Rehabilitation for The Visually Impaired in Taiwan

Summer is gone and Autumn is coming, the typical northeast seasonal wind is blowing through the Island. People in Taiwan may feel uncomfortable during the weather changing from hot to chilly, but it is a rhythm of the harvest season for the visually impaired people. With your support, we have provided many different activities, such as rich cultural tours, charity festivals and exciting competitions. From mid-August to October 2019, major activities/events in TDTB are listed as follows:

1.Service Programs (mid-August to October 2019)

We have offered 161 hours of various courses, such as Assistive Technology (AT) training course and psychological consultation, for 19 visually impaired people to assist them to learn the non-visual operation of computers and smartphones, and have provided social worker services, counseling, and support groups to those who are trying to overcome the obstacles and learn the independent living skills.

2. Rehabilitation experience Sharing (September 28, 2019)

In order to encourage the visually impaired to return to their normal life and return to the workplace through successful cases. On September 28th, the Teacher's Day in Taiwan, we invited Luodong junior high school teacher Yun-Zhi () to talk about her recovery from vision loss, her rehabilitation process, and even her return to teaching. In addition to the visually impaired friends who participated in the session, the live broadcast also allowed more people to participate in it. It not only provided valuable experience for the visually impaired in the process of life reconstruction but also encouraged many students to follow the spirit of the teacher.

3. Web Accessibility Checking (October 17, 2019)

Web accessibility is important for visually impaired people (VIP) to access information. The development of the Internet is an important conduit for visually impaired individuals to obtain information. Our visually impaired information professional engineers, using their own expertise and understanding of the needs of the visually impaired, go to banks to assist with detecting the status of accessible web pages and provide suggestions for improvement, so that those banks can understand the needs of the visually impaired, as well as provide a more friendly network environment for the disabled.

4. City orientation (August 17 and September 7, 2019)

In order to allow visually impaired people to go on cultural tours to have a better understanding of the living environment and increase the interaction of visually impaired people through group activities, encouraging them to come out of closed environments, this season, we has handled two cultural tours for both the visually impaired friends and volunteers that totalled 66 people. We participated in leading the visually impaired to visit the Palace Museum to learn about the treasures of Chinese culture and history, and also led the tour to Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art for participants to learn about the creative works of young artists. Through the professional guides, the excellent narrations to interpret the artwork and the touch on the art pieces, the visually impaired can also understand the beauty of the artworks.

5. Charity festival (October 6, 2019)

In order to let the public understand the services of TDTB, we participated in the charity festival in Songshan Cultural and Creative Park with 22 other charities. We invited the authors of the digital talking book to present the description of the book, and also arranged a blind typing game to let more people understand the needs of the visually impaired and the service features provided by TDTB.

6. The third VIP Talent Competition (October 26, 2019)

To encourage visually impaired students to use information-assisted technology to overcome visual barriers and increase learning opportunities, we held a national visually impaired student typing competition in Taichung (central of Taiwan) for visually impaired candidates to compete on the Visually Impaired Digital Learning Platform. Our goal is to increase the typing accuracy and the efficiency of using web search engines of the students with disabilities. A total of 34 people participated in our competition.

Links:

• http://www.tdtb.org/
• http://www.tdtb.org/

It’s a hot summer in Taiwan, the temperature is very high. The heat and thundershowers in the afternoon are parts of our daily life. For people with visual impairment, it’s inconvenient to travel to TDTB and take courses for rehabilitation, especially under such weather condition. But they simply refuse to take weather condition as excuses.

With your support, we have provided many computer courses as we can. From May to July 2019, major activities/events in this Association are listed as followed:

1. Assistive Technology (AT) Training Course

• Computer and Smart-Phone

We have offered 123.5 hours of computer courses and smartphone courses for 28 visually impaired people (VIP) from May to July. The computer courses aim to obtain C Class License so that they will have more opportunities in employment. Besides, it is quite common for visually impaired people to use smart-phones, so we provided some courses to VIP and tried to solve their problems.

• Computer Skill certificate

TDTB provides two activities related to the assessment of computer literacy in July, not only to cultivate the information literacy of visually impaired elementary and middle school students but also to strengthen their computer skill so that they will not fall behind other students due to lack of information. Through the examination and learning guidance from professional instructors, we hope that what we have done today will help improve the information literacy of visually impaired students.

• NVDA in Computer Application

In July, TDTB provided the “NVDA in Computer Application” course to introduce the keyboard application in operating Windows Calculator basic functions and engineering calculation. Through NVDA, help students learn reading math-related software, so that students can understand symbols and equations, formulas and symbols, making calculations more efficient.

2. Psychological Consultation and Support Group

During this period of time, TDTB has provided more than 30 hours of psychological counseling, as well as 4 peer support group for more than 40 visually impaired people and their families. At these gatherings, they can communicate their needs, and encourage each other so that they will overcome difficulties and gain the motivation in learning to live independently.

3. Web Financial Management Course

In order to make up the “digital gap” between blind and visual people, so that the blind can handle all kinds of needs through the Internet at home. TDTB launched 2 “Web Financial Management Basic Course” in May. The courses will assist the VIP students to manage their own finances via the relevant websites and APP.

4. Visiting the Lin Yutang House

We hosted one outdoor activity of visiting The Lin Yutang House on 18^th May and invited 34 visually impaired people and volunteers participated in the activity. The Lin Yutang House is designed by the Master Lin Yutang after he returning Taiwan from the United States, this building combines Chinese and Western styles, providing a quiet corner for Taipei which is a busy and fast-paced city. Through the company and the introduction of the tour guide, all participators had a deeper understanding of the story of Master Lin Yutang.

5. Rehabilitation experience Sharing

There were two seminars held during this period by TDTB; Dr. Andrew Lai was invited on May 25, Ms. Diana Fu was invited on July 27, and they shared their life experiences on overcoming visual disabilities.

The topic of the first honorable invited guest Dr. Lai is “More brilliant life after becoming blind”. Dr. Lai has made outstanding contributions in the field of pharmacy.

The topic of the second honorable invited guest Ms. Diana Fu is “Nine years after getting blindness with a more fantastic life.”  Ms. Diana Fu, the former vice president of United Information Technology Taiwan Branch, she shared her process of emotional reconstruction 9 years ago, this time, she shared the growth of the past nine years.

Two speakers shared how they have crossed the barriers of disease and made their lives happier and more dignified. Over 40 visually impaired people benefit from this sharing.

Links:

• Official website of the TDTB