then file the CD away for later remembering. I’m glad that they’re making the transition from tape to digital forms of communication and look forward to future mailings on CD from them. As always, it was neat listening to some instructors that I already knew along with many people I haven’t even met that are all apart of The Seeing Eye’s family. It’s this launching point that I begin my year in review. As a loyal blog reader, you likely know what I’m going to say here, but come along anyway and let’s remember the year’s past events.
Another year has gone in my job. I can’t believe that I’ve been working at the state training center for nearly 3 years. February 1 of this year saw my 2 year anniversary date, and a milestone of sorts, for it’s on the 2 year date point that you get 9 hours of annual leave each month, up from 8. I’ll have to wait a little while until I get 10 hours of annual leave, that comes at the 5 year point, but it’s been nice to get 9 hours. I’ve also grown as an instructor and coworker. I can look back at how I was when I started this job, and even how my teaching was back in 2003, and see some definite changes and improvements. Though, I’m not to the point of being a perfect teacher yet. Honestly, I don’t’ know if anyone ever reaches that point. There’s always something you can learn or improve upon, whether it be in how you teach, how you reach and motivate students, or something else.
Some work related highlights, in no particular order, include: The Louis Braille celebration we had last January, the river tubing trip which thankfully wasn’t rained out this year back in June, White Cane Day activities and preparations in October, all the various graduations for students I attended this year, and other things. This year also saw one of my tech department colleagues move to another department, but a new employee join our ranks in September. The new person is Jeanine Lineback, having previously worked at the Colorado Center for the Blind for a number of years. She has a wealth of experience in technology and brings a lot to our department. It will be great when her probation period is over in a couple of months and she can fully be part of class rotations. And, more to the point, we can be a full department again. It’s amazing how one or two absences can make a difference when you’re used to having 6 people available to teach.
This year also saw me make another big change in my personal life, and that was back in March when I decided to apply for another Seeing Eye dog. As I went through the application and interview process again, and as I got a “penciled in” date for when my class “might” be, it was neat going through that anticipation all over again. Of wondering what kind of dog you’ll get, what the dog’s doing right now, and so forth. Things really became real when I found myself sending numerous emails to my work team of instructors on various aspects of technology training. Anyone who knows me, or has even read this blog for any length of time, has picked up on the fact that I’m very detail oriented. Imagine if you will how these emails must have looked then. Anyway, as the date got closer more preparations were being made. Then I went to the summer NFB national convention in Dallas and got to meet up with several people from The Seeing Eye and attended their graduate breakfast. Unknowingly, I actually met one of the instructors that would be in my August 30 class at that graduate breakfast. Though she wasn’t my instructor, we did develop instant comrodderry in class with one word: “Sausage!”
Then the date came and I was up at 4am, getting ready and then being picked up to go to the airport. Class was a blur looking back on it, but then again, I knew it would be. It never goes as slowly as we want it to. I enjoyed every minute I was there though and enjoyed getting to know the instructors, the staff, and the various students from around the U.S. and Canada. I had some good times there, and for the first time, I was able to blog about most of them while in training. That was really a neat thing to do and something I’ll likely go back to read from time to time, to help me remember.
Oh yeah, how could I forget? Getting Gucci. Gucci came to me on September 1, which happened to be the exact date that my prior guide, Tony, died in 2006. It was and will be a good date to remember. What can I say about Gucci that I haven’t already tried to say in my blog? Not much, just this: Gucci, I’m glad I gotcha!
I think I got spoiled from being away from work for 3 weeks, since when I came back, I was already missing the time off. That first week seemed endless for me, mainly because I had to adjust to my normal schedule, not the SeeignEye schedule. As the weeks went by though Gucci and I have become more of a team. I was initially concerned about her navigating around canes and other things in the training center environment. She’s done great though. There have been tight spots, but she’s always aware of things, and when she’s not, I’m quick to remind her that she’s working and to keep her mind on what she’s doing. That seems to solve the problem.
In the last couple of months, I’ve upgraded my radio scene, going to Sirius Satellite radio and gaining lots of commercial free music stations, sports play by play channels, and other great things. It’s always been hard for me to project ahead, but as it stands now, I don’t think that I’ll ever go back to “normal” radio. I’ve also gotten a newer cell phone, the Nokia N82, and am still in the process of getting used to it and getting things the way I want on it. I’ve enjoyed the journey so far though, and really love surfing the web with Talks, listening to music I’ve transferred, and using some spiffy programs, such as Wayfinder Access for GPS and others.
The last 5 months of the year have also seen me addressing various medical items that I have to deal with. Though you probably won’t read about those specifics here, I do appreciate the family and friends that have offered their support to me during these processes. There’s more medicals to come in the next few months, but I know that God, my family, and my friends will be right there with me. I know that Gucci will also be there with me, and that counts for a lot too.
So that’s about all for this year. I’ve got to go and pack. I’m usually the one to get all my packing done early, but here I sit writing this entry when I could be getting ready to go home tomorrow. I’m going to Dallas to be with family for about a week, and then I’ll return to Austin on December 30 for a few days to myself before going back to work on January 5.
Here’s to what’s left of 2008. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Season Greetings to you and yours. May 2009 be even better for you then 2008! And Hook ‘em Horns!
Another year has gone in my job. I can’t believe that I’ve been working at the state training center for nearly 3 years. February 1 of this year saw my 2 year anniversary date, and a milestone of sorts, for it’s on the 2 year date point that you get 9 hours of annual leave each month, up from 8. I’ll have to wait a little while until I get 10 hours of annual leave, that comes at the 5 year point, but it’s been nice to get 9 hours. I’ve also grown as an instructor and coworker. I can look back at how I was when I started this job, and even how my teaching was back in 2003, and see some definite changes and improvements. Though, I’m not to the point of being a perfect teacher yet. Honestly, I don’t’ know if anyone ever reaches that point. There’s always something you can learn or improve upon, whether it be in how you teach, how you reach and motivate students, or something else.
Some work related highlights, in no particular order, include: The Louis Braille celebration we had last January, the river tubing trip which thankfully wasn’t rained out this year back in June, White Cane Day activities and preparations in October, all the various graduations for students I attended this year, and other things. This year also saw one of my tech department colleagues move to another department, but a new employee join our ranks in September. The new person is Jeanine Lineback, having previously worked at the Colorado Center for the Blind for a number of years. She has a wealth of experience in technology and brings a lot to our department. It will be great when her probation period is over in a couple of months and she can fully be part of class rotations. And, more to the point, we can be a full department again. It’s amazing how one or two absences can make a difference when you’re used to having 6 people available to teach.
This year also saw me make another big change in my personal life, and that was back in March when I decided to apply for another Seeing Eye dog. As I went through the application and interview process again, and as I got a “penciled in” date for when my class “might” be, it was neat going through that anticipation all over again. Of wondering what kind of dog you’ll get, what the dog’s doing right now, and so forth. Things really became real when I found myself sending numerous emails to my work team of instructors on various aspects of technology training. Anyone who knows me, or has even read this blog for any length of time, has picked up on the fact that I’m very detail oriented. Imagine if you will how these emails must have looked then. Anyway, as the date got closer more preparations were being made. Then I went to the summer NFB national convention in Dallas and got to meet up with several people from The Seeing Eye and attended their graduate breakfast. Unknowingly, I actually met one of the instructors that would be in my August 30 class at that graduate breakfast. Though she wasn’t my instructor, we did develop instant comrodderry in class with one word: “Sausage!”
Then the date came and I was up at 4am, getting ready and then being picked up to go to the airport. Class was a blur looking back on it, but then again, I knew it would be. It never goes as slowly as we want it to. I enjoyed every minute I was there though and enjoyed getting to know the instructors, the staff, and the various students from around the U.S. and Canada. I had some good times there, and for the first time, I was able to blog about most of them while in training. That was really a neat thing to do and something I’ll likely go back to read from time to time, to help me remember.
Oh yeah, how could I forget? Getting Gucci. Gucci came to me on September 1, which happened to be the exact date that my prior guide, Tony, died in 2006. It was and will be a good date to remember. What can I say about Gucci that I haven’t already tried to say in my blog? Not much, just this: Gucci, I’m glad I gotcha!
I think I got spoiled from being away from work for 3 weeks, since when I came back, I was already missing the time off. That first week seemed endless for me, mainly because I had to adjust to my normal schedule, not the SeeignEye schedule. As the weeks went by though Gucci and I have become more of a team. I was initially concerned about her navigating around canes and other things in the training center environment. She’s done great though. There have been tight spots, but she’s always aware of things, and when she’s not, I’m quick to remind her that she’s working and to keep her mind on what she’s doing. That seems to solve the problem.
In the last couple of months, I’ve upgraded my radio scene, going to Sirius Satellite radio and gaining lots of commercial free music stations, sports play by play channels, and other great things. It’s always been hard for me to project ahead, but as it stands now, I don’t think that I’ll ever go back to “normal” radio. I’ve also gotten a newer cell phone, the Nokia N82, and am still in the process of getting used to it and getting things the way I want on it. I’ve enjoyed the journey so far though, and really love surfing the web with Talks, listening to music I’ve transferred, and using some spiffy programs, such as Wayfinder Access for GPS and others.
The last 5 months of the year have also seen me addressing various medical items that I have to deal with. Though you probably won’t read about those specifics here, I do appreciate the family and friends that have offered their support to me during these processes. There’s more medicals to come in the next few months, but I know that God, my family, and my friends will be right there with me. I know that Gucci will also be there with me, and that counts for a lot too.
So that’s about all for this year. I’ve got to go and pack. I’m usually the one to get all my packing done early, but here I sit writing this entry when I could be getting ready to go home tomorrow. I’m going to Dallas to be with family for about a week, and then I’ll return to Austin on December 30 for a few days to myself before going back to work on January 5.
Here’s to what’s left of 2008. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Season Greetings to you and yours. May 2009 be even better for you then 2008! And Hook ‘em Horns!
Monday, December 8
Reasons and rationalizations
Greetings. One of the many problems for guide dog owners is that of the public, coworkers, family, friends, or even relatives, or total strangers (which pretty much includes everyone), either wanting to pet your dog or out right petting without permission. Ideally, they would ask permission first and accept whatever answer they get, whether it's yes or no. However, as we all know, not everyone asks. I don't even know the number of times people pet my yellow Lab, my first guide, before I caught on to what was happening. In the three months or so that I've had Gucci, it hasn't happened as much, but I'm not sure if that's because people are afraid of the German Shepherd, or because they know not to pet the guide when they're working. Probably a little of both. Anyway, here's a great take on the petting the dog problem that many people face. After reading it, I can think of numerous times when I was using the yellow Lab when a person likely had these thoughts. Interesting how all of these phrases end in much the same way, with "... the cute doggie." Enjoy.
***
Rationalizations & Reasons Why Folks Don't Ask Permission to Pet Your
Guide:
1. Since the person can't see it stands to reason they can't hear
either...
so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
2. She's blind, she has no idea I'm here, if I speak it would scare her to
death... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
3. Blindness might be contagious... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
4. Blind people don't understand the language... so I'll just pet the cute
doggie.
5. Hey, I'm just stupid... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
6. Look how that mean blind person is ignoring that dog, poor thing
desperately needs some love... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
7. I love dogs therefore I don't have to ask permission... so I'll just
pet
the cute doggie.
8. Heck, he's blind how will he know if I pet his dog... so I'll just pet
the cute doggie.
9. If the blind person catches me petting their dog I'll just mumble some
excuse... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
10. Ask permissions? Why? I certainly don't need any one's permission to
pet the cute doggie.
***
Rationalizations & Reasons Why Folks Don't Ask Permission to Pet Your
Guide:
1. Since the person can't see it stands to reason they can't hear
either...
so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
2. She's blind, she has no idea I'm here, if I speak it would scare her to
death... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
3. Blindness might be contagious... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
4. Blind people don't understand the language... so I'll just pet the cute
doggie.
5. Hey, I'm just stupid... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
6. Look how that mean blind person is ignoring that dog, poor thing
desperately needs some love... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
7. I love dogs therefore I don't have to ask permission... so I'll just
pet
the cute doggie.
8. Heck, he's blind how will he know if I pet his dog... so I'll just pet
the cute doggie.
9. If the blind person catches me petting their dog I'll just mumble some
excuse... so I'll just pet the cute doggie.
10. Ask permissions? Why? I certainly don't need any one's permission to
pet the cute doggie.
Windows 7 features and accessibility
Greetings. I've come across two links with information on Windows 7, the next operating system from Microsoft said to come out next year. We'll see when it actually is out though after all is said and done. Anyway, if you'd like to read a list of features in Windows 7 or the accessibility planned for Windows 7 then read these pages. Note that as for the features list, this is only a preliminary listing, and it's likely that things will change and that not all of those features listed will end up in the final product. Also, regarding accessibility, it's good to see that Microsoft is taking a proactive view on making sure their product is accessible. However, as a totally blind person, I don't have a lot of use for the on-screen keyboard or the magnifier, no matter how good it is. No mention is made in the article about improvements to Narrator, the built-in screen reader that Microsoft has included in Windows versions dating back to Windows 2000 I believe. I know it's hard to please everyone all the time, but I would think that there would be some mention of Narrator in an article on accessibility features/improvements in the upcoming operating system. Anyway, good information all the same. Enjoy.
Wednesday, November 26
The decline of traditional radio
Greetings. When browsing through the selection of stories today from the International Herald Tribune, I couldn't help but notice the one called U.S. radio companies continue to weaken. Though satellite radio wasn't mentioned as far as numbers of listeners in the past few years, I'd be interested to know where it stands among the regular radio, HD Radio, and the like. I think that until the broadcasters bring radio back to what made it so great initially, it's originality, then we'll continue to see radio numbers decline and alternatives such as HD and Satellite Radio increase. Enjoy.
A dog's bedtime prayer
Greetings. I received the following story via email. Enjoy.
Now I lay me down to sleep,
The queen-size bed is soft and deep.
I sleep right in the center groove,
My human being can hardly move.
I've trapped her legs,
she's tucked in tight,
and here is where I pass the night.
No one disturbs me or dares intrude,
Til morning comes and I want food.
I sneak up slowly and it begins,
My nibbles on my human's chin.
she wakes up slowly and smiles and shouts, "You darling beast! Just
cut it out!"
But morning's here and its time to play,
I always seem to get my way.
So thank you Lord, for giving me,
this human person that I see
The one who holds me tight
and shares her bed with me at night!
Now I lay me down to sleep,
The queen-size bed is soft and deep.
I sleep right in the center groove,
My human being can hardly move.
I've trapped her legs,
she's tucked in tight,
and here is where I pass the night.
No one disturbs me or dares intrude,
Til morning comes and I want food.
I sneak up slowly and it begins,
My nibbles on my human's chin.
she wakes up slowly and smiles and shouts, "You darling beast! Just
cut it out!"
But morning's here and its time to play,
I always seem to get my way.
So thank you Lord, for giving me,
this human person that I see
The one who holds me tight
and shares her bed with me at night!
Monday, November 3
JAWS 10 released
Greetings. For those interested, JAWS 10 was released by Freedom Scientific today. You can read about the Changes in JAWS 10. This page also contains information on how to download and install JAWS 10, along with all of the fixes made during the beta cycle. Enjoy.
Wednesday, October 29
Gucci update
Greetings. Yes, for those paying attention, I've just given you the name of my new dog. I mentioned it in one of my last posts in the Dog Blog in September, but it was toward the end of the post. I figure that we're past the initial "breaking in" period and it's okay to throw her name out there. I'm told that when she is laying down with her paws straight out in front of her and her head off to the side, that she looks very classy, lady like and regal. For those that I work with or who I may stay with or see every so often, I would still request that you not use her name when she's working. Actually, when introducing her to the masses at work when we got back, I said that "... her name's secret." Evidently, this has stuck and now many people at work call her "Secret" when they see her in the hall. Upon reflection, I'm fine with this nickname, mainly because it sounds nothing like her real name, so there's little chance of her getting confused or distracted.
As for her work around the training center, it has gotten better by the week. I was able to arrange during my trip to Jersey, for a Seeing Eye field trainer to come and visit me after I got home. As it turned out, this didn't happen until the secodn week. In a way though, I was glad so that Gucci and I could go through our initial settling in time. It also gave me a chance to see what things we needed to work on and thereby optimize the time I did spend with the trainer. Jonathan, the trainer, was very good and even though we didn't have as much time as I thought we would, we still got lots done. When we were through he asked me if there was anything else, and my response went something like, "Well, sure there are. But I think most things will work themselves out in time," and they have.
It seems like at the end of each work week, I can look back and see the progress that Gucci has made during that week and overall. For instance, she initially was unsure of how to handle canes. Keep in mind that since I work at a training center for the adult blind, canes, many canes, are a daily occurrance for us. Anyway, she handled ones that were off in a distance or in the middle of the hall just fine, but when people popped up in front of her, or got their canes underneath her, she totally stopped. That created some awkward situations with people telling me things like, "Looks like you need to work with her some more." With Jonathan's help and through the past few weeks, her decisions and confidence have both gradually increased. Now the only time she will stop in front of a cane is if we're coming around a corner and someone pops up in front of her that she didn't expect, like if we're turning left when we come out of a stairwell and someone just happens to be right there. That particular incident happened this morning. When they do happen, I drop the harness handle, talk to the person, and gradually we will pass each other. When the other person has passed me, I'll pick up the handle and encourage Gucci to go on.
The way she goes around people has also gotten better, both those with canes and those without. I think she's finally figured out that people outside the Center will freely get out of her way, but those inside will not. In fact, those inside might just stop where they are, sometimes in the middle of the hallway and sometimes on the sides. She just navigates around them though and goes on. I'm beginning to realize what other German Shepherd dog guide owners told me before I went up for training, that their dogs would see things from 30-50 feet away and already start to problem solve how to get around them.
Gucci is also becoming more confident in her decisions. The big thing remaining for us to fix is for me to correctly interpret her stops or swerves for obsticles. When she swerves to the right on a sidewalk, is it because she's going around something, or because she wants to go to the right because she recognizes the area that she makes her daily deposits at? Or, is she just goofing off and distracted from another dog or a person? All these things go through my mind when I work her, and I'm guessing when any guide dog handler works their dog.
Some say that you can relax when using a dog, and this is ttrue. In some cases not as much thought is involved as when you use a cane. However, this lack of thought is made up for in other ways, such as interpretting the dog's movements correctly, offering corrections when they don't do something right, and keeping them on task. And being aware of the environment you're in so you can correctly direct the dog. It took me a long time with my first guide to accept that my role was the navigator and my dog was the guide. I can give her instructions, but if she chooses not to obey them, like not turning left when I ask her to, then she may be preventing me from running into something. Believe you me, plenty of guide dog handlers, including me, can recount times when they didn't listen to the dog and stepped off a curb into a puddle, or banged into a sign, and then realized that this was why the dog stopped or wouldn't turn.
Anyway, a month and then some has gone by since we got back from Jersey and I think we're making good progress toward being a good working team. We're not there yet, wherever there is, but we're on our way. I wonder how things will be and what they will look like in another few weeks/months? Time will tell.
As for her work around the training center, it has gotten better by the week. I was able to arrange during my trip to Jersey, for a Seeing Eye field trainer to come and visit me after I got home. As it turned out, this didn't happen until the secodn week. In a way though, I was glad so that Gucci and I could go through our initial settling in time. It also gave me a chance to see what things we needed to work on and thereby optimize the time I did spend with the trainer. Jonathan, the trainer, was very good and even though we didn't have as much time as I thought we would, we still got lots done. When we were through he asked me if there was anything else, and my response went something like, "Well, sure there are. But I think most things will work themselves out in time," and they have.
It seems like at the end of each work week, I can look back and see the progress that Gucci has made during that week and overall. For instance, she initially was unsure of how to handle canes. Keep in mind that since I work at a training center for the adult blind, canes, many canes, are a daily occurrance for us. Anyway, she handled ones that were off in a distance or in the middle of the hall just fine, but when people popped up in front of her, or got their canes underneath her, she totally stopped. That created some awkward situations with people telling me things like, "Looks like you need to work with her some more." With Jonathan's help and through the past few weeks, her decisions and confidence have both gradually increased. Now the only time she will stop in front of a cane is if we're coming around a corner and someone pops up in front of her that she didn't expect, like if we're turning left when we come out of a stairwell and someone just happens to be right there. That particular incident happened this morning. When they do happen, I drop the harness handle, talk to the person, and gradually we will pass each other. When the other person has passed me, I'll pick up the handle and encourage Gucci to go on.
The way she goes around people has also gotten better, both those with canes and those without. I think she's finally figured out that people outside the Center will freely get out of her way, but those inside will not. In fact, those inside might just stop where they are, sometimes in the middle of the hallway and sometimes on the sides. She just navigates around them though and goes on. I'm beginning to realize what other German Shepherd dog guide owners told me before I went up for training, that their dogs would see things from 30-50 feet away and already start to problem solve how to get around them.
Gucci is also becoming more confident in her decisions. The big thing remaining for us to fix is for me to correctly interpret her stops or swerves for obsticles. When she swerves to the right on a sidewalk, is it because she's going around something, or because she wants to go to the right because she recognizes the area that she makes her daily deposits at? Or, is she just goofing off and distracted from another dog or a person? All these things go through my mind when I work her, and I'm guessing when any guide dog handler works their dog.
Some say that you can relax when using a dog, and this is ttrue. In some cases not as much thought is involved as when you use a cane. However, this lack of thought is made up for in other ways, such as interpretting the dog's movements correctly, offering corrections when they don't do something right, and keeping them on task. And being aware of the environment you're in so you can correctly direct the dog. It took me a long time with my first guide to accept that my role was the navigator and my dog was the guide. I can give her instructions, but if she chooses not to obey them, like not turning left when I ask her to, then she may be preventing me from running into something. Believe you me, plenty of guide dog handlers, including me, can recount times when they didn't listen to the dog and stepped off a curb into a puddle, or banged into a sign, and then realized that this was why the dog stopped or wouldn't turn.
Anyway, a month and then some has gone by since we got back from Jersey and I think we're making good progress toward being a good working team. We're not there yet, wherever there is, but we're on our way. I wonder how things will be and what they will look like in another few weeks/months? Time will tell.
Tuesday, October 28
Blind marching band
Greetings. The following was posted to an email list. I love reading and posting stories like this to this blog. It's these kinds of stories that get my blood flowing and provide another side to what the average person considers blindness to be. Enjoy!
Blind marching band and the Tournament of Roses Parade
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Members of the Ohio State School for the Blind marching band react to
News that their band has been invited to the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade.
The entire student body was in the gym when the surprise announcement was heard.
The band's trip to Pasadena, Calif., will cost about $1,500 per person.
Donations can be sent to the Ohio State School for the Blind
Parent-Teacher-Staff Organization, 5220 N. High St., Columbus 43214 The
entire student body had been herded into the gym to sing The
Star-Spangled Banner, which was video- recorded for a school project.
That was pretty cool, in itself -- several of the roughly 120 students at the Ohio State School for the Blind have perfect pitch, so it wasn't your
average school-choir rendition.
What happened next was even cooler: Music director Carol Agler's cell
Phone rang and the crowd went quiet. She held the microphone to the phone's earpiece as a man, calling from California, invited the school's
marching band to join the 2010 Rose Parade.
You'd have thought Paris Hilton or the Jonas Brothers had just walked
in -- that's how loud the screaming was.
"Congratulations, and we look forward to seeing you all," said Gary Di-
Sano, the parade's president in 2010.
The Rose Parade, which features flowers-only floats and takes place in
Pasadena, Calif., each New Year's Day, has never hosted a blind marching
band. In fact, Agler said she doesn't know of another one in the
country.
Right now, there are only 17 band members, plus about as many sighted
marching assistants who help them stay in formation.
"I think this will generate more kids in the band," said Agler, who
co-directs the band with another teacher, Dan Kelley. They've got a year
to whip the band into shape and to raise money for the cross-country trip.
Band members likely will practice marching on the school's campus and
Even on one of the gym's treadmills. The parade route is about 6 miles and
Will take about two hours to march, a grind the band isn't used to.
"I'm nervous, but I'm excited, too. It's gonna be hard, but we're gonna
Get through it," said Bria Goshay, a 15-year-old snare drummer from
Columbus.
The band was formed in 2005 and played its first full season with about
20 members in 2006. Its uniforms are castoffs from another high school that got new ones.
During a regular season, the band plays for an audience a handful of
times: at deaf-school football games, at a Dublin high-school pregame show, at the Ohio State University Skull Session in St. John Arena. The band recently marched in a Circleville Pumpkin Show parade.
Twenty-one bands from across the country have been booked for the Rose
Parade, said music committee chairwoman Stacy Houser. Two others,
Pickerington Central High School and Ohio University, are from Ohio.
"A blind marching band is such an incredibly unique thing," she said.
"We're hoping it'll be an inspiration throughout the country."
Bands are chosen using several criteria, including marching and musical
ability, uniqueness and overall talent.
Macy McClain, who plays the flute and piccolo in the band, likened the
Honor to being on American Idol.
"Except you don't have to stand in line," she said.
Blind marching band and the Tournament of Roses Parade
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Members of the Ohio State School for the Blind marching band react to
News that their band has been invited to the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade.
The entire student body was in the gym when the surprise announcement was heard.
The band's trip to Pasadena, Calif., will cost about $1,500 per person.
Donations can be sent to the Ohio State School for the Blind
Parent-Teacher-Staff Organization, 5220 N. High St., Columbus 43214 The
entire student body had been herded into the gym to sing The
Star-Spangled Banner, which was video- recorded for a school project.
That was pretty cool, in itself -- several of the roughly 120 students at the Ohio State School for the Blind have perfect pitch, so it wasn't your
average school-choir rendition.
What happened next was even cooler: Music director Carol Agler's cell
Phone rang and the crowd went quiet. She held the microphone to the phone's earpiece as a man, calling from California, invited the school's
marching band to join the 2010 Rose Parade.
You'd have thought Paris Hilton or the Jonas Brothers had just walked
in -- that's how loud the screaming was.
"Congratulations, and we look forward to seeing you all," said Gary Di-
Sano, the parade's president in 2010.
The Rose Parade, which features flowers-only floats and takes place in
Pasadena, Calif., each New Year's Day, has never hosted a blind marching
band. In fact, Agler said she doesn't know of another one in the
country.
Right now, there are only 17 band members, plus about as many sighted
marching assistants who help them stay in formation.
"I think this will generate more kids in the band," said Agler, who
co-directs the band with another teacher, Dan Kelley. They've got a year
to whip the band into shape and to raise money for the cross-country trip.
Band members likely will practice marching on the school's campus and
Even on one of the gym's treadmills. The parade route is about 6 miles and
Will take about two hours to march, a grind the band isn't used to.
"I'm nervous, but I'm excited, too. It's gonna be hard, but we're gonna
Get through it," said Bria Goshay, a 15-year-old snare drummer from
Columbus.
The band was formed in 2005 and played its first full season with about
20 members in 2006. Its uniforms are castoffs from another high school that got new ones.
During a regular season, the band plays for an audience a handful of
times: at deaf-school football games, at a Dublin high-school pregame show, at the Ohio State University Skull Session in St. John Arena. The band recently marched in a Circleville Pumpkin Show parade.
Twenty-one bands from across the country have been booked for the Rose
Parade, said music committee chairwoman Stacy Houser. Two others,
Pickerington Central High School and Ohio University, are from Ohio.
"A blind marching band is such an incredibly unique thing," she said.
"We're hoping it'll be an inspiration throughout the country."
Bands are chosen using several criteria, including marching and musical
ability, uniqueness and overall talent.
Macy McClain, who plays the flute and piccolo in the band, likened the
Honor to being on American Idol.
"Except you don't have to stand in line," she said.
Dog note to God
Greetings. I received the following from an email list for guide dog users. Enjoy, and as always, please excuse any formatting errors.
TO: GOD
FROM: THE DOG
Dear God: Is it on purpose our names are the same, only reversed?
Dear God: Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?
Dear God: When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it still the same old story?
Dear God: Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a Dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the 'Chrysler Eagle' the 'Chrysler Beagle'?
Dear God: If a Dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad Dog?
Dear God: We Dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID's, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?
Dear God: More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.
Dear God: Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?
Dear God: Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good Dog.
1. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they throw it up.
2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.
3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.
4. The sofa is not a 'face towel'.
5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
7. Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is an unacceptable way of saying 'hello'.
8. I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table .
9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.
10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt.
11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.
12. The cat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.
P.S. Dear God: When I get to Heaven may I have my testicles back?
TO: GOD
FROM: THE DOG
Dear God: Is it on purpose our names are the same, only reversed?
Dear God: Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?
Dear God: When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it still the same old story?
Dear God: Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a Dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the 'Chrysler Eagle' the 'Chrysler Beagle'?
Dear God: If a Dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad Dog?
Dear God: We Dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID's, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?
Dear God: More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.
Dear God: Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?
Dear God: Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good Dog.
1. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they throw it up.
2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.
3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.
4. The sofa is not a 'face towel'.
5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
7. Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is an unacceptable way of saying 'hello'.
8. I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table .
9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.
10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt.
11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.
12. The cat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.
P.S. Dear God: When I get to Heaven may I have my testicles back?
Sunday, October 26
New way to comment
Greetings. For those interested, I've changed the way comments are handled on this blog. From now on, a comment link will be embedded in each post. So, instead of opening the link with the post's title, you can click on the link for the number of comments. Each method goes to the same page. The comment form has changed as well. Before, you had to select your ID from a set of radio buttons, whereas now it's a combo box with many more ID options available. Those that have blogs on Blogger have this option now. Comments on this blog will still be approved before they appear, so I can monitor and prevent spam from appearing, but hopefully this will help make the commenting process easier. Read more on the new feature below. The following was taken from the Blogger Buzz Blog:
***
Today we’re bringing the embedded comment form out of Blogger in draft and making it easily available to everyone. This feature puts the comment form at the bottom of each post page, below the comments, instead of on the separate, Blogger-styled page.
The embedded comment form is more convenient for your readers because they can use it to post a comment immediately, without clicking over to a different page. It also looks better, since it matches your blog’s style and colors.
If you’re logged in to Blogger with your Google Account, you can also subscribe to comments via email by clicking the “Subscribe” link. Unlike with the full page comment form, you don’t need to post a comment to subscribe.
To enable the embedded comment form for your blog, go to the Settings > Comments page and look for the Comment Form Placement setting. Change it to Embedded below post, save your settings, and go check out a post to see the new form in action.
The embedded comment form works on both Classic and Layouts templates, though if you’re using a heavily-customized Layouts template you may need to reset your widget templates before the embedded comment form will appear.
We think that the embedded comment form is a big improvement, so we’ve made it the default setting for all new blogs.
Happy commenting!
Update, 10/23: We regret that this feature is being enabled for some existing blogs that didn’t specifically enable it. We are working to undo that, but in the meantime if you see this on your blog and don’t want it, go to Settings > Commenting and change Comment Form Placement to either “Full page” or “Pop-up window.”
***
Today we’re bringing the embedded comment form out of Blogger in draft and making it easily available to everyone. This feature puts the comment form at the bottom of each post page, below the comments, instead of on the separate, Blogger-styled page.
The embedded comment form is more convenient for your readers because they can use it to post a comment immediately, without clicking over to a different page. It also looks better, since it matches your blog’s style and colors.
If you’re logged in to Blogger with your Google Account, you can also subscribe to comments via email by clicking the “Subscribe” link. Unlike with the full page comment form, you don’t need to post a comment to subscribe.
To enable the embedded comment form for your blog, go to the Settings > Comments page and look for the Comment Form Placement setting. Change it to Embedded below post, save your settings, and go check out a post to see the new form in action.
The embedded comment form works on both Classic and Layouts templates, though if you’re using a heavily-customized Layouts template you may need to reset your widget templates before the embedded comment form will appear.
We think that the embedded comment form is a big improvement, so we’ve made it the default setting for all new blogs.
Happy commenting!
Update, 10/23: We regret that this feature is being enabled for some existing blogs that didn’t specifically enable it. We are working to undo that, but in the meantime if you see this on your blog and don’t want it, go to Settings > Commenting and change Comment Form Placement to either “Full page” or “Pop-up window.”
Get prepared for Louis's birthday
Greetings. I received the following note from National Braille Press via their email announcements list. Enjoy.
****
Louis Turns 200!
National Braille Press has been busy planning a virtual birthday party
in anticipation of Louis Braille's bicentennial this January 4th. We're
sending this notice out early, so you have time to help us spread the
word about a genius inventor.
First, we commissioned artist Judith Krimski to design a new image of
Louis that would respect his place in history and illuminate the
vitality of his vision today. Her stunning Louis icon appears on almost
every Bicentennial commemorative item listed below.
Read about the icon image here:
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/louis/about_icon.html
Next, we designed a half-dozen, low-cost items that you can use to
spread the word about Louis's Bicentennial --starting today and
throughout 2009! All of these items can be purchased at our new website
http://www.LouisBrailleBicentennial.com
Louis Lapel Pins. Our goal is to have everyone who cares about Louis
wearing his lapel pin this January 4th-and every other day! It even has
teeny-tiny braille letters across the bottom. Get your whole company to
participate! $5 each, plus shipping.
Louis Note Cards. Keep in touch with friends and family with these
gorgeous 4.25" x 5" note cards. Includes 10 cards and envelopes in a
sturdy card box: $7.99 for the set, plus shipping.
Bicentennial Wall Poster. Perfect for any classroom, this beautifully
illustrated 12.25" x 17" poster celebrates the life and achievements of
Louis Braille with images from France. Free-you pay for shipping only.
Print/braille Bookmarks. Perfect for the classroom, library or the
office, these colorful bookmarks feature our Louis image and facts about
his life. In packages of 30 for $8, or 50 for $12, plus shipping.
Braille Key Chains. These unique gold-plated coin key chains measure
1.5" in diameter. On one side, the words "Louis Braille 1809" appear in
braille, and the reverse side shows hands reading braille and the words
"Braille Opens Doors" Designed and produced by Paul and Bernie Dressell:
$5, plus shipping.
Tactile Louis. Commemorate the 200th birthday of Louis with this signed
and numbered, limited edition, ivory-colored, cast resin plaque,
sculpted by tactile artist Ann Cunningham. Hang it on a wall or display
it on the wire stand that comes with each plaque: $45, plus shipping.
Whatever you do, celebrate Braille. These make great holiday gifts!
All these commemorative mementos are available at
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/louis/gift_shop.html
******
To order any items or books, send payment to:
NBP, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115-4302
Or call and charge it: toll-free (800) 548-7323 or (617) 266-6160 ext
20. Or order any of our books online at
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/publications/index.html
****
Louis Turns 200!
National Braille Press has been busy planning a virtual birthday party
in anticipation of Louis Braille's bicentennial this January 4th. We're
sending this notice out early, so you have time to help us spread the
word about a genius inventor.
First, we commissioned artist Judith Krimski to design a new image of
Louis that would respect his place in history and illuminate the
vitality of his vision today. Her stunning Louis icon appears on almost
every Bicentennial commemorative item listed below.
Read about the icon image here:
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/louis/about_icon.html
Next, we designed a half-dozen, low-cost items that you can use to
spread the word about Louis's Bicentennial --starting today and
throughout 2009! All of these items can be purchased at our new website
http://www.LouisBrailleBicentennial.com
Louis Lapel Pins. Our goal is to have everyone who cares about Louis
wearing his lapel pin this January 4th-and every other day! It even has
teeny-tiny braille letters across the bottom. Get your whole company to
participate! $5 each, plus shipping.
Louis Note Cards. Keep in touch with friends and family with these
gorgeous 4.25" x 5" note cards. Includes 10 cards and envelopes in a
sturdy card box: $7.99 for the set, plus shipping.
Bicentennial Wall Poster. Perfect for any classroom, this beautifully
illustrated 12.25" x 17" poster celebrates the life and achievements of
Louis Braille with images from France. Free-you pay for shipping only.
Print/braille Bookmarks. Perfect for the classroom, library or the
office, these colorful bookmarks feature our Louis image and facts about
his life. In packages of 30 for $8, or 50 for $12, plus shipping.
Braille Key Chains. These unique gold-plated coin key chains measure
1.5" in diameter. On one side, the words "Louis Braille 1809" appear in
braille, and the reverse side shows hands reading braille and the words
"Braille Opens Doors" Designed and produced by Paul and Bernie Dressell:
$5, plus shipping.
Tactile Louis. Commemorate the 200th birthday of Louis with this signed
and numbered, limited edition, ivory-colored, cast resin plaque,
sculpted by tactile artist Ann Cunningham. Hang it on a wall or display
it on the wire stand that comes with each plaque: $45, plus shipping.
Whatever you do, celebrate Braille. These make great holiday gifts!
All these commemorative mementos are available at
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/louis/gift_shop.html
******
To order any items or books, send payment to:
NBP, 88 St. Stephen Street, Boston, MA 02115-4302
Or call and charge it: toll-free (800) 548-7323 or (617) 266-6160 ext
20. Or order any of our books online at
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/publications/index.html
Friday, October 17
Tip: convert Word 2007 documents into another format
Greetings. I realize that not everyone in computer world has Office 2007, for whatever reason, be it switching to the Ribbon or something else. That's why the following tip from the Fred's Head Companion on Convert Microsoft DOCX Files to HTML caught my attention. This tip does a good job of describing the site to use and the process. What it doesn't mention is that not only can you convert to HTML, but also to other common formats, such as plain text, rich text, Word 2003 (.doc), and many others. This would be a great site, the one mentioned in the tip that is, to bookmark and keep on hand for those coworkers or friends who don't use Word 2007, or if you simply don't want to have to mess with any extra stuff that Word 07 might throw in. By the way, it's worth mentioning that various kinds of formatting will be stripped out, however, other formatting will remain, such as font styles, tables, underline, and others. This is one of those ideas that makes me ponder, "I wish I had thought of that." Enjoy.
Thursday, October 16
New Perkins Brailler
Greetings. I'm going through some older emails that I've meant to post at some point. Anyway, here's the official press release about the new Perkins Brailler. Enjoy.
http://www.perkins.org/whatsnew/news/press-release-nextgen.html
http://www.perkins.org/whatsnew/news/press-release-nextgen.html
Quiet cars survey
Greetings. If you have been involved with a quiet car, such as in an acccident, then please read the following message and consider taking action. I received this from an email list. Thanks.
***Please forward***
FYI. Pasted below is a letter from Debbie Stein, chair of NFB's Quiet Car
committee. She is conducting a survey of both sighted and blind people who
have experienced accidents or near accidents involving vehicles they could
not hear. Her contact info is at the bottom of this message. Please help
if you can.
---
Open Letter to Guide Dog Users
Hello,
As you probably know, many people in both the blind and sighted
communities are increasingly concerned about the hazard posed by
silently-operating hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as very quiet
cars with standard combustion engines. Because it is extremely difficult
to hear these vehicles under normal traffic conditions, cyclists and
pedestrians are often dangerously unaware of their presence and movements.
I chair the Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety (CAPS--also
known as the Quiet Cars Committee) of the National Federation of the
Blind. We are gathering information from people who have had accidents or
near accidents involving vehicles they could not hear.
If as a pedestrian or cyclist you have been in an accident involving a
quiet car, or if you have had a frightening close call, please contact me.
I am conducting a short survey with people who have had quiet-car
incidents, and I would like very much to collect information about what
happened to you. The survey questions take ten to fifteen minutes.
The information you share will help us build a stronger case for the need
for a solution to the quiet-car problem. Thank you in advance for your
help!
Sincerely,
Debbie Stein
Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety
National Federation of the Blind
dkent5817@worldnet.att.net
773-631-1093
***Please forward***
FYI. Pasted below is a letter from Debbie Stein, chair of NFB's Quiet Car
committee. She is conducting a survey of both sighted and blind people who
have experienced accidents or near accidents involving vehicles they could
not hear. Her contact info is at the bottom of this message. Please help
if you can.
---
Open Letter to Guide Dog Users
Hello,
As you probably know, many people in both the blind and sighted
communities are increasingly concerned about the hazard posed by
silently-operating hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as very quiet
cars with standard combustion engines. Because it is extremely difficult
to hear these vehicles under normal traffic conditions, cyclists and
pedestrians are often dangerously unaware of their presence and movements.
I chair the Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety (CAPS--also
known as the Quiet Cars Committee) of the National Federation of the
Blind. We are gathering information from people who have had accidents or
near accidents involving vehicles they could not hear.
If as a pedestrian or cyclist you have been in an accident involving a
quiet car, or if you have had a frightening close call, please contact me.
I am conducting a short survey with people who have had quiet-car
incidents, and I would like very much to collect information about what
happened to you. The survey questions take ten to fifteen minutes.
The information you share will help us build a stronger case for the need
for a solution to the quiet-car problem. Thank you in advance for your
help!
Sincerely,
Debbie Stein
Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety
National Federation of the Blind
dkent5817@worldnet.att.net
773-631-1093
OverDrive and the Stream
Greetings. I received the following announcement yesterday from the Stream Newswire regarding playing books from OverDrive on the Stream. Read and enjoy.
Dear Victor Reader Stream Friends:
Overdrive (
www.overdrive.com), the popular service that provides recorded audio books that can be downloaded from many public libraries, has recently began offering some audio books in MP3 format. We have been receiving queries about whether these new MP3 books can be played on the Stream. The answer is yes. You may download them to a sub folder within the Other Books bookshelf of the Stream.
Author and technology reviewer, Anna Dresner who wrote the popular NBP book, "A Pocketful of Sound" has published an article on her blog about Overdrive's new MP3 books and how to play them on your Stream. The article can be found at:
http://nbpupdates.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/new-developments-in-reading-commercial-ebooks/
The Pocketful of Sound book which is a comprehensive review of portable media players including the Stream can be obtained from National Braille Press. For more information visit:
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/POCKET.html
Thank you,
The HumanWare Team
Dear Victor Reader Stream Friends:
Overdrive (
www.overdrive.com), the popular service that provides recorded audio books that can be downloaded from many public libraries, has recently began offering some audio books in MP3 format. We have been receiving queries about whether these new MP3 books can be played on the Stream. The answer is yes. You may download them to a sub folder within the Other Books bookshelf of the Stream.
Author and technology reviewer, Anna Dresner who wrote the popular NBP book, "A Pocketful of Sound" has published an article on her blog about Overdrive's new MP3 books and how to play them on your Stream. The article can be found at:
http://nbpupdates.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/new-developments-in-reading-commercial-ebooks/
The Pocketful of Sound book which is a comprehensive review of portable media players including the Stream can be obtained from National Braille Press. For more information visit:
http://www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/POCKET.html
Thank you,
The HumanWare Team
Monday, October 13
Assisting a guide dog team
Greetings. when making my daily round of some blogs, I came across a post from the Fred's Head Companion blog from the American Printing House for the Blind on Assisting a Guide Dog Team. Though the author of this post is a graduate of Guide Dogs for the Blind out in California, I agree with what they write, and would recommend that all read and consider what they have to say. My only addition would be to plug The Seeing Eye verses Guide Dogs for the Blind, but that's more of a personal bias, :) Enjoy.
Thursday, October 9
Got my radio upgrade
Greetings. As I write this, I'm listening to crystal clear music from my new Sirius radio. This is quite a thing for me, not just because it's Sirius, but because previously, radio listening consisted of either listening to a Walkman or my clock radio. I've been looking for an alternative to these options, especially since neither of them really received stations very well. I've heard that reception on the first floor of my complex isn't very good, for whatever reason.
Thanks to my stay at The Seeing Eye and of getting the chance to preview Sirius for free, I've become addicted. I went to Best Buy last weekend to look at various receivers and radios, and then came home and purchased the equipment from Amazon. Thanks to FedEx shipping, I received the receiver 2 days ago, and the Boom Box radio today. So now I've got music coming from the radio, which is on the night stand by my bed, and I can move about through my apartment and still hear the radio.
The big thing about Sirius, aside from the commercial free music channels, that I'm looking forward to are the numerous play-by-play sporting events broadcasted through the week, especially the NFL games on Sundays. The music channels aren't that bad either since there's a great variety of music, and the music played is everything from current radio hits to songs you haven't heard for years. This probably would have made a great Santa gift, but since I had the money, a gift certificate, and most of all the strong desire, not to mention much of the NFL season remaining, I went ahead and got it now. presets? Already got all but one of the 11 set. However, since there's a "Go to channel" button that allows you to type in the three digit channel number and then instantly goes there, the presets are almost not needed.
This weekend's going to be fun listneing to all the variety of stuff, including sports. Were I not so working minded, I might entertain the thought of skipping work tomorrow just to stay home and listen to the new radio. However, i am very work minded. That doesnt' mean though that I won't race out the door at 5:00 approaches. I might even take a cab just to get home quicker than the bus. Talk later, ... maybe, :)
Thanks to my stay at The Seeing Eye and of getting the chance to preview Sirius for free, I've become addicted. I went to Best Buy last weekend to look at various receivers and radios, and then came home and purchased the equipment from Amazon. Thanks to FedEx shipping, I received the receiver 2 days ago, and the Boom Box radio today. So now I've got music coming from the radio, which is on the night stand by my bed, and I can move about through my apartment and still hear the radio.
The big thing about Sirius, aside from the commercial free music channels, that I'm looking forward to are the numerous play-by-play sporting events broadcasted through the week, especially the NFL games on Sundays. The music channels aren't that bad either since there's a great variety of music, and the music played is everything from current radio hits to songs you haven't heard for years. This probably would have made a great Santa gift, but since I had the money, a gift certificate, and most of all the strong desire, not to mention much of the NFL season remaining, I went ahead and got it now. presets? Already got all but one of the 11 set. However, since there's a "Go to channel" button that allows you to type in the three digit channel number and then instantly goes there, the presets are almost not needed.
This weekend's going to be fun listneing to all the variety of stuff, including sports. Were I not so working minded, I might entertain the thought of skipping work tomorrow just to stay home and listen to the new radio. However, i am very work minded. That doesnt' mean though that I won't race out the door at 5:00 approaches. I might even take a cab just to get home quicker than the bus. Talk later, ... maybe, :)
Sunday, October 5
Quiet Hybrids a Threat to the Blind
Greetings. I received the following news story from an email list. In the article, it is said that a guide dog cannot detect a hybrid car. The only way I can see that this would happen would be if the car comes up behind the dog-human team. Otherwise, "detecting" the hybrid is just like the behavior during a trafic check, when a car crosses the path of a guide dog and they react by stopping, swerving, or backing up. I can attest to the effectiveness of these traffic checks during training, since my dog and I received quite a number of them, and she reacted correctly each time. In other words, we're still here. The main issue with hybrids in training is the student not knowing what the dog is reacting to. To the student's point of view, since they can't hear the car passing, the dog just stops all of a sudden and the student doesn't know why exactly. Of course, since this would usually happen in the street or a parking lot, it's not too hard to figure out. Anyway, keep this in mind when reading that statement. Enjoy, and as always, please excuse any formatting errors.
Quiet hybrids a threat to the blind
By Isabel Mascareñas,
Tampa Bay's 10 News
September 26, 2008
Palmetto, Florida - Hybrid cars offer better mileage and less pollution but when the vehicle switches from its gasoline engine to an electric motor, it's
virtually silent.
For Helen Arnold, that silence can be deadly for her and her guide dog Corki. She's been blind since birth.
"We cannot hear the hybrid in non-operation mode. We don't know you are there," says Helen. It's not just the handler; guide dogs usually can't
detect hybrids either.
"The biggest challenge with the hybrid is it's so quiet," say Heidi Illgen, lead trainer at Southeastern Guide Dog, Inc.
The Southeastern Guide Dog facility in Manatee purchased a hybrid this year to enhance its training. Illgen takes Troy, an Australian Shepherd, through this life saving lesson. Illgen says dogs have a visual span of about
three feet from side to side and six feet up. The hybrid car requires they expand that visual perception outside of that straight line of travel.
"It's a lot more responsibility for the dog," says Illgen.
The guide dog learns through repetition.
"If the dog gets too close to the vehicle, we tap the vehicle, tell the dog 'no,'
back up and have the car surge back towards us again. If the dog stops at a reasonable distance we consider safe, we pour the praise on," says Illgen.
The trainer says it's not just the dog that must change its ways the student
must also recognize the dog's signals.
"What we need to do now is teach the student to really pay attention to
what the dog is saying we call it intelligent disobedience. Sometimes a dog will refuse to do an action we're calling for could be because of a safety,"
says Illgen.
"Traveling with guide dog is a team. You have the human factor, the canine factor work as a team. I listen, she sees," says Arnold.
Troy will soon be Arnold's new guide dog after Corki retires. She hopes
hybrid owners will use caution and use their eyes and ears when approaching an intersection.
Arnold says, "Be careful, travel a bit slower."
The National Federation of the Blind has asked the auto industry to add a sound to hybrids so the visually impaired and pedestrians can hear one coming.
Quiet hybrids a threat to the blind
By Isabel Mascareñas,
Tampa Bay's 10 News
September 26, 2008
Palmetto, Florida - Hybrid cars offer better mileage and less pollution but when the vehicle switches from its gasoline engine to an electric motor, it's
virtually silent.
For Helen Arnold, that silence can be deadly for her and her guide dog Corki. She's been blind since birth.
"We cannot hear the hybrid in non-operation mode. We don't know you are there," says Helen. It's not just the handler; guide dogs usually can't
detect hybrids either.
"The biggest challenge with the hybrid is it's so quiet," say Heidi Illgen, lead trainer at Southeastern Guide Dog, Inc.
The Southeastern Guide Dog facility in Manatee purchased a hybrid this year to enhance its training. Illgen takes Troy, an Australian Shepherd, through this life saving lesson. Illgen says dogs have a visual span of about
three feet from side to side and six feet up. The hybrid car requires they expand that visual perception outside of that straight line of travel.
"It's a lot more responsibility for the dog," says Illgen.
The guide dog learns through repetition.
"If the dog gets too close to the vehicle, we tap the vehicle, tell the dog 'no,'
back up and have the car surge back towards us again. If the dog stops at a reasonable distance we consider safe, we pour the praise on," says Illgen.
The trainer says it's not just the dog that must change its ways the student
must also recognize the dog's signals.
"What we need to do now is teach the student to really pay attention to
what the dog is saying we call it intelligent disobedience. Sometimes a dog will refuse to do an action we're calling for could be because of a safety,"
says Illgen.
"Traveling with guide dog is a team. You have the human factor, the canine factor work as a team. I listen, she sees," says Arnold.
Troy will soon be Arnold's new guide dog after Corki retires. She hopes
hybrid owners will use caution and use their eyes and ears when approaching an intersection.
Arnold says, "Be careful, travel a bit slower."
The National Federation of the Blind has asked the auto industry to add a sound to hybrids so the visually impaired and pedestrians can hear one coming.
Saturday, October 4
Blindness, the movie
Greetings. This is related to the movie called "Blindness" that came out yesterday. It's a bad sign when even the critics don't highly endorse a film. This one in particular though doesn't deal with the subject matter of blindness very well, and anyone who thinks that this is an accurate portrayal of what it's like to be blind has been smoking something.
In case you're not convinced, here's a couple of links from the National Federation of the Blind regarding the movie, on Frequently Asked Questions about Blindness Word document and an related Associated Press story on the movie.
A nationwide protest happened yesterday at dozens of theaters around the country and there have been and I expect will continue to be coverage of the feelings on the movie by a number of media outlets, such as CNN, the Washington Post, the New York Times,, and others.
Please pass the word along that the movie "Blindness" should not be seen or supported in any way. This goes beyond what "Mr. Magoo" did about 10 years ago. I've heard that the movie itself presents a dark environment and an overall depressive feeling to it. Trust me, this is one to avoid at all costs.
In case you're not convinced, here's a couple of links from the National Federation of the Blind regarding the movie, on Frequently Asked Questions about Blindness Word document and an related Associated Press story on the movie.
A nationwide protest happened yesterday at dozens of theaters around the country and there have been and I expect will continue to be coverage of the feelings on the movie by a number of media outlets, such as CNN, the Washington Post, the New York Times,, and others.
Please pass the word along that the movie "Blindness" should not be seen or supported in any way. This goes beyond what "Mr. Magoo" did about 10 years ago. I've heard that the movie itself presents a dark environment and an overall depressive feeling to it. Trust me, this is one to avoid at all costs.
Next generation Braille Writer
Greetings. I received the following article from a friend regarding a possible new generation for the Perkins Brailler. This sounds like a great improvement on the older model which is loud, heavy, and just needs some overhalls and enhancements. I hope that these new Braillers really sell a lot and that they appear next year at the various consumer conventions for people to check out. I also hope the price comes down. I understand newer, better, and so forth, but doesn't newer also mean cheaper? Or, cheaper than the price given for this new model anyway? Ah well, it's good to have a second generation of the Brailler. And it looks like a lot of time an effort went into designing this model, along with input from the people that will actually be using it. I remember hearing a Blind Cool Tech podcast several years ago where Larry Skutchan of APH was talking with Brian Charleson of the Carroll Center for the Blind about what improvements might happen to a newer Brailler. Perhaps that's where some of the enhancements came from for this model. Anyway, here's the article. Enjoy.
A lighter touch
Perkins School hopes compact Braille machine brings renewed interest
By Dave Copeland, Globe Correspondent | October 3, 2008
Until now, Kim Charlson has kept a Perkins Brailler in almost every room in her house. The 10-pound, breadbox-size machine acts as a notepad for people like Charlson, 51,who is legally blind.
"The one in the kitchen gets the biggest workout," she said. "You only have to make one batch of chili where you mistake fruit cocktail for kidney beans before you figure you better start using it to make labels for everything."
The machine resembles an eight-key typewriter that creates six-dot characters, with a place to load paper in the back.
But after today, Charlson may no longer need several Braillers. This morning, Perkins Products, a division of the nonprofit Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, is set to release the next generation of the machine, the first major overhaul of the Perkins Brailler since it was introduced 57 years ago. The new model is 25 percent lighter than its predecessor and more compact, allowing it to better fit on school desks and in workspaces. It is also less expensive - $650 compared with $690.
"I remember being a kid, learning Braille, and I'd be carrying this big, bulky thing around, banging into walls," said Charlson, who is director of the Braille & Talking Book Library, another division of the Perkins School.
Braille literacy rates among the 55,000 legally blind school-age children in the United States hover at about 12 percent, down from 50 percent in 1960. While much of the drop-off is attributed to a lack of qualified instructors in public school systems, many who work with the blind say a simpler way for students to write in Braille could help boost that number.
"We're hoping the ease of use and more modern packaging will reinvigorate excitement," said David Morgan, general manager of Perkins Products, which helps the school offset its fund-raising commitments by selling and repairing Braillers, as well as offering training on the machines.
On Tuesday, Morgan, who is not blind, strolled through the company's workshop, where a team of engineers was testing the first batch of the new Braillers. The devices were to be shipped to Louisville, Ky., for the official unveiling with Perkins's partner on the project, American Printing House for the Blind. The engineers - four of whom are from India and will oversee mass production of the machines at Worth Trust, Perkins's assembly company in India - hunkered over the machines they assembled by hand. Over the soft click-clack of the machines, Morgan pointed out the integrated handle and the paper tray that make reading back what a user has just written easier. Also, it is the first such machine that allows users to erase characters.
"This really is the pen and paper for the blind," he said.
Charlson added, "I have all the latest technology and gadgets in my office, but if you look on my desk, front and center, right next to the phone, is my Brailler."
Since the first Perkins Brailler rolled out in 1951, more than 330,000 have been sold in 170 countries, including 10,000 last year. Morgan noted many users have had their machines for decades. "Some of these people have been using the same Brailler for 30 or 40 years. You'd have to pry them out of their hands," he said.
Not so for Judi Cannon, who, like Charlson, works at the Braille & Talking Book Library and was part of the focus group that helped Perkins Products come up with the new design. Cannon, 57, said she was excited about using the upgraded machine.
"I've been advocating for this for years," Cannon said as she took notes on a new, raspberry-red Brailler with her service dog, Almond, curled at her feet.
"The old one, you'd carry it around and your arm would get longer," she said. "But this one is just like carrying a briefcase."
© Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
A lighter touch
Perkins School hopes compact Braille machine brings renewed interest
By Dave Copeland, Globe Correspondent | October 3, 2008
Until now, Kim Charlson has kept a Perkins Brailler in almost every room in her house. The 10-pound, breadbox-size machine acts as a notepad for people like Charlson, 51,who is legally blind.
"The one in the kitchen gets the biggest workout," she said. "You only have to make one batch of chili where you mistake fruit cocktail for kidney beans before you figure you better start using it to make labels for everything."
The machine resembles an eight-key typewriter that creates six-dot characters, with a place to load paper in the back.
But after today, Charlson may no longer need several Braillers. This morning, Perkins Products, a division of the nonprofit Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, is set to release the next generation of the machine, the first major overhaul of the Perkins Brailler since it was introduced 57 years ago. The new model is 25 percent lighter than its predecessor and more compact, allowing it to better fit on school desks and in workspaces. It is also less expensive - $650 compared with $690.
"I remember being a kid, learning Braille, and I'd be carrying this big, bulky thing around, banging into walls," said Charlson, who is director of the Braille & Talking Book Library, another division of the Perkins School.
Braille literacy rates among the 55,000 legally blind school-age children in the United States hover at about 12 percent, down from 50 percent in 1960. While much of the drop-off is attributed to a lack of qualified instructors in public school systems, many who work with the blind say a simpler way for students to write in Braille could help boost that number.
"We're hoping the ease of use and more modern packaging will reinvigorate excitement," said David Morgan, general manager of Perkins Products, which helps the school offset its fund-raising commitments by selling and repairing Braillers, as well as offering training on the machines.
On Tuesday, Morgan, who is not blind, strolled through the company's workshop, where a team of engineers was testing the first batch of the new Braillers. The devices were to be shipped to Louisville, Ky., for the official unveiling with Perkins's partner on the project, American Printing House for the Blind. The engineers - four of whom are from India and will oversee mass production of the machines at Worth Trust, Perkins's assembly company in India - hunkered over the machines they assembled by hand. Over the soft click-clack of the machines, Morgan pointed out the integrated handle and the paper tray that make reading back what a user has just written easier. Also, it is the first such machine that allows users to erase characters.
"This really is the pen and paper for the blind," he said.
Charlson added, "I have all the latest technology and gadgets in my office, but if you look on my desk, front and center, right next to the phone, is my Brailler."
Since the first Perkins Brailler rolled out in 1951, more than 330,000 have been sold in 170 countries, including 10,000 last year. Morgan noted many users have had their machines for decades. "Some of these people have been using the same Brailler for 30 or 40 years. You'd have to pry them out of their hands," he said.
Not so for Judi Cannon, who, like Charlson, works at the Braille & Talking Book Library and was part of the focus group that helped Perkins Products come up with the new design. Cannon, 57, said she was excited about using the upgraded machine.
"I've been advocating for this for years," Cannon said as she took notes on a new, raspberry-red Brailler with her service dog, Almond, curled at her feet.
"The old one, you'd carry it around and your arm would get longer," she said. "But this one is just like carrying a briefcase."
© Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
Thursday, October 2
Stream turns 1
Greetings. I received the following message from the Victor Reader Stream Newswire. Enjoy.
***
Dear Victor Reader Stream Friends:
For those of you who could not attend the online first birthday party this past Saturday we have posted a recording of the event that you can download from the Stream product page:
http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/products/dtb_players/compact_models/_details/id_81/victorreader_stream.html
The event began with a greeting from our CEO, Gilles Pepin. We then had an opportunity for party goers to meet and ask questions to HumanWare customer support staff, our Stream software development project leader, and the Stream product manager. Also, we had interesting conversations with HumanWare partner guests Tom Pile from Audible.com and Mike Calvo from Serotek. We thank our partner guests for providing two lucky party goers with Audible and Serotek memberships. Other prizes included two Streams, Stream accessories, and a grand prize of HumanWare's latest GPS product, the Trekker Breeze.
One fun party gift offered to all Stream users came from Terry Kelly, a Canadian singer and song writer. Terry composed a short Stream jingle that he suggests could be used as a Victor Reader Stream ring tone for your cell phone. You are all invited to have fun with it. The ring tone can be downloaded from:
http://www.humanware.com/ringtone
Our thanks to Terry Kelly for this innovative gift. For more information about Terry and his work visit him at:
http://www.terry-kelly.com
We appreciate all who attended and supported the birthday party event. With the great interest in this event, we will plan future Stream information sessions and keep you informed about them on this newswire.
Happy Birthday Victor Reader Stream!
The HumanWare Team
***
Dear Victor Reader Stream Friends:
For those of you who could not attend the online first birthday party this past Saturday we have posted a recording of the event that you can download from the Stream product page:
http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/products/dtb_players/compact_models/_details/id_81/victorreader_stream.html
The event began with a greeting from our CEO, Gilles Pepin. We then had an opportunity for party goers to meet and ask questions to HumanWare customer support staff, our Stream software development project leader, and the Stream product manager. Also, we had interesting conversations with HumanWare partner guests Tom Pile from Audible.com and Mike Calvo from Serotek. We thank our partner guests for providing two lucky party goers with Audible and Serotek memberships. Other prizes included two Streams, Stream accessories, and a grand prize of HumanWare's latest GPS product, the Trekker Breeze.
One fun party gift offered to all Stream users came from Terry Kelly, a Canadian singer and song writer. Terry composed a short Stream jingle that he suggests could be used as a Victor Reader Stream ring tone for your cell phone. You are all invited to have fun with it. The ring tone can be downloaded from:
http://www.humanware.com/ringtone
Our thanks to Terry Kelly for this innovative gift. For more information about Terry and his work visit him at:
http://www.terry-kelly.com
We appreciate all who attended and supported the birthday party event. With the great interest in this event, we will plan future Stream information sessions and keep you informed about them on this newswire.
Happy Birthday Victor Reader Stream!
The HumanWare Team
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