Cortical Visual Impairments

http://causesofblindness.net/tag/cortical-vision-impairment/

Michael Taboada : Former student in our parish

Another former student, David Faucheux of Lafayette, found this and sent this to me.

Eagle Scout honored for Braille project at LSU

By Mark H. Hunter

Special to The Advocate

February 22, 2012

Michael Taboada was a high school senior visiting the LSU campus during the 2010 Spring Invitational when he had to use the restroom.

Most people can just look for a sign, so finding a restroom is no big deal, but Taboada, being almost totally blind, has to find buildings, classrooms and restrooms by touching Braille signs.

After asking for directions, he found a restroom and filed its location into his memory. But what he learned is that in many older LSU buildings, restrooms are not marked with Braille signs — a discovery that sparked an idea that would net him the 2011 Eagle Project of the Year for the Boy Scouts of America's 13-parish Istrouma Area Council.

Taboada, a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator, who plays the piano and trumpet, practices tae kwon do as a second degree black belt, has even learned to snow ski, so he is used to taking on challenges.

He and his pals from Boy Scout Troop 5 last year applied more than 100 clear vinyl labels he made with his Braille printer to men's and women's restroom doors in several dozen LSU buildings. They also applied some labels in a few elevators to mark the floor numbers on the control panel.

"A big part of the Eagle project is supposed to be service to the community and in this case the LSU community and the blind community," said Taboada, now an 18-year-old LSU sophomore. "Not only will it help me, but it will help a lot of people, I believe."

He knows of at least five other blind students his project has assisted.

"Michael Taboada is leaving his mark on the LSU campus, and all vision-impaired students at the university will benefit from his passion and willingness to make a difference," said Tammy Millican, manager of communications for the LSU Facility Services in an email.

Taboada made his own signs, he said, because such building laws as the Americans With Disabilities Act don't require Braille signs in older buildings until they are renovated.

"Since LSU really doesn't have the money to renovate a lot of the buildings, and I don't see them being renovated in quite a few years, that's quite a few years they won't have Braille signs except the ones I put up," Taboada said.

Millican said it costs LSU from $120 to $200 per sign to install actual ADA signage. J. Lea Callaway, executive director for the Boy Scouts' Istrouma Council, characterized Taboada's Project of the Year award as "huge," and reported that it will be submitted to the national Eagle Scout project contest.

Cathie Louis, a longtime volunteer in the Istrouma Council who organized a recent awards ceremony at the Catholic Life Center, said of Taboada, "What he has in common with a lot of Eagle Scouts is that he has the ability to set goals. They know what they want and they know they have to work for it and they're not afraid of going for it."

Taboada has grown up in Baton Rouge, the son of Joseph Taboada, a veterinarian and associate dean at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, and Sandy Merchant Taboada, also a professor at the LSU Vet School. He graduated from McKinley High School in 2010, a year early, and has one brother, Robert, 16, who attends the Runnels School.

Michael Taboada was 2½ when it was discovered that he had a pituitary tumor called a craniopharyngioma, his father said in an email. The tumor was removed at Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans.

"I was throwing a ball with him the day before surgery, and he had no difficulty catching it," Joseph Taboada wrote. "But when he came out of surgery he was blind."

Michael Taboada said he can see shadows and outlines but cannot read or clearly see a TV or computer screen. He utilizes audio programs, such as on his cellphone, and reads with Braille or someone reads his homework assignments to him.

He is pursuing a double major of computer science and math and hopes a master's degree program in computer gaming is soon created so he can attend that program. He wants a future career in computer gaming, he said, and is already creating games featuring audio signals to indicate what is occurring in the game play.

Taboada lives on campus in an honors dorm and walks everywhere, at a brisk pace, using a long white, fiberglass cane to feel the ground in front of him. He sweeps it from side to side and when his cane hits an object he generally knows whether it is a curb, or a step or wall or doorway.

"One time I almost lost my cane down a storm grate," he said with a laugh while striding across campus. Students around him are often courteous and get out of his way and open doors for him.

He also listens carefully to noises around him and has much of the campus memorized, including where to turn and how many steps are in his path to a certain place.

His father gives a lot of credit for his son's progress to a blind couple named Ed and Toni Ames who are advocates for service dogs and members of the National Federation of the Blind.

"We met so many successful blind people through the NFB, and we realized that he had a future and that he could do anything that he set his mind to," Joseph Taboada wrote. "I really believe that there was some divine intervention that steered us here (in 1988) because … despite all of the problems with the schools in Baton Rouge, EBR had one of the best programs for blind children in the country. Michael had great teachers, especially Ms. Gail Canova, who were able to help him fulfill the promise of a gifted student who happened to be blind."

As a lifelong Scout, Michael Taboada has not shied away from the usual outdoor activities of camping, hiking, fishing and canoeing.

He described family snow skiing trips in Colorado and Montana.

"At first, when I was learning (instructors) had this bamboo pole they'd hold, one on each end, and I'd be in the middle, so they could help me learn how to turn," he said. "And once I got better they basically just told me when to turn.

"At first it was scary, because I didn't know how I would do it, but once I got better at it, it wasn't too scary," Taboada said. "It's pretty fun feeling the wind whip across you and knowing, 'Oh my gosh! I'm going so fast.'"

To earn his ham radio license, his mother read him the entire Federal Communications Commission book of rules and regulations so he could pass the test, his dad said.

Those skills paid off after Hurricane Katrina when he helped emergency responders.

"One time I was moving through the different repeaters in Baton Rouge and I heard someone calling from the Texas Emergency office for the Louisiana Emergency preparedness people and no one was answering," he said. "I happened to know that a link between repeaters had become undone so I had to relay traffic between them."

As a member of the National Federation of the Blind, Taboada is interested in increasing the public's awareness of the issues affecting visually impaired people and the language and terms used for various impairments.

He wants others to see visual impairment as a personal characteristic, "like having brown hair," rather than as a "disability."

"Don't let it make you think of us any different," he said.

Taboada plans to stay involved in Scouting, too,

"I think Scouting should be a lifelong thing," he said. "I think it teaches you a lot of ethics, morals, and it gives you life skills that you may not gain by yourself."

 

 

See No Evil? Definitely Not without Audio Description

I've told some of my parents of students with VI about descriptive videos now check out this article about making desciptive narration a common accessibility in movie theaters. ~K

Senator Stephen Conroy last week announced that ABC1 will trial audio description in 2012, giving people who are blind or vision impaired access to something most of us take for granted.http://www.abc.net.au/rampup/articles/2012/02/27/3440548.htm

Fasting for Lent

Thanks to Bud Richardson [via nick Sigur] for these great tips.

                             A different Approach to Fasting to show love for Lord

Fasts have a tendency to be oriented towards giving up things like food, drinks, snacks, movies, or television.  But there are other creative ways to fast. And they may change your life in a positive way if in 40 days they become a new way of life for you.  Here are suggestions you may want to consider.

1.  Fast from anger and hatred.

     Give your family an extra dose of love each day.

2.  Fast from judging others.

     Before making any judgment's remember to recall how Jesus overlooks our failures.

3. Fast from discouragement.

     Hold on to Jesus' promise that He has a perfect plan for your life.

4.  Fast from complaining.

     When you are about to complain about anything, close your eyes and remember the moments that Jesus gave you

     that brought so much joy into your life.

5. Fast from resentment and bitterness.

     Work on forgiving those who may have hurt you.

6. Fast from spending too much money.

     Try to reduce your spending by 10% and give the savings to help the poor.

7.  Spend extra time for personal prayers.

     Take the time to pray for everyone you know. Remember there is no such thing as too many prayers.

 

Things to consider trying to do during Lent that will make a difference in your life and made an impact on the lives of other people; your loved ones, people who slightly know, people you work, with and total strangers.

  1. Random acts of kindness - pay for a strangers drink, pay the next cars toll on a toll road,pay part of the bill for the person behind you in a line.

  2. Hold the door for someone entering a store when you are exiting or someone exiting as you are entering.

  3. Take the time to call, e-mail, text someone just to ask how their day is going.

  4. Send a card, note or letter to a friend who you have not been in touch with for some time and try to re-connect with them.

  5. Remember just a simple smile or saying hi or hello to someone may change their attitude for the day and they may even pass it on!

Wishing you Peace, Love, and Happiness during Lent.

   

REGISTERED CARE MANAGER - Deafblind Charity

[Article Ad for position for working with deafblind people from he Guardian in the UK. ~K]

REGISTERED CARE MANAGER - Deafblind Charity: Are you a Deputy or a Registered Care Manager looking to
develop a specialism in working with deafblind people? Our client is a national charity providing support and advice to people who are deafblind, their families, friends and professionals.

How I’m Coming to Terms With the Genetic Condition I May Have Passed to My Son

efore having children, the farthest I thought about genetics was assumptions on whose eye color my children would have or whether they would get my nose, or my husbands hands. I thought of the word “hereditary” in relation to characteristics, not in regards to diseases, illnesses and conditions.

But a quick google search after Arlo’s diagnosis of Ocular Albinism at 3 months old led me to the words “x-linked hereditary” — meaning it is most commonly passed from mother to son. I felt a knot forming in my throat as I read that the gene can be passed from generation to generation before it presents itself in a member of a family. It also meant that if I carried the OA gene, there was a 50% chance that any son we had would also have the condition.

I gave him this, I thought my eyes burning with tears. I felt dirty, betrayed by my genetic makeup, angry that this wonky gene had layed quietly inside me and now I had passed it to my son. I was ashamed of it, mostly because I didn’t understand albinism yet. I was so fearful of the unknown.

Six months since his initial diagnosis, my mindset around albinism has changed drastically. I’ve discovered that first and foremost, albinism is nothing to fear. As far as chromosomal abnormalities go, it’s a pretty mild one. It doesn’t effect his life span, his bodily functions (save for his vision to some extent, bit there are a lot of resources to help him there) and it does not cause him pain. Arlo is also fortunate in that he does have some pigmentation, so most people are not even aware that he has it.

[For the rest of the story follow this source link: http://blogs.babble.com/babys-first-year-blog/2012/02/21/how-im-coming-to-terms-with-the-genetic-condition-i-may-have-passed-to-my-son/]

Amblyopia and Strabusmus

My two month-old baby’s eyes don’t seem to work together. Since I had a “lazy eye,” do you think my son will too?

There are several different medical conditions that may be referred to by the lay population as lazy eye. The two major types are Amblyopia and Strabismus.

For the nine months that the child was developing inside the uterus there was no need for the eyes to focus on a single point with both eyes. Once the child is delivered he/she needs to learn how to focus on a subject in front of him/her. Initially the eyes see independently. This of course could be very confusing to the brain to process these separate images and understand it’s environment. Thus over the first four months of life, the child develops this ability to focus with both eyes thereby developing binocular vision (3-D vision with depth perception). If there is any obstruction to clear vision (such as a cataract), if the eye can’t focus, or if there is another condition not correctable by eyeglasses, Amblyopia will develop. Since it is too difficult to make sense of the unfocused and focused views, the brain “shuts down” the blurred vision. Thus, if there is no intervention made, the child’s vision will worsen in the eye that started with the problem. This condition is estimated to occur in approximately 3 percent of children. Most of these types of problems are random conditions, and do not seem to “run in families.”

Chidren with a Strabismus are unable to align their eyes for proper vision due to a weakness or descepancy in the length of one of the muscles of the eye; therefore, when the eyes try to focus, they cannot do so for more than a short time, and the eye will stray. This causes two separate images, and the child may see “double” because of it. Once again, since this is difficult for the brain to proces, it will frequently “shut down” one of the eye’s images thereby reducing the acuity of that eye. This then leads to Amblyopia or a true “lazy eye.” The incidence of this condition is approximately 5 percent of children. There is a tendency to see this trait in families without a true genetic inheritance. If one parent had a “lazy eye” in their past, then there is a somewhat greater degree of one their offspring to have one; however, it is not that much greater than the general population.

Children prior to four months will have eyes that seem to “wander.” After this time they should remain straight and focused. If there are any concerns, it is necessary to make sure that your child is evaluated.

Good Luck
DRTOM

[Source Link: http://www.healtheagle.com/amblyopia-and-strabismus/]