City of Jacksonville Special Needs Evacuation Registration

Hurricane season begins in June and the City of Jacksonville's Emergency Preparedness Office wants all individuals with special medical needs to start thinking of a plan on how to stay safe with the threat of severe weather.

The City defines "special medical needs" as follows:  

A person qualifying for special needs is someone who is medically dependent on electricity (i.e. electricity needed for life supporting equipment). This may also include a person with regular need for assistance with medications and/or observation, dementia, chronic conditions that require assistance and persons with contagious health conditions that require minimal precautions or isolation (rare in shelter). 

Included in the list of special medical needs are those individuals who have a vision, hearing or mobility impairment.

In the event of an evacuation, individuals with special medical needs who wish to use a public shelter need to have completed and submitted the Special Needs Registration form. This form can be found online at the following address: www.coj.net/departments/fire-and-rescue/docs/emergency-preparedness/sneeds-evac-reg-2007-fillable.aspx This form must be completed and submitted as soon as possible. Once registered an individual remains in the system through January and then must re-register for the next year. Caregivers or family members may accompany the individual with special medical needs to the shelter. Those individuals who are pet owners and wish to evacuate with their pets must complete the Jacksonville Pet Friendly Public Evacuation Shelter Registration and Agreement found at this link: www.coj.net/departments/fire-and-rescue/docs/emergency-preparedness/get-ready/petfriendlyshelter-reg-ext.aspx

If the individual has transportation challenges he or she can register for transportation assistance by completing the Evacuation Transportation Needs Registration Form at the following link: www.coj.net/departments/fire-and-rescue/docs/emergency-preparedness/evac-transportation-needs-reg-form.aspx. In the event of an evacuation those individuals with special medical needs who require transportation are notified by phone to coordinate a pick-up time. When the threat has passed transportation is provided back to an individual's home where Special Needs program officials will determine if the residency is safe. 

For more information on the evacuation services provided by the Emergency Preparedness Division call 904-630-2472 or visit their website at: www.coj.net/departments/fire-and-rescue/emergency-preparedness.aspx

The Hammer - Movie including American Sign Language

Digital On-Demand

The Talking Book Library has begun a service we're calling Digital On-Demand. We have acquired quite a few blank digital Talking Book cartridges and their accompanying mailing cases. The cartridges themselves are a sort of pea green color (see picture) and the mailing cases are gray. Besides the fact that they are different colors and do not have any labeling, they are identical to the NLS digital Talking Books that our customers receive in the mail.

For many months we've been supplying our book clubs with multiple copies of their monthly selections on the blank digital cartridges. We've also made copies of digital books for students who had requested titles for book reports and other school assignments. Lately we've expanded our duplication efforts to include our customer's requested titles when a NLS cartridge is unavailable.

Right now we are limiting our customers to having one copied cartridge at a time, however if the customer's digital Talking Book machine has been updated to include the "Book Shelf" feature then we can load more than one book onto a blank cartridge. The copied digital Talking Books circulate just like the NLS ones do. If a customer currently has a copied digital cartridge then he or she cannot request another until the one they have is returned. Whether or not a copied digital Talking Book will be provided for a customer is also dependent upon the number of blank cartridges that we have on hand. For more information contact the Talking Book Library at 904-630-1999.

Guitar Hero adapted for the visually impaired

The video game industry reports that approximately 190 million households, representing 63% of the population, will use a video game console in 2012. However since video games rely primarily on visual stimuli, those who are blind or have a visual disability don't often get to enjoy this popular form of entertainment...until now.

Researchers at the University of Nevada have developed a version of the popular video game Guitar Hero that is accessible to those who are blind or have a visual disability. They call their version "Blind Hero" and it replaces the visual stimuli of the game with haptic stimuli which is based on the sense of touch.

For those who are unfamiliar with Guitar Hero, the game play requires the use of a plastic, scaled down version of an electric guitar that, instead of having strings and frets, has a corresponding array of buttons. For instance there is a button that moves up and down above the area that you would find the pickups that simulates a strumming action. A player watches a television screen and tries to coordinate the pressing and strumming of buttons in time to the changing musical tones and audio effects as represented by colored dots on the screen. Essentially it is the simulation of playing rock music on the electric guitar.

Blind Hero uses the same guitar controller and audio cues in Guitar Hero but instead of following a display of colored dots on a screen players wear a special glove on one hand. The glove receives an electrical signal from the video game that activates a small vibrating motor on each finger alerting a player to press a button corresponding to the changing musical tones. The length of the vibration indicates how long a player must hold the button.

While the high cost of Blind Hero can be prohibitive to a budding video gamer with a visual disability, it represents a step in the direction toward more accessibility of this popular form of entertainment.

For more information read the study at the following address: http://www.eelke.com/files/pubs/blindhero.pdf

Macular Degeneration Foundation

The Macular Degeneration Foundation is on organization that seeks to provide information, resources and other forms of support to those who have and will develop Macular Degeneration.

Macular Degeneration is a disease that gradually destroys an individual's central area of vision. It occurs in two forms: wet and dry. It can start small and spread slowly or occur suddenly and quickly lead to complete vision loss. Age related Macular Degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss for Americans 60 years and older.

The Macular Degeneration Foundation's webpage provides an abundance of information including links to the latest news in Macular Degeneration research; alphabetized list of online resources from domestic and foreign sources; a bibliography of recommended titles related to the disease; informative online video presentations and much more. An interesting and interactive feature of the website is the Ansler Grid Eye Test displayed below. Below the grid you will find the instructions for using the grid to assess the quality of your central vision.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Wear the glasses you normally wear when reading.

2. View the chart at arms distance and cover one eye. With the uncovered eye, stare at the white dot in the center of the grid.

3. To view the chart at the proper distance, slowly move in toward your monitor until one of the two red ovals FIRST disappears.

4. During the entire test, you should have one eye covered, stare at the center of the grid and only see one red oval.

5. If your eye is functioning properly, you should be able to see the center white dot and the four corners and sides of the grid. The lines should appear to be straight and continuous from top to bottom and side to side.

6. Now test your other eye.

Here is the link to the Macular Degeneration Foundation's webpage:www.eyesight.org

Southside Baptist Church Blind Ministry

On the third Saturday of the months September through May from 12pm to 2pm are the meetings of the Southside Baptist Church Blind Ministry. The group is nondenominational and contains more than 40 members and volunteers. Fellowship, lunch and entertainment are provided. For more information please contact Robert A. Jones at (904) 613-0121 or (904) 330-6285.

Support the Jacksonville Public Library

The Jacksonville Public Library's operating budget is facing cuts totaling 3.5 million dollars. These cuts would result in fewer hours of service at every Jacksonville Public Library location including system wide closures on Mondays as well as a reduction in staff. Such cuts will be especially painful for the Talking Book Library since we will only be able to circulate books and videos to our customers four days a week. We do not yet know how the reduction in staff may effect us.

A final budget has not yet been approved by the Jacksonville City Council; they vote on Thursday September 27th. If you wish to show your support for the Jacksonville Public Library we urge you to contact your city councilperson. If you are unsure of who your City Councilperson is use the following link to determine your precinct and elected officials: www.duvalelections.com/precinctfinder.aspx