Garden for the Blind
I love the idea of creating a garden for the blind. Blindness is something I have given a lot of thought, as I have Glaucoma, an eye disease that untreated leads to blindness. Doctors said that had I not been diagnosed, I would have been blind by the age of ten. Luckily, in my case, they did catch it and I am able to see. Being so close to losing my sight has made me think very seriously about life as a blind person; and I often try to do everyday things with my eyes closed, such as getting ready for bed and playing the piano, to see how much of an adjustment I would have to make. The first thing that I notice when I try to do something with my eyes closed, is the immediate need for touch. Although the other three senses, audio, olfactory, and taste are also important and I plan to incorporate them into my garden as well, however, my main focus will be on the sense of touch.
To begin with, the area designated for the garden is fairly steep, therefore it is necessary to decide how to set the path through the garden. Our class trip to the Butterfly Rain forest, and being able to go through blindfolded, was a great resource for ideas on creating this garden, particularly with the need to create an environment that is easy to navigate without sight. Stairs provide obvious difficulty for a garden for the blind, therefore, I have decided to use sloping ground, which although more expensive, would be safer and an easier environment to navigate. Also, as an additional benefit, the garden would be wheelchair accessible. To line the garden path, either a natural pressed dirt ground, or a highly durable short sod ground could work, both of which are natural options. However, recycled tires, much like the surface of nice running track surfaces, would make an easier to maintain surface, that incorporates recycled materials and gives more of a response to the act of walking by adding an extra bounce (in addition to being even more wheel chair friendly than the previous two natural options).
The main focus of the garden that I think would create an extraordinary environment, unlike anything else existing, would be the incorporation of marble statues periodically along the path that visitors to the garden would be encouraged to touch.
As you can see, the Byzantine and Arab empires had many characteristics that came to define them. Whether it was through their religious beliefs, political structure, or economy, each was able to create a vast, long lasting empire which came to define the post-classical period.
Tastefully laid out in grass intersected by broad gravel walks, and planted with a great variety of trees, shrubs and flowers, botanically arranged. The Arboretum, as these gardens are designated, is much frequented, and has already produced a perceptible effect in improving the appearance and demeanour of the working class.
These civilizations present many resemblances that were once part of the foundations of their society. Although both of these civilizations were at one point enemies of one another, they had similar correlations that shaped and formed their cultures and societies. The main difference between these two civilizations is religion. Without its differences, each civilization had governed its people in manners that it could not be differentiated among each other. Overall, these civilizations presented different methods of leading a civilization and still had similarities among one another.
Constantinople was the newly established capital of the once glorious Roman Empire, center of Roman religion, and was heavily influenced by the Roman culture. Then the Schism in 1054, cultural diffusion, and the change in women’s rights altered the day-to-day life of Constantinople’s inhabitants. Despite the intensity of the political changes over the long period of 400 C.E. to 1473 C.E., such as the Schism in 1054 and cultural diffusion, continuities such as classical learning and Justinian’s Code were more influential for they prevented Constantinople from declining before 1473 C.E.
Advertisements are all over the place. Whether they are on TV, radio, or in a magazine, there is no way that you can escape them. They all have their target audience who they have specifically designed the ad for. And of course they are selling their product. This is a multi billion dollar industry and the advertiser’s study all the ways that they can attract the person’s attention. One way that is used the most and is in some ways very controversial is use of sex to sell products. For me to analyze this advertisement I used the rhetorical triangle, as well as ethos, pathos, and logos.
Even though Daniel Keyes wrote Flowers for Algernon in 1966, its messages about humanity still are true today. One of these themes is people treat people with mental disabilities poorly. The main character Charlie Gordon is a mentally disabled adult with a low IQ. Charlie is constantly being picked on by others, but he doesn’t realize it because he’s too slow to figure it out. Later on in the story, however, Charlie is chosen to get an operation to have his IQ is raised. I think people today are still picking on others who are less smarter than them.
As we look back into both long moments in history, we can see how the two, while starting out along the same path and beliefs, had branched away from one another. These differences, whether influences by outside or internal sources, helped shape not only the future for their worlds but also for ours. If it had not been for Constantinople’s prime trade location, or had they ignored the opportunity, they too could have easily stifled their economic and cultural growth. While the Medieval Western European culture was slower to expand, they did eventually blossom, prosper and survive.
One of the main contributors in the decline of the Byzantine Empire were the two civil wars that occurred in Macedonia and Constantinople. In 1321, the first civil war, often called the War of the Two Andronikoi, occurred between Byzantine’s emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos over control of the empire. Andronikos III had many supporters including John Kantakouzenos, who had a governorship in the nearby land of Thrace. Shortly after the war began, a peace treaty was reached in which Andronikos III Palaiologos was named co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. The peace treaty did not last long and after seven more years of battle, the war ended leaving Andronikos III in charge of the army and John Kantakouzenos named as the leader. The second civil war of 1341, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiogan Civil War, happened after disagreement broke out after Andronikos III Palaiologos’s death over the guardiansh...
...opping areas, highways and a visitor’s center. Tours are held taking people around the stone and answering questions about it. Each year during midsummer’s eve sunrise there are thousands of visitors surrounding Stonehenge just to watch the sun become aligned with the entrances? The modern day druids come to ask for blessings and give offerings to their ancestors and to Stonehenge. After seeing this amazing site visitors say they feel the tingle of electric and magic in the air as they tour Stonehenge. Other than being one of England’s most visited sites, the construction of stone hedge is still one of the biggest mysteries in the world. The structure is strange and the stories entertaining. Hopefully one day the mystery of Stonehenge will be unraveled and the real story will come out, but until then it is kind of nice to hear the different legends of Stonehenge.
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
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 could it be 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 seeing people. It is true that they are bereft of one of their senses, but they are developing their other senses just like touching,
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
Aston T. (1990). Empowering visually impaired people to access their environment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness,45, 247-249.
The organ that makes humans see the beautiful world, which is only one pair in the body that is the eyes. If the eyes have visual loss or blindness, they are improbable to get better vision even with proper medical treatment. The serious visual impairment, also known as blindness. It can be caused by many causes, including injury and some illnesses, which may affect the eyes, optic nerves, or brain. The blindness can be classified into two types. The first type is complete blindness, which makes the patient cannot see everything or see all the dark. The second type is the partial blindness, which gives the patient limited visibility. Patients may see only shadows and cannot see the shape of things clearly. In each country has to help the people
Sometimes I wonder how it feels not to know what the world looks like, or how green the grass might be, or even getting the full experience of tasting the foods in the world that bring such comfort to one 's heart. But it is sad to say that this happens to be a blind person’s interpretation on life every day. But with the new technology coming out every day, the blind will no longer have to feel excluded from the world. Dr. Dennis Hong, the founder and director of RoMela, came up with the thought of,” What if a blind person could physically drive an everyday vehicle?” When I saw this TED talk it automatically touched my soul to the point that I knew I had to research more. To make the blind be able to drive a real life car a reality, it is