by Siobhan Midgley, CVRT, COMS, TVI
It’s a blizzardy Saturday in Chicago; sidewalks slick, visibility low, fingers and toes frozen. I get a text from my client, and he has a conundrum. His usual route to his book club is just one stop away on the L. He knows the route well and normally has no difficulties traveling it. But he […] Read More »
Tags: Independence, interdependence, Mobility
by Siobhan Midgley, CVRT, COMS, TVI
Helen Keller visited the Piney Woods School in 1945, from the website Hall of Fame: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field: Laurence C. Jones, accessed 13 June 2022, <https://sites.aph.org/hall/inductees/jones/> What is Juneteenth? When we learn about the end of slavery, we usually learn about the 1862 signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. But this […] Read More »
Tags: Disability Rights, Juneteenth, Laurence Jones
by Cody Froeter, CVRT
Back in December of 2020, Microsoft’s Seeing AI released an update for the app that included a brand new channel. The new channel, called World, uses an iPhone’s LiDAR sensors to gain a spatial, 3D depiction of the environment in the phone’s camera lens. Using 3D spatial audio, the app notifies the user of […] Read More »
Tags: iphone 13, Mobility, Seeing AI
by Siobhan Midgley, CVRT, COMS, TVI
This post is the second in a series by Siobhan Midgley, CVRT, COMS, TVI, on blindness disorders occurring in the brain. Legal blindness is defined as having central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correction or field of vision less than 20 degrees. During my grad school days, if […] Read More »
Tags: Akinetopsia, Brain Blindness, cortical blindness, motion blindness
by Brian Marchetti
As a random disruption in my genetic code has replaced my vision with a constant series of swirling lines and exploding dots, I miss two things the most. I haven’t seen a human face in a decade. I have no idea what my wife looks like though I sleep next to her every night and […] Read More »
Tags: billiards, pool, retinitis pigmentosa
by Siobhan Midgley, CVRT, COMS, TVI
This post is the first in a series by Siobhan Midgley, CVRT, COMS, TVI, on blindness disorders occurring in the brain. In 2019, I was completing my teaching clinicals in a classroom with blind and visually impaired kindergartners. The classroom was set up with a desk in each corner for each teacher and paraprofessional. Each […] Read More »
Tags: Brain Blindness, Face Blindness
by Kathy Austin
Did you have a few too many delectable dishes and spirits over the holidays? Are your clothes a little bit more snug? Or perhaps the mix of Omicron and January’s cold and snow is preventing you from visiting the gym. If so, we have compiled some at-home exercise programs for you to try. You can […] Read More »
Tags: exercise, Fitness, yoga
by Kathy Austin
Second Sense staff shares their holiday traditions
Tags: holidays, traditions
by Siobhan Midgley, CVRT, COMS, TVI
Bats, whales and other animals create sounds that bounce off objects to learn information about their environments. This strategy, called echolocation, helps them find prey and navigate under deep ocean depths and dark nighttime skies. Echolocation is now currently being researched as a tool for people with vision loss to also learn about the […] Read More »
Tags: Echolocation, Mobility, O&M
by Eleni Gaves, COMS
As we celebrate White Cane Awareness Day, Eleni Gaves, our orientation and mobility specialist, talks about a skill that many with vision loss are reluctant to use – asking the public for assistance. Check out her suggestions and tips to become more comfortable with this useful tool for independent travel. Getting out and around brings […] Read More »
Tags: assistance, Mobility