Richard Edwin Hoover
Richard Edwin Hoover (born January 19, 1915 in Wilkinsburg , Allegheny County PA , † July 7, 1986 in Upperco , Baltimore County MD ) was an American ophthalmologist . He was best known for the development of the white long cane , named after him Hoover-Cane , and a standardized orientation and mobility training - the everyday handling of the cane by people who are blind and want to be mobile independently.
Life
After compulsory school, Richard Edwin Hoover attended State College (Pennsylvania) , which he graduated in 1935. He then worked as a teacher at " The Maryland School for the Blind " and taught math and physics. In 1940 he joined the Army , where from 1944 he worked as a non-commissioned officer at Valley Forge General Hospital in the rehabilitation of blind soldiers. There he met the ophthalmologist Dr. M. Elliott Randolph, who encouraged him to fulfill his wish and study ophthalmology. He completed this degree at a relatively older age than his fellow students and graduated in 1950. He then worked at the Wilmer Eye Institute and became senior physician there in 1958. He then opened his own ordination in Baltimore , 14 West Mount Vernon Place. He also built the eye department at the Presbyterian Charity Hospital and continued to run it when the hospital became part of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center . In 1985 he retired. Dr. Hoover earned a number of awards including a. 1962 the Louis Braille Award from the Philadelphia Association For The Blind . He was married to Lydia Hoover, with whom he had two sons, Brinton and Stewart.
Dr. Richard Edwin Hoover, the "father of the easy long pole technique" died after a long illness at the age of 71.
Services
The project to make visually impaired people (again) mobile, or to systematize lessons with a long stick, began under his guidance during the Second World War in the USA . Hoover developed a largely effective and safe walking technique together with blind but physically robust soldiers. After failures, he found that a light white stick that reached to the sternum and swung rhythmically back and forth in front of the legs would be the most effective technique. This Hoover long stick technique was then called the tip stick technique and revolutionized the safe, independent and independent freedom of movement of people who are blind or visually impaired. It is taught worldwide.
Web links
- Parte ( Nekrolog ) In: Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 1986; 84: 10-11. PMC 1298719 (free full text)
- HALL of FAME: Leaders and Legends of the Blindness Field: Digitized
- O&M Living History - Where Did Our O&M Techniques Come From?
Footnotes
- ^ "Father of the Lightweight Long Cane Technique."
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hoover, Richard Edwin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American ophthalmologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 19, 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wilkinsburg , Allegheny County PA |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 7, 1986 |
| Place of death | Upperco , Baltimore County MD |