[bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Anindya Bhattacharyya, aka Bapin
- From: Cindy <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 20:33:52 -0700 (PDT)
lol
Cindy
--- Gerald Hovas <GeraldHovas@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Cindy,
>
> Didn't think to mention that Michelle's reaction was
> what tipped me off that our dating wasn't much of a
> secret among the staff. It's one of the things that
> Karen and I still get tickled about from back then.
> I think Karen had a good time a day or two later
> when she spoke with Michelle and told her "I hear
> you met Gerald." Also didn't think to mention that
> Michell's little revelation caught her off guard so
> that she didn't realize we had arrived at the next
> fllor, and I was too amused to notice that bob was
> waiting on her. Bob had to stomp on the fllor of
> the elevator to get her attention so she'd know it
> was time to get off.
>
> Gerald
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Gerald Hovas
> Sent: Saturday, June 17, 2006 9:58 PM
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Anindya
> Bhattacharyya, aka Bapin
>
> Cindy,
>
> Interesting. He's not the first deaf-blind person
> to make the news from HKNC, though. Bob and
> Michelle Smithdas were on either 20/20 or 60 Minutes
> a long time ago, plus various articles in magazines.
> If I remember correctly, Bob has his Ph.D. and
> Michelle has her Master's. They're probably the
> best educated deaf-blind couple in the world and
> probably the best known. Although I wouldn't be
> surprised to hear that they've retired now.
>
> BTW, I met my wife at HKNC while working on a
> computer project up there back in the late 80's.
> Karen was working in their Daily Living Skills
> department at the time. Bapin wasn't there back
> then, but I remember McNulty.
>
> I had an interesting encounter with Bob and Michelle
> on the elevator, too. I talked to Michelle whyile
> we were on it. She asked if I was there for the
> seminar being given for the small group of rehab
> professionals who had come for the week. When she
> found out that I was up there from MS State to work
> on their database for Deaf-Blind people, she put two
> and two together and realized that I was the one who
> was dating Karen, and she got the funniest look on
> her face. BTW, both Michelle and Bob could talk,
> but you had to fingerspell in their hand in order to
> talk to them. Although I believe Michelle
> preferred tactile signing to tactile fingerspelling.
>
> Gerald
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Cindy
> Sent: Saturday, June 17, 2006 8:58 PM
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Anindya
> Bhattacharyya, aka Bapin
>
> Here is the transcript of the segment from CBS news
> this evening. There was a photo of Bapin, and, of
> course, on tv several visuals. My husband called me
> in
> to see if I "knew" him from bookshare, but the name
> was't familiar.
>
> Cindy
>
>
>
> The Blind-Deaf Tech Wiz
> One Man Is Inventing Technology To Lead An
> Independent
> Life
>
> NEW YORK, June 17, 2006
> Anindya Bhattacharyya helps one of his students.
> (CBS)
>
>
> (CBS) Technology changes all of our lives every day,
> but, as CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller
> reports, it's hard to think of anyone who stands to
> gain more from technological innovation than those
> who
> have lost their hearing and sight.
>
> People like Anindya Bhattacharyya, who is both blind
> and deaf. He has a mission: to live as independently
> as possible and to change the lives of hundreds of
> thousands of people like himself throughout the
> world.
>
> It's what brought Bapin, as he's better known, to
> the
> Helen Keller National Center in Long Island, New
> York.
>
> "I didn't know I was going to be a techie in the
> tech
> world," Bapin says in sign language.
>
> He is more than that, he is a tech wiz. He not only
> teaches students, but he has helped technology
> companies develop new gadgets that allow the blind
> and
> deaf to navigate the seeing, hearing world.
>
> "I like to empower them to be successful in whatever
> they attempt," he told Miller through an
> interpreter.
> "I feel that it's a good thing that I do."
>
> It's a long way from the dirt poor village of his
> native India, where he was born deaf 35 years ago.
> Bapin came to America after a troubled child-hood
> and
> fell in love with the field of high tech.
>
> His contribution has been in research and
> development.
> Bapin's done field tests on the Braille modified lap
> top phone, used by the blind-deaf to talk to the
> rest
> of the world via a speaking operator.
>
> He's also helped develop the Tactile Talking Tablet
> which allows people like him to explore street grids
> of cities they plan to visit.
>
> Then there's the SBC ââ?¬â?? or screen Braille
> communicator ââ?¬â?? which the deaf-blind can use
> to do
> their shopping, order meals in restaurants or
> communicate with an air-line cabin crew. Bapin
> himself
> travels the world using the same equipment.
>
> And there's the portable Global Satellite
> Positioning
> System. It helps Bapin navigate while his
> interpreter,
> Jane Hecker-Cain, drives.
>
> The device is so good, it allows Bapin to help more
> than someone who can see.
>
> "The sighted person depends on me," Bapin says.
>
> "He found my husband's place of employment,"
> Hecker-Cain says. "I told him the address which we
> just passed, and he just named the name of the
> company
> ââ?¬â?? that's pretty cool."
>
> Joe McNulty is the director of the Hellen Keller
> National Center and Bapin's boss.
>
> "Bapin is clearly one of the brightest deaf-blind
> people I have ever met," he says. And McNulty thinks
> Bapin is a role model for the students he instructs.
>
> "We have people working for major companies now
> where
> they are handling a client or a customer's account
> through the Internet, and the person has no idea
> they
> are communicating with an employee who happens to be
> deaf-blind," he says.
>
> Ironically, Bapin says he would have never found his
> calling if he hadn't been blinded at the age of nine
> by a jealous kid who threw ashes in his eyes. He
> tells
> Miller that becoming blind was a blessing in
> disguise.
>
> Bapin plans to spend the rest of his life passing on
> his knowledge and enthusiasm to his students
> ââ?¬â?? a
> case, quite literally, of the blind leading the
> blind.
>
> �©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
>
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