March 3, 2011
1. Artificial retina a breakthrough for the blind?
CBS News
March 2, 2011
2. Blind artist paints a colorful world
CBS News
March 1, 2011
3. Verona pastor who is visually impaired shares her story of success
North Jersey
March 3, 2011
4. Avatars go to school: Virtual Classroom could help the disabled
Tech News Daily
March 3, 2011
1. Artificial retina a breakthrough for the blind?
Device approved in Europe; American involved in clinical trial says he can see shapes, tell light from dark while using gadget
(CBS News) An artificial retina that can help the sightless regain some of their vision has just been approved in Europe and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may soon do the same in the U.S.
CBS News Correspondent John Blackstone reported this could be a breakthrough for people like Dean Lloyd.
Lloyd told CBS News, "I had functional vision until I was 34 or 35 years old. And then I lost almost all of it in six months or less."
Dr. Jonathan LaPook: 1st artificial retina approved in Europe
Blindness robbed him of watching his daughter, Lisa, grow up.
"I was 3 when dad lost most of his vision, so I've never known my dad to be sighted," Lisa said.
Dean said, "The memory's still there."
Still, Dean Lloyd has thrived over the years. He became a lawyer, opening his own practice. He does housework. He accepted that he would never see again.
That is, until a company called Second Sight came looking for volunteers for a clinical trial at the University of California, San Francisco, at the Koret Vision Center, that would surgically implant a bionic eye.
Lisa said, "My dream was for my dad to be able to see again, so when he said he wanted to participate in this study, I was very excited about it."
The device starts with a tiny video camera mounted in a pair of glasses. A transmitter in the glasses sends the images to chip implanted on the back of the damaged eye, Blackstone explained. There, 60 electrodes send the image along the optic nerve straight to the brain.
Today, Dean can make out shapes. He can tell light from dark. At one point, there appeared to be a breakthrough.
Lisa said, "He just all of a sudden exclaimed, 'I can see your hand!' I was just kind of speechless and in shock, and it took me a couple of seconds. I felt really overwhelmed."
In fact, Dean had only seen an outline. But from total blindness, this is a major step.
Dean told Blackstone, "When I look at you, I can get your boundaries and borders, and you're a bit bigger than my daughter, that's for sure."
For Lisa, the technology to help restore sight and perhaps full sight is more than just cool science -- it's a race against time.
Lisa was 22 when she got the news she was going blind. The disease her father has is hereditary. Lisa has already lost night vision. It's 50-50 whether she'll go completely blind. But for now, Blackstone said, she looks to her dad.
"He's definitely been a pioneer," she said.
But what about her future?
Lisa said, "If I do lose all of my sight. I think my dad's shown me what to do and how to live my life, and I'm not wigged out about it."
CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton discussed on "The Early Show" how the device works, and the future of the artificial retina.
Ashton said potentially 10 million people in U.S. who are blind from retina problems could benefit from this advance.
Special Section: Dr. Jennifer Ashton
Dr. Jennifer Ashton's Twitter page
Ashton explained, "This is a part of the eye in the back where light images are converted into nerve signals, and then transmitted to the brain. We're not talking about people who are born blind here, but for people suffering from macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa, which is what the father and daughter in this piece, has. Potentially this is very, very helpful."
"Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill noted, "It is still, though, experimental. We mentioned it was just approved in Europe. When do you think the FDA might approve it for use in the U.S.?"
"The company told us they hope to file that application for FDA approval later this year," Ashton said. "So there are only 14 people in this country -- (Dean Lloyd) being one of them -- who have the experimental device. In Europe, the cost is high. It's about $100,000 or more. Excitingly, this company also told us they're already at work on the next generation model, which instead of 60 electrodes has 240 electrodes, possibly making it more accurate."
Ashton continued, "Hopefully more accuracy. And interesting historical perspective, this is where cochlear implants for people who are deaf, this is where they were 26 years ago. So we're a little bit behind that, but for visual problems, blindness, this is very, very exciting."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/02/earlyshow/health/main20038184.shtml
2. Blind artist paints colorful world
(CBS News) DALLAS - Henry David Thoreau once said "the world is but canvas to our imaginations." In tonight's "American Spirit," CBS News correspondent Don Teague shows us an artist who chose to speak through canvas when his world went dark.
If you ask John Bramblitt to describe the world, chances are he'll tell you it's colorful.
Bramblitt is an artist whose work is defined by bold and expressive use of color which has emotion all its own.
"Fear, it's a red with a lot of black mixed in," Bramblitt said. "It's almost like the color of blood and dirt or soil -it's really deep."
To submit an idea for The American Spirit send us an email.
He knows a lot about fear and anger and depression. Emotions that almost overwhelmed him nine years ago when at just age 30, complications from epilepsy left him irreversibly blind.
What color was the depression?
"Oh my word, it was the worst black. It was like being in a hole," Bramblitt said.
He eventually climbed out of that hole by learning to paint. He figured out how to mix the colors by feeling the different textures in the oils. He also learned how to apply paint by outlining an image and using his fingers to guide the brush strokes. He sees his subjects with only his fingertips.
When Bramblitt touched his face, Teague jokingly said, "Brad Pitt, right?"
"Yeah, you called it," Bramblitt replied.
To let Bramblitt touch your face is to allow him to imprint your image in his mind. His portraits are proof that his fingertips are every bit as perceptive as his eyes once were.
He's never seen professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, but after feeling his face he painted a remarkable portrait.
He has never seen his own wife or his young son, but it's clear he knows exactly what they look like.
Bramblitt's art is gaining notice in galleries around the country. You'll often find him in museums or at schools teaching his technique and what he's learned about life and color to children.
"The future is so open, and there's so many things I want to do," Bramblitt said. "It's brilliant, it's just the most brilliant colors and I can't wait to see it take form, to see it take shape."
This artist's vision is as bright as his art.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/01/eveningnews/main20037973.shtml
3. Verona pastor who is visually impaired shares her story of success
Outside of those who use it to access reading materials, most people have never heard of the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic association.
The Rev. Sharon Burniston recently traveled to the nation's capital to try and change that.
Burniston, pastor at Verona United Methodist Church, recently spent several days in Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about an organization that helped her along the way to becoming the leader of her congregation.
The award
Burniston is the recipient of the Mary P. Oenslager Scholastic Achievement Award for 2010 from the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic association.
The association works with publishers and technology experts to provide individuals with visual and learning disabilities access to educational materials. More than 5,000 volunteers nationwide describe charts and graphs in math, science and other textbooks in order for the listener to receive the complete book experience, according to the organization's website.
Each year, the association awards members of the organization who are blind or visually impaired and have received, or are working toward a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree.
As one of the top winners for 2010, Burniston was given $6,000 and the opportunity to spend three days on Capitol Hill, raising awareness about the Recording for Blind and Dyslexic association with legislators.
"We award the best and brightest students who have demonstrated leadership and creativity, and really demonstrated how people with a so-called disability can flourish. (Burniston) has really demonstrated someone who's blossomed as an asset to her community," said Doug Sprei, director of media relations for the association.
How they helped
Without the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic association, Burniston said she wouldn't have had the tools she needed to complete the education necessary to enter the ministry.
"I couldn't have gotten my degree without them," she said. "Not only was I able to graduate, I was able to excel because of this amazing organization."
Burniston, a Maplewood resident, has been the pastor at Verona United Methodist Church for almost two years. The road there wasn't always easy.
Burniston was in her late 20s when she was diagnosed with Stargardt's disease, a form of juvenile macular degeneration. The disease caused her to lose her central vision. As a result, she has trouble focusing on objects and can't read without assistance, drive a car or recognize faces.
She explained the disease in this way: She has to look above, or to the sides of people's heads to see their faces.
If someone drops a quarter, she can pick it up. But if she tried to make change, she couldn't tell the difference between a quarter and nickel.
Burniston had graduated from college, became a high school English teacher in Virginia, before retiring on disability. She moved to New Jersey 12 years ago.
With the onset of the disease, "Reading just got harder for me," she said. "I stopped driving at night."
While she stayed at home and raised her children, she looked for resources to help her stay active, and new ways to continue to do what she wanted to do. She attended support groups for people with visual impairments. It was when she became more involved in her church in Maplewood and started working with hospice that she began to feel a calling to the ministry.
However, she was afraid her vision loss would hold her back.
"I had this roadblock in my mind that the education would be too difficult because I couldn't access text," she said. "It's always sort of been my motto: 'Jump in, just show up' she said. It's amazing when you're out there and you're willing to take a risk, the unimaginable possibilities present themselves."
She met with the dean at The Theological School at Drew University in Madison, who helped convince her that she could still do the work she needed to obtain her Master of Divinity degree.
"It was that moment of me saying, 'How am I going to do this?' and her saying 'Why don't you come in and we'll do this together?' Her willingness to step up and take a risk for me ... that was the encouragement I needed at that time," Burniston said.
While at Drew, she actively began using the association to help her with her studies. If there was a book she needed, she could obtain the audio version from the organization. She started listening on cassette tapes, then CDs, before she was able to download materials right off the website.
Burniston graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average and received four academic achievement awards during her time at Drew.
"A lot of people with learning disabilities give up on school because it's so physically exhausting. To go to school where you have textbook after textbook, to be able to hear it is huge," she added.
Giving back
She decided to apply for the achievement award from the association "because I believe in this organization so strongly and I wanted to give back to them."
"I wanted to do two things when I applied for this award: I wanted the ability to look at the people of the organization in the face and tell them how much they helped me, and I wanted to be able to serve the organization and help them, I and I think I was able to do both those things," Burniston said of her trip to Washington, D.C.
Burniston participated in a media roundtable on Capitol Hill, where she and fellow award winners and students discussed life stories, and how they overcame their disabilities to achieve success. She met with Alexa Posny, assistant secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services with the U.S. Department of Education, and Kareem Dale, the special assistant to President Obama for disability policy.
She also met with Congress and staff for legislators from her area, including Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, and Reps. Donald Payne and Rush Holt, to discuss the needs of the organization.
"They made sure I met with my New Jersey people," Burniston said. "What we were basically talking about is funding for the program. (Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic association) has gotten a significant amount of funding in federal money, but the problem is it's earmark money, so they have to find a new way to get new language into the bill. So they can continue getting this funding, it all has to be reworked. I felt like it was important work I was doing to raise awareness and make sure it doesn't get loss in the shuffle.
"It was fascinating to be on that other side and watch how the back rooms of Capitol Hill work. It's funny how we demonize lobbyists and we demonize Washington in our minds. All I saw while I was there was really good people and people trying to make a difference," she said.
Burniston received her award during a special dinner. In her acceptance speech, she spoke to an audience of association staff, board members, volunteers, award winners and their families about how the organization has helped her in life.
"As a pastor of a small church and a hospital chaplain, people often ask me why does God make someone disabled? I have a lot of trouble with that question, because I don't believe that God does create disability; but instead I consider disability to be a human social construction. People are the ones who decide how the world will be run, how learning will be conducted and who is worthy of being allowed into the hallowed halls of academia. I don't think God has much to do with creating disability at all," she said. "I prefer to reframe the question and ask 'Where is God in the midst of disability?' Or even 'Who is God in the midst of disability?' And that is a subject I can answer in less than two minutes. The short answer is that for me, God has been found in Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic."
She said that while she was always a person of faith, she was able to experience God even more through her education.
She said she plans to use some of the $6,000 she received as part of her award for much-needed structural improvements to Verona United Methodist Church.
4. Avatars go to school: Virtual classroom could help the disabled
A virtual classroom that lets students interact with mentors and one another through personalized avatars could help people with disabilities learn math and science.
Located in the virtual world Second Life, this classroom would let students with disabilities — ranging from blindness and low vision to learning challenges — connect with a hand-picked mentor within a digital space.
A group led by Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia is creating the virtual world as part of a project being funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with $3 million over five years.
“One of the National Science Foundation’s main goals is that we create something with sufficient documentation that it can be replicated and scaled for other places throughout the country, other universities, other high schools even,” said Robert Todd, a senior research scientist at Georgia Tech’s Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access. “We want this to be a model that others can emulate.”
The first avatar-filled classroom is expected to open its doors this fall, and will include an initial virtual class made up 40 high school students, 45 college undergraduates and 20 graduate students.
Lagging behind
Annual reports by the NSF have repeatedly revealed that certain populations, particularly those with disabilities, are underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, known as STEM topics, according to Todd.
The reason: Students with disabilities aren’t getting the support they need in the public-education system, Todd said. This could be because they don’t know how to advocate for themselves or because they want to hide their problem, say, a learning disability.
The virtual world hopes to give these students the support they need in a way that doesn’t expose them to stigma.
Personalized learning
The students and mentors will have free range to create their own avatar.
“We’ve seen from past projects [that] some students will choose avatars or representations of themselves in the virtual world that are very much like them; so some of them will go into the virtual world with virtual wheelchairs, some of them will go in with virtual guide dogs if they have low vision, for example,” Todd told TechNewsDaily. “Students can dress the way they want, look the way they want, they can style virtually.”
Once logged into the virtual world, students will meet up with their mentors (in avatar form), set up meeting times, and either freely roam around the world together or work in dedicated learning labs designed within the virtual space.
The learning program will take into account the special needs of the students with disabilities. For example, blind students will use special technologies developed by IBM and an unnamed independent company that converts text into sound.
While the 3-D learning space is being developed for students with disabilities, it could be used by anyone who needs extra help in STEM subjects, the researchers say.
http://www.technewsdaily.com/avatars-go-to-school-virtual-classroom-could-help-the-disabled-2259/
