Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

This week various Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ programmes have been interviewing interesting disabled folk and reporting on innovative technology which could, in the future, be of practical help to those with sensory impairments. Plus, In Touch asks, why the sudden rise in numbers of blind people visible in TV ads?

Here's a brief list of disability related 'stuff' you can enjoy and learn from on iPlayer this week.

Mid Week (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4)
Disabled dancer Nick Phillips was One of Libby Purves' guests on Wednesday. Nick is one of six performers with disabilities starring in In Water I'm Weightless, which will be performed in Cardiff by National Theatre Wales as part of the London 2012 Festival.

Saturday Live (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4)
Paralympic athlete Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is with Sian Williams and Richard Coles throughout the show. They chat about her early life, including her father's refusal to make the family home accessible and her mum's fight to send her to mainstream school.

Tanni also stars as herself in the Absolutely Fabulous Olympic special.

Front Row (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4)
In a candid interview, Ruby Wax talks to Mark Lawson about her depression and explains the importance of speaking up about mental health at work.

Click (Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service)
This episode from 17 July includes News of the application that converts images into sounds that may help blind people better navigate their surroundings, and the glove which converts sign language into speech.

In Touch
With the launch this month of a new soap advert on television featuring a visually impaired woman, Peter White speaks to the agency who created the concept and to the woman in the ad. Peter also talks to David Bolt of the Centre for Cultural and Disability Studies, asking if it's becoming a trend to use blind people in this way. Other recent ads have included the blind photographer in the mobile phone commercial, and a blind football team in an amusing commercial for a betting company.

[updated] Gin Ford-Williams wrote to us on Facebook to say we'd not included Tanni's appearance on the hilarious Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two mockumentary Twenty Twelve last night. So, tanni fans, there's even more of her to watch or listen to via Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ iPlayer than we thought. And even more over the next six weeks.