The blind of Utah recently had the chance to raise awareness of their abilities and check out the latest gadgets at two "Meet the Blind" events.

The two events, held at the Megaplex 17 in Sandy and Megaplex 20 in South Jordan, each hosted about 300 people. Members of the National Federation of the Blind were at both events to answer questions, demonstrate equipment and challenge the public perception of blind people.

"Seventy-five percent of blind adults are unemployed," said Ron Gardner, the Utah president of NFB. "But they are not unemployable, they just need training and opportunity."

The federation is working to change the self-image of blind people from one of helplessness to a can-do attitude. Gardner says with the right opportunities, blindness can become merely a nuisance. The federation is working to give visually impaired people of all ages the chance to lead full and active lives.

Gardner estimates there are at least 9,000 blind Utahns, with more continually joining their ranks as the state's population ages. He said many older people lose their vision due to macular degeneration.

Although some blind people cannot distinguish light from darkness, 90 percent of legally blind people have some residual eyesight. People are considered legally blind if their vision is 20/200 or less, or if their field of vision is 20 degrees or less in diameter.

Many area blind people were on hand at the "Meet the Blind" events to show the public how they work around their disabilities to function in a sighted world.

Gardner, a Bountiful resident, has had a successful law practice for more than 25 years. He loves being active with his family, and enjoys skiing, both on water and on snow, scuba diving and riding horses.

Everette Bacon, president of NFB's Salt Lake Chapter, has lost nearly all of his vision to rod-cone dystrophy. He works for the state, helping blind people of all ages take advantage of government-provided resources.

Chad Wilburn, of Salt Lake, lost his eyesight at 16 to retinitis pigmentosa. He is a University of Utah graduate student working on his master's degree in special education. He plans to use his experience to teach special-needs children.

Karl Smith, of Taylorsville, owns and operates Axis, a company that sells "enabling technology" for blind people. Although he has been totally blind since 1989, Smith retains a love of astronomy and teaches his children about the cosmos.

The demonstration also featured plenty of enabling gadgets, and the public got a chance to use them.

One was a hand-held portable reader that can read printed materials, such as restaurant menus or school assignments in seconds and play them back in clear synthetic speech. Desktop versions also are available. Also featured were wallet-sized bill readers, which help distinguish different monetary denominations and tell the user which bill they are using. The bill readers also can tell if bills are real or counterfeit.

Braille keyboards were another hot item. They can be used in conjunction with special computer programs to give voice feedback and Braille print-outs. For those who have some residual vision, there were TV cameras and small screens that enlarge images to make them more visible.