A New Look at Blindness
583734
This was an extremely unique story.  I've never read a book about the main character gradually going blind.  The story was very accessible to young people, its targeted audience.  It includes realistic thoughts and concerns of a young girl without being overly dramatic or too depressing.  It's a very realistic story.

Natalie is 14-years old and has just learned that her bad eyesight is actually her going blind due to a disease.  Her doctor has recommended that she go to a blind school to learn how to cope.  She resists at first, insisting she doesn't need to, but an accident forces her to confront the truth.  Natalie goes away to the school and learns how to use Braille and a cane, convinced she'll never need it.  Natalie continues to hold out for a miracle--that her eyesight will be restored against all odds.

Going blind is very tough for Natalie, both emotionally and physically, and the author cuts her no breaks.  The reader struggles right along with Natalie's fear and frustration as she learns to read Braille, use a cane and take a self-defense class--all of which are important to the plot.  Natalie is a very 'real' character.  She's not just the 'blind' girl, but comes across very clearly as a young woman with friend problems, family drama, goat issues and who just happens to be going blind.

I really liked the story overall, but there were a few places where it lagged a little.  Reading about how a blind school functions and how it teaches the students to adapt to a sightless world was fascinating.  It is for young adults and I think my female students will really like this book.
4017146
Written so that you can almost understand what goes on in a blind person's thoughts and actions.  Never again will I think of these folks as disabled, but just consider them without eyesight.  Their other senses come to the rescue.  Also, I love stories about animals that are always looking for a job to do and enjoy doing it.
3372869
This is more than a book about survival through teamwork of man and his guide dog. It also is a very informative and inspiring book, inspiring as here is s man blind since birth who refers to it a nuisance rather than a tragedy and informative with numerous resources both for the blind and those seeking information. In a world of many people with a mentality of victimhood here is a man who declares his normality in a of the sighted.

On apersonal note, my mother was very brave in her time of decreasing vision due to macliar degeneration.  Mom passed at the age of 102 1/2 still sharp and more up on the news of the world then people half her age. Mom took advantage of the great services of the Braille Institute audiobooks books. Should I be challenged with similar vision loss, I pray that I am as strong as my mom was.
319588
By reading this book, you will realize how people are blind to their own ways of thinking.  Also, don't let just anyone read this.. You will know what I mean after reading the 1st chapter.
1484808
The set up of this book make it really easy to read.  The print is a reasonable size for people with poor eyesight and this makes it quicker to read.  To really know and understand, you will need to read several times but this will be worthwhile.
2844850
Enjoyed this book very much. Work in eye dept, so the blind story  got my attention. I thought it was very tastefully done.
271845
Enjoyed reading this book but not one of those you can't put down.  A bit of insight into what it is like for blind people.
1921676
This is a fine book with presents an intriguing insight into the traumas and everyday of being disabled.  I understand more about MS now and about what it is like to live with disability.  The book really works.  I was drawn into the consistency of theme which defines each group of chapters, and sometimes into the chronology of each section.  The themes of the first 5 sections are especially compelling;  I was drawn in with a desire to know more.  That is not to say that the last 2 sections are not good, they are just lighter and more about the everyday.

A valuable read.
1609005
I have been able to have only a cursory glance, so far, but the remarkable contents of this book have enabled me to confirm a theory on which I am working, relating to the palaeopyschology of links between natural phenomena and the emergence of belief in divinities. I look forward to having a much more detailed browse. The size of the font in this reduced facsimile is indeed small. I have poor eyesight, with thick multifocal lenses in my spectacles, but have little trouble reading the book.
Since writing the above, I've used the book often in searches for IE cognates, particularly Sanksrit, and have found it very useful.
Brian Barratt...
1592714
Willful Blindness is a fascintaing, interesting book that I would recommend.....many examples of past and present are included with names, dates, and locations that are included....it is thought provoking and educational....
3017677
This is one of the best books I have written. I could not put it down and read it in a matter of days. It held my interest the whole way. I was fasinated by the story of how he made it down and out that day, but equally loved the story of his life and how he got to be where he was. He described blindness brilliantly and how they find ways to move around. I always thought I was pretty well versed on blindness, knowing people who are blind and my mother working with them when I was a child, but I learnt so much from this book.

Words really cannot describe or do this book justice. It is simply a book that must be read.
4549188
I am not in a postition to really review this book yet.  I have not read a lot of it, but the author's background, the reason he wrote the book, and the list of topics it covers appear to be exactly what I was looking for.  I am facing potential loss of sight in one eye, and possibly both, and I needed to understand how I might even survive.  Because I have spent my life using my eyes to make a living and to entertain and care for myself, I was very depressed and frustrated at this possibility.  However, this book does offer hope and encouragement.  I will augment this review later when I have read more.
70946
I have to say that I have no issues with the other two reviews of this paperback, and it does seem that this pictorially-based overview of eye diseases, symptoms and summaries would be a welcome addition to more complete textbooks, especially for students and trainee-opticians, optometrists, etc. However, no medical book of this limited size will teach you "everything you need to know...at a glance"!

It is not a particularly lengthy paperback, although its highly visual approach (lots of color photos and diagrams) does make it impressive, nevertheless.  If you are not a student of medicine, I would however not recommend this book, as its high-impact visual approach is likely to cause some anxiety.

In other words, this is NOT a book for ordinary consumers (no matter how smart they may be), but rather a visually-stimulating summary of most major eye diseases and issues, aimed at medical students (and even doctors whose specialty is not directly related to ophthalmology).
3094036
HOW TO USE YOUR EYES
by James Elkin

I am a strong believer in the power of observation. Learning to see, really see, is not as easy as we would like to believe. Observation simply meant to notice, perceive or watch attentively, as Webster's Dictionary suggests. Observation is more than looking, it is learning from looking.

Why is it so important to be observant? I have come to realise that it is the vital key to optimum performance in science, in business, in sports & in other life pursuits, e.g. reading & writing, photography, etc. In reality, it's a critical survival skill!

Thousand years ago, Leonardo da vinci had proven its significance in his varied field of expertise. He said, in order to attain a complete mind, one must learn how to use all our senses, especially learn how to see.

Edward de bono, recognised as the world's authority on creativity, talked about it - perceptual sensitivity - first in his seminal work, Mechanism of Mind, in the late 60's & then in his many subsequent books on lateral thinking.

Many consultants/authors have since then pursued & reinforced the same line of thought.

Interestingly, to share with readers, I noted that the common denominator in the following important business words:

vision, visionary, imagination, illumination, enlightenment, foresight, farsighted, perspective, viewpoint, spectacle, inspection;

has a visual component: 'seeing'. Come to think about it, the word 'seer' even has 'see' in it!

I have also learned that the word 'idea' has its origins from a Greek word, which means 'to see'. Even the word 'intuition' originates from a Latin word 'intueri' which also means 'to see'.

So, how does one develop & enhance the power of observation?

I have found one very good book on the subject. It's 'How to Use Your Eyes' by James Elkin, who shares many techniques & tips. His book is both visually stunning & mentally stimulating. It is more of a field guide as the reader needs to physically exercise the 'world experience' by himself rather than just sit back & enjoy the 'word experience'!

In terms of my own 'world experience', my favorite chapters in the book have been:

How to look at:

- a postage stamp;
- pavement;
- engineering drawing (should have known this when I was an engineer);
- mandalas (may be too esoteric for some readers!);
- perspective pictures;
- a map;
- a face;
- a fingerprint - with the aid of a magnifying glass, of course);
- grass;
- a twig;
- sand;
- sunset;
- inside of your eye;
- colours;
- nothing (this one almost drove me bonkers!);

Frankly, I did not realise that there are so many things to see from "universally unnoticed" objects around me.

To share with readers, I would like to suggest another very good book, i.e. 'Playful Perceptions: Choosing How to Exerience Your World' by Herbert Leff.

'Everyday Wonders: Encountering with the Astonishing World Around Us' by Barry Evans is worth exploring, too.
1221925
please put this book on my KINDLE. I t is the kind of book that those of us with eyesight problems want and need to read Thank you I cannot rate it if I have not read it yet
3225548
This book gives the reader a quite revealing look into the life of an inspirational blind person who, as the title suggests, isn't held back by a `disability'. Quite the contrary, in this book, the reader is privileged to delve into the life of a highly driven and motivated individual, with a great sense of humour, who allows the reader access into her world. A worthwhile read, I'm sure there's a lot more to come from Tali, and I for one can't wait!
1764758
Noe convincingly makes the point that perception (especially vision) is not anything like what a camera does.  Vision is an activity of the whole organism, and what we see are meaningful affordances, not "snapshots" of scenes.  He makes much of the "hidden gorilla" experiments demonstrating change blindness to illustrate that we do not see everything that is there, only what we expect, want, and need to see.  Easy to read, mind-stretching ideas.  However, he is ultimately, like Gibson, a physicalist and a realist, appealing in the end to a neurological homunculus, as all physicalists must. So there isn't much to push the philosophy of perception. Gibson said all this in 1966 and 1979. But for a concise, empirically based definition of perception as action, this is it.