They are going to study the development of vibrators to improve sexual enjoyment for people with spinal cord injuries, according to today's Edmonton Journal. they are acting on the results of a study that says people with spinal cord injuries want sexual function even more than they want bowel and bladder restoration. A step in the right direction, I do believe. In the past, It has been rare to ask people with disabilities what they prefer, and even more rare to act on what they said.
years ago I was summoned to a meeting where an engineer unveiled a fancy machine that enabled blind people to read the value of money. He came with the blessing of the Bank of Canada. the machine did tell you whether a bill was a ten or a twenty.
over and over I heard blind people tell this man that they were unlikely to stop everything to pull out a machine in store line-ups, in taxicabs, at tourist attractions. The man acknowledged the truth of this, and went merrily on his way. he made it clear that he did not think bills should be different sizes for instant machineless recognition, as they are in other countries. Nor was he in favour of printing Braille on bills.
The Bank Note Reader went on the market where it languished for years. Somebody probably used it, though nobody seemed to know who.
Many years later they developed a plan to put raised symbols on bills. People think these symbols are Braille, but they are not. blind people have to learn what each symbol means. It is a sort of secret code that has nothing to do with letters or numbers. Braille readers have no advantage over anybody else. It is my experience that, after one or two uses, the raised symbols cannot be felt by even the most practised hand.
This story could be enough to make me wring my hands in utter hopelessness. but today's news about the active, funded recognition that people want a satisfying sex life, tells me that it is still possible to be heard. Only sometimes it takes a while.
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