[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] theater and a photography student

[Lisa Yayla]

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-25-2005/0004194570&EDATE=
http://www.times.co.nz/columns/ourpeople/story_0008675.shtml

article 1
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt To Honor Sound Associates With Highest 
Recognition Award

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     Award Celebrates Achievements Aiding Blind, and Deaf Theater Patrons

    NEW YORK, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Secretary Mike Leavitt of the US
Department of Health and Human Services will honor Sound Associates Inc., with
the Secretary's 2005 Highest Recognition Award for their decades-long
commitment to making the magic of live theatre more accessible to special
needs audiences through innovative use of technology.
    The event held each October celebrates National Disability Awareness Month
by recognizing individuals, organizations, and corporations for exemplary
contributions they have made to improve the lives of persons with
disabilities. The award will be presented Wednesday, October 26, 2005 during
the annual HHS Office on Disability event  "Celebrating Persons with
Disabilities" in the Great Hall of the Hubert H. Humphrey Building in
Washington, D.C.
    "We are all deeply honored by this recognition," said T Richard
Fitzgerald, CEO of Sound Associates, Inc. "We will continue to work toward our
goal of making every live performance accessible to every patron."
    In August 1979 Fitzgerald, also a theatrical sound designer, introduced
the Infrared Listening System, ILS, in Peter Pan at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater
which dramatically improved the experience for hard-of-hearing audience
members. In 1980 the Broadway Theater community honored Richard's important
innovation with a Tony Award.
    In the 25 years since, Sound Associates continued to improve the ILS, now
in use all over the country, and to develop new assistive devices and
services: the I-Caption(TM) system, which features a handheld wireless unit
that displays real time dialogue and lyrics for the deaf; D-Scriptive(TM), an
audio description service that fills in those essential visuals sighted
theater goers take for granted, providing more clarity. Both services are
available for all performances, for use from any seat, by design, and are
offered at no charge to the user.
    Both I-Caption and D-Scriptive are currently available at Wicked, Mamma
Mia! and Hairspray on Broadway. Another service, Show Trans(TM), makes live
theater enjoyable for non-English speaking audiences and is available for most
Broadway shows.

article 2
Rose sets her sights firmly on the future

By SARAH 
MACDONALD

LOSING her vision hasn’t stopped a determined Buckland’s Beach teenager 
from pursuing her photography dream.

Rose Rowan, 19, lost her sight over the course of three days when she 
was 17 and studying for bursary exams at Macleans College.

“I lost all of my central vision so that meant I couldn’t read, drive, 
go anywhere by myself or study. I basically couldn’t do anything,”

says Rose. “It was quite scary. The doctors didn’t know what it was. 
They said it would get better but they didn’t actually know that.”

She was later diagnosed with Acute Multifocal Placoid Pigment 
Epitheliopathy (AMPPE), a rare disease that causes the immune system to 
become confused.

The immune system attacks the back of the eyes, causing long-term vision 
impairment.

During the following three months, Rose’s vision began to improve and 
she now sees the world in a patchy blur.

“My body healed itself like your body would heal if it had a scratch and 
then it would scar. I have scars on my eyes.”

Rose was disappointed her condition meant she hadn’t been able to 
complete bursary photography.

“School basically ended for me because I couldn’t go back,” she says.

Determined to pursue her passion for photography, last year she enrolled 
in a Bachelor of Visual Arts.

“When I first started university I had to have systems put in place to 
help me out, but now I’m pretty independent.”

Rose meets challenges daily and she’s the first to admit visual arts may 
not be the easiest option.

“I can’t focus cameras as central vision is what you need. I can’t spend 
too much time on the computer because it’s really glarey. People offer 
to help but I like to do it myself.”

Rose says the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind has helped her 
to cope with her condition.

“Life moves on. When it all started we got in touch with the Foundation 
of the Blind and tried to see what help was out there in the form of 
scholarships. They were really helpful because they understand.”

The foundation holds Blind Week from October 25 to October 31 to raise 
awareness about blindness and vision impairment and collect donations to 
support its members.

Rose says there are many misconceptions about blind people.

“Just because you don’t look blind or vision impaired doesn’t mean that 
you’re not.

“I came to university and I looked just like everyone else, but I was 
half blind. A lot of people kept saying to me: ‘What? You’re not blind.’ 
Teachers at school said, ‘whatever, go polish your shoes’ when I told 
them I had gone blind.”

Collectors will take to the streets wearing fluorescent orange arrows 
during Blind Week, or $3 donations can be made by texting BLIND to 883.

More information is available by calling 0800-002345.

picture text

Rose Rowan isn’t about to let her visual impairment stop her dream of 
being a photographer. The gutsy Bucklands Beach teenager is currently 
studying for a Bachelor of Visual Art and joins other blind and visually 
impaired people supporting Blind Week (October 25-31). Times photo Wayne 
Martin.