Vision & Hearing
The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe other people - German Proverb
image by: Jonas Bergsten
HWN Suggests
Is There Such a Thing as "Bad" Charity?
Not long ago, I shared Peter Singer's now-famous 2013 TED Talk, The Why and How of Effective Altruism, with a friend to whom I was introducing the concept of effective altruism. In the talk, Professor Singer compares two solutions for blindness: curing trachoma, an infectious bacteria which causes blindness, or providing a guide dog for a blind person. "It costs about 40,000 dollars to train a guide dog and the recipient so the guide dog can be an effective help to a blind person," Professor Singer says. Yet highly effective charities can cure one person in a developing nation of trachoma for between 25 and 50 dollars. "You could provide one guide dog for one blind American," Professor Singer…
Resources
The Importance Of Local Charities
The importance of local sight loss charities for me is not explainable in a short blog. It is something that if you have any degree of sight loss, you should access. Use the services and seek the advice. The staff at any of these organisations are there not just to help, but to care.
Blind or Deaf? The Question Has Come Up Before…
Let’s focus on the blind/deaf question. Genius overcomes many difficulties. As evidence we have the pantheon of blind and deaf artists, ranging from Beethoven to Goya to Milton to Ray Charles. According to neurophysiologist and author Oliver Sacks (in his book, Seeing Voices,) whether it’s better to be blind or deaf depends on how old you are. For an adult, blindness and deafness are about equally problematic. But for a child, there is no question: it’s better to be blind. (Italics mine) Anyone who has had the opportunity to teach a deaf child knows this. Hearing is the primary channel through which we receive language, and all of those incoming words downloaded into our brains carry a wealth of emotional and cognitive apparatus that structures and empowers our imagination. Language is the mind’s opposable thumb.
Deaf or Blind
Vision keeps us in touch with things in world around us, but if you lose hearing you become isolated from people and this isolation makes life very hard to bear.
Precious Eyes
Criticism of guide dog charities often is based of the cost of training a dog and pairing it with a person. The failure rate for these animals is high. Dogs mainly wash out for health reasons — bad eyesight, hip or stomach problems — and for temperament, such as being too calm or too high-strung. And they can work for only eight to 10 years before they retire to become pets. A blind person could need six or seven dogs in a lifetime, which is a considerable expense.
Is There Such a Thing as "Bad" Charity?
Not long ago, I shared Peter Singer's now-famous 2013 TED Talk, The Why and How of Effective Altruism, with a friend to whom I was introducing the concept of effective altruism. In the talk, Professor Singer compares two solutions for blindness: curing trachoma, an infectious bacteria which causes blindness, or providing a guide dog for a blind person.
Action on Hearing Loss
As the largest charity for people with hearing loss in the UK, we understand how hearing loss can affect everything in your life from your relationships, to your education and your job prospects.
Global Foundation for Children With Hearing Loss
The Global Foundation for Children With Hearing Loss aims to make a direct and lasting impact on the futures of thousands of children who are deaf or hard of hearing around the world by providing them access to the early identification, hearing technology, and locally-based expertise they need to reach their full potential.
Guide Dogs for the Blind
We are more than an industry-leading guide dog school; we are a passionate community serving people who are blind or low vision. Since 1942, Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) has been creating partnerships between people, dogs, and communities. With exceptional client services and a robust network of instructors, puppy raisers, donors, and volunteers, we prepare highly qualified guide dogs to serve and empower individuals who are blind or have low vision from throughout the United States and Canada.
Hearing Charities of America
The purpose of Hearing Charities is to support those impacted by speech and hearing disorders by expanding awareness, volunteerism, and philanthropy in the communities Hearing Charities serves. Hearing Charities provides resources for hearing professionals, manufacturers and individuals with hearing issues.
Hearing Health Foundation
Hearing Health Foundation's mission is to prevent and cure hearing loss and tinnitus through groundbreaking research and to promote hearing health.
Helen Keller International
Founded in 1915, Helen Keller International is among the oldest international nonprofit organizations devoted to fighting and treating preventable blindness and malnutrition. HKI is headquartered in New York City, and has programs in 22 countries around the world.
International Eye Foundation
Since our founding in 1961, our Mission has been to prevent blindness and restore vision in the developing world. Over four decades, we've helped millions of people in more than 60 developing nations
ORBIS
ORBIS International is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that works in developing countries to save sight worldwide. ORBIS prevents and treats blindness through hands-on training, public health education, improved access to quality eye care, and partnerships with local health care organizations.
Prevent Blindness
Since 1908, Prevent Blindness America has been the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization with the sole mission of preventing blindness and preserving sight.
Research to Prevent Blindness
RPB is committed to stimulate, sustain and intensify a concerted research assault, with the goal of developing more effective treatments, preventives and cures for all diseases of the visual system that damage and destroy sight.
Seva Canada
Seva Canada is a Vancouver-based charitable organization whose mission is to restore sight and prevent blindness in the developing world. Most of the world’s 39 million blind people would be able to see again if they had access to eye care services. We’re working on it.
The Seeing Eye
The difference The Seeing Eye makes in the lives of people who are blind can best be demonstrated by the graduates themselves … people who are living their lives — some ordinary and others not-so-ordinary — enhanced by their daily experiences with their dogs.
Unite For Sight
Unite For Sight implements vision screening and education programs in North America and in developing countries. In North America, patients are connected with free health coverage programs so that they can receive an eye exam by a doctor. In Africa and Asia, Unite For Sight volunteers work with partner eye clinics to implement screening and free surgery programs.
American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults
The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults is a service agency which specializes in providing to blind people help which is not readily available to them from government programs or other existing service systems.
American Association of the Deaf-Blind
Our mission is to ensure that all deaf-blind persons achieve their maximum potential through increased independence, productivity, and integration into the community.
American Hearing Research Foundation
Founded in 1956 by Dr. George E. Shaumbaugh, Jr., The American Hearing Research Foundation serves two vital roles: to fund significant research in hearing and balance disorders, and to help educate the public.
American Macular Degeneration Foundation
The Foundation will be a major voice in establishing the national research agenda for macular degeneration through promoting an alliance among the scientific community, government, and victims of the disease and their families to ensure the prevention and cure of the disease.
American Society for Deaf Children
ASDC is a national organization of families and professionals committed to educating, empowering, and supporting parents and families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The ASDC helps families find meaningful communication options, particularly through the competent use of sign language, in their home, school, and community.
American Tinnitus Association
The mission of the ATA is to silence tinnitus through education, advocacy, research, and support. This nonprofit organization provides the latest information and resources to tinnitus patients, promotes tinnitus awareness to the general public and the medical community, and funds the nation's brightest tinnitus researchers.
Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss
AAMHL's mission is to create opportunities for adult musicians with hearing loss to discuss the challenges they face in making and listening to music; create opportunities for public performance; provide ongoing feedback to hearing health professionals; and provide educational opportunities.
Association of Medical Professionals With Hearing Losses
AMPHL aims to assist those in the professional health fields address issues surrounding their hearing loss. To help achieve this goal, their website provides information based on current issues in health fields along with personal experiences and insights into making hearing loss more compatible with the medical profession.
Center for Hearing and Communication
The Center for Hearing and Communication is a leading hearing center offering state-of-the-art hearing testing, hearing aid fitting, speech therapy and full range of services for people of all ages with hearing loss.
Children's Eye Foundation
The Children's Eye Foundation has been dedicated to eliminating preventable blindness through vision screening, advocacy and celebration.
Dogs for Better Lives
Rescue, breed, and professionally trains dogs to help people and enhance their lives while maintaining a lifelong commitment to all dogs we place.
Foundation For Sight and Sound
The Foundation For Sight and Sound's mission is to enhance the quality of life for men, women and children with vision and/or hearing impairments.
Guide Dogs Australia
Our mission is to assist people who are blind or have low vision gain the freedom and independence to move safely and confidently around their communities, and to fulfill their potential.
Guide Dogs UK
We will not rest until people who are blind or partially sighted can enjoy the same freedom of movement as everyone else.
GuideDog Foundation
To improve the quality of life for people who are blind, visually impaired, or with other special needs.
Hearing Loss Association of America
The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) is the nation’s leading organization representing people with hearing loss. According to the National Center for Health Statistics 36 million (17 percent) Americans have some degree of hearing loss making it a public health issue third in line after heart disease and arthritis.
International Hearing Foundation
The International Hearing Foundation (IHF) is committed to improving the quality of life for the hearing impaired around the world. In the United States alone, more than 24 million people suffer from hearing related problems and the number is growing.
Job's Daughters International
We actively support the Hearing Impaired Kids Endowment (HIKE) Fund, which purchases hearing assistive devices for hearing impaired children.
Lighthouse Guild
Lighthouse Guild is the leading not-for-profit healthcare organization dedicated to addressing and preventing vision loss through coordinated vision and health services.
Naional Federation for the Blind
The NFB improves blind people''s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind.
National Association of the Deaf
Established in 1880, the NAD is the nation's largest consumer organization safeguarding the accessibility and civil rights of 28 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans in education, employment, health care, and telecommunications. The NAD focuses on grassroots advocacy and empowerment, captioned media, deafness-related information and publications, legal assistance, policy development and research, public awareness, certification of interpreters, and youth leadership development.
National Black Deaf Advocates
NBDA is the oldest and largest consumer organization of deaf and hard of hearing black people in the United States. Black deaf leaders were concerned that deaf and hard of hearing African Americans were not adequately represented in leadership and policy-making activities affecting their lives, so they established NBDA in 1982.
National Cued Speech Association
NCSA promotes the effective use of cued speech for communication, language acquisition in more than 50 languages, and literacy. Through publications, exhibits, family/professional learning vacations, and conferences, NCSA provides education, awareness, and support for people with language, hearing, and learning needs, assisting their families and the professionals who serve them.
Sertoma
To improve the quality of life today for those at risk or impacted by hearing loss through education and support.
Starkey Hearing Foundation
We believe hearing is a vehicle to reflect caring and to improve the lives of individuals, their families, and communities.
Visions
VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a non-profit rehabilitation and social service organization whose purpose is to develop and implement programs to assist blind and visually impaired people of all ages to lead independent and active lives in their homes and communities.
Introducing Stitches!
Your Path to Meaningful Connections in the World of Health and Medicine
Connect, Collaborate, and Engage!
Coming Soon - Stitches, the innovative chat app from the creators of HWN. Join meaningful conversations on health and medical topics. Share text, images, and videos seamlessly. Connect directly within HWN's topic pages and articles.
