Have you ever thought about how people in the modern day have dealt with being blind?
I did some research and learned a lot. Following are some bits of information you may find interesting.
1829: Louis Braille publishes his system of writing the French language. Its 1837 revision was the first modern binary writing form developed.
1832: The Perkins School for the Blind in Boston admitted its first two students sisters Sophia and Abbey Carter.
Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Brailer, which is used to print embossed, tactile books for the blind.
1860: Simon Pollak demonstrates the use of Braille at the Missouri School for the Blind.
1861: Helen Adams Keller is born in Tuscumbia, Ala.
1864: The enabling act giving the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Blind the authority to confer college degrees is signed by President Abraham Lincoln, making it the first college in the world expressly established for people with disabilities. Columbia University, its name later changed to Gallaudet University, is in Washington, D.C.
1878: Joel W. Smith presents his Modified Braille to the American Association of Instructors of the Blind. The association rejects his system, continuing to endorse instead New York Point, which blind readers complain is more difficult to read and write.
What followed was a War of the Dots in which blind advocates for the most part preferred Modified Braille, while sighted teachers and administrators, who controlled the funds for transcribing, wanted New York Braille.
1909: The New York Public School System adopts Modified or American Braille for use in its classes for blind children, after public hearings in which blind advocates call for abandoning New York Point.
1909: The first folding wheelchairs are introduced for people with mobility disabilities.
1921: The American Foundation for the Blind is founded. Helen Keller is its principal fundraiser.
1929: Seeing Eye establishes the first guide dog school for blind people in the United States. Today, this well-known guide dog school is in Morristown, N.J.
1932: The Treaty of London standardizes American and English Braille.
1933: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the first seriously physically disabled person ever to be elected as a head of government, is sworn into office as president of the United States. He chooses to minimize his disability in response to the ableism of the electorate.
1936: Passage of the Randolph Sheppard Act establishes a federal program for employing blind vendors at stands in the lobbies of federal office buildings.
1937: Herbert A. Everest and Harry C. Jennings patent a design for a folding wheelchair with an X-frame that can be packed into a car trunk.
1940: The National Federation of the Blind is formed in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., by Jacobus Broek and other blind advocates. Among other reforms, it pushes for white cane laws and input by blind people into programs for blind clients.
Since 1942: Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) has created partnerships between people, dogs and communities. With client services and a network of instructors, puppy raisers, donors and volunteers, the agency prepares highly qualified guide dogs to serve and empower individuals who are blind or have low vision throughout the United States and Canada.
All services for GDBs clients are provided free of charge, including personalized training and extensive post-graduation support, plus financial assistance for veterinary care, if needed. GDB has two campuses in San Rafael, Calif., and Boring, Ore.
1943: Congress passes the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments, known as the LaFollette-Barden Act, adding physical rehabilitation to the goals of federally funded vocational rehabilitation programs and providing funding for certain health care services.
1945: The Blinded Veterans Association is formed in Avon, Conn. Its mission is to promote the welfare of blinded veterans so that, notwithstanding their disabilities, they may take their rightful place in the community and work with fellow citizens toward the creation of a peaceful world.
1961: The American Council of the Blind is formally organized. ACB strives to increase the independence, security, equality of opportunity and quality of life, for all blind and visually impaired people.
1963: John Hessler joins Ed Roberts at the University of California at Berkeley, other disabled students follow. Together they form the Rolling Quads to advocate for greater access on campus and in the surrounding community.
1968: The Architectural Barriers Act is passed by Congress, mandating federally constructed buildings and facilities be accessible to all people.
The ABA requires access for everyone whether blind or with any other disability to have access into any facilities designed, built, altered or leased with federal funds.
This marks one of the first efforts to ensure access to the constructed environment for all people.
Blindness or visual impairment can have a profound impact on your life, but you are still in control there is an abundance of information to help you.
Ernie Jones, a registered nurse who retired due to vision loss, can be reached at 529-9252 or eajsr37@outlook.com.
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Milestones in living with blindness in the modern day | A Different ... - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin