[nfbwatlk] Bioptic Telescope

Tue Jun 10 18:00:44 UTC 2014

My comments are based on my own experience as a driver.  There is so much more to being an observant driver.  The ability to multitask visual tasks is the issue I am concerned with.  I have worked with adolescent who always want to try and find a way to drive.  I know a person who renewed her license when she knew her vision was not adequate to drive.  My father in law got a renewed license for 5 years and he was already 91 years old. So I am not so confident that the state license department shows good judgement.  I am currently a non driver with a seizure disorder.  I know how this new situation has impacted my lifestyle profoundly.  It is not easy coming to the belief that driving is no longer a viable solution to traveling.  Depending on a device which 
 does not allow for good peripheral vision and impacts the ability to perform a number of visual tasks in a short period of time is problematic at best.  Try to look in the distance, look in the rearview  mirror and the side mirror while backing up to look out the back window in a few minutes time is the typical needs of a driver.  Just my own opinion.

Denise Mackenstadt
dmackenstadt at comcast.net

On Jun 10, 2014, at 10:33 AM, Becky Frankeberger <b.butterfly at comcast.net> wrote:

> Oh well hmm, wonder how to say this politely, soft smile, do you have
> statistics that back up your statement that people using bioptics" because
> they are never safe drivers"
> 
> Didn't think so as I have never seen such statistics. Plus the pool of
> drivers is pretty low. I drove with a guy using bioptics. He was a wonderful
> safe driver. Drove with a lady with triple vision, and sat in her specialist
> eye doctor's office. She was a very safe driver. It was wild though. She had
> great distance vision, as confirmed by her doctor, but couldn't see close
> without magnification. So she drove up to her University to teach her class
> and harnessed up her guide dog to walk in the building. She never drove at
> night, never drove in ify weather conditions. After her stroke which caused
> the triple vision she wanted to go through the drivers test again. She
> passed first try. I drove with her for years.  
> I knew a man with RP who drove fine during the day, but as soon as he got in
> a building pulled out his long white cane, Federationist you know. He never
> drove at night nor in tunnels. 
> 
> My point is there are a lot of eye conditions. I think whether someone
> should be driving is up to the state that issued the license. I do also
> think eye doctors should be enpowered to contact the licensing place that
> person A needs a driver's test again, because of x or y.
> 
> My husband was involved with person's with albinism, he even spoke at the
> ANN convention. You are oh so right. Many of those people deny they are
> blind and need alternative techniques. That is why you are there a
> missionary type to tell them the truth. I am blind and here is how I do my
> work. Here is how your child will fit in, with the techniques that keep him
> independent, thus proud of himself. 
> 
> Warmly,
> Becky and guide dog Jake
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Denise
> Mackenstadt via nfbwatlk
> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 9:55 AM
> To: Mike Freeman; NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Bioptic Telescope
> 
> Piobtic driving has been around for a long time.  It is promoted by some
> rehab people.  NOAH the organization for albinism talks alot about its use
> with low vision people.  My understand it is a device that is attached to
> the glasses that the driver will use to see where they are driving.  I
> personally think it is just a way to deny the inefficient vision that low
> vision people have.  Parents with children with albinism are given all kinds
> of ideas of how to enhance what is probably poor vision that they have.  I
> know the UW has a special program to teach disabled including blind people
> how to drive.  I personally think it is a dumb idea because they are never
> safe drivers.  I would never ride with them as a passenger.
> 
> Denise Mackenstadt
> dmackenstadt at comcast.net
> 
> 
> 
> On Jun 9, 2014, at 11:21 AM, Mike Freeman via nfbwatlk <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> 
>> Amen. If our intrinsic worth is based upon whether we can drive 
>> safely, we, the public, are in a bad way. (grin)
>> 
>> Mike Freeman
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Don 
>> Mitchell via nfbwatlk
>> Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2014 9:10 PM
>> To: goldbeckjm at comcast.net; 'NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List'
>> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Bioptic Telescope
>> 
>> I don't have e any problem with the article except for the statement 
>> that if he did not have the technology he might be" I wouldn't be a 
>> productive member of society. I could potentially just be a forgotten 
>> soul." Certainly anything might be, but there are always alternatives 
>> and we each have the opportunity to discover and use alternatives that 
>> avoid making us forgotten members of society.
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nfbwatlk [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie 
>> Goldbeck via nfbwatlk
>> Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2014 7:12 PM
>> To: NFBWA; County, Clark
>> Subject: [nfbwatlk] Bioptic Telescope
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Has anyone heard of this technology?  Please read the article before 
>> you comment.  Thanks.
>> 
>> This story aired on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday June 7, 2014
>> 
>> A Small Device Helps Severely Nearsighted Drivers Hit the Road
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 
>> 
>> This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. In nearly 
>> every state now, visually impaired people can drive with the help of 
>> what are called bioptic telescopes. Now these are tiny devices that 
>> drivers wear in addition to their glasses. At the University of 
>> Alabama Birmingham, there is a special training program where drivers are
> learning to use the telescopes.
>> And that's where Dan Carson - member station WBHM - met one young man 
>> who's leading a fuller life because of this technology.
>> 
>> DAN CARSEN, BYLINE: Twenty-four-year-old Dustin Jones merges a small 
>> white SUV onto the interstate. He's clean cut and wears a light blue polo
> shirt.
>> There's a three inch black box attached to the frame of his metal 
>> rimmed glasses.
>> 
>> DUSTIN JONES: Unless you've been without it, you don't understand how 
>> crucial it is.
>> 
>> CARSEN: Jones has a genetic condition that reduces long-distance 
>> vision, so he couldn't drive safely without this little device called 
>> a bioptic telescope.
>> 
>> JONES: Life without the ability to drive is exponentially harder. It's 
>> just very difficult to do anything at all.
>> 
>> CARSEN: Everything was harder growing up in a rural area with limited 
>> public transportation. His mom has the same condition.
>> 
>> JONES: We relied a lot on family or friends just for simple things 
>> like groceries.
>> 
>> CARSEN: Six years ago, Jones entered a University of Alabama at 
>> Birmingham program that trains people to drive with bioptic 
>> telescopes. His teacher was Jennifer Elgin.
>> 
>> JENNIFER ELGIN: You're fitted for the bioptic, and then you go through 
>> some training just for general mobility - so walking around, using it 
>> as a passenger in a car. Once we feel pretty good about the passenger 
>> part, then we move on to driving.
>> 
>> CARSEN: A year later, Jones was trained and certified so he could take 
>> Alabama driver's test. He passed on the first try. He started 
>> commuting by car to an IT job and eventually landed his current 
>> higher-paying IT job at a children's hospital. Jones says without his
> bioptic telescope...
>> 
>> JONES: I wouldn't be a productive member of society. I could 
>> potentially just be a forgotten soul.
>> 
>> CARSEN: It's also easier to pick up a girl for a date. He's a little 
>> shy on that subject, but Jennifer Elgin jokes about something else 
>> some new drivers notice when they start driving with these telescopes.
>> 
>> ELGIN: A lot of times with new drivers, especially young men, we'll be 
>> stopped at a stop sign and I'll watch them and they'll be looking at 
>> the girls walking across the crosswalk. And I'll look over and I'll 
>> say, I know what you're doing.
>> 
>> CARSEN: But this doesn't come cheap. Bioptic telescopes can cost more 
>> than
>> $2,000 depending on the model. State rehab programs sometimes pay for 
>> them, insurance generally won't. Jones' grandmother paid for his.
>> 
>> As he drives, every few seconds, Jones subtly dips his head and 
>> glances through the eye hole of the scope. His bioptic magnifies 
>> objects like signs and traffic lights four times.
>> 
>> At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in addition to training 
>> drivers, specialists have done some of the first road-test studies on 
>> people with bioptic telescopes. UAB's Cynthia Owsley coauthored a 
>> recent study of 23 bioptic users, showing the vast majority drove safely.
>> 
>> CYNTHIA OWSLEY: As the evidence comes out on the research side, more 
>> and more jurisdictions are willing to entertain the possibility of 
>> bioptic driving.
>> 
>> CARSEN: And that would give even more people opportunities like the 
>> ones given to Dustin Jones, who still sees driving as a privilege.
>> 
>> JONES: I didn't feel entitled to drive, having not driven my entire 
>> life. I felt that the opportunity itself was gift enough.
>> 
>> CARSEN: According to one estimate, about 10,000 visually impaired 
>> people in the U.S. now drive with bioptic telescopes, and the number 
>> is growing as more people learn about the technology. Until cars drive 
>> themselves, these tiny telescopes will be out there helping people do 
>> what many take for granted.
>> 
>> For NPR News, I'm Dan Carsen in Birmingham. 
>> 
>> SIMON: And you can see what a bioptic telescope looks like on our 
>> Facebook page, NPR WEEKEND EDITION 
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