North East Rehabilitation Officers

The news items are extracted from various sources including daily newspapers, websites and Teletext.

If you have any short news items you feel would be appropriate then please Email us.

This page will be updated on a weekly bases.

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17/07/03

Major blow for access rights July 07: A blind man was thrown out of a bookshop because he was accompanied by his guide dog, but lost his case when he took action under the Disability Discrimination Act. by Disability now

RNIB draws up tough plans to clear £6m deficit

Dec 4: The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) is preparing drastic cuts to its services, and increased charges for users of those services, to eliminate a £6.2m deficit by the end of the financial year. Youreable.com

RNIB ad anger Nov 29:

Visually impaired people have accused the Royal National Institute for the Blind of reinforcing a negative image of blind people in its latest advertising campaign. Youreable.com

Digital TV made easy Nov 28:

An initiative to make designers of digital television products more aware of the difficulties experienced by all kinds of user, including visually impaired people, has been launched by 'Easy TV'. Youreable.com

Text messages find a voice Nov 25:

New technology allowing visually impaired people to listen to mobile phone text messages through conversion to natural-sounding speech is being developed by BT, the telecommunications company announced this month. Youreable.com

15/10/02

A group of NHS surgeons is setting up a private eye hospital that will offer surgery and outpatient treatment to adults. The Yorkshire Eye Hospital will treat NHS as well as insured or fee-paying patients. Tel, p15

15/10/02

A visually impaired singer who nearly made the final of Popstars: The Rivals, has been offered a recording opportunity by a top producer. Youreable.com

14/10/02

Anger as watchdog restricts sight-saving treatment Thousands of people could be denied eyesight-saving surgery because of plans to withhold a new blindness treatment from NHS patients, it was claimed today.

Medicines watchdog the national institute for clinical excellence (Nice) is consulting on proposals that would severely limit the use of photo-dynamic therapy (PDT) treatment on those suffering the most common cause of blindness, known as wet age-related macular degeneration. Some 20,000 people develop the condition each year, of whom 7,500 could benefit from the new treatment, which is available elsewhere in Europe and North America, according to the Royal National Institute of the Blind. But Nice is proposing limiting the use of PDT to an experimental programme of tests on 1,000 people a year because of concerns about its efficacy.

Steve Winyard of the RNIB told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It is appalling. We know this treatment works. We know it could stop around 7,500 people a year in the UK losing their sight. "It is available on a routine basis in Europe and North America and has been for a couple of years and yet, almost inexplicably, Nice will not make it available to the 7,500 people who could benefit." The condition causes gradual deterioration of the central vision, so that sufferers are eventually deprived of the ability to carry out normal tasks such as reading or driving.

Mr Winyard said: "Nice has underestimated the cost of blindness, both to the individual and to society. Sight is the sense which most people most fear losing. Each week, people are using their life savings to buy this treatment privately, but of course a lot of people aren't able to do that."

Nice's corporate affairs director, Anne-Toni Rogers, said: "We were asked to look at this treatment because genuine uncertainly as to it's long term value for patients, had resulted in 'postcode prescribing'. "The process Nice follows involves bringing all of the evidence together and engaging professionals and patients in the development of the guidance. When it is issued, early next year, it will make it clear to the NHS and patients, no matter where they live, if and where this treatment can add value. Thus promoting an end to the postcode prescribing."

18/09/02

Retinal chipset gives sight to the blind

Researchers at Sandia Labs have developed the Multiple-unit Artificial Retinal Chipset, which sits inside the eye to help the blind see again A long-cherished science fiction dream is approaching reality, as researchers in the US get closer to an eye implant that restores sight to the blind. Aimed at those suffering from macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, where the light-sensitive cells on the retina stop working but the nerves survive, the project is a $9m collaboration between US national research labs and universities.

"The aim is to bring a blind person to the point where he or she can read, move around objects in the house, and do basic household chores," said Sandia Labs project leader Kurt Wessendorf in a statement. "They won't be able to drive cars, at least in the near future, because instead of millions of pixels, they'll see approximately a thousand. The images will come a little slowly and appear yellow. But people who are blind will see."

The system, also known as a Multiple-unit Artificial Retinal Chipset (MARC), involves multiple components mounted both inside and outside the eye. A spectacle-mounted camera takes video that is then processed and transmitted into the eye by radio. There, a chip made from micro-machined silicon and protective coatings receives the signal and extracts data with which to stimulate the retinal nerves. Like a crystal radio set, it also extracts the power it needs to run from the radio signal, removing the need for any external wires or internal power pack.

The mammalian eye has an evolutionary flaw, whereby the cones and rods lie behind the layer of neurons that feed the optic nerve. This reduces visual acuity and gives us our blind spot, but is actually helpful when it comes to wiring up retinal implants. The MARC receiver sits on top of the retina, making direct contact with the nerves through a 10x10 array of electrodes. By designing the MARC receiver to have the same buoyancy as the aqueous humour in the eye, and by doing as much processing outside as possible, the stress on the retina and any heat dissipation problems are kept to a minimum.

The whole device is the result of research at John Hopkins and North Carolina State universities, the University of Southern California and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Other labs, such as Sandia, Los Alamos and Laurence Livermore, are modelling neural pathways and testing new materials.

Many problems and questions remain, such as the best waveform for stimulating the nerves, the best way to package the chip to keep it and the eye healthy, the best way to connect the chip to the retina, and how to transmit colour images. The project is due to finish in 2004, by which time the team hope the picture will be up to 33x33 pixels, enough to distinguish text and faces, and will be available as a treatment for blindness.

One of the project instigators, Mark Humayun from the University of Southern California, said: "There is a considerable amount of advanced technology literally on the shelf or already being used for defence purposes that we could use to help solve blindness and greatly propel forward the entire field of medicine." ZD Net UK

18/09/02

Government 'losing momentum' on disability A government bill that would bring discrimination law more closely in line with legislation covering race, gender and religion looks set to be sidelined, E-Access Bulletin has learned.

According to the RNIB, the bill was designed to implement recommendations made by the Department of Work and Pensions Disability Rights Task Force (www.disability.gov.uk/drtf) and was expected in the Commons during the new parliamentary session.

However, Caroline Ellis of the RNIB said this is now highly unlikely and the RNIB and Disability Rights Commission will now lobby sympathetic MPs to sponsor a Private Members Bill.

"When they’re not moving on these issues swiftly, the questions has to be – why not?” she said. “It’s a big blow. It looks like the government is losing momentum on disability." www.Youreable.com

05/09/02

The drug company Aventis Pharma, responsible for the epilepsy drug Vigabatrin, is being blamed for damaging patients' eyesight, in some cases making them blind. They are facing a multi-million pound lawsuit. The Times, p4.

05/09/02

Three disabled explorers are following in the footsteps of fictional explorer Phileas Fogg, by using 80 modes of transport to complete their round-the-world trip, including a Japanese bullet train, elephants and camels.

Blind adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber will drive a Formula One racing car in Malaysia, while Mike Mackenzie, a double leg amputee, will ride an ostrich in South Africa.

Like the characters from the Jules Verne novel, the four set off from London’s Reform Club on 2 September.

Their journey will take them through Europe, Africa, Asia and America.

They hope to complete their travels in 100 days, arriving back in London for the International Day of Disability on December 3.

Hilton-Barber said the trip’s main goal was “to encourage people to look at their opportunities in life, not their limitations.”

He explained how he was first inspired to take up challenges after his brother, also blind, began sailing single-handedly.

He added that he used to look at his blindness as a handicap but now he sees it as “a passport to achieving amazing things”.

Last year he ran across the Sahara Desert, something he said he might never have done without his brother’s inspiration. You can follow Miles and the others as they complete their challenge by logging on to their website www.aroundtheworldineightyways.com. Yourable.com

04/09/02

New access rules open buildings to all. John Prescott’s office has released “tough” new regulations to ensure public and commercial buildings are accessible to all.

The design regulations – announced last week - mean architects and developers must take “reasonable steps” to improve access in new buildings.

These steps will include the construction of ramps and the provision of clearer signage.

The regulations will also affect changes made to existing buildings when they are altered or undergo changes of use.

A spokesperson for the office of the Deputy Prime Minister explained that while the Disability Discrimination Act focuses on the provision of services inside buildings, the new Part M design regulations are an attempt to open up the buildings themselves.

Maria Eagle, Minister for Disabled People, welcomed the plans, saying they would ensure disabled people had access to many buildings and services “from which they have been unfairly excluded for far too long.”

But the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), although pleased with the plans, highlighted the need for further legislation. Yourable.com

25/08/02

An Audio Description service is now available to blind and partially sighted cinema users attending the U.C.I. Multiplex within the Gateshead Metro Centre. The service offers accompanying Audio Description support to a number of movie releases - including the hugely popular Harry Potter now showing. Northumbria Sight Service Web Site

25/08/02

"Sainsbury's to You" the online shopping service, will now help mums to be, disabled and elderly people by carrying their shopping delivery from the doorstep to the kitchen. Channel 4, Teletext p176.

24/08/02

The Tate Modern Art Gallery has launched a service that will enable the visually impaired to enjoy the work of some of the greatest arts. An online resource entitled I-Map will other an interactive examination of the key concepts of some of the pieces on display. (Computer Active 22 Aug – 4 Sep p10). Tate Modern Web Site: http://www.tate.org.uk/imap/

22/08/02

Contact lenses that can be worn safely for months at a time could be developed after scientists in America developed a special coating that kills the bacteria that cause eye infections. Times, p10

15/08/02

National library database revealed The long-delayed 'Reveal' project to create a national database of information resources in accessible formats looks set to finally begin development on 1 October. www.Youreable.com