http://www.insidebaltimore.com/news/local/04-01-30-blind.shtml


   January 30, 2004
LOCAL NEWS
Blind organization opening new research, training center
BALTIMORE - Anne Taylor, who was born blind, is eagerly waiting to buy a
handheld reader that converts any text to synthetic speech -- giving her
the ability to read everything.


Her employer, the National Federation of the Blind, has a prototype and
will work to get such an innovation manufactured when it opens its new
research and training institute Friday.

The 31-year-old Catonsville resident believes that with new technology like
the handheld reader, blind people will have greater independence, which is
the organization's goal.

"We can have access to information at all times and anywhere we want to,"
Taylor said. "I'm very excited about it."

The federation, founded in 1940, will also work through the institute to
teach more blind people Braille and get them jobs by educating companies on
the advantages of having blind employees.

A new $19.5 million building next to the federation's headquarters in
Baltimore will house a research library, technology training labs,
classrooms and an auditorium. It is the first research and training
facility that will be developed and operated by the blind.

"The real difference is the research agenda, the programs and the services
are going to be directed by blind people for blind people," said Betsy
Zaborowski, executive director of the new institute.

The organization is expecting at least 50 percent of the nation's 1.1
million blind people to be directly affected by the programs, research and
technology developed at the institute over the next 10 years.

"Blind people ourselves have produced the best ideas in terms of what helps
other blind people and people who are losing vision," Zaborowski said.

The organization has beefed up its staff to 75 and plans to hire another 25
people over the next five years as programs grow.

Developing the handheld reader and other technological advances for the
blind is one of the institute's three inaugural programs.

Zaborowski said the reader, estimated to cost about $3,000, will be
available in the next year or so.

"That's very revolutionary, and it will change a lot of our lives," she
said. "It's going to be expensive, but it will be affordable because of the
tremendous value of it."

The device would make Shirley Traver's job easier by reading her letters
from customers and the numbers on the back of pagers.

The 35-year-old from Bloomsburg, Pa., works in the customer service
department of PennSel Communication Services Inc. since the NFB introduced
her to equipment geared for the visually impaired.

"I think it's a great opportunity for the visually impaired," Traver said
of the institute. "I would like to see a lot more visually impaired people
get the training and confidence they need to go out and get a job."

Her computer reads her the words on the screen through an earpiece, while
she listens to customers through her other ear.

"I wanted a job where I was working on phones and helping people," Traver
said. "I felt I was not disabled. I'm perfectly capable of thinking. There
is no reason I can't work."

Zaborowski said the institute will work to lower the unemployment rate for
working-age blind people, which is about 74 percent, by talking with
companies and teaching Braille.

"We have to do a better job with educating employers about the capabilities
of blind people," she said. "We know there is a correlation between knowing
Braille and being employable."

About 85 percent of working blind people know Braille, but only 10 percent
of all blind people know Braille, Zaborowski said.

"It's similar to the general population," she said. "People who are
literate tend to be more employed. We see learning Braille as a blind
person is a cornerstone to literacy."

The other two inaugural programs are holding a science camp with NASA for
blind children and making online courses available to teachers and parents
of blind children.

"The regular education teacher is kind of left to figure out how to include
this blind student with the rest of the class," Zaborowski said.

A long-term project for the institute is creating a car that blind people
can drive.

Taylor, who has been working for the organization for three years, is a
little more skeptical of that.

"The lack of transportation is always a problem for us; however, it's a
problem we learned to overcome," she said. "There are a lot of things that
need to be worked out. We may be able to drive on the road, but we cannot
control how other people drive."

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.
All Rights Reserved.


   ©2004 The E.W. Scripps Co.
All rights reserved.



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