Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind the source for blindness news and information since 1907

PRNewswire, CLEVELAND — While the public has made accommodations for 54.4 million people with disabilities, many researchers regularly exclude people who cannot read, hear or write from participating in their research projects. That’s about to change. The Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing (FPB) at Case Western Reserve University will develop research tools and strategies to include individuals with vision and hearing impairments in future research. Shirley Moore, Edward J. and Louise Mellen Professor of Nursing and director of the National Institutes of Health-funded Center for Self-Management Research (SMART Center) at FPB, is the lead investigator for the two-year, nearly $400,000 National Institute for Nursing Research-funded project, “Full Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (FIND) in Self-Management Research.”… READ PRESS RELEASE

© Salisbury Post, North Carolina — Members of the Rowan Ramblers, a visually impaired group through Rowan County Parks and Recreation Department’s Therapeutic Recreation Division, participated in a fishing tournament finishing third overall. There were 17 visually impaired members and 11 sighted volunteers who participated in the 27th annual Visually Impaired Persons Fishing Tournament, held Oct. 12-14 at the Outer Banks…. READ ARTICLE

By Gary Rennie © The Windsor Star, Ontario, Canada — Surgery to remove a brain tumor at the age of four left Robert Hampson blind. He couldn’t understand it then…. READ ARTICLE

© AllAboutJazz.com, Macon, Georgia — You can’t travel down south without hearing someone rave about guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, radio and TV personality Joey Stuckey, who holds the distinction of being the Official Ambassador of Music for Macon, Georgia (home of the ’southern sound’). Joey Stuckey is an award-winning blind guitarist, songwriter, singer, composer, producer, radio & TV personality, music columnist, inspirational speaker, educator and sound engineer. Joey’s guitar style is reminiscent of rocker Jeff Beck and a jazzier Wes Montgomery, while his vocal influences range from Mel Torme to Gregg Allman. He has also worked with the likes of Hughie Thomasson (from Lynyrd Skynard and the Outlaws), David Ragsdale (from Kansas and The Smashing Pumpkins), Randall Bramblett (from Traffic, Steve Winwood Band and Gregg Allman Band), Carol King and Ike Turner to name a few. After three critically acclaimed rock releases (‘Take A Walk In The Shadows’, ‘Ironies, Pain and the Light That Guides’, ‘So Far’) Joey is gearing up for the release of his new jazz and blues tinged EP release ‘Ocean Side’…. READ ARTICLE

By Patrick Healy © The New York Times — Two weeks after a group of deaf actors protested the choice of a hearing actor for a deaf role in an upcoming Off Broadway production, the issue has surfaced again: Should producers have chosen a deaf or blind child actress to play Helen Keller in this winter’s Broadway revival of “The Miracle Worker”? The producers announced on Wednesday that Abigail Breslin, a 13-year-old newcomer to Broadway who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as the beauty pageant contestant Olive in “Little Miss Sunshine,” would play Helen in the production, which is set to open this winter. Ms. Breslin can see and hear…. READ ARTICLE

By Robert J. Fetsch, director, Colorado AgrAbility Project © Valley Courier, Alamosa, Colorado — The Colorado AgrAbility Project assists farmers and ranchers in overcoming injuries and health challenges. Colorado State University Extension and Easter Seals Colorado are funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Colorado AgrAbility is part of a nationwide network of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs begun through the 1990 Farm Bill. The goal of the National AgrAbility Project is to inform, educate, and assist farmers, ranchers, and their families with disabilities who are affected by injury or health challenges…. READ ARTICLE

© The Champion Newspaper, Decatur, Georgia — The Champion Newspaper and the National Federation for the Blind of Georgia have teamed up to provide blind and visually impaired persons with a way to stay up to date on DeKalb County news. The Champion is now part of the National Federation of the Blind’s NFB-NEWSLINE service. Through the service, blind and visually impaired or print disabled persons can access the Champion using a touch-tone telephone. Technology allows for the newspaper’s Web pages to be converted and read by a digital text reader that can be heard over the phone…. READ ARTICLE

By Justin A. Rice © Daily News Tribune, Waltham, Massachusetts — NEWTON — As much as yesterday’s sixth annual exhibition meet between the Newton North girls swim team and the Perkins School for the Blind was about giving back, making friends and learning life lessons, there was also a practical and technical lesson for the Tigers to learn. While North coach Kirsten Tuohy always asks her swimmers to count their strokes so they can work on reducing the number of strokes they take per length, she especially likes to reinforce that point at the Perkins meet – during which she blacks out her team’s goggles with duct tape…. READ ARTICLE

By Sunlen Miller © ABC News — President Obama today held a separate reception to note the signing of the hate crimes legislation, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, within the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act. Quoting President Johnson’s words when he signed civil rights legislation into law in 1968, Obama said that “the bells of freedom ring out a little louder,” today when he signed the Act into law. “You understood that we must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits — not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear,” Mr. Obama said, “You understand that the rights afforded every citizen under our Constitution mean nothing if we do not protect those rights — both from unjust laws and violent acts. And you understand how necessary this law continues to be. “ The long-sought hate crimes provision extends federal hate crimes law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability…. READ ARTICLE

By Amy Wilkinson © MTV — Hollywood has come down with a case of Broadway fever, as yet another young starlet is set to make her Great White Way debut. Just yesterday we pondered Scarlett Johansson’s upcoming role in the Arthur Miller drama “A View From the Bridge,” and now comes word (via Variety) that 13-year-old Abigail Breslin has been cast as Helen Keller in a revival of the 1959 play “The Miracle Worker.” Abigail will star as the blind-deaf girl alongside Alison Pill’s (“In Treatment,” “Milk”) Annie Sullivan, a legally blind woman who teaches Helen to communicate. “The Miracle Worker” is quite a celebrated production, having won four Tonys in 1960 and two Oscars in 1963 for the screen adaptation, both starring Patty Duke as Helen and Anne Bancroft as Annie…. READ ARTICLE