AFB Blog

Last month, the AFB Policy Center ramped up our focus on demographics and data with two exciting projects: our Research Navigator edition, “Just how many blind folks are there anyway?”, in collaboration with the Census Bureau, we presented the first in a series of webinars about exploring existing population data in the field of vision loss (Measuring America: An Overview on Vision Disability Statistics). This month we're pleased to continue this webinar series with a special training on…

Editorial note: For 30 years, the Center on Disabilities at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) has hosted an Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, known as a forum that showcases cutting-edge technology and practical solutions for people with disabilities. AFB director of web services, Crista Earl, checked out the exhibit hall and sent this report. Check out her first dispatch, too. As soon as three-dimensional (3D) printers started to make…

Editorial note: For 30 years, the Center on Disabilities at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) has hosted an Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, known as a forum that showcases cutting-edge technology and practical solutions for people with disabilities. AFB director of web services, Crista Earl, checked out the exhibit hall and sent this report. The exhibit hall opened here on Wednesday, and I made my first pass. I missed a lot, but I can…

Free money for college. I bet that got your attention! Right now, AFB is making this happen: we are currently accepting applications for our 2015 scholarships. Visit www.afb.org/scholarships.asp to apply. We offer financial assistance to students who are legally blind (i.e., have best corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or less in both eyes and/or a visual field of less than 20 degrees in both eyes) who are pursuing all levels of post-secondary education, including those who will be, or are…

Today, March 3rd, we salute 3 titans of American history: Alexander Graham Bell, Anne Sullivan Macy and Helen Keller. Alexander Graham Bell was born on this day in 1847. Famous for his pioneering work with the telephone, Bell was also very influential in the field of education for the deaf. In 1886 Helen Keller’s parents Captain Arthur Keller and Kate Adams Keller contacted Bell seeking assistance for their deaf and blind daughter. Bell put them in touch with the Perkins School for the Blind…

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss for people aged 60 and older in the United States. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), 10-15 million individuals have AMD and about 10% of those affected have the "wet" type of age-related macular degeneration. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration, here is just a small sampling of resources from the American Foundation for the Blind to help you cope…

Sixty years ago, Helen Keller was given an honorary Oscar as inspiration for the movie Helen Keller in Her Story a documentary by Nancy Hamilton about her life; she turned 75 that year and had spent 6 decades fighting for those with vision loss. Decades earlier, in 1916 she delivered an address on the Midland Chautauqua Circuit in which she said: I, for one, love strength, daring, fortitude. I do not want people to kill the fight in them; I want them to fight for right things. And that…

"Only people count. Only people who think and feel and work together make civilization. Only governments that keep every door of opportunity wide open are civilized governments...Civilization means a fair chance to live. It means an equitable share of the resources of the earth for every one. It means health and freedom and education for all men." Helen Keller, draft of speech, June 1918 When Helen Keller was 6 years old she met President Grover Cleveland. Cleveland was the first…

On the eve of her 80th birthday in June 1960, Helen Keller gave an interview looking back on her life. She spoke with Ann Carnahan, a journalist, about her "secrets of joyous living." Question: What is the greatest virtue a person may have or cultivate? Answer: Love. Cultivate love for love is the light that gives the eye to see great and noble things. Love is true joy. Question: I notice, Miss Keller, that you use joy very often. Why? Answer: It is almost my favorite word…