Search for "Blindness and Visual Impairment"

Edwin Albert Baker, CC, OBE, MC, co-founder of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) (born 9 January 1893 in Ernestown Township, ON; died 7 April 1968 in Collins Bay, ON). After he was blinded as a soldier during the First World War, Baker was motivated to create employment opportunities and training for people with blindness and vision loss (see Blindness and Visual Impairment). He assisted in the establishment of the CNIB, a national organization. As managing director, Baker championed rights and broadened research and awareness of blindness. His work was recognized by prominent figures around the world.

Roland Galarneau, CM, machinist and inventor (born 16 February 1922 in Hull, Quebec; died 22 May 2011 in Hull). In the late 1960s, Galarneau invented the Converto-Braille, a computerized printer capable of transcribing text into Braille at 100 words per minute. This was a landmark innovation for people with visual impairments, as it increased their access to textbooks and other written information. Galarneau developed faster versions of the Converto-Braille in the 1970s. The company he founded eventually adapted the machine into software for IBM computers in the 1980s. This software was a precursor of the Braille software used today.

Since its founding in 1918, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) has been creating programs, providing services and advocating on behalf of Canadians who are blind or partially sighted (see Blindness and Visual Impairment). The non-profit organization was founded and incorporated by a group of seven Canadian men — including several military veterans — in response to rising blindness rates caused by the Halifax Explosion and the number of wounded veterans returning home from the First World War.

"Early '44, the call came for three Red Cross girls to go to St. Dunstan's, which was the rehabilitation centre for war blind in England, and I was one of the three."

See below for Ms. Ritchie's entire testimony.

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The 1917 Halifax Explosion is well-known as the biggest human-made explosion in the pre-atomic era. The event was also the largest mass-blinding in Canadian history and it played a crucial role in the founding of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). (See also Blindness and Visual Impairment.)