I. Open with Impact: Everyone close your eyes, and remember what you saw.
A. (Use sub-points if needed) Imagine if you didn’t see those specific surroundings like you do now, due to an inability. B. Now open your eyes.
II. Thesis: Today we will discuss the advances upon bionic eyes for the visually impaired community.
III. Connect: This speech relates to all of us because we may face visual impairment or know grandparents, friends, other family members who are or have faced visual impairment in their life time.
IV. Preview: (at least 3 main points you plan to discuss) We will discuss the following three topics. A. The background of bionic eye devices. B. Application of bionic eyes to the visually impaired community. C. Bionic eyes implications and impact on the visually impaired.
Body
I. Main Point:
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II. Main Point: Different trials have been conducted in attempts to read the possible benefits and possible drawbacks of the applications of the bionic eye devices and where they are going within recipients.
A. Screening and the selection of subjects is the first step to applying bionic eyes to the visually impaired community.
1. The first-in-human trials of an implantation of retinal prosthesis, in this case the Argus II, in the suprachoroidial space took three subjects, who faced screening tests for suitability with visual acuity, movement discrimination, and confirming medical reports and examinations (Ayton et al., 2014).
a. In order to establish the status of any patient in a study, these types of tests and information are vital to track improvement, consistency, or even drawbacks of the devices or even where they are implanted, like in this case.
b. This attention to who is just as important to what is
Optometrists have accepted vision therapy, which is a medical treatment for optical muscle disabilities, as a feasible treatment used for eye related problems; claiming the treatment can strengthen vision and give the patient the opportunity to understand visuals quicker and clearer (Press). Vision therapy originated in the 1950s and over the past 25 years, has gained popularity, mainly because of new technological innovations in the field of treatment. Generally, vision therapy is prescribed as a measure mainly for people between the ages of 3 and 18. With the results from a comprehensive series of eye tests, the optometrist can work with the patient using special instruments—prisms, filters, occluders, and eye lenses—and strengthen the eye muscles, thus improving sight. According to optometrists in favor of vision therapy, these methods of treatment using these instruments function as safer routes to repair eye disabilities. Although vision therapy can yield favorable results, the practice as a treatment for innate eye disabilities has been in hot debate lately; as it can exceed $8000 and insurance companies do not cover the treatment. For decades, insurance companies have refused to accept vision therapy as a legitimate method for repairing eyesight (Boink). Concomitant with lack of insurance, the cost for a full treatment can exceed $8000, and doctors cannot guarantee a successful outcome. Recently, parents of children with eye related disabilities, such as amblyopia (lazy eye) and strabismus (cross-eye), and doctors have attempted to cooperate with public schools to allow families access to school-funded doctors to practice vision therapy. With a tight budget, most schools cannot afford to supply vision therapy, and a...
Until recently, those affected were left without hope of a cure or even a treatment that would somewhat improve their vision. But over the last few years, several groups of scientists have been working on a partial cure in the form of neuroprostheses, artificial devices which are inserted into the eye behind or on top of the damaged retinal area. These photoreceptive chips, in theory, should provide information to the healthy neurons residing in the retina, substituting for the damaged photoreceptors. When we open our eyes, millions of tiny events occur that allow us to see. Our pupils automatically constrict in accordance to the light level, the variable lens bends and adjusts to fit the distance of what we are looking at, and our photoreceptors receive information in accordance to the previous factors.
Adaptation to unpredictable conditions is a key force in driving human evolution. The ability to overcome predicaments with poise is one of the greatest assets humans possess. In “The Mind’s Eye”, Oliver Sacks recounts various perspectives of individuals coping with blindness. Each individual took a different path to becoming accustomed to their blindness and each of the case studies showed compensatory mechanism unique to the individual. Throughout the article, Sacks credits each person for playing to their assets because he views adaptability as a person’s capacity to alter their mode of thought in order to fit their circumstance. Although Sacks shows many examples of neuronal plasticity as an adaptation to blindness, he eludes to the impact
Topic: Addiction to social media General Purpose: To persuade Specific purpose: To persuade my audience that social media is hurting us mentally and our social lives. Thesis: Social media can cause serious problems to you and your health, so we need to put addiction to social media to rest. I. Introduction A. Attention-getter: The ages of 55 and 64 year olds who use social media fell “worried or uncomfortable” when they can’t access any type of social media accounts (Wright, 2015).
More than a century ago, being diagnosed or being born with visual impairment meant one was condemned to a life of disability, confinement and a feeling of being alone. The visually impaired people have had minimal chances of living an ordinary life and achieving their goals over the past few decades. The visually impaired people face many challenges in their attempts to receive the much-needed education or to even get employment in order to survive in this world. In the last one hundred years, numerous changes have been implemented to improve the way the visually impaired community live their lives and to also increase the number of opportunities made available to them. These changes include new legislations, change in perception of the visually
Eyes are the ‘organ of sight or vision; the visual sense; the sense of seeing’ (Biology-Online). The eye is an organ that detects light and sends signals along the optic nerve to the brain. The eye allows for light recognition and the ability to differentiate between colors, and light and dark. The eye is approximately 2.54 cm wide, 2.54 cm deep and 2.2 cm tall. The human eye has around 200-degree viewing angle and can see and detect more than 10 million colors and shades. This essay is going to look at ways of seeing. The possible problems with eyesight, and eyes of various kinds. It is one of the most rare problems today that is affecting people, all over the world. Around the world an estimate of 4 in 10 people have perfect vision/sight (BBC). The population of the world right now
Mobility is a very challenging task for visually impaired people. It is defined as “the ability to travel safely, comfortably, gracefully, and independently” [1]. Visually impaired people must rely on other senses other than their sense of sight such as hearing and touch to guide them. Visual impairment and blindness afflict a significant portion of the world population. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the estimated number of visually impaired in the world are 285 million, 39 million are blind and about 90% of them are people who live in developing countries [2]. This tells us that majority of the blind people come from developing nations which means they cannot afford expensive devices to assist them. It is important to understand the needs and requirements of that community before attempting to create devices for them. Considering the continuing progress of medicine and science, it is surprising to note that blindness is expected to increase in the coming years. It is predicted that the number of blind people will double by 2030 [3]. This is partially because “the proportion of babies born to mothers at the extremes of the child-bearing years is increasing” and because “medical advances have made it possible for many premature infants, who in the past would have died, to
Braille Institute: Empowering visually impaired people to live fulfilling lives. Braille Institute. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010
Before I read Oliver Sacks' article dealing with Virgil's sight recovery, I tried to guess what would happen if an adult who has been blind for a lifetime had recovered his vision. On this paper, I will confront my hunches about what really happened in the article. When I started thinking about what could happen to someone facing a real change like recovering his sight, in the first place I tried to imagine what it could be like to be blind, and what are the consequences of blindness on the person. I understood that blindness wasn't a bad thing or a disease. In fact, blind people are not living in a poorer condition than blind people.
The study involved three different groups, people who were sighted, people who were “early blind” which consisted of individuals who were either born blind or who lost their sense of sight within the first two years of life, and people who became blind later in life. The study consisted of the subjects listening to two tones, challenging them to determine whether the second tone was higher or lower in pitch than the first. The results concluded that there were no significant differences in the ability to hear the notes between the sighted individuals and the people who became blind later in life. However, the participants who were born without the sense of sight or who became blind early in life performed better than both other
It is a combination of genetic engineering and optoelectronics that can be used to manipulate nerve cells with light, and bring sight to those that have been denied the privilege. It is a new form of retinal prosthetics that involves a virus infecting the eye with a light-sensitive protein and electronic device that can establish a direct link with the optical nerves above the cerebellum in the brain. This new, enhanced vision allows the blind to see the “Song of the Machine” and aims to equip them with the tools they need to sing the world into being, and understand the shapes and forms that were previously unknown to
In the United States right now, 1 in 5 Americans have a disability of some kind. Today I wish to inform you on the dangers that many people who have a disability face and a specific kind of disability. Disabilities come in a variety of ways, affecting people’s eyesight, hearing, and motor skills. However, today I would like to go over an increasing issue in today’s world, and that is deafness. Like any no communicable disease, people who are deaf have to like a completely changed world then you or I live in.
...ork together to let us see the outside world. We can see trees, birds, electronics, and more importantly, ourselves. Human connection plays an instrumental role in our development. Human eyesight is what enables that connection between us. Personally I believe that it’s one of the most underrated,taken for granted, human organs. Although you can survive without your eyes, they give you so much life. You can see for miles and as I stated before, you can live life to the fullest more. You’re able to help more people and enjoy your life more. This is why you should do everything in might and power to protect your eyesight from any harm.
The first feeling was when my eyes were closed was that how can i do everyday life activity but after an hour I was comfortable being blind. This made me think that if I was really blind and how could makes my life goes on easily by not worrying that I am not going to bump into obstacles. My first accomplishment was I successfully walk from Ms.Kate class to the toilet by not using my helper and able to use the toilet fluently. I was confident that be able to walk fluently. This made know the feeling of the person who is blind and if a see a blind person I will be happy to know that they can live their life by not have their eye but it able them to be a good listener to us. People that don’t really know how the feeling of being blind is but if you try like what I do. They think being blind is easy for blind people but it is hard for them at first that they know that they are blind. It is difficult for them to adapt from having eyes to not having eyes. They needs time to be comfortable without having their and some people treat them badly. After all, being blind for them is harder then when you have an eyes. Being blind for a day made me understand how hard to be blind to inspire me that to take cares of your eye and use my eye wisely.