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Khalil Al-Safouri is a visually impaired student at the UNRWA Ein al Asal school in Lebanon. Khalil has been visually impaired since he was born. His limited vision greatly affected his academic attainment during his early school years. It was difficult for him to differentiate letters of the alphabet given his vision challenges.

His visual impairment hasn’t stopped Khalil from developing a strong love for knowledge. “I have a strong attachment to education. It is the only way for us to build a better future. There have been great challenges in my path to achieving my goals. But even though I’ve had to overcome difficulties because of my eyesight, nothing will be able to stop me from reaching my full potential,” he says.

One person that Khalil credits for helping him on his journey is his UNRWA school counselor. Mr Abed Albaset Hamoud and Ms. Lina Zeidan Gregularly communicated with Khalil’s parents and teachers. Khalil’s recalls, “I love my school because of the kindness and love my counselor and teachers give me. I also love the encouragement and patience that my geography teacher shows me every day. I love teacher Sanaa, who always plays with me and my friends. This support has helped me tremendously as I face the challenges in my life.”

He adds, smiling broadly from behind his small Braille book, with his glasses polished and his body upright with ambition and clear purpose: “I love to take care for animals and I dream of becoming a veterinarian one day. I want to be the first veterinarian to take care of the animals in the camp. This is my dream even though I have vision problems! I know this will make my dream harder to achieve but I’ve learned that nothing is impossible and nothing can stop a person from dreaming.” He continues, “I am supported not only by my teachers, but also by my classmates! They always make an effort to include me in extracurricular activities. I love the spirit of kindness and companionship I have been shown,” he says.

Khaled, as described by his teacher Ms. Sanaa, is a smart, active and eloquent child. He engages with his friends in his class, discusses and has initiatives. His self-confidence is unique and not typical of children his age. “He really deserves attention and care,” reiterates Ms. Sanaa, “We work hard to help him in any way we can to achieve his dreams.”

Thanks to donors like the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, UNRWA was able to open the doors of its 711 schools across the Middle East on time for all its students. The Agency thanks the Government of Saudi Arabia and its humanitarian arm KSrelief for its support and dedication to Palestine refugee families in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem).

Source: unrwa.org

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Having to deal with sight loss or low vision is merely one of the challenges that the visually impaired are facing when living life. Blind individuals are just like anyone else but they just can’t see. Is this case as simple in real life as in our minds, though?

As one of Envision’s founders said in his TEDxGouda talk, we have built a world around us that serves the majority. That means that any individual different than the average, such as the visually impaired, faces difficulties because they’re not what is considered to be average. This article aims to shed light upon the challenges the visually impaired face just by living life and being the odd ones out.

Access to information: The major sensory organ of a person is their eyes. One glimpse around us is enough to make us realize how visual is most of the information in our environment. Timetables in train stations, signs indicating the right way or potential danger, a billboard advertising a new product in the market, these are all the visual types of information we all come across in our daily life. Most of this information is inaccessible for the blind and the visually impaired, inhibiting their independence, since access to information signifies autonomy.

Overly helpful individuals: It’s very common for sighted individuals, strangers, friends or family, to be overly excited to help a visually impaired person. Very frequently, this behavior holds the assumption that the blind or low vision individual requires assistance, although this might not reflect reality. Blind people might perform a regular task slower but that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of completing it. Rushing to help the visually impaired without asking or being asked to do so, might make them feel helpless instead of independent. Moreover, not allowing a visually impaired individual perform a task by themselves, does not give them the room to learn how to do so independently.
A blind man using the white cane is holding on to a sighted person who is visibly absorbed by his smartphone. The blind man says “We are almost there”.

Societal stigma: Being blind in a world suited for the sighted, it means there will be multiple normal mishaps. Stumbling upon an office chair that wasn’t neatly tucked under the desk or knocking a glass off the table because it was left right on the edge, are small accidents that can happen and that’s okay. However, such mishaps tend to be perceived by sighted individuals as the inability of the visually impaired to perform tasks, while, in reality, they stem from the inaccessibility of our world. Blindness or low vision does not indicate the intelligence of the individual nor how sad their life is. Just because the sighted cannot imagine their world without vision does not mean that the visually impaired have a sad or unhappy life because of their visual condition.

Finding and keeping a job: Work is a whole different matter if you’re visually impaired. Considering the lack of accessible work and working spaces, one can already imagine why hiring a visually impaired individual would be considered a liability for a company. This has a negative impact on the confidence and emotional well-being of the visually impaired, while it totally cripples their economic independence. Having little to no opportunity to support oneself, blind or low vision individuals are incapacitated from their independence.

Leisure: The lack of accessibility for the visually impaired is central to a number of the issues the blind or low visual individuals face. Leisure is another one on the list. There is a limited number of inclusive/accessible activities for the visually impaired, which are as simple as a museum visit. Moreover, accessible books are not abundant either. According to the World Blind Union, “more than 90% of all published material is not accessible to the blind or partially sighted.” The internet, as in the new era we all surf the internet for fun, is not fully accessible either, since numerous websites disregard their visually impaired visitors and do not curate content that is accessible for the blind and low vision individuals. Considering these points and many more that are not listed here, one can clearly see how limited leisure options there are for the visually impaired.

Often living in isolation: Considering all of the above, it’s not a surprise that living with a visual impairment might signify, often, living in isolation. Dealing with sight loss, already, is a challenge in itself. The lack of emotional support at diagnosis centers, the limited accessibility to activities and information, the societal stigma and the lack of unemployment, are all factors frequently leading blind or low vision individuals in isolation. This last point illustrates how the problem for the visually impaired is not their blindness or lower vision in itself but their segregation from anyone else.

Source: letsenvision.com

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Explore videos that provide simple, plain backgrounds, and music for children with Cortical/Cerebral Vision Impairment (CVI).

These videos have been created and shared for others to use with CVI recommendations in place. Simple words have Roman Word Bubbling, created by Christine Roman-Lantzy. Backgrounds in the videos are simple and high contrast. Learning videos include shapes, colors, animals, people, cars, and trucks.

For a full list of videos visit: CVI Vision Impairment Learning Videos

This Fish video is an example:

More on CVI Videos:

CVI and the iPad: A Near-Perfect Low Vision Device

Gaby Wolf

Source: pathstoliteracy.org

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It’s estimated that there are about 36 million people in the world who are blind, and a further 216 million who live with moderate to severe visual impairments.

Although the World Health Organization points out that up to 80% of vision impairment around the world is avoidable with better access to treatment, the number of people who are blind or have low vision is rising as the global population ages.

But technology is playing a vital role in tearing down barriers, and artificial intelligence is making real inroads into improving accessibility.

Here are seven examples of how smart technology can be a game-changer, allowing everyone to interact with the world in new ways.

The eye in AI

As we’ve reported, Microsoft’s Seeing AI is an app designed to help people with low vision or who are blind. It enhances the world around the user with rich audio descriptions. It can read a handwritten note or scan a barcode and then tell the user what the product is. Point a camera at something and the app will describe how many people it can see and where they are in the image – center, top left and so on.

3-D Sound Maps

For a sighted person, walking along the street can mean taking in every detail that surrounds them. Microsoft Soundscape replicates that behavior by building a detailed audio map that relates what’s taking place around a person with visual impairment. It creates layers of context and detail by drawing on location data, sound beacons and synthesized 3-D stereo sound to build a constantly updating 3-D sound map of the surrounding world.

Knowledge at your fingertips

Braille has been used for nearly 200 years as a tactile way of reading with fingertips. It has now jumped from the page to the screen with the updated version of Narrator, the screen-reader for Microsoft Windows, supporting digital Braille displays and keyboards.

Outside of Microsoft’s efforts, Braille touchscreens that work in the same way as tablets have already proved popular among students and teachers. At the Assistive Technology Industry Association’s 2019 conference in Orlando, Florida, innovations on display included the BraiBook, a Braille e-reader that fits into the palm of a hand, and even an electronic toy called the Braille Buzz, designed to teach Braille to preschoolers.

Beacons of change

Bluetooth beacons, such as those being used by the company Foresight Augmented Reality, act like highly precise, personalized guides for people who are blind or partially sighted. While basic GPS technology can take users to a location, beacons mounted in a store, restaurant or public building can guide them to the entrance of the building in question. And when the user is inside, other beacons can direct them to the bathroom or other important facilities.

Electric vehicles

The European Union is taking no chances with people’s safety. New legislation means electric vehicles have to be audible at low speeds and while reversing. Some manufacturers are already incorporating artificial noise into their electric vehicles.

Smart Glasses

Researchers at Ajman University in the United Arab Emirates are working on the development of a set of smart glasses that can use AI to read, provide navigation information and potentially identify faces. Glasses are connected to a smartphone through a processing unit, allowing the system to function without an internet connection. These smart glasses are still in the early stages of development but are said to work with a reading accuracy rate of 95%.

AI for Accessibility

Microsoft’s AI for Accessibility program was launched last year, with a $25 million commitment to put Microsoft technology in the hands of start-ups, developers, researchers and non-profits in order to drive innovation and amplify human capability for people with disabilities. The program is continuously looking at new projects to support.

Source: news.microsoft.com

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