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.
Now
you can view blogs written by our unstoppable president at:
Our spring newsletter is now available in Word format and
you can obtain a copy by sending an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca
Ask the expert
Why
use the word “Blind”?
May 2009
By the Sterling Creations Accessibility team
Hello there!So many
persons are often confused when it comes to knowing which is the best term to
use whenever they meet someone who is unable to see.Should they be using the word blind, or
something like:Sight impaired, visually
impaired, legally blind, partially sighted, partially blind, or what?
We have chosen a very interesting article that can help to
clear up some of these questions.
We hope you find this article useful.
Why Use the Word
"Blind"?
by James H. Omvig
Braille
Monitor
January
2009
>From the Editor: Most
Federationists know Jim Omvig. He worked first as a
lawyer and later with Dr. Kenneth Jernigan at the Iowa Commission
for the
Blind.
He also headed the blindness rehabilitation program in the
state of Alaska.
He has written many articles for the Braille Monitor and
published three
books in the last five years. In this era of pointless
political correctness
he is particularly well equipped to remind us of some
important truths. The
following article first appeared in the January 2008
newsletter of the
National Federation of the Blind of California. This is what Jim Omvig says:
People who cannot see are blind, and the word
"blind" is perfectly
acceptable--in fact, it is absolutely essential--when one is
referring to
the lack of eyesight. In my opinion (I got this opinion from
Dr. Kenneth
Jernigan), a person is blind--and should learn to refer to
himself or
herself as blind--when vision has deteriorated to the point
that, to
function capably and efficiently, the individual uses
alternative
(nonvisual) techniques to accomplish the majority of life's
daily
activities. This is true even though there is some residual
vision which may
well be quite useful for certain limited and specific
purposes.
There are some misuses of the term, of course, which are not
desirable at
all and which perpetuate negative impressions about
blindness. These include
such commonly accepted dictionary definitions as:
"unable or unwilling to
perceive or understand"; "not based on reason or
evidence"; or "lacking
reason or purpose" as in, "he ran blindly off the
cliff."
Until around the middle of the twentieth century, it was
common among
educators, rehabilitators, sheltered shop workers, and
others in work with
the blind to use the word "blind" routinely when
referring to people with
very limited or no vision, since that is what we are. Then,
in the late
1950s and early 1960s, a new phenomenon gradually evolved: a
group of
master’s-degreed workers—eventually referred to as
"blindness
professionals”—entered the picture. It was not long until
they, the
"experts," began to take extraordinary measures to
get blind people to deny
their blindness and to use the slightest amount of residual
vision so they
could appear to be, as they put it, “normal"--to be
sighted and avoid
blindness altogether. Avoid the word “blindness” at any cost
became the
mantra. And the cost for many blind people was heavy because
that avoidance
encouraged them to deny an important part of who they were.
First came the large-print movement--just produce very large
and dark print
so that blind people with a little vision could read a few
words a minute in
the so-called normal way and not "have to learn
Braille.” Then, before long,
"vision stimulation" was introduced--it was argued
that, if blind people
would just try harder to use their very limited vision, they
could actually
improve sight and again be able to function normally. Of
course this was a
disaster and psychologically damaging for many blind people.
Then, when tape
recorders and computers came along, it was argued all over
again that blind
people could avoid Braille and the stigma of blindness and
thus appear in
yet another way to be normal if they would just jump on the
technology
bandwagon and
give up literacy.
Along with these new professionals (and their new
practices), a new
vocabulary was also introduced. The word “blind” went out of
vogue. Blind
students who could read a little using very large print
became
"sight-saving" students. Others (with either
limited or no vision at all)
soon became "visually impaired," "visually
limited," "visually challenged,"
"unsighted," "sightless,"
"sight-impaired," "low vision," or
"hard-of-seeing," etc. Before long, teachers of
blind children became "vision teachers,” and most
recently some among the
professionals have become so disconnected with the real
world and with blind
people that they have come to call work with the blind
"vision
rehabilitation therapy."
"How in the world," you may ask, "could such
a distortion of reality have
taken place among the very people who purport to help the
blind?" Clearly,
the reason behind it all has been an effort to try to avoid
use of the ugly
and dirty word, "blind."
Through all of these machinations the National Federation of
the Blind has
argued that the word "blind" is best since that's
what we are, but many of
our own members have not been able to articulate the reasons
for our
position, and some have been lured down the path of
visual-impairment
circumlocutions. Here is the short answer for why Dr.
Jernigan taught us to
do what we do.
In the first place Federationists have long since recognized
that, to
understand blindness correctly and also to know how properly
to educate or
rehabilitate
blind people, one must be aware of the fact that blind
people as a class are
a minority in every negative sense of that term. It is the
erroneous and
negative public attitude about blindness that is the real problem
with which
we must deal. From infancy we have been taught that to be
blind is to be
helpless, to be incompetent, and to be inferior. Members of
the general
public have believed it, and most of us have come to believe
it too. In time
the blindness professionals also bought into the erroneous
stereotyping and
the low expectations that accompany feelings of inferiority.
We must change those erroneous public attitudes--the myths,
misconceptions,
and superstitions--first, of course, in ourselves and then
in the broader
society. We also understand fully that these very negative
and mistaken
attitudes about the inferiority of the blind have found
their way into the
educational and vocational rehabilitation systems. These
very mistaken
beliefs about blindness drive the professionals' effort to
get their
customers to deny their blindness
at any price. And these mistaken beliefs must be eliminated
as a key
component of any high-quality education or rehabilitation
program for the
blind.
Finally, we of the Federation have come to know the
fundamental truth that
blind people are nothing more than normal people who cannot
see and that, if
we receive proper (that is effective) training, including
appropriate
attitudinal adjustment, we can participate fully in society
and compete on
terms of absolute equality with our sighted colleagues. We
have learned
that, for any blind person truly to become empowered and
free, a process of
what is commonly called adjustment to blindness is
essential. Learning to
use the word "blind" with ease and comfort and
accepting blindness as a
normal fact of life is a significant ingredient in the
process. For it is
commonly understood that you cannot change what you are not
willing to
acknowledge.
To summarize briefly, five major ingredients comprise this
healing
adjustment to blindness process.
One, the blind individual must come to know and feel
emotionally, not just
intellectually, that he or she is a normal person who can be
just as
independent and self-sufficient as sighted people are.
Two, he or she must become competent in the skills (the
alternative
techniques) of blindness. Three, he or she must learn to
cope calmly and
rationally with the strange or unusual things other people
do or say because
of their complete misunderstanding and lack of accurate
information about
blindness.
Four, the blind person must learn to blend in to the broader
society and to
be acceptable to those around him or her. Behavior such as
being punctual,
neat and appropriate in appearance, reliable, courteous, and
free from
blindisms, etc., is important to avoid reinforcing negative
stereotypes.
And,
five, the successful and truly whole blind person will
recognize the
importance of giving back. This means contributing to
society in general and
assisting in the organized blind movement.
Using the word “blind” with ease and comfort is part of the
first of these
empowering ingredients--coming emotionally, not just
intellectually, to know
that he or she can be equal with others in our society. It
is also part of
this first adjustment ingredient that the blind person comes
to know that he
or she is normal and that it is perfectly respectable to be
blind.
For an exact analogy on the issues of denial and
terminology, consider the
struggle by African Americans to achieve equality and
freedom. In the 1940s
and 50s, and even on into the ’60s, some black Americans
actually tried to
solve their problems by pretending that they weren't black
at all but that
they were white--this practice, denial at its worst, was
referred to as
“trying to pass.” Some people tried to straighten their
naturally curly hair
or lighten the color of their skin. Needless to say, this
approach to
conquering symptoms of inferiority didn't work.
Then enlightened and gifted leaders such as Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. came
upon the scene. He and others realized that pretending you
are something
other than who you really are is fruitless and that the only
meaningful way
black Americans could ever achieve real freedom, equality,
and self-respect
was to accept their blackness and then to work together to
make it
respectable to be black. Dr. King knew that ultimately you
must learn to
love yourself as you are and for who you are to attain true
freedom,
dignity, and self-respect.
So it is with the blind. If you are blind but pretend that
you are
sighted--that is, if you engage in what some call the great
masquerade,
agony and frustration will be the result. In my own case I
pretended (I
tried to pass and deny my blindness) for fourteen
years--from age twelve to
twenty-six--before I encountered the National Federation of
the Blind and
became empowered. I have often marveled at the fact that I
didn't develop an
extreme case of ulcers during this painful time of my life.
Since I believed
that blindness meant inferiority, the fear that someone
would learn just how
blind I really was very nearly unbearable.
This brings us back to the ultimate truth. If you are blind,
you are blind.
Accept it. Admit it. The very first step in this process is
to learn to be
able to say, with neither shame nor embarrassment, "I
am blind." Like other
minorities we have a job to do--we must learn to accept our
blindness and
then work with concerted action to make it respectable to be
blind.
The same is true for professionals in the field of work with
the blind. We
have no business helping our blind customers (whether they
be totally or
partially blind) deny what and who they are and to try to
pass or engage in
the great masquerade by pandering to their fear of the word
“blindness” and
what it stands for in their minds. Rather, we too must learn
that it is
respectable to be blind. Only then can we truly help to
empower and bring
freedom to our customers by helping them accept their
blindness.
One final point needs to be made although, if it is not
properly understood,
it may muddy up everything I have said to this point in this
article. When I
am talking about using the word "blind," I am
talking generally about what
should be happening regularly in the Federation, university
programs,
schools with blind students, or orientation and adjustment
centers--in other
words, in situations where people are actually involved in
some type of
positive experience. When a newly blinded individual is
first met, however,
and where that initial effort is to get the person
interested at all in the
Federation or in some kind of beneficial program, there are
times when
either we (or school or agency specialists) need to be
willing to tread
lightly and even use euphemisms when employing them allows
the customer to
recognize that the program or activity in question is
appropriate and might
be helpful.
I learned this lesson the hard way. When I left my job at
the National Labor
Relations Board in New York City
to return to Iowa
to work for Kenneth
Jernigan at the Iowa Commission for the Blind, I first did
some traveling
with other, more experienced staff members to become
familiar with each of
the Commission's jobs. In traveling with one particularly
talented VR
counselor, I observed her for a few days and scarcely made a
comment. Toward
the end of the week I decided that perhaps the time had come
for me to
participate. To get started I asked a man whom we were
visiting, "How long
have you been blind?" “Blind” was not the word I should
have used. "I'm not
blind!" he screamed out at me with obvious distress.
As a novice, and perhaps as too much of a purist, I had
failed to take into
account that the people who have not yet accepted their
blindness enough
even to get to the point of taking necessary training may
need to be dealt
with differently from those who have made the decision to
get on with their
lives. From that day forward my approach changed completely
when dealing
with newly blinded people who had not yet agreed to enter a
training
program. "How long
have you had poor eyesight," or some meaningless or
useless variant thereof,
became a routine part of my conversation. I did not want to
make that same
mistake again and perhaps even undo what had already been
done to begin to
persuade that potential new customer to get involved in
proper training.
Having understood this last point, we who are blind must
become comfortable
with who we are as people. As with black Americans, we who
are blind must
learn to love ourselves as we are and for who we are, to
attain true
freedom, dignity, and self-respect.
Once we have come to know intellectually and to feel
emotionally that we are
normal people and that it is respectable to be blind, then I
believe that we
of the Federation have a duty to pass it on so that others
may experience
the freedom and empowerment which flow from internalizing
the truth about
blindness. So by all means use the word "blind" in
your daily life and in
helping those around you to get rid of the prejudice and low
expectations
that flow from a belief that the blind are inferior, but be
sparing in its
use when you are meeting newly blinded people or members of
their families.
If you approach the newly blinded in this way, it will not
be long until
their attitudes begin to shift. Eventually, of course, we of
the Federation
intend to introduce the truth and to teach the whole world
that it is
respectable to be blind. We can make all of this come true
if we stick
doggedly to the principle spelled out by some wise
philosopher who said,
"Life is action, not a spectator sport."
Business commentary
Canada's real welfare rolls
May 2009
By the Sterling Creations Business team
When it comes to bad economies, welfare statistics, and
unemployment numbers, Canada
is no different to any other country.Many may think that this Northern neighbor may be a country with lesser
problems than most.This may be so, but
if one were to take the time to examine the overall picture, it would soon be
discovered that Canada
is not as rosy a country as you may think.
Please read our selection for this month.
Canada's
real welfare rolls
NORDICITY
Al Pope
Globe and Mail, December 12, 2008
A report released this week by the National Council on
Welfare reveals that most Canadians living on social assistance can't afford
decent housing or adequate food.
According to council chairman John Rook, "There is
nowhere on welfare where it's
decent living."
Imagine for instance trying to raise a child by yourself in Alberta's booming - or
busting - economy on $13, 703 a year, or surviving with a
disability on
$8,440. Becoming Canada's
richest province hasn't changed the fact that Alberta has the
lowest social assistance rates, but for most Canadians, no
matter where,
life on welfare means grinding poverty.
The NCW is an arms-length advisory body to the Minister of
Human Resources and Social Development. The report measures welfare incomes
based on the benchmark of the Low Income Cut-Off, or LICO, the line below which
a household's economy is
considered unsustainable. A couple with two children in British Columbia gets
only 60%
of this amount.
A lot of working Canadians are less than sympathetic to the
plight of welfare recipients.
I work for my money, they say, why should I have to support
a bunch of people who
don't work for theirs? This attitude is certain to soften
for many as they
see their own job prospects, and those of their children,
fade into the worldwide
credit crunch.
But as credit tightens and talk turns to recession or
depression in the world economy,
it's not welfare for the poor that dominates discussion, but
bail-outs for
the rich. After all, if General Motors is allowed to
collapse, many
thousands of Canadians will find themselves in dire straits.
For the purposes of this narrative, it's important to ignore the many thousands
who already live in hopeless poverty.
Those who are appalled at the idea of forking out billions
in tax-payers
money to rescue failing corporations might take comfort in
the knowledge that there's
nothing new in any of this. According to a report released
this week by the Fraser
Institute, Canadian companies have received $182 billion in
"corporate welfare" in the
Past 12 years.
Corporate welfare, as defined by the Fraser Institute, a
right-wing think
tank, means direct cash subsidies, and does not include the
billions in tax cuts
corporations have enjoyed during the same period. So while a
succession of prime ministers have overseen a steady downward trend in support
for the poor, they've managed to come up with a billion and a half dollars a
year to prop up corporations.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has spoken against what he
calls "the trap" of the
"available plethora of loans, grants, and
subsidies" in the past, though he's done
little to put a stop to it since taking office. Now he's
musing about the necessity
of bailing out the Big Three automakers, for fear of
"(putting) our sector
in severe disadvantage."
It seems that, if the US
hands the auto-giants a big bail-out package, Canada will
have no choice but to do the same, or risk sending the
entire industry south. But there will be conditions attached. As Harper says,
"There's no blank cheque coming
from the government of Canada." The question arises,
what will those
conditions be?
Imagine a world in which those bail-outs were dependant on a
commitment to
Produce energy-efficient cars in low-impact factories.
Imagine a promise to restrict
Executive salaries, and to pay a fair share of taxes so that
we don't have to keep
Cutting services to the poor. Picture the Big Three
promising to bring home all the
Manufacturing jobs they've already exported to China and Mexico.
OK, sorry to wander off into dreamland there. Judging from
past performance Harper
will no doubt want guarantees of wage reductions on the
assembly line and limits
on pay equity and workers' rights to organize.
The Big Three will get their bail-out, and others will
follow. Canada
will
run deficits if need be to meet their demands. Later, to
ensure that those deficits will
be short term and temporary, the government, whether Conservative
or Liberal, will
slash social spending. Canada's desperate poor will become
poorer still.
It may not be fair, but it's what we've always done.
From the soap box
'Our
digital lives will only get richer'
May 2009
By Scott Savoy
'Our digital lives will only get richer'
There is no doubt that with the passing of time, our digital
lives will only get richer; but to what detrement?What would we have to give up in return for a
richer digital life?
Many may say that a better or improved digital life can only
be better for everyone but what about those who are technically shy, or those
special needs persons who are unable to see screens or use their hands to press
the buttons?Has anyone given any
thought to all of these people?
This article was printed a while ago but I thought it
important enough to reprint it.
MATT HARTLEY
Globe and Mail, January 9, 2009
Even without Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp. retained its title
as the brightest
star on the Strip at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in
Las Vegas.
On Wednesday evening, Microsoft chief executive officer
Steve Ballmer took
to the
stage to deliver his first CES keynote as the public face of
the world's
largest
software company, revealing that the company plans to
release a trial
version of
Windows 7 - the successor to the much-maligned Windows Vista
- today.
Not to be outdone, Palm Inc. topped industry expectations by
unveiling a new
touch-screen
smart phone designed to challenge the BlackBerry and the
iPhone.
Undaunted by the global economic slowdown, Mr. Ballmer
encouraged companies
to invest
in technology and used the opportunity to unveil a series of
initiatives
designed
to bolster the company's search advertising and mobile
businesses. "No
matter what
happens with the economy, our digital lives will only get
richer," he said.
Microsoft announced that it has signed a deal with Dell Inc.
to include both
Windows Live and Live Search software on most of the
computer maker's new
PCs and laptops.
In an effort to expand the company's footprint in the
burgeoning market for
Internetsearches on mobile phones, Microsoft unveiled a new
five-year deal
that will
Make Live Search the default Web query tool on all smart
phones sold by
Verizon Communications
Inc., the largest cellular carrier in the United States.
Palm's new phone, the Palm Pre, created a wave of buzz
across the Internet.
It features
a slide-out QWERTY keypad and will be the first device to
run on the
company's new
mobile operating platform, known as webOS. The Pre is at the
centre's of
Palm's plans
to return to prominence in the smart phone market as it goes
up against
Research
In Motion Ltd.'s newest BlackBerry devices and Apple Inc.'s
iPhone.
Every year, analysts and industry experts descend on Las Vegas for CES to
get a sneak
peek at what the world's largest electronics companies have
been cooking up
in their
research labs over the past year and to discern what the
hottest technology
trends
will be for the coming year.
If the annual showcase is any predictor of the year ahead,
consumers can
look forward
to the fusion of the Internet with television, touch-screen
interfaces,
netbooks
and a rich assortment of new smart phones.
Yahoo Inc. and Intel Corp. spent the week revealing a series
of partner
companies
that have signed on to their proposed Internet-television
service, called
the Widget
Channel.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sony Corp. and LG Electronics
Inc. have all
pledged
to release TVs prepackaged with the technology this spring,
while News
Corp.'s MySpace
social-networking site has also signed on to allow users to
check and update
their
profiles through Yahoo's widgets.
South
Korea's LG stole a page from James Bond's
gadget guide by introducing
what
it says is the world's first market-ready touch-screen watch
cellphone. LG
expects
it to be available in Europe
later this year, but has not set a date for its
North
American debut.
To capitalize on the trend of touch-screen interfaces
popularized by Apple
Inc.'s
iPhone, Hewlett-Packard Co. announced the HP TouchSmart PC,
a desktop
computer with
a touch-sensitive screen; it is expected to be available in North America in
February.
*****
New products at the Consumer Electronics Show
Items on display at CES 2009 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Green batteries
Fuji
has created a battery that contains no harmful chemicals and is safe to
throw
in the garbage. Fuji EnviroMax is made with 100 per cent
recyclable
materials and
will go on sale this Spring.
3-D webcam
Featuring two cameras spaced the same distance apart as
human eyes, the
webcam from
Minoru creates three-dimensional video. The webcam is sold
with five pairs
of special
glasses needed to view the 3-D effect.
Astronomy for dummies
With the flick of a switch, this telescope by Meade
Instruments will focus
on any
heavenly body. It also provides a multi-media presentation
with details
about celestial
objects the user is viewing.
Wireless re-charge
Charge portable electronic devices by just setting them on
the Powermat.
Using magnetic
induction, this device can charge items from iPods to
laptops at the same
speed as
traditional chargers.
Always the right length
Stretching from one to 10 feet, the Flexicord can be
straightened or coiled
but will always maintain its shape, eliminating piles of
cords behind
entertainmentCenters and computer
workstations
DJ in your pocket
This 120-gigabyte device contains two separate channels
allowing the user to
Mix and play music stored inside, just like a professional
DJ. The
pocket-sized Pacemaker
from Tonium also comes with free software for creating mixes
The reader’s choice
IT'S
HARD TO BE HIGH -- HIGH PARTIAL, THAT IS…
May 2009
Contributed by Tim Gershner of Boston
We would like to thank Tim for this month’s
contribution.We chose his article for
its interest, insight, and because it could be applied to so many situations.
Being high-partial can be a very interesting and challenging
position to be in.
We hope you enjoy it.
IT'S HARD TO BE HIGH -- HIGH PARTIAL, THAT IS
by Netagene Kirkpatrick
The Braille
Forum, January 2009
I'm sure it's hard to be a total, but for me, I feel as if I
am in limbo. It
probably sounds dumb, but sometimes I wish I had less sight
than I have.
When I was 54, with no warning, my left retina tore while I
was driving to
work. After nine operations, the doctors and I gave up, leaving
me with
light, dark, and motion. I also had "preventive
maintenance" on my right
retina. At the end of October 2003, four years to the day of
the preventive
surgery, the doctors were reattaching my right retina. I was
almost total
for awhile.
Early that month, I attended a free public seminar. The
speaker was a man
born totally blind, a counselor at the local office of the
Alabama Institute
of Deaf and Blind. Less than a week before my right retina
detached, I met
with a counselor for the blind at the Alabama Department of
Rehabilitation
Service. I had arranged for him to come to my house, just in
case something
happened to my good eye.
After a total of 15 operations between December 1998 and
March 2005, I
became a high partial. Some think I am not blind because I
can read a lot of
things even without magnification. Just because I have to
hold things a
certain way, but can still make them out, means to them that
I am not blind.
They don't understand that I compensate in many ways. And
that I ride
paratransit doesn't mean a thing.
I did not want a cane, but was given reasons for it. (Some
of you have a
copy of my poem, "Lady with a Long White Cane.")
That cane has saved my life
many times in the almost four years I've had it. I have
almost no depth
perception and have lost a lot of peripheral sight.
Once in a while, I ride the fixed-route buses. If it's a
route I'm not
familiar with, I'll ask the driver to let me off at a
certain place, only to
be told, "You have to ring the bell." So I sigh,
point out my cane, tell the
driver that I do not see well enough to read the street
signs, at which
time, other riders invariably will offer to ring the bell
for me.
In trying to find another job after I lost mine when my good
eye went bad,
I've been told, "But you have to have reliable
transportation." I tell them
that the bus is almost as reliable as their car. Doesn't
their car sometimes
break down?
Not being able to read a menu board has caused me to pay
more for a meal
than if I could see well. So often, the young people who
work in fast- food
places slur their words and don't seem to care. Often there
is no printed
menu. The fact that I also have a slight hearing loss
doesn't help.
I have never been clothes-conscious, and I am worse now. I
know that I
should stick with high contrasts instead of trying to match
colors and
shades! Luckily I've never cared for wearing makeup. With
poor eyesight, I
finally quit wearing the one thing I did wear: lipstick. No
one has noticed
yet.
I thought for sure that I could ride an adult tricycle.
Wrong! A friend took
me to a bike shop. There was a beautiful three-speed trike
with a big
leather seat and a big basket on the back for packages. I
tried it for a few
feet -- and got off and had the salesman ride it and show me
that it would
not turn over. I tried it again and again. Me, who in my 40s
had my own
motorcycle, could not ride an adult trike! It scared me out
of my wits!
Intellectually, I knew that it would not turn over, but
that's not what I
saw! I'm sure I was entertainment for the other customers. I
have since
learned the word "stereopsis" but am still not too
sure about the meaning.
I often get so frustrated when shopping that sometimes I
just give up and
walk out. I seem to be the careful one; fully sighted people
talking on cell
phones while they shop have been the ones who bump into me!
I have had people think I was uppity when I didn't speak.
They thought that
because they were standing 10 or 20 feet in front of me and
waving, that I
could tell they were waving to me. Sure, I could usually see
them and
usually see a wave motion, but that wouldn't mean I had eye
contact with
them. But because I often CAN recognize someone 20 feet
away, others think I
have no vision problem. A good example is at the church house.
People do not
realize that I can usually tell if it's a man or a woman,
and sometimes tell
hair color. I've learned that I can often tell who someone
is by the way
they walk! I can't see the details of their face or clothes,
but I can tell
who it is.
Today I unplugged my old printer and hooked up a new one.
Therefore I must
not be blind. Right? The fact that it took a powerful
electric lantern,
switching glasses back and forth, and doing a lot by feel
and by process of
elimination doesn't count. I ought to be out driving a car!
At least I have quit apologizing. I don't say, "Excuse
me, but I don't see
well" or "I'm sorry, but I'm legally blind."
I just say, "I am legally
blind."
News and views
What
are seborrheic keratoses?
May 2009
By Christian Robicheau
Hey there!I am going
to share a small blurb with you that was sent to us by Gabriella Sharrard of TorontoCanada.This affliction is very common among us and
many of us really do not know enough about it.So, please read on.
Thank you Gabriella for sending this on to us.
What are seborrheic keratoses?
Seborrheic keratoses are non-cancerous (benign) skin growths
that some people develop as they age. They often appear on the back or chest,
but can occur on any part of the body. Seborrheic keratoses grow slowly, in
groups or singly. Most people will develop at least one seborrheic keratosis
during their lifetime.1
How can I identify a seborrheic keratosis?
The appearance of seborrheic keratoses can vary widely. They
may be light tan to brown or black. The most common texture is rough, with a
bumpy, grainy surface that crumbles easily.2 However, they also may be smooth
and waxy. They usually look like they've been stuck onto the skin. While some
are tiny, others grow larger than 3 cm (1.2 in.) in diameter.2
Seborrheic keratoses may be mistaken for warts, moles, skin
tags, or skin cancer.
What causes seborrheic keratoses?
We don't know what causes seborrheic keratoses, although the
tendency to develop them may be inherited.1 It is possible that they are
related to sun exposure.1 They are not contagious, so you cannot give them to
someone else. There is no known way to prevent them.
Seborrheic keratoses primarily affect people older than 30.1
Some women notice that they develop them during pregnancy or after taking
estrogen. They are increasingly common in the later decades of life. Children
seldom develop these skin growths.
Are there risks related to seborrheic keratoses?
A diagnosed seborrheic keratosis is nothing to worry about.
However, seborrheic keratoses sometimes are mistaken for cancerous (malignant)
skin growths, or cancerous growths may blend in with seborrheic keratoses. If
you have a skin growth that appears to be a seborrheic keratosis, ask your
doctor to examine it. If you have a dark skin growth or a group of growths that
develop rapidly, make an appointment to have them checked now.
How is it treated?
Seborrheic keratoses do not need to be treated. However, if
a seborrheic keratosis is easily irritated or painful or its appearance bothers
you, you can have it removed.
1995-2008 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise
for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of
Healthwise, Incorporated.
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor.
Healthwise disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this
information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of
Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health
decisions.
Helpful tips
May 2009
By the Sterling Creations Research team
Hello there!It’s the
merry month of May and we are delighted to be here to share our monthly tips
with you.
Enjoy!
Helpful tips for May:
Well, it's back to those dried fruits!
Do you know which fruits come from raisins and prunes?
You got it!Grapes
and plums respectively.
Which country is known for its watches, cheese, and
chocolates?
Yes!Switzerland!
Which country invented fireworks?
Indeed!It's China!
Which countries boast of companies that are most respected
in the world today?
You got it!Canada, Germany,
and Switzerland.
What do you know about the eye disease known as glaucoma?
Well, it is painless and progressive.
Meaning, that the only way for it to be detected is through
regular eye checkups.
What is one recommended way to relieve constipation?
Through yoga exercises.
How do you know if your ear drums have been punctured or
damaged?
If you are experiencing a lot of pain to your ears.
If you have lost hearing to the ear that is paining you, and
if the ear is infected.
It is possible to repair punctured or damaged ear drums.
Some times punctured or damaged ear drums can heal on their
own or this is a way for your doctor to repair it.
Punctured or damaged ear drums can come from music that is
very loud or from using Qtips in your ear.
What's this about eating cheese is good for you?
In general, too much eating of cheese can be bad for your
weight but here's something good about eating cheese.
The eating of cheese will help you to generate more saliva
and acid in your mouth and this helps to prevent tooth decay.Bravo for cheese!
Which type of bread is best for our diets?
According to the experts, bread with fiber related
ingredients.Better than white bread.
Which foods are known for producing healthy cells in our
bodies and also protecting us from those miserable cold and flu bugs?
Ginger, garlic, and mushrooms.
Accessibility news
Touch-screen
gadgets alienate blind
May 2009
By the Sterling Creations Research team
Hello again!We're
back and with a very insightful article.
When it comes to those touch screen gadgets!Well, they can be a huge bonus for the
sighted.However, for those who are
unable to see or use their hands, it can be a very huge drawback.This is why we have chosen to publish this
article for this month.
Too many developers fail to take special needs users into
consideration when they bring these nice toys to the marketplace.
Touch-screen gadgets alienate blind
Sinead Carew, January 8, 2009
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - The craze for touch-screen gadgets, sparked by Apple
Inc's popular iPhone, is raising worries that a whole
generation of consumer
electronics will be out of the reach of the blind.
Motown icon Stevie Wonder and other advocates came to the
world's biggest
gadget fest, the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, to
convince vendors to consider the needs of the blind.
Wonder told a CES event that his wish list included a car he
could drive --
which he acknowledged was probably "a ways away"
-- and a Sirius XM
satellite radio he could operate.
"If you can take those few steps further, you can give
us the excitement,
the pleasure and the freedom of being a part of it," said
the famed
musician. Wonder said some companies had managed to make
their products more
accessible to the blind, sometimes without even meaning to.
He cited an iPod
music player and RIM's BlackBerry as gadgets he likes to
use. Advocates
argue that if product designers take into account blind
needs, they would
make electronics that are easier to use for the sighted as
well.
The good news is that manufacturers do not need to put large
sums of money
into making products accessible, nor would they have to forsake
innovation,
said Chris Danielsen, a spokesman for the National
Federation For The Blind.
"We don't want to hold up technological progress,"
he said. "What we're
saying is, think about the interface and set it up in such a
way that it's
simple .... The simpler you make the user interface of a
product, it's going
to reach more people sighted or blind."
TOUCH SCREENS
With the popularity of touch screens, once simple products
such as
televisions and stereos have become difficult for blind
people to use as
they often require navigation of multiple menus that need to
be seen to be
used effectively.
"That's an increasing problem with new digital devices.
It's easy to add
feature after feature that's buried under menu after
submenu," said Mike
Starling, CTO of National Public Radio, which is working on
accessible
options.
Manufacturers have been putting touch screens in everything
from calculators
and watches to computers and music players.
Sendero Group President Mike May, who is blind, joked,
"Can I ski 60 miles
an hour downhill? Yes. Use a flat panel microwave? No."
Sendero makes GPS
navigational devices that have an audio output for the
blind.
There are also screen readers that give an audio reading of
a phone's menu.
But Anne Taylor, director of access technologies at the
National Federation
for the Blind, says they do not yet help her to use a
touch-screen phone.
She said the ability to use a device without needing to look
at it could
help sighted people who are driving or older people whose
eyesight is
starting to deteriorate.
While blind users can buy screen-reading software for $300
upward, it tends
to only work on certain phones, often the most expensive
smartphones.
Sendero said accessible technology is often expensive, and
about 70 percent
of the U.S.
blind population is unemployed.
Taylor
is using CES as a forum to present vendors a set of suggestions for
product design that she sees benefiting both sighted and
blind consumers.
For example, manufacturers could include an easy-to-use
start-over button,
different sounds for different menus, and controls with good
tactile
feedback.
PROGRESS
Ahead of the show, there were some signs that vendors, while
unlikely to
give up on the touch-screen trend, may be more ready to
consider consumers
with disabilities.
Developers at Google Inc are working on ways to make
touch-screen phones,
including those based on its own Android mobile software,
usable for blind
people.
National Public Radio announced a special radio receiver
technology and
software that would connect a digital radio to a dynamic
Braille generating
device. It has also created special digital radio channels
for readings of
the day's newspapers.
Dice Electronics has made a prototype radio that
incorporates the NPR
technology, and NPR's Starling hopes this will become a
commercial product
in 2009.
Starling has also set up meetings at CES with other
manufacturers in the
hope they will include NPR's technology. He said responses
to requests for
information, which often go unheeded, are much more active
this year.
Some manufacturers could use their production facilities to
make such
devices, as demand weakens for more mainstream products in
the economic
downturn, he said.
"I think in general there may be a view that
accessibility may be becoming
the new green," said Starling.
Editorial
Seniors
easy targets for identity theft
May 2009
By Donna J. Jodhan
Seniors easy targets for identity theft
I do not think that I am saying anything new but I wanted to
reiterate this statement because of the increasing number of incidents of
identity theft against seniors.Hackers
and cyber pirates do not discriminate when it comes to choosing their victims
and unfortunately seniors are probably some of the easiest targets these
days.We need to keep in mind that
seniors did not grow up in the age of technology.They grew up before the age of technology,
the arrival of the Internet, and such things as cell phones, banking machines,
and handheld devices.Many seniors are
hesitant to use the Internet and banking machines but true to form, hackers and
cyber pirates are finding other ways to attack seniors.
These seedy characters are basing their schemes on the
timidity and hesitance of seniors.They
are employing some very interesting tactics to get seniors to divulge their
very private and personal information.One of their favourite weapons is to present seniors with some very well
thought-out financial schemes to convince them that they can help them to earn
lots of quick income and they are using this weapon because they know only too
well how much most seniors are worried about their financial future.
In addition, they are using enticements such as cheap
holiday packages, promises of quality lifestyle living for very low rates, and
financial schemes such as investing in stocks that do not exist, phony stocks
and bonds, plus more.The present
economic conditions are not helping very much when it comes to schemers making
up schemes to entice seniors to let them manage their funds and part of this
plan is to get the victim to part with precious banking details, credit card
numbers, and social security numbers.
In a recent survey published in the United States, it was revealed that
favourite victims of schemers include:Seniors, disabled persons, and women.How can we stem the tide of growing identity theft against seniors?What can we do to push those schemers
away?Maybe, more education for our
seniors.More financial institutions to
run seminars that will teach seniors how to avoid schemers and create awareness
of what seniors should be doing in order to protect themselves against identity
theft.Maybe it is time for our
government to get involved as well.
The survey also revealed that some of the more popular
schemes being used against seniors these days include:Investment schemes, holiday package schemes,
life insurance schemes, real estate schemes, and home repair schemes.
What should seniors be doing in order to avoid identity
theft?Here are some tips:
Never give out your credit card number to any unauthorized
person especially so by phone or on the Internet.
The same for your social security number and your driver's
license number.
Never divulge your date of birth to any unauthorized person.
Never give out your banking details to any unauthorized
person.Especially so if you receive a
phone call or an email asking you for these details.
Keep your pin numbers in a very safe place.
Never give out the last three digits of your credit card to
any unauthorized person.
Whenever you are getting rid of old bills, statements, or
anything with your name and address printed on it, be sure to shred these types
of documents.
Never put them in the garbage unless you have first shredded
them to bits.
Believe it or not, identity thieves use garbage bins and
dumpsters as their hunting grounds for their victims.
I hope these tips help you to stay safe.
Comments to the
editor
May 2009
From the desk of the editor
Hello there!Here are
this month’s comments.
From Stephan Yagahower of ViennaAustria:
Donna, how proud I am of you for your charter challenge, and
so many articles that you are writing.We need more of this to have other notice what needs to be done for
blind people.
From Maggie Woodhouse of LondonEngland:
You know, standing up for one's rights is great but we have
to do it in a very productive and constructive way.We have to make noises in the right way and
make them to the right folks.
Good for you Donna.
From Chris Dobson of New
York:
This magazine continues to print articles that are somewhat
newsworthybut I would like to see more
spicy items.Such as what people are
doing to develop products for blind people and so on.
From Cathy Newbery of New
Hampshire:
I am just so tired of our government promising to improve
things for the disabled.They sure talk
up a storm and I hope that Obama lives up to expectations and delivers
something our way soon.
From Arthur Weinberg of New York:
Well, I am searching for some kind of school where I can go
to get a guide dog.Can anyone suggest
something for me?I just lost my sight
and I would like to get a dog.
From Bruce Horn of Kent England:
The not jut in Canada editorial of a few months
ago really touched me.Darn
straight!This is a worldwide problem
and good for the one who wrote it.
From Robert Trudeau of MontrealCanada:
I think that we are all crossing our fingers that our
lip-serving government really steps up and provides some help for so many
Canadians living on welfare.For a
country like Canada
to be living with these kinds of stats, it's a crying shame or should I say a
real crime.
From Miko Santos of California:
When will anyone start listening to our cries for help!What we need are real opportunities for real
jobs.Not make work jobs or anything
like that!
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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Welcome to "STAE" our free online magazine which we hope you will enjoy. Each month our staff of writers, consultants, and readers will present you with articles and comments that are designed to keep you in touch with the rest of the world and the rest of the world in touch with you. If you would like to learn how to create those websites that can attract hundreds of thousands of new customers, increase your revenue and your customer base, and at the same time decrease your costs for website development, maintenance and support, then you need to read our monthly issue of STAE. If you are looking for new ways to attract and increase customer traffic to your business locations then you definitely need to read STAE each month. If you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, starting a small business, starting up a sideline or part-time business, and if you are even looking for ways to get your kids interested and involved in running their very own businesses, then STAE is the magazine for you. In short, if you are looking for ways to let the world know about your business both on and off the Internet then take a few minutes to read STAE. If you are a housewife or a mom on maternity leave, a recent grad or a student looking for work, a retiree or someone looking to start a new career, then STAE is a must for you. If you are looking for helpful tips on safety and security then STAE has something for you too each month. We even have health snippits to share with you as well as inspiring human interest stories that could help to lift your spirits. take a few minutes each month to read STAE.
We hope you enjoy our magazine and we welcome any feedback that you would like to share with us. We hope to fill our magazine with lots of interesting articles and ideas from our staff as well as from our readers and it is with this in mind that we will strive to encourage our readers to contribute articles and comments. Any personal comments provided by our readers will be the opinions of our readers and not the opinions of our magazine and we will provide disclaimers to this effect. You can address your comments as a letter to the editor and we would be delighted to publish it. Our readers will be able to read and download any magazine issue of their choice.
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Here are some of the features that you can look forward to each month.
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