Great, very cool, new resource for the visually impaired

Blog vol 4.17. Great, very cool, new resource for the visually impaired.

At last week’s Burlington Eyecare staff meeting, we had the pleasure of hosting Jane McAnally, an independent living skills specialist with the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind). I worked with several CNIB Low Vision Clinics in the 90’s and it was great to meet up with Jane again and get a CNIB update. 

A little history: In 1918, after the Great War and the Halifax explosion, there were a significant number of blind and visually impaired people in Canada. Dr. Baker and a group of men formed the CNIB as a resource and support. As the years went by, they served the blind and, more and more frequently, the visually impaired with rehabilitation, orientation and mobility, and low vision services. Blindness has become less common over time with improvements in the prevention and care of diseases. There was and is still much to do, however, and in order to finance the work a lot of energy has necessarily been put into fundraising. In 2017, the government improved funding for many essential services and the CNIB was divided into two groups: Vision Loss Rehabilitation and the CNIB Foundation. 

Jane is working for Vision Loss Rehabilitation. Interesting resources now available. Technology has changed over the years. Back in the day, the CNIB put books on cassette, then mailed these talking books to clients from their vast catalogues, a wonderful thing for the visually impaired; then it was compact discs; then the talking books were made available through public libraries (a great improvement for increased access); and now with streaming, the use of smartphones and some really cool apps, access is even greater.

Jane showed us the best app: Seeing AI (iPhone). It reads text aloud through the camera, really quite amazing. I have since shown this to several patients who were very excited about it, not to mention family and friends… it is just that cool.

The CNIB has helped set up a programme called Phone it Forward which collects used iPhones, cleans them up, and repurposes them for visually impaired clients or individuals.  It’s a great idea to donate your old iPhone, the phone isn’t just not ending up in a landfill or recycling, it is helping someone out, a win-win. 

This simple device has revolutionized the lives of the visually impaired. It can be used as a camera, as a magnifier, as a talking book, or as a reader with apps for iPhone or Microsoft, like the Seeing AI or Envision AI. 

It was great to reconnect with the CNIB and find out what they are up to.  We have patients who can benefit greatly from their work. Plus now we all know what to do with our old iPhones.

the good doctor