Who was Helen Keller?   

Helen Keller was one of the world’s great heroes during her life time still an icon and inspiration for the deaf-blind all over the world. Born in 1880, she contracted an illness when she was less than 2 years old that left her deaf and blind. At a time when the lives of most people, and certainly,most disabled people, were constrained by their society’s medical,philosophical, social, and economic limitations, Miss Keller went on to develop formidable powers of intellectual and emotional achievement. She traveled to the farthest reaches of the world; became a leading figure who publicly campaigned on behalf of civil rights, human dignity, women’s suffrage, and world peace; and met the most celebrated personalities of her time. It is therefore not surprising that Helen Keller today remains a woman whose astounding personality and accomplishments attract widespread admiration and awe. A passionate< and determined advocate for other people with disabilities, Helen Keller began to work with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) in 1924She served as a spokesperson and ambassador for the Foundation until her death in 1968

Who was Louis Braille?
 

   A Frenchman named Louise Braille invented the Braille system of reading and writing. He became blind when he was just a boy due to an accident. He discovered that trying to read raised letters was much too slow and cumbersome. He wanted a faster way for blind people to  read and write. He modeled Braille after a system of codes used by the    military, and then he expanded his system.

What is Braille?

    Braille is a system of making raised dots on paper to form letters and     words that are read by the blind with their fingertips. The basic Braille      “cell” consists of two columns of three dots. The dots are numbered     1-2-3 from top to bottom on the left side of the cell and 4-5-6 from      top to bottom on the right side of the cell. Each Braille letter, word,      punctuation mark, number, or musical note can be made up using different combinations of these dots. Braille can be written with a Braille writing machine (similar to a typewriter). It can also be written by using a pointed stylus to punch dots down through paper using a Braille slate with rows of small "cells" in it as a guide. This method of writing Braille compares to writing print with a pen or pencil. 

What causes blindness?

    There are many  causes of blindness. People are sometimes born blind,but most blind people become blind later in their lives. Glaucoma,cataracts,and diabetic retinopathy are the three most common causes of blindness today. Many older persons lose their vision from macular degeneration. Accidents are also the cause of blindness in some cases.

  If you are among the are visually impaired, you know how important it is to find ways to accomplish routine daily tasks. These are the skills that enable you to:

• Live independently and productively

• Read and write

• Raise a family

• Have a social life

• Travel

• Maintain a career—or launch a new one

• Enjoy recreational sports and games

• In short, lead a normal life

   The primary goal of all education is to prepare students to become useful members of the society ,and for most people, sight is fundamental to learning. But for a child with visual impairment, limitations on the ability to receive information from the world around us can have far-reaching impact, including a child's ability to understand concepts, learn language and move about freely with confidence. For this reason, teachers and parents of children with visual impairments use alternative means and strategies for teaching them to read, write, perform various daily tasks, interact socially and thus be independent.

   The nature and degree of their visual impairments are as diverse, as the ways they adapt to their loss of vision. Further, some students have multiple disabilities in addition to visual impairment. Hence their level of academic functioning spans a great range. And in every way they are as diverse as any other group of individuals in terms of ethnic and racial background, religion, geographic location, and income. Given this diversity, it is vital to remember that each child needs to be viewed as an individual with unique needs.

    Despite laws that accord special rights to the disabled, children who are blind or visually impaired  face many challenges educationally. There is an increasing shortage of personnel who are trained to teach children with visual impairments, and in addition these children do not get suitable text books and learning materials. 

Learning the Essential Skills 

  

  Essential skills for living with vision loss can be learnt with the help of specially trained rehabilitation teachers, orientation and mobility specialists, low-vision specialists, and vision rehabilitation therapists, etc The skills include include:

• Independent living —Use the wide range of specialized adaptive devices and techniques for adapting your home and caring for yourself.

• Communication—Continue reading and writing by switching from standard reading material to large print books and newspapers; using writing guides or magnification programs for the computer screen. Maintain everyday skills with specialized time-telling and telephone devices; a fool-proof method of identifying coins and bills when shopping; identifying and storing food, etc. Develop computer skills for staying in touch with family and friends via e-mail, handling banking and investment tasks, and much more; learning Braille; making effective use of an ever-expanding range of technological devices.

• Mobility—Use specific orientation and mobility techniques, and tools for getting around safely—in your home, around your neighborhood, and on trips to distant places.

• Low-vision devices —Take advantage of the many low-vision optical and adaptive devices that help you to see better.

What we do for a living shapes our daily life, social interactions, and financial status—in fact, what we do for a living shapes our future as well as our present. The kind of work we do is also an integral part of our identity.When people meet each other for the first time, the question, "What do you do?" is almost always asked. Work that has meaning is a key part of our financial and personal well-being.

  Employment is therefore a topic of critical importance to anyone with a vision loss and anyone who wants to see that person fulfill his or her potential. Issues related to employment—the development of important job-related skills; the ability to modify a job's tasks so they can be performed effectively without sight; the capacity to define a career, conduct a job search, and handle a job interview effectively; the discouragement of discrimination on the basis of disability and encouragement of employer awareness of the potential of visually impaired job applicants—are issues that blind and visually impaired   people and their families and friends confront and strive to address.

Technology has revolutionized daily life for all of us, but it has had particularly dramatic benefits for people who are blind or visually impaired. Until only recently, the world of print information—newspapers, books, signs, menus—was largely closed off to people with little or no sight. But the power of computers has now brought this world within reach for those unable to see. Computer technology, including specialized hardware or software that simulates the human voice reading the or renders hard-copy output into Braille, designed to help persons with disabilities perform daily tasks, has changed the lives of countless individuals with visual impairments.

  Assistive or adaptive technology, as it is called, has exploded many barriers to education and employment for visually impaired individuals. Students with visual impairments can complete homework, do research, take tests, and read books along with their sighted classmates thanks to advances in technology. Adults with visual impairments can continue to work and pursue a tremendous range of careers in mainstream society because of the use of computers and other devices.

  Screen reader software enables visually impaired to read  all the information available on the internet, making it easy to acquire knowledge through computer
      
     Braille writer           MP3 Player           Talking Book    

   If a blind person asks you for help, then you may certainly help.You can ask if any help is needed, but understand that the answer may be “no.” Blind people, if they have learned to use a cane or dog and travel independently, may not need help. It is important not to grab someone who is blind. If a blind person wants help, he or she may take your arm, or simply walk beside you. Some blind persons may have a harder time hearing the cars and traffic, especially if there is construction or a lot of noise around the area. Then they might want help that they might not need other times.