Table of contents
1 Ask the expert
2 Business commentary
3 From the soap box
4 The reader’s choice
5 News and views
6 Helpful tips
7 Accessibility news
8 Editorial
9 Comments to the editor
10 Notes
CONGRATULATIONS TO DONNA! OUR UNSUNG HERO!
On December 03 2008, in keeping with the celebration of the International Day for the disabled as designated by the United Nations, our president Donna J Jodhan was presented with a United Nations Unsung Hero award by the City of Toronto. We are all very excited for our president and send her our heartfelt congratulations! Way to go Donna! To view more of this memorable day’s proceedings, please visit http://www.toronto.ca/diversity/intl_day_disabilities.htm
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the following contributors to this month’s STAE issue.
The Sterling Creations accessibility team, the Sterling Creations business team, the Sterling Creations research team, Scott Savoy our managing editor, Christian Robicheau our assistant editor, our readers, and Donna J Jodhan our president.
Donna J Jodhan is the founder and president of Sterling Creations which was founded in 1994. As a blind woman she has had to overcome mountainous challenges in order to get where she is today. She is a very successful business woman, consultant, and author and she continues to help produce daily blogs that contain weekly features on topics of interest and relevance. She is never tired, always willing to help others, and never gives up when it comes to helping others to voice their opinions. As she puts it: "My undying commitment is to ensure that the kids of tomorrow have a more level playing field when it comes to such things as employment opportunities, equal access to the Internet and technology. I think that if I can do my little part to help someone else succeed then in turn they will help others."
We are all very proud to be part of the Sterling Creations team but above all, we are pleased and delighted to have Donna J Jodhan as our leader.
Happy New Year to you all! It’s a brand new year and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you the very best for 2009.
We look forward to continuing our relationship with you and we hope that you continue to enjoy our magazine. On Behalf of the staff at Sterling Creations, welcome to 2009!
Donna J Jodhan
President, Sterling Creations
Ask the expert
New bills should help blind
January 2009
By the Sterling Creations accessibility team
Hello there! It's 2009 and a brand new year. We the accessibility team wish you all good things for 2009.
We would like to kick off things with an article that was published a few months ago. With blind and visually impaired Americans calling for the Greenback to be made more readable and accessible, we thought that this article would be appropriate.
Have a great January.
New bills should help blind - judge
Federal Judge Robertson puts pressure on Treasury to fix the new generation
of $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills so that blind people can Tell them apart.
CNN, September 4, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the next generations of $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills
roll off the presses, there should be some way for blind people to tell them
apart, a federal judge said Thursday.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson said he would not allow the Treasury
Department to go at its own pace as it complies with a May ruling that U.S.
paper money discriminates against the blind.
Treasury officials have hired a contractor to investigate ways to help the
blind differentiate between bills, perhaps by printing different sizes or
including raised numbers. Government attorneys urged the judge to let that
process play out and not interfere with anti-counterfeiting redesigns that
are already in process.
Robertson was not persuaded.
"The Treasury Department is not going to just conduct this on its own
schedule and its own terms. Let that be clear," he said.
Robertson ordered attorneys for the government to meet with the American
Council of the Blind, which brought the lawsuit, and come up with a schedule
that requires changes in the next generation of bills.
The next $100 design could be printed as early as this fall and Robertson
said those bills won't be affected. But subsequent designs should be able to
solve the problem, the judge said.
Government lawyers said they plan to argue that Robertson does not have the
authority to interfere with the Treasury's printing responsibilities.
The judge said he'd consider the argument but quipped that, if he didn't
have authority to require changes, how was he supposed to enforce the
ruling? What should the court order say, he asked, "Go out and have a good
time? We'll see you when it's all over?"
Business commentary
A blind mechanic
January 2009
By the Sterling Creations business team
Hey there! Happy New Year to all of you out there! We the business team wishes you great things for this year.
Ever heard of a blind mechanic? Not possible you say? Well, we invite you to read our choice below. This article practically blew us away and we hope that it does the same for you.
Blind Auto Mechanic Feels His Way Around Larry Woody Owns An Auto Body Shop
And Is Training A Deaf Assistant
CBS evening news, March 9, 2007
Larry Woody lost his vision five years ago in an auto accident. That hasn't
stopped him from continuing his first love - being a mechanic. Steve Hartman
reports in this week's Assignment America. | Share/Embed
Just finding the latch to open the car's hood isn't easy - but then, 46-year
old Larry Woody has to find the right wrench, CBS News correspondent Steve
Hartman reports in this week's Assignment America.
"I look with my hands," Woody says as he raises the car, locates a leaky
power-steering line, wrestles it out, and puts in a new one - blind.
"I'm just a guy still doing what I like, who just can't see," he says.
Woody owns D&D Automotive in Cottage Grove, Ore. He says he's able to do his
job mostly because you can't see a lot of the parts anyway.
"That's just it - a lot of it's done by feel," he says.
Woody does have his limits, though, which is why he has another mechanic to
do the test drives, the complicated jobs - and the jobs he probably
shouldn't have started in the first place.
"There's been little things here and there, like when I put the stereo in,
sorry, oops, it's upside-down," he says, laughing. "I guess I've always had
a different attitude than some people who get up in the morning and say,
'Wow man, I've got to go to work today.' I've always been, 'Wow, I get to go
to work today.'"
Woody hasn't always been blind. In fact, it happened just five years ago.
Woody was on the Interstate, on his way to work, when a lumber truck crossed
the median and into the path of his little Toyota Celica. In addition to
just about killing him, the crash severely damaged both of his eyes.
"You know they always say everything happens for a reason - and yeah, in so
many ways I believe that," he says.
Woody says what leads him to that conclusion is a 17-year-old high school
student named Otto Shima. Otto isn't blind - but he is deaf. And more
important, he wants to be a mechanic.
So, a few months ago, with the help of an interpreter - Otto started
interning with Woody. Somebody at the school district thought they'd be a
good pair. Otto could see how disability doesn't matter, and Larry could see
how much he still does.
And it's working. Otto says they have developed quite a bond.
"I do, I generally care for him. I really do," Woody says.
Of course, you don't have to be a blind man to see that.
C MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Happy New Year to you! It's Scott Savoy and I hope that everyone had a great holiday. It's over now and sad to say it's back to work for all of us.
So, unlike previous contributors, I am going to tackle a very hot topic straight on. Social injustice and this is what my selection for this month addresses. I found this article to be very interesting and I hope that you do too.
Hope you find it of interest.
Social injustice can kill, global panel claims
Report released today argues that inequality is the most significant factor
affecting health around the world
André Picard
The Globe and Mail,
Social justice - or lack thereof - has a greater impact on the health of the
world's population than medical treatment, according to a landmark study
that concludes that inequities are killing people on a "grand scale."
The report by a blue-ribbon international panel, being released today in
Geneva, says essentially that there is little point in trying to prevent and
treat illness without tackling the underlying root causes such as poverty,
poor housing, inadequate education and lack of human rights.
And the panel, chaired by Sir Michael Marmot, a professor at University
College in London, calls on the World Health Organization and member
countries like Canada to make the issue a global priority and close the
health gap between rich and poor within a generation.
"Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale," the introduction
reads.
"In countries at all levels of income, health and illness follow a social
gradient: the lower the socioeconomic position, the worse the health. It
does not have to be this way and it is not right that it should be like
this."
To underscore the gaps, a number of stark statistics a re featured,
including the fact that a girl born today in the African country of Lesotho
can expect to live 42 fewer years than one born in Japan.
The 256-page report, entitled Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity
through Action on the Social Determinants of Health, also challenges current
economic dogma, stating that global trade and an aversion to public spending
on social programs is not improving the lot of most people in the world, but
making things worse.
"Economic growth is without question important, particularly for poor
countries, as it gives the opportunity to provide resources to invest in
improvement of the lives of their population. But growth by itself, without
appropriate social policies to ensure reasonable fairness in the way its
benefits are distributed, brings little benefit to health equity," the
report says.
The 19 commissioners, who spent almost three years on the endeavour, call
for a broad range of social measures to be instituted in rich and poor
countries alike to "improve daily living conditions," including affordable
housing, labour policies such as a decent minimum wage, social support like
welfare, taxation measures that redistribute wealth, and universal access to
basic health care.
Ronald Labonté, the Canada Research Chair in Globalization/Health Equity and
a professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Ottawa, said,
"There is nothing terribly magical about these approaches, but the
commission provides compelling evidence that they work."
He said the report should now shift the debate from what needs to be done to
why countries are not acting.
"A failure to act now is a moral failure," Prof. Labonté said.
In fact, the report states that a business-as-usual approach will increase
unfairness and unhealthiness because currently health disparities are
actually increasing.
Monique Bégin, a professor in the school of management at the University of
Ottawa, said that it would be a mistake to assume this issue is of interest
to developing countries only.
Health inequities, she said, exist even in wealthy countries like Canada,
where the abandonment of social programs is also affecting the health of
citizens.
"Canada likes to brag that for seven years in a row the United Nations voted
us 'the best country in the world in which to live.' Do all Canadians share
equally in that great quality of life? No, they don't. The truth is that our
country is so wealthy that it manages to mask the reality of food banks in
our cities, of unacceptable housing, of young Inuit adults' very high
suicide rates."
Prof. Bégin said she hopes the report will be a "wake-up call for action
towards truly living up to our reputation."
The reader’s choice
Living in a 20/20 world –
January 2009
Contributed by Marie Martel of Montreal Canada
Dear Marie,
Thank you very much for this article. We chose your article because of the uplifting content and encouragement and motivation that it can give to others.
Merci Beaucoup.
Living in a 20/20 world
Sandra Cassell lost her vision at age 26 and now works as a social worker
for the blind
JULIA KILPATRICK, The Gazette
Published: Thursday, August 07, 2008
As cars and trucks rumble past a crosswalk on a busy street in Notre Dame
de Grace, Sandra Cassell stops at the curb and listens. When the traffic
stops, a faint sound coming from a device on a nearby electrical pole
escalates to a shrill beeping to indicate that it is safe to cross.
"Up, Allie," Cassell says in a firm voice. Distracted by a passing pit
bull, the yellow Labrador doesn't respond until Cassell repeats the
command. Suddenly alert, Allie steps off the curb and leads Cassell to her
waiting bus.
As the first blind social worker employed by the Montreal Association for
the Blind, Cassell helps clients with impaired vision adjust to living in a
20/20 world.
Many of her clients are seniors who are losing their vision after a
lifetime of sight. She helps them cope with the usual frustration,
disappointment and isolation - feelings she has fought hard to overcome.
Every day, Cassell follows the same routine - four transfers and an hour
and a half of travel each way - to get from her home in Chateauguay to her
office at the MAB-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre in N.D.G. It's a brutal
commute at the best of times, but to Cassell it's a small price to pay for
her independence.
"I do it every day, but I won't say I do it without feeling inside of me a
little bit nervous or worried," she says. "For me it was a rude awakening,
but I quickly realized this was the only way I was going to be able to get
around without having to depend on anyone for lifts or spend all my money
on cabs. So I got with it."
Before losing her sight, Cassell rarely took public transit. But in 2001
she was having trouble seeing while driving at night, so she started riding
the bus. Assuming the problem was because of fatigue, she took a leave from
her job as a youth protection worker and went back to school to finish her
degree in social work.
A few months into her first semester, however, Cassell learned that she had
inherited a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa, or cone
and rod disease, where the photo-receptor cells in the retina gradually
die.
"Here I am, losing my vision with three young kids and I'm studying at the
university level," Cassell recalls thinking. "The ophthalmologist said my
eyes were at the stage of a 70-year-old."
She was 26.
Over the next few years, Cassell's life changed nearly as dramatically as
her vision. When her leave of absence was finished, her employer refused to
accommodate her changing needs and insisted she take sick leave. Rather
than "sit at home and be depressed," she resumed her studies and finished
her degree. She also began supervising social work students at McGill and
started a telephone counselling service so she could work from home.
In 2005, she applied for a job with the Montreal Association for the Blind,
a non-profit organization that offers rehabilitation and support services
for people of all ages with visual impairments.
Founded in 1908 by Philip E. Layton, a blind immigrant from Britain, it is
Canada's oldest centre for blind or vision-impaired English-speakers. Every
year, more than 2,500 people seek friendship, training and assistance
through the centre's rehabilitation programs and services.
Living in a 20/20 world
Sandra Cassell lost her vision at age 26 and now works as a social worker
for the blind
JULIA KILPATRICK, The Gazette
Published: Thursday, August 07
One of the centre's main concerns is helping Montrealers with impaired
vision find employment and helping employers find ways to accommodate
employees who lose their sight.
According to Horizon Travail, an affiliate of Emploi-Québec that helps
train visually impaired people to compete in the mainstream workforce,
about 70 per cent of the province's visually impaired workers are
unemployed.
Many professionals who lose their vision are able to continue working in
their fields with some basic adaptations. Cassell has a driver take her to
home visits, and she uses a program that reads text on the computer screen
out loud.
Despite their expertise, many of Cassell's colleagues at the centre confess
they were initially skeptical she would be able to handle the home visits
and workload.
"They served blind people for 100 years but never had they hired a blind
social worker," Cassell says.
But she manages just fine. When the workday ends, she makes the long trek
home to make dinner for her children, 8-year-old twins Denisha and Deandre
and 12-year-old Aisha. She measures the rice and slices tomatoes with ease
while chatting with Denisha about her time at day camp and monitoring
Aisha's computer use.
Parenting adds another level of challenges. Cassell often asks her children
to describe to her what they're doing - trusting them to tell the truth and
relying on her instincts to know when something's not right.
"I tell them parents have eyes in the back of their heads, too, so even if
my eyes in the front don't work, my eyes in the back do," she says with a
laugh.
Setting an example of strength and courage for her children has helped
Cassell come to terms with her blindness. Three years ago, her eldest
daughter was diagnosed with cancer.
"Aisha said, 'Mummy, I'm going to get through my cancer the same way you
got through your blindness,' " Cassell recounts.
And she did just that.
The Gazette (Montreal) 2008
News and views
Paintball can cause blindness
January 2009
By Christian Robicheau
Hello out there! It's Christian and I would like to start my year by wishing you the greatest for 2009.
I would like to kick things off with an article that was sent to me by a mom who some time ago had a son who fell victim to the Paintball game and now he unfortunately has lost vision in both eyes. He is now almost blind and I thought that this article would serve to enlighten both parents and kids alike.
Paintball guns, used in the increasingly popular sport of
paintball, fire a small ball with a hard, thin outer shell filled with paint that
splatters on impact. They may be powered by CO2, nitrogen or compressed air
(24). The paintballs may attain velocities of 76 m/s to 91 m/s, twice the
velocity needed to penetrate the eye (39 m/s) (25). Paintball guns have
been associated with severe eye injuries. Easterbrook and Pashby
(26,27) described 44 patients with ocular paintball injuries, of whom 17
became legally blind, 13 became visually impaired, and only 14
recovered normal vision. In reputable paintball arenas, the use of helmets and
goggles is enforced and projectile velocity is monitored. Most ocular
injuries from paintballs occur during informal play at home, not at official
facilities where goggles are required (28,29). Ocular injury from paintball
guns usually occurs when eye protection is not being worn or is worn
improperly (30).
Note: This article was retrieved from an online paper called Youth and Firearms
in Canada that was posted by the Adolescent Health Committee of the Canadian
Paediatric Society
January 2009
By the Sterling Creations research team
Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's holiday. We certainly did and now it's time to get back to work. Here now are our tips for January. Enjoy!
Helpful tips for January
Hey! Do you know where to find those rich sources of vitamin D?
Well, in sunshine of course and where else?
In cereals, tuna, sardines, and mackerel.
What's this about storing your potatoes in the fridge?
According to the chefs at the food network:
Best not to store your potatoes in the fridge.
Doing so makes the potatoes lose their starch and inherit more sugar content.
They lose their flavor.
Best to store them in a cool dry place.
Planning to visit Barbados anytime soon?
Well, here are some tips for you.
The West Coast of this beautiful little island offers the best sea bathing because it borders the Caribbean sea.
The South Coast borders the Atlantic ocean and is better for surfers.
The Southeast coast is also quite nice for sea bathers.
What's this about the color red?
Well, red seems to encourage the wearer or viewer to become more hungry.
So, never paint your kitchen in red if you are hoping to stay on your diet.
More news about potatoes!
The best types of potatoes for you to use when preparing a mashed potato dish are:
Yukon potatoes and baking potatoes.
First boil with skins on.
Then peal and mash.
Okay, would you like to know a bit more about those yummy and delicious omelets?
Well, here goes!
A western omelet is made up of ham and onions.
A Denver omelet is made up of a Western omelet with green peppers added.
A Santa Fay omelet is made up of a Denver omelet with hot peppers added.
Enjoy!
One thing to know before you place your next dish in the microwave.
Never place a dish in your microwave if it contains any semblance of metal.
Which of the following fruits reacts negatively if you take it in conjunction with prescription medication?
Pineapple, grapefruit, or raspberries?
Why, grapefruit.
What are some of the Benefits of Chamomile?
Chamomile is an herb that has been used for thousands of years for many ailments including gas, diarrhea, stomach upset, sleeplessness, and anxiety. It can also be used topically for certain skin lesions.
Want to know more about Cilantro?
Cilantro is a very fast growing herb which can be grown just about anywhere. It is a relative of the carrot family and is sometimes called Chinese parsley and Coriander. Cilantro actually is the leaves and stems of the Coriander plant.
What are some of the early symptoms of meningitis?
Fever, headache, a stiff neck, and vomiting.
Meningitis can be life threatening and requires a doctor's attention.
Accessibility news
A Blind Social Activist in Cameroon Helps the Sight Impaired
January 2009
By the Sterling Creations research team
Hey again! We researchers are back and with a second big bang! We are always happy to share news on accessibility from around the world and despite the datedness of the following article, we would like to share it with you. We would like to thank David from the Cameroon for sending this one to us.
Please take a few minutes to read this very motivating article.
A Blind Social Activist in Cameroon Helps the Sight Impaired
By Eugene Nforngwa Yaounde,
Cameroon, January 14, 2008
There are about 600,000 blind people In Cameroon. The country's
sight-impaired complain of a lack of government support, but one man,
himself blind, is fighting for change. Voice of America English to Africa
reporter Eugene Nforngwa in Yaounde, reports on the person behind a network
of rehabilitation centers for the blind -- and about his efforts to educate
the public about problems facing the sight-impaired.
As a young boy in Yaounde, Bertin Coco Moussa spent hours every day playing
football. But in 1979, when he was just four years old, his life changed
forever.
His mother noticed he had a hard time finding the ball, and doctors
confirmed his sight was deteriorating. By age 15, it was gone - as was his
dream of becoming a professional athlete. His first reaction, he says, was
disbelief and anger. He tells about the day he woke up and found his sight
was much worse than the day before.
"I felt pain for three days and when I woke up on the fourth day, I could
not see again. I did not know it was blindness. I tried to wash my face,
tried to open the eyes but I could not see. It was a terrible situation for
me. I wanted to commit suicide but I did not know how to go about it."
Moussa, now 40 years old, says he's glad he did not kill himself. Over the
years, religion and rehabilitation training restored his self-confidence.
Coco Moussa
Today, he heads his own group of centers for those who have lost their
sight, The Club for Young Rehabilitated Blind People (Club des Jeunes
Aveugles Rehabilités du Cameroun).
Moussa and another blind friend, Martin Luther, co-founded the group shortly
after graduating from a rehabilitation school for the blind in 1986. At the
end of their training, the government gave each of them a one-time stipend
of $135 dollars. They decided to go into business. Using Coco's bedroom as
a workshop, the two began weaving rope chairs, which they sold to tourists.
They invited other schoolmates from the rehabilitation center and soon they
were into everything from music to drama with the twin goals of making money
and educating the public about the plight of the blind.
As the activities grew, they sought support from the Department of Social
Affairs, which offered them the corridors of their offices in Yaounde to use
as a handicraft workshop. Friends advised them to form an association which
would help them unite and attract support.
In 1988, they founded the Club of Young Rehabilitated Blind People, which
runs 10 rehabilitation centers across the country.
Moussa says, "The aim of the association is to sensitize the public about
the problems of people with blindness. It is also to bring together blind
people, train them and insert them in the economic circuit of the nation."
Traditionally, in Cameroon, the blind have usually been left to beg on the
streets. But the center sees things differently: it runs a poultry farm,
where the sight-impaired learn to raise chickens and market their eggs.
At the club's headquarters, students learn how to move about by themselves
with the help of a cane and how to read and write in Braille.
Last year, 150 students graduated from 10 centers across the country, under
a nationwide literacy program that started in 2005. The program was run by
Moussa and sponsored by the government. One hundred fifty more students are
now in training. In all, about 1,000 blind people have benefited from the
centers' activities.
And Coco believes their lives have been changed for good, "It is [as if
their] eyes are now open. They cannot physically see, but they are able to
take control of their lives. Many are working, others developing
income-generating activities; they can get married and live like any other
person. They are really happy. Some are students in high schools,
universities. We are happy about what we have been able to do."
Moussa's success has inspired many people and organizations.
In December 2003, Cameroon's first lady, Chantal Biya, chaired the
inauguration of the club's headquarters in Yaounde. In 1994, Moussa was
named the first Cameroonian fellow of the US-based group, Ashoka, which
recognizes men and women leading social change around the world. A year
later, a government committee agreed to fund a literacy project by the
center with money saved from debt cancellation. The project is in its second
phase.
Moussa says a lot has been done, but it is far from enough.
Most Cameroonians who have lost their sight had a preventable illness or
condition, such as river blindness and untreated cataracts. Moussa believes
it is the collective responsibility of blind and sighted people to deal with
the problem.
There is a government center for the blind in Buea at the foot of Mt.
Cameroon, but it has few openings. And Moussa says once the trainees
complete the program, they are left on their own. His own centers were born
out of the need to make the training received from the government-run center
useful in practical terms.
Today, he is also training blind people who've not been able to get into the
government-run center.
A husband and father of five, Moussa declines to see his blindness as a
handicap or a disability and hopes many other blind people will respond to
their condition in the same way.
But he has no political ambitions. All he wants is more empowerment for the
blind and more respect from the public. He says if given opportunities,
sight-impaired people can make a great contribution to society and even rise
to lead nations.
As part of his work, he is also pushing for the rights of the
sight-impaired. A law sets employment quotas for people with disabilities,
but it is largely unknown and often ignored.
Last year, the centers began teaching blind people how to use the legal
rights they've gained. There's also a program to tell employers about their
obligations about hiring the blind.
Moussa also uses music as a tool to raise awareness about the plight of the
blind and other disabled people. In 1999 his first album, Cecite
(Blindness,) was a hit in Cameroon.
Moussa says his biggest challenge was getting the centers operational. Many
people tried to talk him out of it -- they thought because he was blind he
stood no chance of succeeding. But that did not stop him. He says he hopes
others will follow his example in the effort to reach the many other blind
people who still need help.
Editorial
More video games needed for gamers with special needs
January 2009
By Donna J Jodhan
More video games needed for persons with special needs
As an avid computer games player, I'm constantly seeking ways to scream the message to video game developers that they should be focusing some well needed attention on developing video games to meet the demands and needs of consumers with special needs. When I was growing up it was difficult for me to find mainstream games that I could play let alone enjoy. I remember having to find ways to either invent my own games or ask a sighted friend or family member to help me play.
Things have improved a lot since then but I do believe that things could be much better. Before anyone goes off on a tangent, let me define what I mean by making it easier for persons with special needs to play video games. At the present time, almost all of the attention is focused on catering to mainstream players. Those players who can appreciate those glitzy and fancy graphics, those players who have the ability to carry out quick hand-eye movements, players who are blessed with super hand-eye coordination, and players who can use their hands, eyes, and ears to enjoy video games. However, what about those players who do not possess eyesight? Those players who are unable to use their hands? Those players who can't hear very well?
More and more aging baby boomers are getting into the video game trend and it would be wise for video game developers to keep this in mind because much sooner than later aging baby boomers are going to become your main customers and then what? With an aging population comes the fact that more and more persons are going to be suffering from disabling diseases, vision and hearing loss, plus much more.
Comments to the editor
January 2009
From the desk of the editor
Happy New Year from the desk of the editor. Here are this month's comments.
From Pierre Devrise of Montreal Canada:
I was absolutely disgusted when I read your November 2008 editorial but I have to agree with you. There seems to be a lack of commitment especially among those in their 20s and 30s when it comes to putting out hard work. Heaven help us all with this generation and it's what I tell my kids every day.
From Donna Farrell of Washington DC:
I continue to enjoy your editorials Donna and I notice that you have expanded your blog writing. Good for you and keep those articles and blogs coming.
From Candice Berton of Toronto Canada:
Donna, I see where you have been writing some very hard hitting editorials for the accessibilitynews.ca website but I want to caution you to be very careful because many blind and visually impaired persons are not very forgiving when it comes to hearing the truth.
From Stephane Gravel of Paris France:
That editorial that you wrote last month about airline cutbacks is good. I am blind and many times I have been helped when I travel but now I am beginning to wonder how airlines will continue to treat those who need assistance.
From Tim Mansfield of Boston:
Well, my wish for this magazine is that it could somehow focus on more appealing issues of the day. Often times I find this magazine boring at best.
From Johan Kruger of Berlin Germany:
What's this thing about this magazine? More interesting stuff is needed to capture more readers. You’re boring, mundane, and just not with it.
From Ben Glitzky of New York:
I have been reading some of Donna's blogs at www.numpadplus.com and they are quite interesting. Good for you Donna.
From Jim Chipperfield of California:
Well, another New Year comes and nothing much has changed for many of us blind folks. Same old, same old! Guess I should stop bitching and complaining right?
From Paulo Mazaratti of New York:
I would like to thank Donna Jodhan for having personally helped me. I lost my sight a few years ago and was having so many problems adjusting to my new life without vision. Donna has been helping me and I just wanted to thank her.
If you have something to say, an opinion to express, or anything that you wish to share with the rest of the world, then please send it on to info@sterlingcreations.ca.
Comments to the editor are yours and yours alone. All comments are reviewed to ensure appropriate language.
Notes
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Email info@sterlingcreations.ca
Comments to the editor can be submitted free of charge.
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