Running in a marathon? Trying a triathlon? Want to host a swim-a-thon?

If you’re competing in a race, Race to Cure Blindness!

Race to Cure Blindness is a free fundraising program where participants utilize a marathon, triathlon, bike race, or other racing event as a platform to raise money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

If you would like to use your racing efforts to raise money for the Foundation, the Race to Cure Blindness is an excellent way to make your participation more meaningful and motivate you when the going gets tough. Just ask Stuart Frantz who raised over $30,000 through his participation in the ING Georgia Marathon using Race to Cure Blindness. Stuart felt compelled to do something as he watched his friend Dan’s life very suddenly and dramatically change after begin diagnosed with a retinal degenerative disease. “I was very happy to finish the marathon,” says Stuart, “but most important, I am hopeful that one day the money we raised will finish the race to find a cure for Dan.” Read Stuart’s full Story of Hope here.

And it’s not just for runners! Maybe you are on a bowling league that is organizing a bowl-a-thon. A new mom or dad who would like to participate in a stroller-a-thon? Even kids can join us by organizing a hop-a-thon or dance marathon at their school.

Race to Cure Blindness is uniting people all across the country in a very worthy cause…to further the mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness. We hope you’ll join us!

Visit www.RacetoCureBlindness.org to view our list of upcoming races. If you don’t see your race listed, contact your local Foundation Fighting Blindness Office or call 888-683-5555 and we will post if for you.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Enrique Oliu rocks in his chair in the Tampa Bay Rays broadcast booth, his head cocked in the air, not pointed toward the diamond below. He describes what he just heard, not what he just saw.

“That sound from the fans when Carlos Pena struck out sounded like they were disgusted, so I said on the air, ‘Carlos swung at a bad pitch,’ ” Oliu said. “You don’t hear that reaction very much from fans when he is up.”

Sure enough, on a two-strike changeup, trying to protect himself at the plate, Pena swung at a pitch that was up and away.

It was his mind’s eye that offered the perfect view for Oliu. It is that way on every pitch, because he is blind.

Oliu, the 47-year old analyst for the Rays’ Spanish-language radio broadcasts, has been rocking in that chair since 1998 and uses memory, pregame interviews with players, his alliance with play-by-play man Ricardo Taveras, and a passion for the game to make up for what should be an obvious obstacle.

He can’t see the field, but he handles the calls in the booth as routinely as a second baseman does a two-hopper.

“When I first got here and heard about the team’s blind announcer, I am thinking, like a lot of people, ‘This is a joke, right?’ ” Rays catcher Dioner Navarro said. “And then you meet him and you see his ability to recall statistics and events and talk the game. I told him the names of my wife and kids one time, and he remembered them.

“I know he should have his limitations, but it is hard to know what they might be.”

Oliu has been blind since his birth in Nicaragua and can only make out bright lights, yet he has a feel for the game that makes him effective. His wife, Debra Perry, sits to his right and will lean in and whisper a statistic between pitches or at-bats, but the rest is up to Oliu.

“My parents told me I had to outwork people because I was behind the 8 ball,” Oliu said. “They said it wasn’t good enough to be just as good….

Source for complete article: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/rays/2009-06-15-enrique-oliu-rays-broadcaster_N.htm?csp=34

New vision for computing in Africa…

Dan Simmons visits a project in Kenya that helps blind and partially sighted users compete in a jobs market that values computer skills.

In the slums of Kibera, an area of Nairobi, it is hard enough getting a job if you live here and are able-bodied. Joseph is partially blind, but doing well, running his own business selling wool and making intricate trinkets, necklaces, and lamp shades. But he is the exception in a country which is more likely to shun the visually-impaired than to offer any help.

After shipping more than 120,000 refurbished PCs to the developing world, Computer Aid now wants its kit to be usable by all - so, working alongside local experts, it is testing out adaptive technologies.

Software aid

Loice, a student, is completely blind but she does not need to see the screen because she can touch type faster than most and hear what she is writing thanks to a USB dongle running a commercial program from a company called Dolphin.

The dongle means Loice can carry the software with her, making almost any Windows PC accessible. Now, for the first time she can write her essays without anyone’s help.

“It makes me proud and it makes me feel independent and also competent. I’m able to compete with other people,” she says.

This sort of software has been available for almost a decade, but at a high cost and only in English. Another program aimed at those with visual disabilities is ZoomText which goes further than the basic accessibility software built in to Microsoft Windows. This program has more colour and magnification options, making a big difference. But Computer Aid’s ambitious project is not just about teaching people, it is about getting them into jobs.

Source for complete article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/7623147.stm

As the leading developer of assistive technology for the visually impaired, we constantly receive phone calls from patietns asking the question, “Why doesn’t my doctor know about thesse low vision solution?”

Below is an article written from an Optometrist’s Point of View on serving low vision patients lets you both help people and boost profits.

BY BETHANY FISHBEIN, O.D.

If you ask doctors why they practice low vision, you’ll probably get answers like “helping people,” “serving the community” or “providing a service that no one else does.” Very few will answer “to make money.” In fact, when I ask doctors why they don’t practice low vision, the answer I most frequently hear is, “I can’t do it and be profitable.”

And indeed, this seems to be what optometry schools teach even professors of the subject perpetuate the myth that low vision practice should be a charitable endeavor, or at best, a labor of love.

I beg to differ

I truly enjoy practicing low vision; I couldn’t do it if I didn’t like it. There are days when I love it. I love the feeling of helping people accomplish something they had written-off as impossible seeing someone read a newspaper for the first time in many years, or giving a visually impaired student the tools to help her through college. Do I consider it charity work? Absolutely not.

One of the reasons that low vision is such an enjoyable specialty for me is that it combines the reward of helping people who truly need it with the reward of financial success. In setting up a low vision practice, or adding a low vision specialty to an existing practice, follow these steps to maximize both the personal and financial rewards that come from providing this care.

See low vision patients during non-profitable times

Because you are providing a more specialized level of care and are presumably not in competition with all of the other doctors in your town, you have more flexibility in choosing when to provide low vision care.

If your Saturday morning hours are typically filled with a parade of Prada-wearing presbyopes, then scheduling low vision patients is neither practical nor profitable. However, if your Tuesday mornings are so slow that you are sitting around surfing E-Bay for Star Trek paraphernalia (or worse, considering adding a low-paying vision plan just to give yourself something to do!), this may be a perfect time to see low vision patients.

Even if you have yet to see a low vision patient, schedule “Low Vision Evaluation” slots during slow times in your schedule, and try to block low vision patients together during those times. Even if you only see two low vision patients in a month, see them both on the same day. It lets you and your staff get in to the low vision mindset and set up your equipment.

Source for complete article: http://www.optometricmanagement.com/article.aspx?article=&loc=articles\2006\november\1106064.htm

Allergan Inc. said today, June 18th, 2009, that the Food and Drug Administration approved a drug it developed to treat macular edema, a condition that can cause loss of central vision.

Irvine-based Allergan says the drug, trade-named Ozurdex, is the first and only drug therapy approved for treating macular edema associated with retinal vein occlusion, the second-most common retinal vascular disease that leads to vision loss.

Macular edema affects about 150,000 people a year. It is different from macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over age 50.

Source for complete article: http://ocbiz.freedomblogging.com/2009/06/18/fda-approves-allergan-anti-sight-loss-drug/12781/

Close your eyes for a minute.

Now imagine trying to cross the street at a busy downtown Lawrence intersection, the only thing to guide you being the sound of the cars whizzing by.

A group of four graduate students from Missouri State University were in town Thursday, trying to navigate downtown Lawrence — blindfolded.

Rebecca Munjak, 33, her vision completely obscured, walked cautiously to the edge of Eighth and Massachusetts streets, her white cane encountering a number of obstacles: a concrete planter, a garbage can — or is it a mailbox? she asks.

“It’s really intimidating at first because all of a sudden your vision is just cut off completely,” Munjak said. “You’ve got to rely more on your hearing and your sense of touch.”

The students are all working toward dual certification as teachers of the visually impaired and orientation and mobility specialists, who help blind people learn to navigate their community….

Source for complete article: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/jun/12/blindfolds-teach-empathy-visually-impaired/?city_local

This Father’s Day, give your dad the gift of sight! Enhanced Vision has helped thousands regain their indepedence by providing the ability to read, write, watch TV, enjoy hobbies and live an active life again. Enhanced Vision develops leading assistive technolgoy to create a full line of superior, easy-to-use low vision tools at affordable prices. We pride ourselves for listening to our customers in order to develop the best assistive technology possible. Our assistive technology is offered by low vision professionals and can be found in specialized low vision agencies throughout the world. Call now for more information or for a free, no-obligation demonstration! (888) 811-3161
Or visit our website at: www.EnhancedVision.com

Ideas for Dad: 

People with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) should eat oily fish at least twice a week to keep their eye disease at bay, say scientists.

Omega-3 fatty acids found in abundance in fish like mackerel and salmon appear to slow or even halt the progress of both early and late stage disease.

The researchers base their findings on almost 3,000 people taking part in a trial of vitamins and supplements.

The findings are published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

An estimated 500,000 people in the UK suffer from AMD, which destroys central vision.

Source for complete article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8088860.stm

Enhanced Vision, America’s leading manufacturer of magnifying solutions for the visually impaired, announced today it is proud to support the 2009 VISION 5K Run & Walk in Boston, MA this Saturday, June 7th. The unique event is the only 5k championship race in the country where blind athletes compete directly against sighted athletes in a “Blindfold Challenge”.

“More 15 million Americans are diagnosed with blindness and low vision conditions such as macular degeneration, and that number will double in the next ten years,” said Michelle Williams, Director of Marketing for Enhanced Vision. “Without vision aids and the support of the community, reading, writing, or even finding employment can be a real challenge for those afflicted. This event shows how the corporate and nonprofit communities can work together to directly improve their quality of life. It’s a win-win situation that brings independence back to those who need it most.”

According to event organizers, there are more than 150,000 people in Massachusetts alone affected by severe vision loss. They are capable and accomplished people, but are faced with challenges every day to….

Click here to read full Press Release about story: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2505404.htm