PCO/Salus Alum Helps Effort to Teach Blind Children to Play Tennis

PCO/Salus Alum Helps Effort to Teach Blind Children to Play Tennis

Richard Feldstein, OD ‘62, has been playing tennis for more than 75 years. Now he’d like to do what he can to help blind and visually impaired children learn the joys of participating in his beloved sport.

Dr. Feldstein offers his consulting expertise at the Highland Park Tennis Club in Pittsburgh, that offers a clinic teaching blind children and adults ages six to 80 to play tennis. 

Not surprisingly, it’s no easy task and the idea is still evolving. Dr. Feldstein received a newsletter from the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind and in it, there was a story about a company that had developed “beeping” Easter eggs designed for blind children to be able to participate in Easter Egg hunts.

Having been in conversation with the group running a blind tennis program, including ongoing experiments to improve the ball, a light went off in Dr. Feldstein’s head. He called the school and asked for the name of the company making the beeping Easter eggs. He wondered if the company could also develop chips that could be placed in tennis balls with different sounds at different ranges.

He forwarded that information to the tennis clinic coordinators at Highland Park Tennis Club, who had for years already been in the development stages of a ball that made sounds.

This research project now runs in conjunction with the United States Tennis Association. Students in the clinics come from partnerships with regional non-profits serving blind and visually impaired athletes. The main partners the Highland Park Tennis Club uses for referrals are the Western Pennsylvania division of Blind Outdoor Leisure Development and EnVision Sports serving blind and visually impaired children. The club also advertises for referrals via the Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh.