by Kevin Burton A legally blind Florida man who was falsely arrested Oct. 31 just for carrying his cane is filing a suit against the local government. James Hodges was stopped for questioning, then arrested after Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies mistook a folded cane he was carrying in his back pocket, for a …
Category Archives: blindness
Blind Man Arrested For Wrong “Crime”
by Kevin Burton Blind people: use your canes! Or else, say police in Columbia County, Florida. Two Sheriff’s deputies have been suspended after they arrested 61-year-old James Hodges for “resisting arrest.” Hodges, who is legally blind was carrying a folded cane in his back pocket. One of the deputies mistook the cane …
Hotel Ejects Blind Woman Over Guide Dog
by Kevin Burton If I ever go back to London, I know where I am not staying. The Premier Inn in North London ejected a blind woman, her partner and her guide dog, saying the woman “didn’t look blind,” according to published reports. My information comes from reporter Jessica Frank-Keyes, writing …
Don’t Be Hateful, Be Grateful, I Know
by Kevin Burton When my mother came to visit me in Iowa she flew in, meaning she didn’t have a car for the visit and we got around by using the little ride service I used. If I remember correctly, we had to call twice and do a little polite coaxing to get …
The Sky’s The Limit For Blind Pilot
by Kevin Burton Last month a blind woman flew a small airplane across the country. That’s a story you want to read about, right? OK, here it is, short version: Kaiya Armstrong, a 22-year-old Arizona woman who can see only a few inches in front of her face, flew a two-seater Cessna …
News At My (And On My) Fingertips
by Kevin Burton On the next-to-last night of our Upper Midwest vacation we found ourselves watching the clothes go round. We were in Norfolk, Nebraska, boyhood hometown of Johnny Carson, when we gathered our quarters and the Tide Pods Jeannette had bought for the occasion, and took advantage of the Hampton Inn’s coin …
Of OSSB And A Bright Sunshiny Day
by Kevin Burton How do you get to 50 years? It starts with a day, or a night. Then, you turn your heart toward the sunrise, again and again. There was a night when my parents put me into the family Delta 88 and drove me from our home in Yellow Springs …
Corneas Made From Pigskin Restore Vision
by Kevin Burton Fourteen blind people had vision restored after receiving cornea implants made from pigskin, according to published reports. Three of those people had perfect vision after undergoing a new surgical technique developed by Swedish researchers, wrote Sarah Kuta in Smithsonian Magazine. The cornea is the clear outer layer that protects …
My Bilingual Doubletalk In Mexico
by Kevin Burton My career as an English as a Second Language teacher came to an abrupt early end one night under the streetlights outside a small taco shop in Puebla. To tell you how and why that happened, I first turn to BBC writer Nicole Chang, who recently wrote about what speaking …
Studying Social Interactions Of The Blind
by Kevin Burton A North Carolina State University research study offers tips for blind people on how to make social interactions less awkward. I found the story by NC State’s Matt Shipman on http://www.medicalxpress.com. “A recent study highlights the range of uncomfortable situations people living with blindness or visual impairment encounter due …
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