Baruch's
Karen Gourgey Honored by
City Comptroller William Thompson
During Disability
Awareness Month
--NYC Honor
Adds to Earlier Tech Award This Year for Gourgey’s
Computer Center For Visually Impaired People--
New York City Comptroller
William C. Thompson, Jr. honored six New Yorkers for their
accomplishments at an event celebrating Disability Awareness
Month in November. The event was cosponsored by YAI/National
Institute for People with Disabilities Network and the League
for the Hard of Hearing.
Among the award recipients was Baruch’s Karen Gourgey,
Director of the Computer Center for Visually Impaired People
(CCVIP). Earlier this year Gourgey represented Baruch when
the CCVIP and Touch Graphics were chosen laureates for the
Microsoft Education Award and were named for developing the
Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT), a computer peripheral device
that makes graphical interactive computer applications accessible
for people with visual impairments.
At the Disability Awareness Month event, Thompson also presented
a Lifetime Achievement Award to Tony Coelho, President-Elect
of the National Epilepsy Foundation of America. Coelho, a
former California Congressman, was a prime sponsor of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
Other distinguished honorees for Diabilities Awareness Month
were Gloria Altieri, Educational Director of the Easter Seals
Child Development Center; Marilyn L. Edwards, Board Member
of the Black Deaf Advocates and Service Coordinator for the
New York Society for the Deaf; Alberto Muneton, Painter, Sculptor,
and Resident at the Services for the Underserved; and, Richard
Traum, President of the Achilles Track Club.
For the Tech Awards, made in September by the Tech Museum
for Innovation in San Diego, Gourgey’s center was one
of 25 laureates. The center shared the award with Touch Graphics
for development and implementation of an inexpensive, patent-pending
audio-tactile technology device called TTT. Unlike earlier
tactile graphic materials, the TTT does not require individuals
to read Braille but depends instead on tactile images associated
with audio output that can be easily adapted for speakers
of any language. It also includes an authoring component that
allows teachers to refine its basic template.
Baruch College’s Computer Center for Visually Impaired
People has trained blind and visually impaired persons in
the use of adaptive computer technologies for 25 years.
