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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