Hines VA program for the blind goes high-tech

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Beyond the white cane

10/9/2012 - To anyone unaware of the situation, it looks like Sofaia Kreider is simply taking a brisk walk, following a very determined man. But at closer quarters, it's clear something more complex is happening.

This is no ordinary walk but a training session. This is no ordinary man but Vietnam-era Army veteran William Taite of Bellwood. And Kreider isn't window-shopping: She is training Taite in the use of a specially-designed Trekker Breeze GPS unit.

Taite, who is blind, is enrolled in the Veterans Administration's Orientation and Mobility course. He has already mastered the use of his white cane and, with Kreider's help, is tackling the GPS unit, which enables him to plot a route - on foot or in a vehicle - and keep track of each intersection and the direction he is headed at all times. And Taite, 67, is very good at it. Kreider marvels at his impressive innate sense of direction.

Taite, who lost his sight to diabetes and glaucoma seven years ago, initially balked at the idea of taking his first course at Hines VA Hospital. read more>>>