The Weather Outside Was Cold, Not Frightful

by Kevin Burton    Those color-coded national weather maps always showed the true snow calamity hitting other regions. We in Central Kansas were to be spared.    But there were breathless local forecasts calling for eight inches of snow on Saturday. My “rule of half” said we would get about four.    Sure enough, by …

Disabled Musicians Make Sound Beyond Limits

By Kintan Andanari The Straits Times (Singapore)    When Siti Sakinah Zainal sits at the piano, fingers poised on its keys, she begins not by looking at the conductor’s purple baton, but by listening intently.    She focuses on the sound of his slow, measured breath, amplified through his microphone. On cue, she starts Georges …

Opportunity Lost, Conscience, Laundry Clean

by Kevin Burton    I set the phone down in the office, just long enough to go downstairs and start a load of laundry.    How virtuous is that!    But alas, in doing so, I let a precious opportunity slip away. “Kicking myself” is not the half of it.    I don’t often leave …

Look Both Ways And Beware Of Jay Drivers

by Kevin Burton    What I see 20 feet away, you can see 200 feet away. By definition therefore, I am legally blind.    So you would think, all other things being equal, my career as a jaywalker could/should be painfully short, or maybe even disastrously shortened.    I was very nearly run over by …

Blind Cape Town Riders Facing Cuts To Service

by Kiara Wales Daily Maverick    National Disability Rights Awareness Month in South Africa ran from Nov. 3 to Dec. 3, but two visually impaired Cape Town residents have never felt less visible.    Sergil January and Benjamin Pedro are employed at the Cape Town Society for the Blind (CTSB), as an awareness officer and …

Children Walk With Help Of “Miracle” Device

by Andy Corbley Good News Network    A unique robotic exoskeleton is allowing children with developmental disorders to walk—often for the first time.    First Steps Wellness Center of Regina, Saskatchewan is eager to get families to come by and try it out. It can be used to correct a child’s gait or help them …

She’s A Tattoo Artist, And She’s Legally Blind

by Kevin Burton    I should probably just be quiet. Been sitting on this story for a while. Should I do it?    For a while there I made a career out of advocating for the blind. I’ve made a lot of speeches, tried to talk sense into sighted hiring managers to give us blind …

Court Rules In Favor Of Blind Job Seekers

by Ruchi Bhattar The Print (India) New Delhi: A high court on Thursday, delivered a victory to three blind job seekers in India.    In a landmark judgment addressing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act), the Delhi High Court Thursday ruled that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) cannot disqualify blind candidates …

American Airlines Sued For Discrimination

by Kevin Burton     American Airlines violated federal law by not providing reasonable accommodation to a former employee who is blind, according to multiple published reports.    Those of us in the blind community know this to be a common story, with the names, dates and places being the only things changing. And whether you …

New Leader Hopes To Expand Vision Bermuda

by Alva Solomon Royal Gazette    The creation of a work readiness program for people who are visually impaired is among key plans pursued by the head of a charity.    Erica Ingemann, who officially assumed the role of executive director of Vision Bermuda in May, also aims to use her creative skills to produce …