Pub Date : 2018-09-19DOI: 10.18154/RWTH-2019-03480
V. Stehling, Lana Plumanns, A. Richert, F. Hees, S. Jeschke
School laboratories let students playfully experience the fundamentals of, for example, robotics, computer science, and technology-related topics. By working with LEGO Mindstorms, secondary school students get a chance to learn on a cognitive, emotional, and haptic level and gain experiences with the aid of even more advanced robotics. However, due to an impairment or lack of sight, it is hardly possible for some students to fully participate in a programming process or in building a robot. To overcome this unintentional discrimination, the interdisciplinary student laboratory “RoboScope” at RWTH Aachen University has teamed up with a group of experts to develop a barrier-free robotic course. Since then, the course has been tested and implemented based on concurrent evaluations and frequently held at RWTH and several other German schools. The presented work covers an overview of different kinds of visual impairment and lab settings and the development cycle of the courses at RWTH from design to test -ing, implementation, and further development regarding the evaluations. Evaluations show that students who are visually impaired or blind appreciate the opportunity to participate in the field of robotics. An insight into the evaluation concept that differs from “regular” courses in the “Roboscope,” as well as the results are used for further development.
{"title":"Designing Hands-On Robotics Courses for Students with Visual Impairment or Blindness","authors":"V. Stehling, Lana Plumanns, A. Richert, F. Hees, S. Jeschke","doi":"10.18154/RWTH-2019-03480","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18154/RWTH-2019-03480","url":null,"abstract":"School laboratories let students playfully experience the fundamentals of, for example, robotics, computer science, and technology-related topics. By working with LEGO Mindstorms, secondary school students get a chance to learn on a cognitive, emotional, and haptic level and gain experiences with the aid of even more advanced robotics. However, due to an impairment or lack of sight, it is hardly possible for some students to fully participate in a programming process or in building a robot. To overcome this unintentional discrimination, the interdisciplinary student laboratory “RoboScope” at RWTH Aachen University has teamed up with a group of experts to develop a barrier-free robotic course. Since then, the course has been tested and implemented based on concurrent evaluations and frequently held at RWTH and several other German schools. The presented work covers an overview of different kinds of visual impairment and lab settings and the development cycle of the courses at RWTH from design to test -ing, implementation, and further development regarding the evaluations. Evaluations show that students who are visually impaired or blind appreciate the opportunity to participate in the field of robotics. An insight into the evaluation concept that differs from “regular” courses in the “Roboscope,” as well as the results are used for further development.","PeriodicalId":259772,"journal":{"name":"Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133840006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-09-19DOI: 10.5772/INTECHOPEN.78675
M. McIntosh
This chapter explores the factors influencing patients’ ability to cope with imminent visual impairment (blindness) as well as methods that can be used to aid patients to rid stereotypes associated with their visual impairment. The factors that influence a patient’s ability to cope with blindness can stem from both biological and social backgrounds; biological as it relates to age and social, meaning individuals that are in contact with the patient on a daily basis. Older patients tend to have more difficulty coping with blind ness because they have established norms while children tend to feed of their parents’ view of their visual impairment. Some patients practice a more spiritual approach to coping with their visual impairment. Although studies have been inconclusive; patients who pray and practice faith tend to have a more positive attitude towards their situa -tion. Participating in sports can also help the visually impaired to have a more positive attitude towards themselves. synchronization promotion, altered levels of melatonin and serotonin, suppressed corticos triatal glutamatergic neurotransmission, immune response boosting, decreased levels of reac tive oxygen species as measured by ultra-weak photon emission and reduced stress.
{"title":"Coping with Visual Impairment: Helping our Patients Face the Truth","authors":"M. McIntosh","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.78675","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.78675","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter explores the factors influencing patients’ ability to cope with imminent visual impairment (blindness) as well as methods that can be used to aid patients to rid stereotypes associated with their visual impairment. The factors that influence a patient’s ability to cope with blindness can stem from both biological and social backgrounds; biological as it relates to age and social, meaning individuals that are in contact with the patient on a daily basis. Older patients tend to have more difficulty coping with blind ness because they have established norms while children tend to feed of their parents’ view of their visual impairment. Some patients practice a more spiritual approach to coping with their visual impairment. Although studies have been inconclusive; patients who pray and practice faith tend to have a more positive attitude towards their situa -tion. Participating in sports can also help the visually impaired to have a more positive attitude towards themselves. synchronization promotion, altered levels of melatonin and serotonin, suppressed corticos triatal glutamatergic neurotransmission, immune response boosting, decreased levels of reac tive oxygen species as measured by ultra-weak photon emission and reduced stress.","PeriodicalId":259772,"journal":{"name":"Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness","volume":"92 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115062527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-09-19DOI: 10.5772/INTECHOPEN.80682
E. Rath
Optic neuropathy is damage to the optic nerve from any cause. Damage and death of these nerve cells lead to characteristic features of optic neuropathy. The main symptom is loss of vision (visual acuity and visual field damages), with colors appearing subtly washed out in the affected eye. The diagnosis is made on clinical examination. The history often points to the possible etiology of the optic neuropathy. In most of the cases, one eye is affected but it could be both. A rapid onset is typical of demyelinating, inflammatory, ischemic, and traumatic causes. A gradual course points to compressive, toxic/nutritional, and hereditary causes. The classic clinical signs of optic neuropathy are visual acuity and field defects, dyschromatopsia, and abnormal pupillary response. There are ancillary investigations that can support the diagnosis of optic neuropathy. Visual field testing, neuroimaging of the brain and orbit are essential in many optic neuropathies including demyelinating and compressive. In the last decade, increase of use new technology for optic neuropathies evaluation including multifocal visual evoked potentials and optic coherence tomography. Long standing of optic neuropathy is described by pale optic disk or optic atrophy, which means damage and death of these nerve cells or neurons. regimen versus 17% of patients in the placebo group. This benefit of treatment was seen only in patients who had abnormal brain MRI at the time of onset of the optic neuritis. The protective effect was short and by 3 years after optic neuritis groups treated with ONTT IV regimen versus placebo groups had equal incidence to develop MS. These findings suggest that a patient with acute optic neuritis who has an abnormal brain MRI may benefit in the short term (2 years) from treatment with the IV/oral steroid regimen.
{"title":"Visual Loss in Neuro-Ophthalmology","authors":"E. Rath","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.80682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.80682","url":null,"abstract":"Optic neuropathy is damage to the optic nerve from any cause. Damage and death of these nerve cells lead to characteristic features of optic neuropathy. The main symptom is loss of vision (visual acuity and visual field damages), with colors appearing subtly washed out in the affected eye. The diagnosis is made on clinical examination. The history often points to the possible etiology of the optic neuropathy. In most of the cases, one eye is affected but it could be both. A rapid onset is typical of demyelinating, inflammatory, ischemic, and traumatic causes. A gradual course points to compressive, toxic/nutritional, and hereditary causes. The classic clinical signs of optic neuropathy are visual acuity and field defects, dyschromatopsia, and abnormal pupillary response. There are ancillary investigations that can support the diagnosis of optic neuropathy. Visual field testing, neuroimaging of the brain and orbit are essential in many optic neuropathies including demyelinating and compressive. In the last decade, increase of use new technology for optic neuropathies evaluation including multifocal visual evoked potentials and optic coherence tomography. Long standing of optic neuropathy is described by pale optic disk or optic atrophy, which means damage and death of these nerve cells or neurons. regimen versus 17% of patients in the placebo group. This benefit of treatment was seen only in patients who had abnormal brain MRI at the time of onset of the optic neuritis. The protective effect was short and by 3 years after optic neuritis groups treated with ONTT IV regimen versus placebo groups had equal incidence to develop MS. These findings suggest that a patient with acute optic neuritis who has an abnormal brain MRI may benefit in the short term (2 years) from treatment with the IV/oral steroid regimen.","PeriodicalId":259772,"journal":{"name":"Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130989836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-09-19DOI: 10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70469
S. Feizi
Mustard gas is a lipophilic, highly cytotoxic agent that rapidly penetrates tissue, and the eye is one of the organs mostly affected. Mustard gas-related ocular injuries can be divided into immediate, chronic, and delayed-onset phases. Late complications, developing after 1–40 years, can cause progressive and permanent reduction in visual acuity and even blindness. A wide range of late ocular involvements have been reported, which include chronic blepharitis, limbal ischemia and stem cell deficiency, and corneal scarring and neovascularization. The majority of corneal involvements are limited to the anterior stroma, leaving the posterior stroma and endothelium relatively intact. Therefore, lamellar keratoplasty is appropriate for the management of corneal involvements in the majority of victims. This procedure can be performed alone or in combination with limbal stem cell transplantation.
{"title":"Corneal Blindness Caused by Mustard Gas","authors":"S. Feizi","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70469","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70469","url":null,"abstract":"Mustard gas is a lipophilic, highly cytotoxic agent that rapidly penetrates tissue, and the eye is one of the organs mostly affected. Mustard gas-related ocular injuries can be divided into immediate, chronic, and delayed-onset phases. Late complications, developing after 1–40 years, can cause progressive and permanent reduction in visual acuity and even blindness. A wide range of late ocular involvements have been reported, which include chronic blepharitis, limbal ischemia and stem cell deficiency, and corneal scarring and neovascularization. The majority of corneal involvements are limited to the anterior stroma, leaving the posterior stroma and endothelium relatively intact. Therefore, lamellar keratoplasty is appropriate for the management of corneal involvements in the majority of victims. This procedure can be performed alone or in combination with limbal stem cell transplantation.","PeriodicalId":259772,"journal":{"name":"Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116522650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-09-19DOI: 10.5772/INTECHOPEN.79764
S. Rumelt, S. Schreiber
The question why patients with controlled glaucoma continue to lose their vision and may end with blindness was raised at the conference last year, but no answer was provided. This presentation will address some of the possible clinical causes such as supine position during sleep and sleeping on the affected eye(s). Antihypertensive drugs at bedtime increase the risk of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, which is a challenge to diagnose in advanced glaucoma. Basic causes include the continuation of neuronal apoptosis despite controlled intraocular pressure. To prevent further visual loss in these patients, practical steps such as sleeping at 20–30° head-up position, avoiding sleeping on the affected eye(s), avoiding taking antihypertensive drugs at bedtime, and developing antiapoptotic drugs such as antibodies are essential.
{"title":"Why Do Patients with Controlled Glaucoma Continue to Lose Their Vision?","authors":"S. Rumelt, S. Schreiber","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.79764","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.79764","url":null,"abstract":"The question why patients with controlled glaucoma continue to lose their vision and may end with blindness was raised at the conference last year, but no answer was provided. This presentation will address some of the possible clinical causes such as supine position during sleep and sleeping on the affected eye(s). Antihypertensive drugs at bedtime increase the risk of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, which is a challenge to diagnose in advanced glaucoma. Basic causes include the continuation of neuronal apoptosis despite controlled intraocular pressure. To prevent further visual loss in these patients, practical steps such as sleeping at 20–30° head-up position, avoiding sleeping on the affected eye(s), avoiding taking antihypertensive drugs at bedtime, and developing antiapoptotic drugs such as antibodies are essential.","PeriodicalId":259772,"journal":{"name":"Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness","volume":"50 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116015795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-03-06DOI: 10.5772/INTECHOPEN.74687
M. Diep, P. Davey
Glare is the result of veiling luminance from the different light sources we are exposed to in our everyday lives. The luminance from glare can cause problems ranging from the discomfort of our eyes to vision loss. All individuals are affected by glare issues but those problems are intensified in patients living with ocular diseases. Therefore, understanding the effects of glare is applicable to elucidating visual function and pathology. This makes glare testing highly necessary in both clinic and research. However, there are many components involved in glare testing that makes attaining valid results difficult. This is evident in the flaws of current glare devices and the lack of a standardization of measuring glare. Despite the insufficiency of most glare devices, evaluating those weaknesses can potentially lead to a better understanding of glare and glare testing.
{"title":"Glare and Ocular Diseases","authors":"M. Diep, P. Davey","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.74687","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.74687","url":null,"abstract":"Glare is the result of veiling luminance from the different light sources we are exposed to in our everyday lives. The luminance from glare can cause problems ranging from the discomfort of our eyes to vision loss. All individuals are affected by glare issues but those problems are intensified in patients living with ocular diseases. Therefore, understanding the effects of glare is applicable to elucidating visual function and pathology. This makes glare testing highly necessary in both clinic and research. However, there are many components involved in glare testing that makes attaining valid results difficult. This is evident in the flaws of current glare devices and the lack of a standardization of measuring glare. Despite the insufficiency of most glare devices, evaluating those weaknesses can potentially lead to a better understanding of glare and glare testing.","PeriodicalId":259772,"journal":{"name":"Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness","volume":"118 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124374670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-12-20DOI: 10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70679
H. Takizawa, Mayumi Aoyagi
In this chapter, we proposed three assistive systems for visually impaired individuals based on image processing: Kinect cane system, Kinect goggle system, and light checking system. The Kinect cane system can detect obstacles of various sizes and also recognize objects such as seats. A visually impaired user is notified of the results of detection and recognition by means of vibration feedback. The Kinect goggle system is another type of wearable system, and can make user’s hands free. The light checking system is implemented as an application for a smartphone, and can tell a visually impaired user the ON/OFF states of room lights and elevator button lights. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed systems are effective in helping visually impaired individuals in everyday environments.
{"title":"Assistive Systems for the Visually Impaired Based on Image Processing","authors":"H. Takizawa, Mayumi Aoyagi","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70679","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70679","url":null,"abstract":"In this chapter, we proposed three assistive systems for visually impaired individuals based on image processing: Kinect cane system, Kinect goggle system, and light checking system. The Kinect cane system can detect obstacles of various sizes and also recognize objects such as seats. A visually impaired user is notified of the results of detection and recognition by means of vibration feedback. The Kinect goggle system is another type of wearable system, and can make user’s hands free. The light checking system is implemented as an application for a smartphone, and can tell a visually impaired user the ON/OFF states of room lights and elevator button lights. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed systems are effective in helping visually impaired individuals in everyday environments.","PeriodicalId":259772,"journal":{"name":"Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115811961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-12-20DOI: 10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70269
Yukihiko Ueda
Acquired visual impairment evoked several psychological reactions. A person’s adapta- tion to these reactions and their associated characteristics such as degree of vision loss, membership of a specific demographic, and impact on personality had been investi - gated. Socio-environmental variables also had an impact on psychological adjustment, and adaptation to vision loss had been explained using psychoanalytic models and stage models. Previous research had thus developed adjustment models incorporating the variables of anxiety, depression, self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, acceptance of disability, attitudes toward blindness, and attributional style, among other influences. However, effective types of treatment based on these variables had not been empirically demonstrated. While grief work had been commonly used in intervention strategies, and there was now more information available about group counseling in this field, their evaluation had been insufficient. As an alternative, we implemented a structured group counseling program to decrease psychological distress in adults with visual impairment. The results indicated that participants who engaged in individual therapy in addition to group counseling showed decreased depression, fatigue, and confusion, and a sig - nificantly improved acceptance of their disability. The group counseling combined with individual cognitive therapy could be the effective tool to improve social influences and internal self of the person with visual impairment. recreation, and computer training. The programs were held 5 days per week, and the course ran for 6 months. The results indicated that participants in skills training alone ( n = 32) improved significantly in acceptance and attribution style, while also showing a trend of improvement in tension anxiety and self-esteem. However, participants with high levels of psychological distress (who indicated a T -score of Profile of Mood States Test over 60, n = 10) did not show any such improvements. Nevertheless, highly distressed participants that participated in group counseling ( n = 18) showed significant improvement in their attitudes toward visual impairment and reported decreased anxiety. Moreover, par ticipants that chose to engage in individual therapy in addition to group counseling ( n = 9) also showed a decrease in depressive mood, fatigue, and confusion, as well as significantly increased acceptance of their visual disability.
{"title":"Psychosocial Adaptation to Visual Impairment","authors":"Yukihiko Ueda","doi":"10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5772/INTECHOPEN.70269","url":null,"abstract":"Acquired visual impairment evoked several psychological reactions. A person’s adapta- tion to these reactions and their associated characteristics such as degree of vision loss, membership of a specific demographic, and impact on personality had been investi - gated. Socio-environmental variables also had an impact on psychological adjustment, and adaptation to vision loss had been explained using psychoanalytic models and stage models. Previous research had thus developed adjustment models incorporating the variables of anxiety, depression, self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, acceptance of disability, attitudes toward blindness, and attributional style, among other influences. However, effective types of treatment based on these variables had not been empirically demonstrated. While grief work had been commonly used in intervention strategies, and there was now more information available about group counseling in this field, their evaluation had been insufficient. As an alternative, we implemented a structured group counseling program to decrease psychological distress in adults with visual impairment. The results indicated that participants who engaged in individual therapy in addition to group counseling showed decreased depression, fatigue, and confusion, and a sig - nificantly improved acceptance of their disability. The group counseling combined with individual cognitive therapy could be the effective tool to improve social influences and internal self of the person with visual impairment. recreation, and computer training. The programs were held 5 days per week, and the course ran for 6 months. The results indicated that participants in skills training alone ( n = 32) improved significantly in acceptance and attribution style, while also showing a trend of improvement in tension anxiety and self-esteem. However, participants with high levels of psychological distress (who indicated a T -score of Profile of Mood States Test over 60, n = 10) did not show any such improvements. Nevertheless, highly distressed participants that participated in group counseling ( n = 18) showed significant improvement in their attitudes toward visual impairment and reported decreased anxiety. Moreover, par ticipants that chose to engage in individual therapy in addition to group counseling ( n = 9) also showed a decrease in depressive mood, fatigue, and confusion, as well as significantly increased acceptance of their visual disability.","PeriodicalId":259772,"journal":{"name":"Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness","volume":"79 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121017026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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