Baton Rouge, Louisiana is the battleground for the latest controversy
among the blind. Blind advocates are up in arms over a YMCA's decision
to install an audible system that will signal to a blind swimmer when she
is reaching the end of the pool. Oral Miller of the United States
Association of the blind is a leader of the American council of the Blind.
The article below is from the Baton Rouge newspaper, the Advocate.
kelly
>Inventor hopes technology will help blind swim, run
>
>By LAURIE SMITH ANDERSON
>Advocate staff writer
>
>Advocate staff photo by Mandy Lunn
>Ginger Ford, at Catholic High School's track, is developing a system that
>will allow blind people to run track and swim laps by themselves.
>
>Ginger Ford was swimming laps at the YMCA in June 1997 when she noticed a
>mother and her blind son sitting on a bench nearby.
>
>"I asked her if they were waiting for a lane and she said, 'No. He doesn't
>swim.' He was about 10 years old and I couldn't believe it.
>
>"I closed my eyes and thought about what it would be like, as a blind
person,
>to swim and what obstacles there were. I'm an inventor and an entrepreneur
>and I thought about an orientation device -- a receiver/transmitter system
>that would let the swimmer know his or her relative position in the lane, as
>well as distance from the edge."
>
>Ford, who is also a registered nurse, researched through the Internet and
>found that existing technology is currently being used in submarines and
>robots and that it would be possible to apply that technology to her idea.
>So, she stepped up her efforts.
>
>"I wanted parents of blind children to be able to drop their kids off at the
>front door of the Y and, from there, they could be guided in by talking
>signs, dress out in the locker room, and follow a textured mat -- like
>Braille to the feet -- out to the pool. Using a retractable padded ladder
and
>padded ropes, they would then put on the device that would allow them to
swim
>laps by themselves. Of course, there would be a lifeguard on duty.
>
>"What a wonderful thing that would be. What a boost to that kid's self
>confidence and sense of independence -- things I just take for granted
when I
>drop my kids at the Y," Ford said.
>
>Currently, visually impaired walkers, runners and swimmers are dependent on
>sighted persons to act as their guides. Blind runners generally run tethered
>to a sighted person to cue them to direction; swimmers depend on sighted
>persons to cue them by touching them with a long stick when they approach
the
>end of a lap lane.
>
>Dependence on sighted individuals to participate in athletics limits access
>and frequency and, by definition, prohibits independent activity, she said.
>
>Ford has received lots of encouragement along the way in speaking with local
>blind children and their parents. "They are so excited," she said.
>
>The A.C. Lewis YMCA has agreed to be the "Beta site" for installation of the
>first system, which is now in development and will hopefully be ready
>sometime this summer, she said.
>
>Ford is calling her invention the Pool and Track Eye Systems and has
formed a
>non-profit corporation called Independent Athletics International Inc. to
>develop and market the device.
>
>The other application of the technology will be for blind athletes to run
>track, she said.
>
>Specifically, the system uses an infra-red technology to orient individuals
>on a track or pool lane. Audio or tactile cues are delivered to athletes to
>let them know where they are; the system can be used by blind/deaf athletes
>as well.
>
>"Having served the YMCA for 25 years, I have had many occasions to recognize
>our shortcomings when serving populations with disabilities," director
Thomas
>B. Parker wrote in a letter supporting Ford's invention and reiterating the
>Y's desire to be a Beta site.
>
>"Although we have been aggressive in complying with the American
Disabilities
>Act and, in many cases, leading the way by providing unique services for the
>disabled, we can do moreÉ Our membership is very diverse and it includes
>significant numbers of persons who will benefit from this technology."
>
>Though she doesn't have a cost estimate on the system yet, Ford is hopeful
>that it will be reasonable enough that virtually all pools open to the
public
>will be able to install them. The YMCA site will be funded through grant
>moneys.
>
>She is optimistic that the technology will make pools and tracks accessible
>to the blind -- for both recreational use and athletic competition -- and
>will allow the visually impaired to work out and compete side-by-side with
>sighted individuals. She also sees possible applications of the technology
in
>other sports as well, specifically rock climbing and Alpine skiing.
>
>Though she hasn't quit her day job yet, Ford would like to cut back and
>devote most, if not all, of her time to inventing.
>
>"I've got a whole box full of devices at home, as well as other ideas. But I
>wanted to pursue this first because I was so excited about the potential
>impact it could have on these kids' lives."
>
>Second article
>Inventor of blind guidance system meets resistance
>
>By KEVIN BLANCHARD
>Advocate staff writer
>
>
>Tyler Choate is an athlete.
>The 11-year-old fifth-grader has been running competitively since he was 5
>years old and wins often.
>
>Tyler is also blind.
>
>Like many blind athletes, he runs races with some type of help, either
>tethered by a rope to a sighted guide, or holding a piece of pipe that
guides
>him down a rope strung along the side of the track.
>
>Tyler would like more independence, which is where Baton Rouge inventor
>Ginger Ford and her nonprofit Independence Athletics International come in.
>
>Ford has an idea -- a guidance system, based on infrared, which would give
>blind athletes sensory cues as to their position on a track, in a swimming
>pool and maybe someday even a ski slope.
>
>But even before the first prototype has been built, Ford, like many
>inventors, is meeting resistance from a seemingly unlikely source, the
>National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana.
>
>But Tyler does not seem to worry about the politics which might threaten
>Ford's idea. "It sounds pretty neat," he said. "I can't wait to try it out
>and stuff."
>
>Blind athletes are by no means helpless, yearning for a way to compete in
>sports, said Oral Miller, the president of the United States Association of
>the Blind, the organization which regulates blind sporting events.
>
>Some sports, like wrestling, allow blind athletes to compete directly with
>sighted, he said.
>
>But Ford's guidance system could have merit, possibly allowing more
>independence and trimming times in track and swimming events, Miller said.
>
>Currently, blind swimmers know they are reaching the end of the lap by
>counting strokes or being "tapped" with a long pole by a sighted person
>outside the pool.
>
>If Ford's invention allows the swimmer to make his or her own decision about
>turning, it might help, Miller said.
>
>"When you're dealing with tenths of hundreds of seconds, every second
>counts," he said.
>
>And with sprinting, a self-contained guidance system would free a runner
from
>having to be tethered to a sighted guide and be limited by that guide's
>capabilities, Miller said.
>
>The USABA will be happy to try out Ford's guidance device, once a prototype
>is available, Miller said.
>
>But Joanne Wilson, president of the Louisiana Chapter of the National
>Federation of the Blind, said her group is not withholding judgment until
>Ford's device is ready.
>
>The NFB of Louisiana rejected Ford's program in a resolution approved during
>its April convention, Wilson said.
>
>She said blind athletes already compete and spending money on a new device
>would be "overkill."
>
>The blind, who have a 78 percent unemployment rate, really need job training
>and transportation, she said.
>
>"There's other real needs," Wilson said. "We just hate to see wasted
effort."
>
>Ford acknowledged that all blind people might not have a use for her
>invention, but feels it should be available to those who might want it.
>
>"They decide on as many options as they want which they feel give them
>independence and dignity," Ford said.
>
>Ford has tinkered with inventions before, but this guidance system is the
>first she got a patent for, she said.
>
>She plans to have a prototype model ready by the end of the summer. The
>device will consist of two parts, a signal sender and receiver.
>
>The transmitters will be placed strategically along the pool or track, and
>constantly send signals denoting the center position of the lane.
>
>The receivers, worn on the left and right side of the athlete's body, will
>send either audio or tactile cues saying where the athlete is in relation to
>the centerline.
>
>Ford has started up a nonprofit corporation to begin the work of developing
>and researching the prototype, which will take several thousand dollars,
>raised from grants and fund-raisers, she said.
>
>"Start-up organizations require a lot of work," Ford said.
>
>The group is also planning a golf tournament to raise money.
>
>There will be a national track meet in October which should be a wonderful
>opportunity to show off a finished guidance system.
>
>The IAI has secured a veteran grant writer to help funding, she said.
>
>Until the IAI's paperwork for tax-exempt status goes through, donations can
>be sent through the A.C. Lewis YMCA, Ford said.
>
>But IAI is trying to accomplish more than just develop new technology for
the
>blind, Ford said.
>
>The larger idea, she said, is to give blind athletes as many options as
>possible.
>
>IAI also hopes to start recreational programs to teach the visually impaired
>to swim or run independently, help provide transportation to and from sports
>facilities and events, and make those places more accessible to the blind,
>Ford said.
>
>"It's about using an athletic setting to bring as many options and
>opportunities for a person who is visually impaired to choose from," Ford
>said.
>
>Five blind athletes, including Tyler, are acting as consultants to IAI in
the
>development of the device, and other programs.
>
>The A.C. Lewis YMCA branch has promised to become the first site to handle
>IAI's developments, with available "Talking Signs," to guide blind people to
>different areas of the building.
>
>Though acknowledging the IAI is trying to do more than invent a new
"gadget,"
>Wilson said the NFB rejects facilities being adapted to the blind.
>
>"Our philosophy of blindness is we need to get the skills and training we
>need to adapt to the world," Wilson said. "Not to get the world to adapt to
>us."
>
>But Charlie Crawford, executive director of the American Council of the
>Blind, said his group encourages the development of new technologies for the
>blind and is interested in Ford's work.
>
>"We'll welcome the chance to evaluate it," he said.
>
>He said the NFB often rejects new technologies out of hand, because the
group
>has a different agenda than his, often pursuing a more spartan lifestyle.
>
>"Sometimes they get a little dogmatic about it," Crawford said.
>
>Ford said she has consulted with several organizations, including the
>American Council of the Blind, and the USABA and will continue to do so.
>
>She said she could not understand why the NFB would reject an idea before it
>was invented
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