Deslocamento de deficientes visuais em vias públicas da região metropolitana de Belém/PA / Mobility of visually impaired people in streets of the metropolitan region of Belém/PA

Introdução: Em uma estrutura urbana, o sistema de deslocamento é o articulador das atividades econômicas, culturais e sociais. Porém,alguns gestores deixam de construir em seus municípios uma infraestrutura de transporte adequada para a circulação de pedestres,em especial de portadores de necessidades especiais (PNE). Objetivo: Levando-se em consideração a dificuldade de acessibilidade existente na mobilidade urbana desses indivíduos e a condição real das calçadas na maioria das cidades brasileiras, faz-se necessário obter informações sobre possíveis alterações que o piso possa provocar no sistema locomotor durante a marcha. Material e métodos: Foram coletados dados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas (questionários de opinião) a 54 deficientes visuais a fim de verificar o grau de satisfação com as calçadas de Belém e com a utilização do piso com sinalização tátil de alerta e tátil direcional da Prefeitura Municipal de Belém. Resultados: Foi encontrado, entre outros resultados, que a maior parte dos investigados sente alguma dificuldade em se deslocar pelas calçadas da cidade e a significativa minoria considera ruim o deslocamento na calçada cidadã. Conclusão: Pode-se concluir que a dificuldade de deslocamento pelas calçadas da Região Metropolitana de Belém afeta enormemente aos deficientes visuais.

Introduction: In an urban structure, the transportation system isthe articulation of economic, cultural and social activities. However,some managers fail to build in their towns an adequate transportation infrastructure for pedestrian’s circulation, especially people with special needs (PSN). Objective: Taking into account the difficulty of existing accessibility in the urban locomotion of these individuals and the actual condition of sidewalks in most Brazilian cities, it is need to obtain information about possible injuries that pavement may cause in the locomotor system during gait. Method: Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The questionnaires were distributed to 54 visually impaired PSN, to verify the level of satisfaction with the sidewalks of Belém and with the tactile warning and tactile directional signage of local government of Belém. Results: The results show that most of the interviewees have some kind of difficulty to move around the sidewalks of the city and the minority believes that the urban sidewalk is bad to move around. Conclusion: We can conclude that visually impaired users in the metropolitan region of Belém are enormously affected due to difficulty in travelling on the sidewalks.

Community rehabilitation of disabled with a focus on blind persons: Indian perspective.

India, the largest democratic country in the world, is marching ahead strongly on the growth and developmental front and is poised to be the leader in the market economy. This role creates and increases far greater responsibilities on us in ensuring that the benefit of the developmental cycle reaches each and every citizen of this country, including the able and the disabled ones. It has been enshrined in the Constitution of India to ensure equality, freedom, justice, and dignity of all individuals and implicitly mandates an inclusive society. With increase in consideration of quality parameters in all spheres of life including availability, access, and provision of comprehensive services to the disabled, it is pertinent to have a look on the contribution of government in keeping the aspiration and commitment towards common people. The article attempts to review the concept of rehabilitation for the disabled keeping a focus on the blind person, and list out the activities, programs/schemes, institutional structure and initiatives taken by the Government of India (GOI) for the same and the incentives/benefits extended to blind persons. The article concludes by reiterating the importance of individual need assessment and mentioning new initiatives proposed on Low Vision services in the approved 11th plan under National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB). The source of information has been annual reports, notification and the approved 11th five-year plan of GOI, articles published with key words like rehabilitation, disability, assistive devices, low vision aids, and/or blind person through the mode of Internet. Annexure provides a list of selected institutions in the country offering Low Vision services compiled from various sources through personal communication and an approved list of training institutes under NPCB, GOI offering Low Vision training.