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Apple Watch Series 6 and over with an iPad or an iPhone running on iOS16 is required but if you satisfy these conditions, you are in for a surprisingly useful accessibility trick : Watch Mirroring. The feature allows your watch face to mirror on your portable device, clear and large. You can also control the watch as you would directly on your wrist but in a larger display. The feature is voiceover friendly. An obvious use if like me you have an indoor cycle, you can display instant stats on your tablet or phone while you exercise. Plenty of other possible uses of course but Watch Mirroring seems particularly useful for fitness purpose. Let us know below how you use this feature.

Apple released their brand new iPad Pro line with M2 processor with a new feature called Hovering Pencil supposed to work with the latest pencil. Apple Pencil now get detected before it hits the screen of the iPad . Apple‘s Note app shows how this works, The pencil indeed is detected before you hit the screen but it needs to be very very close to it… a third of an inch maybe… This is already a problem for people with low vision. I was hoping for an inch or so. At that distance, the pencil could have been used as a mouse on the screen instead of using a finger and hoping it falls in the right location. The screen detection is too weak to make it useful to us. I did ask a sighted friend to use the pencil and describe what he sees. When the pencil gets close to the screen, a ridiculously small icon shows up under the penci to show the size of the brush you are about to use. Even he had trouble to see this Apple said they are impatient to see what app developers will do with this… my guess : not much .

The holidays are upon us and with them stress. We already have enough of it on regular basis … Life as a blind person is not exactly simple. This can have an effect on the quality of your sleep. No sleep? No problem. We are going to show you how to train your body back to normal uninterrupted sleep in just a few weeks. This method was introduced to us by a sleep specialist from Kaiser Permanente and it worked like a charm. Keep in mind, however, that you might return to that method multiple times if your sleeping habits change over time. You need to determine how many hours you sleep every night. No need to use a calculator in the middle of the night. Just try to keep track of the time when you wake up in the middle of the night. You can use a log book to remember if you want. Do this for a week. You need an average. For me, my average was 4 hours…usually 20 minutes sleep at a time followed by 20 minutes wide awake… Your goal is now to try to sleep in just one block instead of multiple sleep sessions during the night . 4 hours uninterrupted then… Figure out when you need to get up in the morning. 6 AM for me. Plan to hit the bed so that you would meet your average sleeep time and wake up at the desired time. For me, that means bed time is at 2 AM. Every night for a week, make yourself busy until 2 AM. It‘s harder for us blind people. No TV or movies… Try an audiobook or maybe even learn a new skill during that time. I learned Yoga and read plenty of books … If you are not falling asleep immediately when you lay down in bed, then get up and get busy. Your brain needs to learn that bed is for sleep…not frustrations. Only hit the bed when you feel tired. After a week, you should see some improvement. You might feel more tired than before but the idea is for you to sleep in just one straight period. No awaking in the middle. Add 30 minutes or an hour to your sleep time and try to hit the bed at that time. For me it would mean hitting the bed at 1 AM. Use the same technique as previously described. After a week, add another 30 minutes to an hour and keep going every week or so until you reach your sleep goal. 7 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night , It took me 2 months and it worked well enough. Of course, this isn’t a magic bullet and you might need to come back to that method later on if your sleeping habits deteriorate but the method is good enough; got me to keep sane and relatively fresh all day. Tell us if it works for you or share your own method to improve sleep quality in the comments below.

Tired of typing your long email address everywhere ? What about your home address ? Apple got you covered for that with one of the most useful accessibility feature no one is talking about . You probably already use shortcuts like BRB or TTYL . Do you know you can set your own ? Read below. Go to Settings Tap on General then scroll to Keyboard Tap on Text Replacement. You will see a list of all preloaded shortcuts. Time to add yours. Click on the Add sign on the top right corner Enter shortcut first . For example BLSG. In the next field below enter what the shortcut stand for For our example : BliindSanityPodcast@gmail.com Don’t forget to save. you are done. Now if you type the shortcut into any text field , your phone or tablet will replace it with the whole word or sentence. You can also do this for your home address if you tend to use it very often. Share with us your favorite text replacement in our comments section below .

An entire episode about tax preparation … From charitable contributions to medical records . All you need to do before December 31st 2022. Head over to our podcast page or click below for a direct link . DOnt Don’t forget to subscribe to receive new episodes as they come out. https://www.blindsanity.com/podcast-1/episode/e7239b1f/s02e15-end-of-year-tax-prep

Not enough patients … only 300 in the US. See links below. One can only hope that this will demonstrate the value of CRISPR. Still....what a waste. https://seekingalpha.com/news/3909176-editas-pausing-enrollment-of-blindness-drug-trial-to-find-partner-shares-down-15 https://www.science.org/content/article/groundbreaking-crispr-treatment-blindness-only-works-subset-patients

With Twitter about to implode… or at least crash during the World Cup starting Sunday, you may wonder where to go next . Mastodon gained millions of new users fleeing Twitter . It’s an odd social network to use with some major differences compared to twitter and even Facebook. Let’s see how you can create an account. Download Mastodon From the App Store. Take your sunglasses before opening the app. The splash screen is super bright . Activate Voiceover or TalkBack. Look for the Sign up button and click on it. Mastodon requires your account to be hosted on a server. And there are many many servers on Mastodon. All with their own rules and topic … You can find a server dedicated to tech … LGBTQ…Food… Select the server category . We chose General. Scroll through the available servers and read their rulesand what they are dedicated to. We chose the server named Mastodon.SDF.org Cloick Next then read the server rules. Clivk Back if you don’t agree with them and find another server. Time to create your account now… Enter an account name. For us, it is Blind Sanity. Choone a username. enter your email address gor verification and enter a password . You will be found on mastodon under the handle @username@server. For us its @BlindSanity@mastodon.sdf.org Submit then verify your account using the link in your email inbox. You are done.

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is close to our hearts since it is the reason Pennies for the Blind was founded. RP is a rare, mainly hereditary, eye disease which gradually affects the retina, in the back of the eye. In most cases, over time, peripheral vision is lost, and central vision may also be lost, much like tunnel vision. In some cases, vision may be affected at night, sensitivity to bright lights may increase, or loss of color vision may occur. Most cases are genetic, but some medications, infections, or eye injuries are uncommon causes. The National Eye Institute and Foundation Fighting Blindness are researching possible treatments. For more information about RP, please visit https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/retinitis-pigmentosa.

Time (Eastern) Topic Name of Session Chair / Speakers 8:30 am - 8:35 am Day 2: Welcome & Recap Tieuvi Nguyen, PhD Food and Drug Administration 8:35 am - 9:45 am SESSION 4: Evaluation of Bioelectronic Implants: Safety 8:35 am - 9:05 am Bioelectronic Implants: Overview of Clinical Safety Endpoints and Evidence James Weiland, PhD University of Michigan 9:05 am - 9:45 am Moderated Q&A: Safety of Bioelectronic Implants Moderator: Michael Repka, MD, MBA Johns Hopkins University Panelists: Gislin Dagnelie, PhD, Johns Hopkins University Mark Humayun, MD, PhD, University of Southern California Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics Raymond Iezzi, MD, Mayo Clinic Robert MacLaren, MB ChB DPhil FRCOphth FRCS FACS FMedSci, University of Oxford Joseph Martel, MD, University of Pittsburgh José-Alain Sahel, MD, University of Pittsburgh Philip Troyk, PhD, Illinois Institute of Technology James Weiland, PhD, University of Michigan 9:45 am - 9:55 am Break 9:55 am - 11:35 am SESSION 5: Clinical Outcome Assessments and Patient Preference 9:55 am - 10:20 am FDA Regulatory framework for Clinical Outcomes Assessments and Patient Preference Fraser Bocell, PhD Food and Drug Administration David Gebben, PhD Food and Drug Administration 10:20 am - 10:40 am Clinical Outcomes Assessment for Bioelectronic Implants: NEI Perspective Emily Chew, MD National Eye Institute 10:40 am - 11:10 am Clinical Outcomes Assessment and Performance-Based Testing for Bioelectronic Implants: University of Pittsburgh Emily Grattan, PhD, OTR/L University of Pittsburgh Rakie Cham, PhD University of Pittsburgh Jose Sahel, MD University of Pittsburgh 11:10 am - 11:15 am Patient Experiences 11:15 am - 11:35 am Moderated Q&A: Clinical Outcomes Assessment for Bioelectronic Implants Moderator: Michelle Tarver, MD, PhD Food and Drug Administration Panelists: Fraser Bocell, PhD Food and Drug Administration Emily Chew, MD National Eye Institute Todd Durham, PhD Foundation Fighting Blindness Emily Grattan, PhD, OTR/L University of Pittsburgh David Gebben, PhD Food and Drug Administration John McInerney, MS Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh 11:35 am - 12:20 pm Break 12:20 pm - 1:30 pm SESSION 6: Effectiveness 12:20 pm - 12:50 pm Bioelectronic Implants: Overview of Clinical Effectiveness Endpoints and Evidence Gislin Dagnelie, PhD Johns Hopkins University 12:50 pm - 1:30 pm Moderated Q&A: Effectiveness of Bioelectronic Implants Moderator: Elvin Ng Food and Drug Administration Panelists: Jessy Dorn, PhD Ceribell, Inc. Shelley Fried, PhD Harvard Medical School Yannick LeMer, MD Hôpital Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild Sandra Montezuma, MD University of Minnesota Mahi Muqit, MBChB BSc (Hons) FRCOphth PhD Moorfields Eye Hospital Joseph F. Rizzo III, MD Harvard Medical School Philip Troyk, PhD Illinois Institute of Technology Daniel Yoshor, MD University of Pennsylvania 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm SESSION 7: Post-market Considerations 1:30 pm - 1:50 pm FDA: Post-Approval Studies, Postmarket Surveillance and Real World Evidence Nilsa Loyo-Berrios, PhD Food and Drug Administration 1:50 pm - 2:00 pm Patient Experiences 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Moderated Q&A: Post-Market Considerations Moderator: Michael Repka, MD, MBA Johns Hopkins University Panelists: Patient Representatives Megan Collins, MD Johns Hopkins University Lloyd Diamond, CEO Pixium Vision Nilsa Loyo-Berrios, PhD Food and Drug Administration Flora Lum, MD American Academy of Ophthalmology Elicia M Pillion, Au.D Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Arup Roy, PhD Zikron, Inc. Eberhart Zrenner, MD University of Tuebingen 2:30 pm - 3:40 pm SESSION 8: Government Agency Opportunities for Device Innovation 2:30 pm - 3:10 pm Government Agency Programs for Bioelectronic Implants Sohi Rastegar, PhD National Science Foundation Paek Lee, PhD National Eye Institute Lina Kubli, PhD Department of Veterans Affairs Tian Wang, PhD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Joeanna Arthur, PhD Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Elvin Ng Food and Drug Administration 3:10 pm - 3:40 pm Moderated Q&A: Government Agency Opportunities for Device Innovation Co-moderators: Mark Humayun, MD, PhD University of Southern California Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics Jose Sahel, MD University of Pittsburgh Panelists: Malvina Eydelman, MD Food and Drug Administration Tony Gover, PhD National Eye Institute Lina Kubli, PhD, Department of Veterans Affairs Sohi Rastegar, PhD National Science Foundation Tian Wang, PhD Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Joeanna Arthur, PhD Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 3:40 pm - 3:45 pm Day 2: Workshop Concluding Remarks and Next Steps Jose Sahel, MD University of Pittsburgh Malvina Eydelman, MD Food and Drug Administration

Time (Eastern)Topic Name of Session Chair / Speakers 8:30 am - 8:45 amDay 1: Welcome and Introduction Malvina Eydelman, MD Food and Drug Administration 8:45 am - 10:15 am SESSION 1: Bioelectronic Implants and Public Health Impact 8:45 am - 9:05 am Why do we need Bioelectronic Implants? José-Alain Sahel, MD University of Pittsburgh 9:05 am - 9:25 am Psychological Considerations Thiran Jayasundera, MD University of Michigan 9:25 am - 9:45 am Socioeconomic Considerations Nabin Paudel, PhD Retina International 9:45 am - 10:05 am Ethical Considerations Joseph Fins, MD Weill Cornell Medicine 10:05 am - 10:15 am Patient Experiences 10:15 am - 10:25 am Break 10:25 am - 12:15 pm SESSION 2: Technology and Regulation 10:25 am - 10:45 am Subretinal Implants Daniel Palanker, PhD Stanford University 10:45 am - 11:05 am Epiretinal Implants Mark Humayun, MD, PhD University of Southern California Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics 11:05 am - 11:25 am Cortical Implants Nader Pouratian, MD, PhD UT Southwestern Medical Center 11:25 am - 11:35 am Patient Experiences11:35 am - 12:15 pm Regulatory Background & Requirements Michelle Gabriele Sandrian, PhD Food and Drug Administration Lan Yue, PhD Food and Drug Administration 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm Break 1:15 pm - 2:40 pm SESSION 3: Patient Perspectives 1:15 pm - 1:40 pm Patient Panel Introductions 1:40 pm - 2:40 pm Moderated Patient Panel Discussion Moderator: Eva Rorer, MD Food and Drug Administration 2:40 pm - 2:50 pm Day 1: Wrap-Up Tieuvi Nguyen, PhD Food and Drug Administration

We introduced BARD in this week's episode of Blind Sanity. (S02E11) Here are the links to get things started. Library Of Congress website: www.loc.gov BARD website: https://nlsbard.loc.gov/nlsbardprod/support/applicationinstructions This last link allows you to register. Let us know if you need help in the comments section below. The BARD app can be found on Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It is a free app to download. There is a secured link on NLSBard website. FYI... NLS is the acronym for The National Library Service

October is Blindness Awareness month! The Perkins School for the Blind addressed four main types of blindness. Two are prevalent within children: CVI and ROP. CVI (Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment) is a mechanical issue of the brain in which images are distorted. ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity) involves abnormal growth of the blood vessels in the retina, the back of the eye. The two others are Macular Degeneration and RP. Macular Degeneration is a type of deterioration of the macula, which can cause blurriness in central vision and in later stages may result in seeing straight or wavy lines. RP (Retinitis Pigmentosa) involves deterioration of the retina and causes a rare, mostly hereditary, form of tunnel vision. Throughout Blindness awareness month, our goal is to educate others about blindness and how to be an advocate for others and yourself! Click here for the Perkin’s article