[Colorado-talk] Way to go Greeley!

Mon Mar 3 14:18:32 CST 2008

First vision fair aims to help blind keep independence

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            Jim McGregor, 87, puts on a pair of MaxTV glasses Saturday during the Greeley Vision Fair at the Greeley Senior Center. McGregor suffers from age-related macular degeneration and has problems seeing the television from a distance.
            BRET HARTMAN / bhartman at greeleytribune.com
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Andrew Villegas, (Bio) avillegas at greeleytribune.com
March 2, 2008

Maurice Mines puts the speaker very close to his ear.

A computerized voice asks him to punch a few buttons and soon he's learning the news of the day even though he is blind.

The service -- the National Federations of the Blind's Newsline -- uses a computer program to take the news of the day and read it to those that can't read because they are visually impaired. The service was showcased Saturday morning at the first Greeley Vision Fair, and Mines said the way demand for the service is growing, the purveyors of the service may soon have to add phones lines.

In Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News, the Denver Post and the Colorado Springs Gazette are three of 250 available newspapers across the country.

"I was talking to this woman about an article I saw in the New York Times and she was amazed that a blind person could get the day's paper," said Mines, a Master's student at the University of Northern Colorado.

The fair also had several other booths for the blind and visually impaired that showed attendees how they can still be independent even though they've lost or are losing their sight.

Joe Stultz, a blind Greeley resident and former pharmacist, said that when he started going blind, he didn't know who could help him. He eventually found help in the Veterans' Administration and took his life back.

"There was some help out there, but I didn't know who to turn to," Stultz said. "If we can get just one person to change their life, we've done our job."

Among the participating groups at the fair were the Colorado Talking Book Library, Connections for Independent Living, the blind federation and others.

Diane McGeorge, former president of the National Federation of the Blind in Colorado, said the blind are contributing residents who don't just sit at home, the fair and the federation, she said, are there to show the blind that they can do anything people with sight can do.

"To be blind is to be respectable. We teach self-confidence," McGeorge said. "Our students are taught to be blind is to be equal."

National Federation of the Blind in Greeley

For more information on the National Federation of the Blind in Greeley, contact Greeley chapter president Melissa Green at (970) 356-8630.

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Scott C. LaBarre, Esq.

LaBarre Law Offices P.C.
1660 South Albion Street, Ste. 918
Denver, Colorado 80222
303 504-5979 (voice)
303 757-3640 (fax)
slabarre at labarrelaw.com (e-mail)
www.labarrelaw.com (website)

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the designated recipient, you may not read, copy, distribute or retain this message. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender at 303) 504-5979 or slabarre at labarrelaw.com, and destroy and delete it from your system. This message and any attachments are covered by the Electronic
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Click to Enlarge
Jim McGregor, 87, puts on a pair of MaxTV glasses Saturday during the Greeley Vision Fair at the Greeley Senior Center. McGregor suffers from age-related macular degeneration and has problems seeing the television from a distance.
BRET HARTMAN / bhartman at greeleytribune.com
http://greeleytribune.mycapture.com/ Browse Our Galleries
Andrew Villegas
,
javascript:NewWindow(500,500,'/apps/pbcs.dll/personalia?ID=AVILLEGAS'); (Bio)
mailto:avillegas at greeleytribune.com
avillegas at greeleytribune.com
March 2, 2008
http://www.greeleytrib.com/graphics/spacer.gif
Maurice Mines puts the speaker very close to his ear.
A computerized voice asks him to punch a few buttons and soon he's learning the news of the day even though he is blind.
The service -- the National Federations of the Blind's Newsline -- uses a computer program to take the news of the day and read it to those that can't read because they are visually impaired. The service was showcased Saturday morning at the first Greeley Vision Fair, and Mines said the way demand for the service is growing, the purveyors of the service may soon have to add phones lines.
In Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News, the Denver Post and the Colorado Springs Gazette are three of 250 available newspapers across the country.
"I was talking to this woman about an article I saw in the New York Times and she was amazed that a blind person could get the day's paper," said Mines, a Master's student at the University of Northern Colorado.
The fair also had several other booths for the blind and visually impaired that showed attendees how they can still be independent even though they've lost or are losing their sight.
Joe Stultz, a blind Greeley resident and former pharmacist, said that when he started going blind, he didn't know who could help him. He eventually found help in the Veterans' Administration and took his life back.
"There was some help out there, but I didn't know who to turn to," Stultz said. "If we can get just one person to change their life, we've done our job."
Among the participating groups at the fair were the Colorado Talking Book Library, Connections for Independent Living, the blind federation and others.
Diane McGeorge, former president of the National Federation of the Blind in Colorado, said the blind are contributing residents who don't just sit at home, the fair and the federation, she said, are there to show the blind that they can do anything people with sight can do.
"To be blind is to be respectable. We teach self-confidence," McGeorge said. "Our students are taught to be blind is to be equal."
National Federation of the Blind in Greeley
For more information on the National Federation of the Blind in Greeley, contact Greeley chapter president Melissa Green at (970) 356-8630.
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Scott C. LaBarre, Esq.

LaBarre Law Offices P.C.
1660 South Albion Street, Ste. 918
Denver, Colorado 80222
303 504-5979 (voice)
303 757-3640 (fax)
mailto:slabarre at labarrelaw.com slabarre at labarrelaw.com
(e-mail)
http://www.labarrelaw.com www.labarrelaw.com
(website)

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the designated recipient, you may not read, copy, distribute or retain this message. If you received this message in error, please notify the sender at 303) 504-5979 or mailto:slabarre at labarrelaw.com slabarre at labarrelaw.com
, and destroy and delete it from your system. This message and any attachments are covered by the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-2521.
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