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economist suntribune health saturday feb 9 2002 opens eyes to visual impairment by lisa queen staff writer the task shouldnt have required a second thought walk down the hall and catch an elevator up to the third floor of the office building but on the short route i almost knocked goodies off a bake sale table and brushed up against a woman who had just ordered a hot drink from the coffee standrwhen i finally reached my destination i flailed around aimlessly searching for the elevator button living with glaucoma as part of white cane week the york region chapter of the cana dian institute for the blind in richmond hill providedme with visionimpairing goggles they gave a small taste of what its like to live with glaucoma a condition in which loss of vision occurs because of abnormally high pres sure in the eye the extreme tunnel vision com bined with blurred eyesight made navigating simple obstacles a chal lenge to say the least thankfully the conspicuous goggles and white cane gave peo ple a fighting chance to get out of my way the natural thing to do when youre inflicted with impaired vision is to keepyour head down to make sure you dont stumble over the smallest obstruction something as predictable as walk ing from tile to carpet can trip you up the trick is to let the white cane do the ground work while you keep your head up but that is a daunting demand considering the end of the cane can get snagged in the cracks between interlocking stone or sud denly encounter a carpet or some ones outstretched foot depth perception becomes a lost art when your eyes insist something is where it isnt and you become much more aware of the vagaries of speech when someone tells you an object is right there and you have no idea where that is interestinglygoing up stairs isnt as tough as expected as long as you let the cane bounce against the front of each step and maintain a firm hold on the ban nister coming down however feels more like a trip through the fear some section of a fun house next it was outside to test what its like to weather winter with gog gles that simulate a case of macu lar degeneration which causes loss of the central vision while peripheral vision remains intact huge spots prevent the per- son from seeing whats right in front of them avoiding traffic and navigating around snow and ice are almost impossible just as difficult was facing the same hurdles with the goggles that simulated cataracts which blur vision and create sensitivity to glare the extreme tunnel vision combined with blurred eyesight made navigating simple obstacles a challenge to say the least while getting around the com munity may seem like a visually impaired persons biggest hurdle there are also challenges in the home try pouring a cup of coffee from a hot kettle when you cant see fortunately there are many gadgets available to help the visu ally impaired few of whom are totally blind a small sensor with electrical prongs that hooks oh the comer of a mug lets the kettle pourer knew when the hot water is reaching the top- a handheld sometimes tem peramental device can have paper money fed into it and announce the bills denomination york region has committed to installing fiveaudible traffic sig nals at a cost of 1 1 000 each at intersections each yean- but while books oh tape have made life easier for the visually impaired consider how difficult reading remains a novel in braille is about the size of an encyclopedia a textbook comes in several volumes a m ms maw w this year at the corner house february brings four wonderful days for lovers bring a very close friend and enjoy the sensuous delights of our special valentines fourcourse 4695 prix fixe menu from thursday 14th to sunday 17th choose from roast striploin of beef with bernaise sauce grilled atlantic salmon or stuffed breast of chicken you wont be disappointed and neither will your lover 6043 main street t stouffville for reservations please call9056408494 check out our regular menu online at vavwtorontocomcornerhouse tmr0 j jrv 8f is vv i