Impaired

The team of nurses that Tilda Shalof found herself working with in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a big-city hospital was known as “Laura’s Line.” They were a bit wild: smart, funny, disrespectful of authority, but also caring and incredibly committed to their jobs. Laura set the tone with her quick remarks. Frances, from Newfoundland, was famous for her improvised recipes. Justine, the union rep, wore t-shirts emblazoned with defiant slogans, like “Nurses Care But It’s Not in the Budget.” Shalof was the one who had been to university. The others accused her of being “sooo sensitive.” They depended upon one another. Working in the ICU was both emotionally grueling and physically exhausting. Many patients, quite simply, were dying, and the staff strove mightily to prolong their lives. With their skill, dedication, and the resources of modern science, they sometimes were almost too successful. Doctors and nurses alike wondered if what they did for terminally-ill patients was not, in some cases, too extreme. A number of patients were admitted when it was too late even for heroic measures. A boy struck down by a cerebral aneurysm in the middle of a little-league hockey game. A woman rescued – too late – from a burning house. It all took its toll on the staff. And yet, on good days, they thrived on what they did. Shalof describes a colleague who is managing a “crashing” patient: “I looked at her. Nicky was flushed with excitement. She was doing five different things at the same time, planning ahead for another five. She was totally focused, in her element, in control, completely at home with the chaos. There was a huge smile on her face. Nurses like to fix things. If they can.” Shalof, a veteran ICU nurse, reveals what it is really like to work behind the closed hospital curtains. The drama, the sardonic humour, the grinding workload, the cheerful camaraderie, the big issues and the small, all are brought vividly to life in this remarkable book.

The ability to see deeply affects how human beings perceive and interpret the world around them. For most people, eyesight is part of everyday communication, social activities, educational and professional pursuits, the care of others, and the maintenance of personal health, independence, and mobility. Functioning eyes and vision system can reduce an adult's risk of chronic health conditions, death, falls and injuries, social isolation, depression, and other psychological problems. In children, properly maintained eye and vision health contributes to a child's social development, academic achievement, and better health across the lifespan. The public generally recognizes its reliance on sight and fears its loss, but emphasis on eye and vision health, in general, has not been integrated into daily life to the same extent as other health promotion activities, such as teeth brushing; hand washing; physical and mental exercise; and various injury prevention behaviors. A larger population health approach is needed to engage a wide range of stakeholders in coordinated efforts that can sustain the scope of behavior change. The shaping of socioeconomic environments can eventually lead to new social norms that promote eye and vision health. Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow proposes a new population-centered framework to guide action and coordination among various, and sometimes competing, stakeholders in pursuit of improved eye and vision health and health equity in the United States. Building on the momentum of previous public health efforts, this report also introduces a model for action that highlights different levels of prevention activities across a range of stakeholders and provides specific examples of how population health strategies can be translated into cohesive areas for action at federal, state, and local levels.

This easy-to-understand guide explains the role of paraeducators (sometimes called classroom aides, teaching assistants, or paraprofessionals) in working with students who are visually impaired and assisting other members of the educational team. When You Have a Visually Impaired Student in Your Classroom: A Guide for Paraeducators provides basic information about visual impairment, the learning needs of visually impaired students, and the special devices and materials they use. Includes easy-to-use forms to help organize information and tasks.

"As you have grown older, you may have noticed changes in your memory. You might find yourself walking into a room and forgetting why you are there. It might be more difficult to remember the name of someone you just met. You may also notice that it takes longer to come up with words in conversation"--

In this examination of the social interactions of children with visual impairments, theory and research are combined to explore how these children can be helped to succeed socially. Innovative practical strategies are provided for educators, researchers, and families on how to assist children in the development of social skills. Qualitative ethnographic approaches demonstrate how classroom teachers can work effectively with individual children and present valuable insights about children's interactions.

Equal accessibility to public places and services is now required by law in many countries. For the vision-impaired, specialised technology often can provide a fuller enjoyment of the facilities of society, from large scale meetings and public entertainments to reading a book or making music. This volume explores the engineering and design principles and techniques used in assistive technology for blind and vision-impaired people. This book maintains the currency of knowledge for engineers and health workers who develop devices and services for people with sight loss, and is an excellent source of reference for students of assistive technology and rehabilitation.

This book discusses the design of the new mobility assistive information and communication technologies (ICT) devices for the visually impaired. The book begins with a definition of the space concept, followed by the concept of interaction with a space during mobility and this interaction characteristics. The contributors will then examine the neuro-cognitive basis of space perception for mobility and different theories of space perception. The text presents the existing technologies for space perception (sense recovery with stem and iPS cells, implants, brain plasticity, sensory substitution devices, multi modal technologies, etc.), the newest technologies for mobility assistance design, the way the feedback on environment is conveyed to the end-user. Methods for formative and summative evaluations of the mobility devices will also be discussed. The book concludes with a look to the future trends in research and technology development for mobility assistive information and communication technologies.