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Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

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Re: Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

#51

Post by squigz »

pvaldes wrote: post #49
pvaldes wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blind people could benefit of carrying one or several ultrasonic sensor like those used on cars to park. That would emit soft bleeps, faster when something is on the way or closer to an obstacle. Can be built easily with an Arduino I think that another possibility could be to fill your home or workplace with those devices put on walls or furniture. The idea would be that your table could say to you "lookout, I'm here…

Hum, that last idea deserve more time I want to propose this system. Imagine that you are on a workplace where blind people came often to work or as clients. There is a soft, low, slow and sparse music that is pleasing to hear as a background for anybody and is always changing. Now lets imagine that this music is codified and played on a 3D system. Every time we hear a piano note it means "door here", all bass notes…

Muzak but specifically for blind people!

Such an engineer's solution. :P

The glaring issue here would be standardization. Either every place uses the same sounds, or you have to learn a new system for each place you visit using this sort of thing. This is also why you couldn't change notes regularly, which would be boring and repetitive for everyone else.

Re: Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

#52

Post by YinglingHeavy »

isoprophlex wrote: post #18

I have, I think, no real expert advice to offer you. Except this small anecdote. One of the kids in my 4-year old son's class is blind. I went along for a day to help out on a school trip to some massive playground, which involved loading 60 kids into a bus (they usually walk/bike to school, so not everyone was used to the idea of large buses); keeping track of them in the playground, feeding them, etc etc. Lots of p…

Hijacking this to give advice critical for a baby who is only a few months old.

OP, are you in the US? Contact your states "Birth To 3" program immediately. You can get a Vision Specialist to come to your house. I imagine other countries have similar programs.

---------

Reading the rest of the thread, you HN'ers are very blessed to be ignorant that such a program exists.

Re: Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

#53

Post by squigz »

pvaldes wrote: post #49
pvaldes wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blind people could benefit of carrying one or several ultrasonic sensor like those used on cars to park. That would emit soft bleeps, faster when something is on the way or closer to an obstacle. Can be built easily with an Arduino I think that another possibility could be to fill your home or workplace with those devices put on walls or furniture. The idea would be that your table could say to you "lookout, I'm here…

Hum, that last idea deserve more time I want to propose this system. Imagine that you are on a workplace where blind people came often to work or as clients. There is a soft, low, slow and sparse music that is pleasing to hear as a background for anybody and is always changing. Now lets imagine that this music is codified and played on a 3D system. Every time we hear a piano note it means "door here", all bass notes…

I'd be curious to hear why you and GP think technical solutions like this don't currently exist. Nobody thought of it? Cost? Effectiveness?

Re: Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

#56

Post by iteria »

I just want to second the person who said to reach out to your 0 to 3 program. It's extremely important because your child's blindness might be fixable. I was born blind. But it was because of nerve damage. I don't really understand what all the doctors did, but they managed to restore some sight in one eye by the time I was in 3rd grade or so. Enough to read if the book was close and the text large. By the time I was in late high school, I was able to get vision that was functionally enough that I didn't need any kind of accommodation. By late 20s, I had 20/20 vision (I mean in one eye, but that's all you need!)

It can be a long road, but the body is very use it or lose it, so starting early is so important. I still have some visual processing issues, but I need no support and I can even drive during the day. Technically at night too, but it's too iffy for me, so I avoid it at all costs. Not saying this is your boy, but I am saying that consulting with a professional is a good idea in case there's something that can be done even if it takes years to see the results.

Re: Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

#57

Post by ClawsOnPaws »

jesterswilde wrote: post #31
bnjemian wrote: post #28

I once read that some people who are blind from an early age, as they get older, start to click their tongue, but often those around them (parents, siblings, etc.) will discourage them. Thing is, that clicking can actually be used to develop a type of vision that operates similarly to echo location in cetaceans (whales, dolphins, etc.) – it comes about because the child realizes that if they make a sharp sound, they…

Learning to understand the world around you via clicking isn't a natural or easy thing to do. I can't do it personally but have looked into it. For me the benefits didn't seem worth the time investment (plus I was older when I looked into it.) Learning to click to understand what is around you is, IMO, a viable thing to look into for your kid and decide if you want to undertake that training. Daniel Kish is the name…

Fellow blind person here, adding my own anecdote. I click and echolocate. I have two different kinds of clicks. A soft click for very immediate surrounding which I can do rapidly if I need to, and a loud click for figuring out large spaces which I don't use very often for relatively obvious reasons. They're quite helpful for me and especially in new unfamiliar spaces it's almost a reflex that happens on its own unless I consciously try to stop it for social reasons. Just to add another datapoint. What works for one might not work for another, so there's a lot of trial and error involved in figuring out what works and what doesn't. This can be very frustrating sometimes but sympathy will go a long way.

Something I wanted to add, maybe this thread in particular isn't the best place for this but in general, I'm very lucky that my parents did not prevent me from doing things that others may have. For example, I climbed trees, rode a bike, and generally tried to do all of the things my sighted peers were doing. Naturally there were accidents, but not preventing me from doing those things, not preventing me from learning my limits, learning my balance and physical control, getting hurt and getting back up, I believe were absolutely vital to making me the person I am today. I imagine as a parent this can be very stressful or worrying, but I honestly do not believe I would be as independent now if I wasn't allowed to do those things back then. So unless it is absolutely certain that this is something that they will not be able to do at all, maybe consider letting them try it. It will absolutely help confidence, self worth and skills for later independence that are very, very, very badly needed and very easily missed. I'm not a parent however, so of course take this with a grain of salt. My experience may be slightly biased here.

Re: Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

#58

Post by sideway »

If this is your first kid, keep in mind that the negative emotions you may be feeling are amplified a lot by all the exhaustion - physical and mental - a new baby brings.

FWIW, in one of my previous jobs, in a company with 1.5K employees, there was this engineering architect with great insights, deep understanding of the overall architecture, and true impact across the board. I would always follow the slack threads he was contributing to as there was always something to learn in there. It took me by extreme surprise when I learned he was completely blind.

I wish the best to you, your kid, and your family.

Re: Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

#59

Post by highhedgehog »

bnjemian wrote: post #28

I once read that some people who are blind from an early age, as they get older, start to click their tongue, but often those around them (parents, siblings, etc.) will discourage them. Thing is, that clicking can actually be used to develop a type of vision that operates similarly to echo location in cetaceans (whales, dolphins, etc.) – it comes about because the child realizes that if they make a sharp sound, they…

INdeed, I remember seeing a video of a guy that did exactly this. Impressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAtVOK04XvA

Re: Ask HN: My son might be blind – how to best support

#60

Post by lynx23 »

pvaldes wrote: post #44
bnjemian wrote: post #28

I once read that some people who are blind from an early age, as they get older, start to click their tongue, but often those around them (parents, siblings, etc.) will discourage them. Thing is, that clicking can actually be used to develop a type of vision that operates similarly to echo location in cetaceans (whales, dolphins, etc.) – it comes about because the child realizes that if they make a sharp sound, they…

Blind people could benefit of carrying one or several ultrasonic sensor like those used on cars to park. That would emit soft bleeps, faster when something is on the way or closer to an obstacle. Can be built easily with an Arduino I think that another possibility could be to fill your home or workplace with those devices put on walls or furniture. The idea would be that your table could say to you "lookout, I'm here…

These products exists since the 80s. I have never seen one that is actually practical in real life. The elevator-pitch always sounds nice, to sighted people at least..

Please don't fall for this patronising attitude that just because you are a tech person, you can invent all sorts of helpful gadgets.

Educate yourself about the disability before giving advice or your great $0.02 ideas. They are always ment in a good way, but tiring for those who are in the know.

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