Vision Dynamics will be at the CannOTA Conference (Connecticut Occupational Therapists Association) on March 12th from 8:00 to 1:30. We will have a booth with many low vision products for attendees to manipulate and touch so they will be abe to experience the use of these items in their daly lives. Adaptive technology is one of the keys to living a more independent life as well as a positive attitude and an open mind. We encourage you to come and visit us with questions or just to say hello. Looking forward to meeting you.

Charlie Collins Featured in Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind

Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind

THE SOURCE FOR BLINDNESS NEWS AND INFORMATION SINCE 1907

Feature Writer Steven Famiglietti - Interview with Vision Dynamics Owner, Charlie Collins

December 15, 2010

"My childhood was fun, I spent a lot of time dreaming, I was a dreamer", said Collins. "I used to ride my bike in the woods and dream about what I would do when I grew up. I wanted to ride and race motorcycles and fly air planes!" Collins said enthusiastically. He grew up with five other brothers and sisters and as children, they were all a very close family and everyone got along well.

Before Charlie was officially diagnosed with macular degeneration, he had the sense that something was wrong and that he was "different" than the other children in school. "I noticed that I could not read as quickly as the other students in class, I started to feel like I was not as good as everyone else." Then, in 1977, after seeing many doctors in Connecticut, the family went to Mass Eye and Ear where Charlie and some of his brothers and sisters underwent many hours of testing. "I actually thought it was a lot of fun" recalls Collins, "I got to take a few days off from school and go up to Boston for all of the testing." After three years of testing, the doctors told Charlie and a few of his siblings that they were legally blind. "I thought when the doctors were done that they were going to fix what was wrong with me. But, they told me I had an eye disease and that I would be legally blind for the rest of my life because of this macular degeneration thing. These doctors who did all this testing, they couldn't make my vision get better and they said there was nothing they could do for us, that was the biggest let down for me. I immediately felt like I just wasn't good enough and that all my dreams were never going to happen, it was majorly depressing to me."

For the next several years, Charlie continued to fall deeper into the mind set of believing he was someone who couldn't do the things he wanted to do in his life. It made both middle and high school extremely difficult for him. Charlie recounted a guidance counselor who said, "Well, since you are legally blind, you might as well get used to the fact that you can't attend college and learn how to let others take care of you, because you can't do it for yourself. We'll have to figure out how you can just coast through your life." The negative attitude coming from the guidance counselor further degraded Collins and he had just about given up on any furture for himself.

He began visiting a local motorcycle dealership where he started to mow the lawn and maintain the grounds. One day, the owner of the facility asked Collins if he would be interested in working inside the dealership selling motorcycles. Charlie went home that day and told his mother abouth the offer. He also told her that he couldn't understand why they would want someone who was legally blind to work at the dealership. "When are you going to stop settling for the good, and begin going for the greatness that is within you?" asked his mother. After much thought, Charlie accepted the position at the dealership. He began to enthusiastically learn everything he could about the business and soon became their top performing salesperson. After a few years, the owner approached him and asked him if he wanted to become part owner.

Charlie accepted the offer and spent several years as the Vice President. "I sold a lot of motorcycles and made a lot of money, and it was great. After a while though, I realized that even though I had accomplished many goals, I wasn't completely happy. I felt like somet6hing was missing, I wasn't feeling whole." Charlie realized that individuals with vision impairments and other disabilities can achieve their goals. Coming from a past of depression, and overtime learning how to overcome obstacles and use adaptive devices, Charlie wanted to help others realize that they could do teh same. "I wanted to start doing something to help other people," he said. "So, I decided to leave the motorcycle business to find a career doing soemthing to help others."

In 1997, Charlie opened Vision Dynamics, a store filled with products and services designed to help people with low vision, blindness, and learning difficulties. "I asked my father, George Collins, if he would come by and help me hang slat wall and he has been wroking with me ever since that day! With Vision Dynamics, I am working with people who are going through much of the same things I did. We are able to provide them with tools to help individuals learn to be successful and independent. Our staff is also able to help them overcome the negative attitude and to understand that they too can accomplish great things in their lives. If the needs of a customer become such that they need the help of a low vision doctor, we have Dr. Randy Kinkade available at our facility to address those needs."

Charlie also travels around the country sharing his experience, strenth, and hope with others. "It doesn't matter if the people in the audiences are visually impaired or not, we all have struggles in our lives, these struggles give us choices. We can choose to let the negative side beat us down, or we can choose to turn the negatives into positives and work towards accomplishing our goals."

When I started to write this article, I realized that I heard two voices from Charlie. When we discussed his life before he found his calling, I heard a low adn quiet tone to his voice. When we discussed his career at Vision Dynamics, I heard a loud and enthusiastic voice.

Collins said, "We don't see with our eyes, we see with our brains and with the correct attitude and outlook we can accomplish anything!" The last thing Charlie said was, "Although my sight may be bad, I have clear vision- hence, Vision Dynamics, the clear vision company!"

If you would like to know more about the products and services offered at Vision Dynamics, you can reach them in one of the ways listed below:

Vision Dynamics

470 West main Street

Cheshire, CT 06410

Phone: 203-271-1944

Fax: 203-271-3997

http://www.visiondynamics.com/

Feeding Our Eyes!

By June M. Lay, Lifestyle Columnist - HealthNewsDigest.com
Aug 10, 2010 - 8:43:23 AM

We feed our hunger, our appetite and most of us feed our cravings, at least once in awhile. But how often do we feed our body mainly for the purpose to nourish and protect? Okay, in other words, how many times during this past week did we consider how our food choices are connected to the function, appearance and health of our body? This week, let's discuss "Feeding Our Eyes" because they are vital to our health and happiness.

There's a saying that "Our Eyes are Our Windows to the World" (Okay, this is my version of the saying), and I think most of us would agree that our eyes are very important. Unfortunately, even those of us who were lucky enough to be born with 20/20 vision need to protect ourselves from the two most common age related eye diseases, Cataracts, and Macular Degeneration. Macular Degeneration in particular, is a disease that we can help ourselves prevent by eating those wonderful, colorful phytochemicals known as the Carotenoids!

Why? Well, the retina in our eyes contains the highest concentration of pigments in our body, which absorb the sun's rays (acting as antioxidants) and which overtime (I'm referring to the aging process unfortunately) we start to lose. [Check out Vision Dynamics' Ultraviolet and Infrared Absorbing Sunglasses] Studies have found that those of us with the lowest amount of the phyto's Leutein and Zeaxanthin circulating in our blood, have the highest rate of age-related macular degeneration. But let's not fret, we can replenish these pigments with food. Studies have also shown that people with macular degeneration have been found to have lower levels of zeaxanthin and lutein in the macula itself than people without—which supports the premise that these antioxidants provide some protection. Since our eyes are so important to us, let's think about replenishing the pigments in our eyes with nature's chemicals that are found in foods.

So, what can we eat to help keep our eyesight?
Eggs. Yes, whole eggs contain a high bio-available form of Leutein (meaning very useable by our body). One study used designer eggs with the highest amount found in the yolks, but regular supermarket eggs still contain high amounts.

Spinach. Popeye was misinformed about spinach's high iron content, (it may contain a high amount of iron, but it's not a good source of Bio-available iron) but it does contains high Bio-available amounts of these colorful carotenoids.

Vitamin C, Vitamin E. These important vitamins act as antioxidants and they are also found in our eyes in high concentrations. So, citrus fruits as well as all fresh fruits and veggies all contain Vitamin C, including once again spinach! Vitamin E is found in Spinach (Popeye was on the right track here), Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes, Avocado, Chick Peas, and the highest Bio-available forms of E (with the most calories unfortunately) are found in Soybean oil, Corn oil, Canola oil and Cashews. So, with these last few foods, let's think moderation as in 1 tablespoon?

Here's to "Feeding Our Eyes"!

Adaptive Technology Available for People with Low Vision

Have you ever felt unsafe because of your vision? Do you worry about things because you think you will be unable to do them because of low vision? Are you sad, insecure, and hopeless because of what you are right now? Think again.

The problem with low vision started ever since man began to see. Vision is one of our primary senses by which we rely almost all the time when doing things like cooking, walking, reading, playing, and other everyday activities. However, Low vision interferes so much with our daily life that it disables us from doing things the way they were done before. Worst case, Low vision cannot be adequately corrected with medical, surgical, therapy, conventional eyewear or contact lenses.

For many decades, men and women with low vision have suffered from depression, hopelessness, and insecurity due to the fact that there was no remedy available for persons with visual impairment. It was not until 1284 when Salvino D'Armate (Italy) invented the first ever wearable eye glasses.

Today, Science and Technology have advanced well enough to make life here on Earth much easier. It has also offered us a wide array of products that it can provide for us.

One of the most remarkable advancement in terms of technology is its branch called "Adaptive Technology."

Adaptive technology pertains to a wide variety of electronic items that enable an even wider variety of people with disabilities and seniors, to live independently. Many of the devices are based on computer technology. It can help you not only to restore your sight, but to restore your hope, dreams and your ability to snatch back your independence.

Some adaptive technology products are:

A Video Magnifier or Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV)

A video magnifier or closed-circuit television (CCTV) uses a video camera to display a magnified image on a monitor or television screen. Video Magnifiers are used by people with low vision to help with reading and writing difficulties caused by visual impairments. The video magnifiers we carry come in various shapes and sizes to meet any low vision need.

Optical Scanners and Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

The purpose of optical scanners and optical character recognition (OCR) software is to make print materials accessible using synthesized speech. The OCR software takes a picture of text that is on a print page, coverts it to computer text and then displays it on a screen. The text is done by the optical scanner. Some optical scanners and OCR software that are used by individuals who are blind or severely visually impaired include software that will read the document using a speech synthesizer.

Notetakers and Accessible PDAs

People without vision loss can take advantage of various types of personal data assistant (PDA) devices. Most are not useable by persons who are blind or visually impaired.

An electronic notetaker which may have a Braille or a Qwerty type keyboard is basically an adapted PDA device. Users can do the same type of tasks that a typical PDA system allows.

These activities can include:
• Taking notes
• Allowing for print or Braille output of input
• Reading e-mail
• Calculating math
• Setting a timer
• Creating calendar events
• Playing music or digital books
• Uploading or downloading information from a computer
• Playing accessible games

Because the electronic note takers are adapted for persons who are blind or visually impaired, they have built-in speech output.

Screen Reading Software

Screen Reading Software attempts to identify the visual display and provides voice output or refreshable Braille. Screen Reading Software may be stand alone or be in combination with other assistive technology, such as screen magnifiers

Screen Enlargement SoftwareSoftware

People with low vision often benefit from text, icons, menus, and graphics being enlarged. Also, some people can see better when the foreground (text) and background colors are changed. Screen enlargement software allows various magnifications of fonts, graphics, icons, and menus. Also, users can adjust colors on the screen for greater contrast.

Refreshable Braille Displays

A refreshable Braille display is a device that is added to a computer. The refreshable Braille display provides the text that is displayed on the screen in Braille. As the user moves the cursor on the page the Braille on the device is updated. A refreshable Braille display is controlled by speech output software.


Braille and Tactile Embossers

A printer takes a document and makes it print, a Braille embosser takes the document and displays the text in Braille.

Braille transcription or translation software converts literary, textbook, music, and math formats into Braille code. This code is sent to a Braille embosser or printer. While the software makes it very easy to convert text to Braille, a sighted person using Braille transcription or translation software should have a working knowledge of Braille.

For thousands of years, technology has always aimed to make us live a better life. These few things that these gadgets can do for you have helped many individuals with low vision live a very fruitful life. Some testimonials say it helped them to snatch back the independence that they thought they had lost. Right now, it has been tested and proven that these products work.

Life choices can either make or break your life. It is really important to think over the things that we need to risk in our lives each time we are making a decision. We need to take time to ask ourselves whether we need it or not. The decisions that we make from time to time should be able to help us cultivate our lives and eventually make it more fulfilling. In fact, we should bear in mind that we need to choose a decision that will make our lives better than it is currently.

Vision Dynamics Customer Donates Optelec Video Magnifier to Local Library

Record-Journal, Friday, April 16th, 2010

Donated machine is ‘manna' to library patrons

By Andrew Perlot
Record-Journal Staff

MERIDEN - There are thousands of books in the Meriden Public Library, but for some, the wealth of knowledge they contain remains an elusive blur. Or at least that was the case until Thursday, when an anonymous donor gave the library a reading magnification machine worth just under $3,000.

Looking at the machine, which was made by a Dutch company called Optelec and consists of a large flat-screen monitor, a high-tech camera and an adjustable platform for holding reading material, library Board of Directors President Joan Edgerly called it "manna from heaven."

Dave ZajacCharlie Collins, owner of Cheshire based Vision Dynamics, Charlie Collins, of Vision Dynamics demonstrates an Optelec machine given to the Meriden Public Library by an anonymous donor Wednesday. The machine helps the visually impaired read.Stick any sort of written text under the camera and a dial allows you to magnify it up to 72 times its normal size. The push of a button turns the background color of the page to black, making the text stand out in a vivid white.

Although the donor of the machine did not wish to be identified, Library Director Karen Roesler said the donor wished "for the machine to be used for the love of reading." The library has many vision-impaired patrons who struggle to read the small print in its books and magazines, Roesler said.

Although the library already has a computer equipped with a screen capable of magnifying digital text, the new machine, which will be placed near the existing computer in the library's main room, opens the world of printed text to vision-impaired readers. Roesler was contemplating ways to raise money for such a machine before she received a phone call from the donor, she said.

The machine came from Vision Dynamics in Cheshire, which specializes in products that assist the visually impaired. Vision Dynamics' owner, Charlie Collins, told the small crowd gathered at the library Thursday he was diagnosed with juvenile macular degeneration in early childhood, and is legally blind.

He spent his early years concentrating on what he couldn't do because of his impairment, and "I kind of limped through life," he said. Eventually, Collins said he started concentrating on solutions and using magnifiers and lights to be able to function in society independently.

Technology has advanced so fast in the last decade that there are technological aids that can dramatically improve the lives of the visually impaired, he said, adding that hopes library patrons will enjoy the new machine. "The sky is the limit," Collins said.