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<div id="header"> <h1 class="title">Future Reflections, Vol. 39, No 4</h1> </div>
<div id="TOC"> <ul> <li><a href="#future-reflections">FUTURE REFLECTIONS</a> <ul>
<li><a href="#table-of-contents">TABLE OF CONTENTS</a></li> <li><a
href="#necessity-the-mother-of-invention">Necessity: The Mother of Invention</a></li>
<li><a href="#kid-talk">Kid Talk</a></li> <li><a href="#as-the-twig-is-bent-awards">As
The Twig Is Bent Awards</a></li> <li><a
href="#virtual-reality-accessible-learning-activities-and-networking-opportunities-for-blind-children-and-their-families">Virtual
Reality: Accessible Learning, Activities, and Networking Opportunities for Blind
Children and Their Families</a></li> <li><a href="#navigating-our-brave-new-world">Navigating
Our Brave New World</a></li> <li><a href="#students-speak">Students Speak:</a></li>
<li><a href="#building-and-using-your-blindness-network">Building and Using Your
Blindness Network</a></li> <li><a
href="#lets-socialize-teaching-your-child-common-physical-movements">Let's Socialize:
Teaching Your Child Common Physical Movements </a></li> <li><a
href="#fourteen-its-a-magical-age">Fourteen: It's a Magical Age</a></li> <li><a
href="#nopbc-past-present-and-future">NOPBC: Past, Present, and Future</a></li>
<li><a href="#virtual-reality-versus-reality">Virtual Reality Versus Reality</a></li>
<li><a href="#kids-speak-out">Kids Speak Out</a></li> <li><a
href="#our-roots-advancing-human-rights-and-the-tradition-of-serving-our-nation">Our
Roots: Advancing Human Rights and the Tradition of Serving Our Nation</a></li>
<li><a href="#equal-justice-under-law">Equal Justice Under Law: </a></li> <li><a
href="#a-blind-clerk-blazes-a-trail-behind-the-scenes-at-the-supreme-court">A
Blind Clerk Blazes a Trail behind the Scenes at the Supreme Court</a></li> <li><a
href="#dr.-jacob-bolotin-awards">Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards</a></li> <li><a
href="#thank-you-to-our-scholarship-sponsors">Thank You to Our Scholarship
Sponsors</a></li> <li><a href="#the-nfb-scholarship-class-of-2020">The NFB
Scholarship Class of 2020</a></li> <li><a
href="#accessible-games-ideas-from-nopbc-game-night">Accessible Games: Ideas from
NOPBC Game Night</a></li> <li><a href="#the-pac-mule-stable-grows-at-the-2020-nfb-convention">The
PAC Mule Stable Grows at the 2020 NFB Convention</a></li> <li><a href="#nopbc-news">NOPBC
News</a></li> <li><a href="#announcements">Announcements</a></li> </ul></li> </ul>
</div> <h1 id="future-reflections">FUTURE REFLECTIONS</h1> <p>Convention 2020,
Volume 39, Number 4</p> <p>A magazine for parents and teachers of blind children
published by</p> <p>American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults</p> <p>In
partnership with the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children</p>
<p>Deborah Kent Stein, Editor</p> <p><a href="mailto:Dkent5817@att.net"><span
class="underline">Dkent5817@att.net</span></a></p> <p>ISSN: 0883-3419</p> <p>Copyright
2020 American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults</p> <p>For more information
about blindness and children contact:</p> <p>National Organization of Parents of
Blind Children</p> <p>200 E. Wells Street at Jernigan Place</p> <p>Baltimore, MD
21230</p> <p>410-659-9314</p> <p><a href="http://www.nfb.org/nopbc"><span
class="underline">www.nfb.org/nopbc</span></a></p> <p><a href="mailto:nfb@nfb.org"><span
class="underline">nfb@nfb.org</span></a></p> <p><span class="underline"><br />
</span></p> <h2 id="table-of-contents">TABLE OF CONTENTS</h2> <p><strong>LETTER
FROM THE EDITOR</strong></p> <p>Necessity: The Mother of Invention</p> <p>by
Deborah Kent Stein</p> <p><strong>NOPBC CONFERENCE</strong></p> <p>Kid Talk<br />
A Conversation with Mark Riccobono</p> <p>As the Twig Is Bent Awards<br /> Presented
by Carlton Anne Cook Walker</p> <p>Virtual Reality: Accessible Learning, Activities,
and Networking Opportunities for Blind Children and Their Families<br /> by Carlton
Anne Cook Walker</p> <p>Navigating Our Brave New World<br /> by Gabe Cazares</p>
<p>Students Speak: Building and Using Your Blindness Network<br /> by Trisha
Kulkarni, Precious Perez, and Qualik Ford</p> <p><strong>NOPBC WORKSHOPS</strong></p>
<p>Let's Socialize: Teaching Your Child Common Physical Movements<br /> by Melissa
Riccobono</p> <p>Fourteen: It's a Magical Age<br /> by Maurice Peret</p>
<p><strong>NOPBC BOARD MEETING</strong></p> <p>NOPBC: Past, Present, and Future<br
/> by Carol Castellano</p> <p>Virtual Reality Versus Reality<br /> by Graciela L.
Olivo, 2020 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students</p> <p>Kids Speak Out<br />
by Salome Cummins, Ian Oliver, and Clara Scelsi</p> <p><strong>GENERAL
SESSIONS</strong></p> <p>Our Roots: Advancing Human Rights and the Tradition of
Serving Our Nation<br /> by Mariyam Cementwala</p> <p>Equal Justice under Law: A
Blind Clerk Blazes a Trail behind the Scenes at the Supreme Court<br /> by Laura
Wolk</p> <p><strong>AWARDS</strong></p> <p>Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards<br /> Presented
by James Gashel</p> <p>Thank You to Our Scholarship Sponsors</p> <p>The NFB
Scholarship Class of 2020<br /> Presented by Cayte Mendez</p> <p><strong>EXTRAS</strong></p>
<p>Accessible Games: Ideas from NOPBC Game Night</p> <p>The PAC Mule Stable Grows
at the 2020 NFB Convention</p> <p>NOPBC News</p> <p>Announcements</p> <p><strong>LETTER
FROM THE EDITOR</strong></p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Debbie Kent Stein]</p> <h2
id="necessity-the-mother-of-invention">Necessity: The Mother of Invention</h2>
<p>by Deborah Kent Stein</p> <p>The work of the National Federation of the Blind
goes on throughout the year, but the annual convention is our capstone event.
Every year since 1940 (with two exceptions during World War II), convention has
been a time when blind people and their friends and families gather to share
resources, strategize, and enjoy camaraderie.</p> <p>Last March planning for the
2020 National Federation of the Blind Convention was in high gear. Convention
would take place in Houston, Texas, July 14-19. Leaders of the National Organization
of Parents of Blind Children (NOPBC) were busy mapping out a lively conference
for parents and teachers of blind children and a week-long series of workshops
and family activities.</p> <p>Then COVID-19 shredded our plans. NFB President Mark
Riccobono announced that we would be unable to hold our convention in Houston
after all. It was a crushing disappointment. It seemed that all of our planning
and anticipation would come to nothing.</p> <p>But not even the threat of a deadly
virus can stop the National Federation of the Blind in its tracks. Within weeks
of President Riccobono's announcement, Federationists rallied and began to plan
a convention unlike any that had ever taken place before. The 2020 NFB National
Convention would be conducted virtually, using an online platform called Zoom.</p>
<p>A virtual convention presented us with major challenges. Would the Zoom platform
be completely accessible? How would voting be conducted? How could we work around
time differences, accommodating members from Hawaii to the east coast? How could
we provide opportunities for conventioneers to meet and interact informally? What
activities could be provided for children and tweens?</p> <p>Through the tireless
efforts of the NFB staff and hundreds of volunteers from across the country, the
logistical challenges were ironed out. The 2020 NFB convention took place virtually
July 14-18 with all of the features Federationists have come to expect. As it
turned out, the 2020 NFB National Convention was the biggest gathering of blind
people in history, with more than seven thousand people registered and attending.</p>
<p>As always convention began with the NOPBC conference and concluded with the
annual banquet. Though we could not gather to feast in person, we celebrated the
achievements of the scholarship winners and listened in rapt attention to President
Riccobono's convention address, "Language, Action, and Destiny: The Lived Experience
of the Organized Blind Movement." You can read President Riccobono's address at
https://www.nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/banquet-speeches/language-action-and-destiny-lived-experience
or watch on Youtube at <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBxSYcJc7RA&list=PLW144PTYGib0LmONUtu33ZWl_EI3dpXEi&index=19">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBxSYcJc7RA&list=PLW144PTYGib0LmONUtu33ZWl_EI3dpXEi&index=19</a></p>
<p>This issue of <em>Future Reflections</em> gathers highlights from the NOPBC
conference, the general sessions, and much more. You can find recordings of most
of the convention sessions by visiting <a
href="http://www.nfb.org/convention">www.nfb.org/convention</a>.</p> <p>Necessity
is the mother of invention, and the necessity to stay safe during this time of
COVID-19 forced us to invent a new way to hold our annual gathering. Let us hope
that we can meet in person for Convention 2021. Plans are afoot for convention to
be held in New Orleans next summer. Let the good times roll!</p> <p><strong>NOPBC
CONFERENCE</strong></p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: NFB President Mark Riccobono]</p> <h2
id="kid-talk">Kid Talk</h2> <p>A Conversation with Mark Riccobono</p> <p><em>Introduction
by Carlton Anne Cook Walker: Each year at our NOPBC conference, the NFB President
takes time out of his very busy schedule to talk directly to our children. We call
the children to the front of the room, and the NFB President, in his suit and tie,
sits on the floor to talk with, listen to, and answer questions from our kids.
This year President Mark Riccobono will talk with our kids as always. Kids, please
gather at your Zoom location and welcome Mark Riccobono, President of the National
Federation of the Blind, for Kid Talk!</em></p> <p>Mark Riccobono: Good afternoon,
everybody! We need to have all the kids out there unmuted so we can start the
chaos! I'm going to take a moment to have everybody introduce yourselves. Okay,
welcome to Braden, from Louisiana! Elizabeth, Oriana from Maryland; Anne from
Utah; Hank; Zenia; Harley; Clara from Alabama; Katie from Texas; Nadia. Welcome
to all of you!</p> <p>Thank you for getting on this meeting and being part of the
first virtual convention of the National Federation of the Blind. It's really
exciting that you'll be able to say you were part of the largest gathering of
blind people ever in the history of the world! This is really cool! We're going
to have a number of days of activities. I want to thank the parents for getting
their kids here. It's really important that your kids be engaged in this network
we have.</p> <p>I want to let parents know that in the Federation over the past
four months we've been very focused on protecting blind people's rights and
responsibilities in society. That means creating a solid foundation for our
kids—your kids are our kids!</p> <p>I want to know if the kiddos out there
have any questions for me. If you have a question, say your name.</p> <p><em>Harley:</em>
Can people make a playground for blind children that makes sounds?</p> <p><em>MR:</em>
That's a great idea. Certainly it could be done. What kind of sounds would you
want in a playground?</p> <p><em>Harley:</em> Maybe kids laughing.</p> <p><em>MR:</em>
Okay. What else would you want?</p> <p><em>Harley:</em> Birds chirping, maybe.</p>
<p><em>MR:</em> Would you want the sounds to help you find your way around in the
playground? What do you want the sounds to do?</p> <p><em>Harley:</em> To help me
go to the slides and stuff. And know where things are.</p> <p><em>MR:</em> What
sound do you think a slide should make?</p> <p><em>Harley:</em> I don't know. A
kid sliding down it.</p> <p><em>MR:</em> That's cool. I like that. How could we
put audio into a playground? I don't know of anybody who has done that, but it
could be really cool.</p> <p>Now, when I go to a playground, I take my cane with
me. You can get some information from your cane to help you detect where things
are. But it would be cool to put sound into a playground for all kids, not just
blind kids, don't you think?</p> <p><em>Harley:</em> They could close their eyes
or put sleepshades on.</p> <p><em>MR:</em> When you grab a monkey bar, it could
make a particular sound. That's a great idea! Any other questions?</p>
<p><em>Braden:</em> Why do we have to use a cane if we could just use a stick?</p>
<p><em>MR:</em> You could use a stick, but in the National Federation of the Blind
we've developed these really cool canes that are made out of carbon fiber. Carbon
fiber is a very lightweight material that gives you good vibrational feedback.
It's much lighter than a stick, and it's stronger than a thin stick. Sometimes
you could use a stick, too. I know blind people who take their cane with them when
they go hiking, but they also use a stick. A lot of people use hiking sticks when
they're climbing up steep terrain. But we've found out that lightweight, long
canes work best for letting us move quickly in most environments.</p> <p><em>Hank:</em>
Do you have a guide dog or a cane? And if you have both, which one do you use the
most?</p> <p><em>MR:</em> That's another great question! I have a cane, and I use
my cane the most because I do not have a guide dog. My wife, Melissa, who is a
board member for NOPBC here, has used a guide dog. Her guide dog is retired now.
Even if you use a guide dog, you need the skills of using a cane. There are a lot
of reasons for that. There are places you might not want to take your dog. Or your
dog might get sick, and you'll still want to go where you need to go. In some
situations, some people use their cane and their dog. Part of the decision for me
is I have enough trouble just taking care of myself, and I don't necessarily want
the responsibility of taking a dog out and doing all the things you have to do to
use a guide dog properly. A lot of people make that choice, and that's their
personal preference. At the end of the day you'll want to get good at using your
cane, because you won't want to take your dog into some situations, or you might
not want to worry about taking your dog out or feeding it in some situations. But
the skills of traveling independently are basically the same, whether you decide
to use a guide dog or a cane.</p> <p>I appreciate talking with you here. I encourage
you to drop by the Presidential Suite later. I'd love to meet with you there. I
hope you all have a great convention!</p> <p>My best to our parents' division on
your tremendous work. Thank you for your leadership, Carlton, and thanks to the
rest of our parents!</p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: An outdoor portrait of Mark and Melissa
Riccobono]</p> <h2 id="as-the-twig-is-bent-awards">As The Twig Is Bent Awards</h2>
<p>Presented by Carlton Anne Cook Walker</p> <p><em>From the Editor: Immediately
following President Mark Riccobono's conversation with the children at the NOPBC
conference, Carlton Walker presented the Twig Awards. These awards are given by
the NOPBC to persons who have made a positive difference in the lives of blind
children.</em></p> <p><em>Carlton Walker:</em> President Riccobono is one of the
first blind people I ever met, back in 2005 before he and Melissa had any children
of their own. His warmth, generosity, and wisdom strengthened my family's resolve
to make sure that our daughter's opportunities would never be limited by what she
could or could not see.</p> <p>Alexander Pope wrote, "As the twig is bent, so is
the tree inclined." These words are the inspiration behind the title of the Twig
Award given by the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children. We initiated
the Twig Awards on our twenty-fifth anniversary in 2008. This is not an annual
award. It is bestowed upon those whose work has influenced the direction in which
our children grow.</p> <p>The award is a medallion engraved with a tree and the
words "As the Twig Is Bent Award" and "NOPBC since 1983." The word NOPBC is written
in Braille and in print. On the back of the medallion is the recipient's name and
the year in which the award was given.</p> <p>This year we will be presenting two
Twig awards, one to NFB President Mark Riccobono and one to his wife, NOPBC board
member and conference director Melissa Riccobono.</p> <p>Each of these individuals
has worked tirelessly and steadfastly in support of blind children and their
families for more than two decades. Each has shared insight, knowledge, and
compassion with families struggling to ensure that their children receive a
meaningful education that will prepare them for the future. Both Mark and Melissa
have bent countless twigs to incline many, many trees toward the upward trajectory
of achieving their dreams.</p> <p>Typically I would have the honor of presenting
each medal in person, and I hope to get down to Baltimore to do so sometime this
fall. In the meantime, Mark, Melissa, please know how much your work has enriched
everyone in this virtual conference and so many, many more! Thank you!</p>
<p><em>Mark Riccobono:</em> Thank you, Carlton! This is a surprise! I really
appreciate it! The work that is happening with our parents' division and the work
we've been undertaking collectively for our blind youth, both with our NFB BELL
In-Home Edition<sup>®</sup> and our distance learning activities really shows
what we can do when we come together, including continuing to give out thousands
of free Braille books on a monthly basis. I appreciate the acknowledgment, but
more importantly, I am privileged and honored to have the opportunity to work with
so many great people who put their own ideas and expertise into what we're doing.
I'm deeply humbled, and I appreciate the recognition, but more importantly I
recognize that we have a lot more to do together to raise the expectations for
blind children. In accepting this recognition, I do so by way of saying that we're
not done yet! This is only the beginning of what we're going to do together! I
remain fully committed to making sure that the next generations of blind children
will have it much better than I did. Because of what we're doing together, we're
getting there. Thank you very much!</p> <p><em>Carlton:</em> Thank you, sir.
Melissa, do you want to say a few words?</p> <p><em>Melissa Riccobono:</em> Thank
you all so much! I'm almost speechless, which does not happen very often. I'm very
touched—a little teary-eyed over here. It is an honor that families are
willing to let me and President Riccobono and all the members of the National
Federation of the Blind and the NOPBC into their lives. There's a song I really
like that talks about how sometimes you have to show people the hard parts and
let them care about you anyway. I know it's not easy, and I really appreciate when
people are willing to reach out for help and to say, "Things should be different
for my child. It shouldn't be the way it is." I am very humbled to be a small part
of, hopefully, helping to make things better. We have a long way to go. I recognize
that. I am certainly not going away, and this award energizes me. I am incredibly
excited to get to meet all the new families who are joining us virtually, some of
them for the first time. I am here to do all that I can to help our children have
a better experience, particularly educationally. In these times of COVID it has
particularly struck me how difficult things can be. For those who are here for
the first time, I want you to know that President Riccobono and I have two blind
children of our own. Not only do we know how things are, as blind adults, but we
know firsthand what parents go through because of our blind children. More than
anything else, we are parents, just like all of you. We have the same struggles,
and believe it or not, we have the same questions. What we give to all of you is
what all of you teach us. The more we give, the more we learn. Thank you very much
for this award! I am really humbled and really surprised!</p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION:
Carlton Anne Cook Walker]</p> <h2
id="virtual-reality-accessible-learning-activities-and-networking-opportunities-for-blind-children-and-their-families">Virtual
Reality: Accessible Learning, Activities, and Networking Opportunities for Blind
Children and Their Families</h2> <p>by Carlton Anne Cook Walker</p> <p><em>From
the Editor: On July 14 the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
(NOPBC) kicked off the 2020 Convention of the National Federation of the Blind
with a day-long conference for parents and teachers of blind children. In this
article NOPBC President Carlton Walker sums up the highlights of the 2020 conference
and other activities and sessions during convention.</em></p> <p>Wow! 2020 has
been an incredible year, hasn't it? As we closed our 2019 National Federation of
the Blind Annual Convention on the evening of July 12, 2019, I doubt that any of
us could have imagined what 2020 had in store. There is a Chinese saying, actually,
a curse: "May you live in interesting times." As our cities, states, nation, and
the world transformed through the spring and into the summer, there were times
when I certainly felt that we were cursed. In these "interesting" times, I really
needed to be with my Federation family. Sadly, an in-person gathering of more than
three thousand people simply was not going to occur in July of 2020.</p> <p>Luckily,
we in the NFB and its proud parents' division, the National Organization of Parents
of Blind Children, know how to take lemons and make a feast: lemonade, lemon
squares, lemon chicken, lemon poppyseed bread, and more. We know that alternative
tools and techniques are not bad; they are simply different. Following the direction
of, and with tremendous support from, the NFB and our national office, the board
of the NOPBC set to work to ensure that the 2020 NOPBC Conference would sustain
and nourish current members while welcoming new families, educators, and allies
of blind children into our fold.</p> <p>We couldn't meet in person, but we could
meet using the Zoom platform. Zoom room hosting support from staff members at the
NFB national office allowed our presenters and board member hosts to get beyond
logistics and focus on content and participant questions. Two hundred seventy-five
adults registered for our conference, and many more joined our open-access sessions.
Over a period of five days, families, educators, and allies of blind children
enjoyed sixteen hours of general sessions and open houses and an additional nineteen
hours of concurrent breakout sessions. What's more, most of our sessions were
recorded, so those who could not attend live will have the opportunity to access
those sessions on our website: www.NOPBC.org.</p> <p><strong>Seminar Day</strong></p>
<p>Our 2020 NOPBC Conference kicked off with the much-anticipated Kid Talk with
NFB President Mark Riccobono. As always, President Riccobono solicited questions
from the kids and provided sage advice. When he opened the floor for questions,
our blind children put him to the test, but President Riccobono rose to the
challenge.</p> <p>Next, we had a surprise in store. We presented two "As the Twig
Is Bent" Awards, one to President Riccobono and one to his wife, Melissa Riccobono.
Melissa Riccobono is an NOPBC board member and served as 2020 conference/convention
chair. Following the awards presentations we heard from Gabe Cazares, director of
the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities for the City of Houston, Texas.</p>
<p>Breaking with tradition, we paused our General Session and had the first of
our four concurrent session breakouts. Throughout the conference, we had five
workshop threads: "It's All about That Braille," "I Like to Move It," "Tech Talk,"
"Let's Socialize," and a miscellaneous thread. In the first set of breakouts,
Jackie Anderson presented "It's All about That Braille: Cracking the Code." "I
Like to Move It: Encouraging All Types of Movement for Young Blind Children," was
presented by Mary Jo Hartle. Treva Olivero presented "Tech Talk: Typing, an
Essential Skill," and Raul Gallegos presented "Let's Socialize: Audio-Described
Content for Your Blind Child." Maurice Peret presented, "Fourteen: It's a Magical
Age," a session that focused on the transition from school to college or work.</p>
<p>When General Session resumed, NOPBC President Carlton Anne Cook Walker shared
the 2020 NOPBC Presidential Report: "The Best Reality Show Ever—Real Families
of the NOPBC." Next, students Trisha Kulkarni, Precious Perez, and Qualik Ford
shared their experiences, reflections, and wisdom on our Student Panel: "Building
and Using Your Blindness Network." Melissa Riccobono rounded out the session with
her presentation, "Convention 411: How to Optimize Your Virtual Convention
Experience."</p> <p>The next set of breakout sessions featured the following topics
and presenters: "It's All About That Braille: The Power of the Perkins Brailler"
with Sarah Erb; "I Like to Move It: Practical and Fun Ways to Include Cane Travel
Skills in Everyday Life—Even if You're Stuck at Home" with Kristen Simms;
"Tech Talk: All About Screen Readers" with Chancey Fleet; "Let's Socialize: The
Importance of and Techniques for Teaching Your Child Common Physical Movements
Such as Gestures and Dances" with Melissa Riccobono; and "Counting Sheep: Ways to
Help Your Child Get a Good Night's Sleep" with Dr. David Ingram of Children's
Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.</p> <p>We took a full ten-minute break after four
great hours of learning. Then we kicked off NOPBC Family Game Time. We discussed
born-accessible games, how to adapt games for accessibility, and much more. Topics
included card games, board games, and electronic games for families and for
individuals of all ages. We even learned how to make a Mancala board out of an
empty egg carton!</p> <p>We were six hours into our first day, but we were not
ready to quit! Our NOPBC Family Open House welcomed one and all for questions,
conversations, and fellowship. With the invaluable assistance of our NFB Zoom
host, we welcomed people into breakout rooms based on topics of mutual interest.</p>
<p>We continued our breakout concurrent sessions on Wednesday. Wednesday opened
with the following sessions and presenters: "It's All About That Braille: Embracing
the Slate and Stylus" with Jennifer Wenzel; "I Like to Move It: The True Advantages
of the Long White Cane" with Ben Shuler; "Tech Talk: Harnessing the Power of the
Google Suite of Products" with Nate Kile; "Oh Yes, I Made Mistakes—And
Lived to Tell the Tale" with Karen Anderson; and "Let's Socialize: Helping Your
Child Learn the 'Soft Skills' of Socialization" with Carol Castellano. Our last
breakout sessions were: "It's All About That Braille: Ways to Make Braille Fun
for Early Learners and Reluctant Readers" with Krystal Guillory; "Tech Talk:
Choosing a Braille Embosser" with Matt Hackert and Karl Belanger; "Let's Socialize:
Accessible, Virtual Ways to Retain Friendships from a Distance" with Michelle
Murrey and Georgie Sydnor; and "Singing For My Supper: Blind Adults Share Stories
about Their First Jobs" moderated by Corbb O'Connor, with panelists Steve Decker
and Beth McGarr.</p> <p><strong>NOPBC Annual Meeting</strong></p> <p>Our Annual
Meeting kicked off with an Exhibitor Fair. Somehow, in one hour, we managed to
hear and learn from a number of exhibitors: Envision—Youth Programs;
HumanWare—Products; APH—Products and Federal Quota Funds;
Pearson—Higher Education, Mentoring Program, and Assessments; Aira; Vispero
(formerly Freedom Scientific); Bookshare/Benetech; Technology Study—Natalie
L. Shaheen, Ed.D.; NABS (National Association of Blind Students)—Mausam
Mehta; and Learning Ally—College Success Program.</p> <p>When the exhibitors
finished their presentations, we were full of knowledge—and ready for more!
Our Annual Meeting certainly fulfilled the promise of its title, "Information and
Inspiration." First, we heard from Anil Lewis, the executive director of NFB
Blindness Initiatives. Then Carol Castellano guided us on the path that brought
us here and the road ahead with her presentation: "NOPBC: Past, Present, and
Future: Who We Were, Who We Are, and Who We Will Become." Next we had the opportunity
to hear from, and ask questions of, representatives from Pearson Learning, a
publisher of educational materials and provider of assessment services. We look
forward to continuing this dialogue to fulfill the mandate of federal law that
blind individuals of all ages have effective, efficient access to materials,
including educational instruction and assessment software.</p> <p>Our next panel,
"Kid Power: Living the Life They Want!" illustrated the true power of blind children
when they have access to the tools and information they need for success. Salome
Cummins, a rising fourth grade student from Missouri, spoke about her transition
to virtual education this year. She found it hard to start the gifted program
virtually, but everything turned out well because of JAWS and her refreshable
Braille display. Ian Oliver, a rising seventh-grade student from Alabama, shared
his great experiences in the NFB BELL Academy In-Home Edition, and he gave pointers
on ways to make the program even better. Clara Scelsi, a rising fifth-grade student
from Alabama, illustrated great problem-solving skills as she described her love
of jujitsu and how she continued her lessons in the virtual environment. Next,
Jeanette Jones and Linda Coccovizzo, president of the Missouri Parents of Blind
Children shared the work of NFB and the Parents' Division in their presentation,
"PARENT POWER: Making It Happen." Rounding out the hour, Graciela Olivo, the 2020
NFB Distinguished Educator of Blind Students, illustrated her journey transforming
from a regular education teacher "forced" to include a blind student in her class
to a passionate educator of and advocate for blind students in her keynote address,
"Virtual Reality vs. Reality."</p> <p><strong>Division Business</strong></p> <p>The
final hour of our Annual Meeting turned to division business. After hearing and
approving our financial report from NOPBC Treasurer Sandra Oliver, the Nominating
Committee presented its slate of nominees for all five executive board positions
(president, first vice-president, second vice-president, secretary, and treasurer)
and all ten board positions. The membership approved the Nominating Committee's
report and proceeded to elect the slate recommended. Our officers are: Carlton
Anne Cook Walker, president; Penny Duffy, first vice-president; Kimberly Banks,
second vice-president; Carol Castellano, secretary; Sandra Oliver, treasurer; and
board members Jackie Anderson, Sarah Erb, Jean Fultz, Pamela Gebert, Carla Keirns,
Tabby Mitchell, Michelle Murrey, Corbb O'Connor, Melissa Riccobono, and Casey West
Robertson.</p> <p>Our Annual Meeting ended with an NOPBC brainstorming session.
We heard that parents want resources to help them advocate, especially for IEPs
at the beginning of the year, and they want advice on how to advocate for needed
tools such as Braille embossers. Members shared ideas for sessions next year, and
we welcomed all to join committees to help provide resources enabling families to
stay connected throughout the year.</p> <p><strong>IEP Sessions</strong></p> <p>We
usually hold "IEP Night," a popular series of sessions on Individualized Education
Plans (IEPs) on the evening of the first day of General Session. This year's
convention schedule shook things up a bit, so we stepped away from time-honored
tradition. With apologies to our friends in Hawaii and Alaska, we held our IEP
sessions on Friday and Saturday mornings. The first session, "IEP 101," featured
Casey West Robertson and Carlton Anne Cook Walker discussing an overview of the
IEP and blindness-specific IEP issues. On Saturday we presented "More about the
IEP," with Casey and Carlton discussing best practices for accommodations,
assessments, and service time. Penny Duffy and Melissa Riccobono followed, sharing
negotiation strategies.</p> <p><strong>Youth Track Activities</strong></p> <p>There
was nothing virtual about the terrific Youth Track activities offered this year.
The Youth Track sessions on Tuesday included "It's Your Convention Experience,"
"Tech Is Not Just for Homework," and "Working Out Isn't Just at the Gym." Experts
from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) capped off the day
with a session on exploring the universe accessibly.</p> <p>Wednesday brought the
"Impromptu Fashion Show," the eagerly awaited and highly rated "Harry Potter Escape
Room," and a session called "Resolutions Explained: What Does a Resolution Mean
and How Does the National Federation of the Blind Use Resolutions to Make Us
Stronger?"</p> <p>On Thursday our youth discussed "What Kinds of Jobs Can Blind
People Do?" and met blind mentors working in all kinds of jobs. They also enjoyed
a "Calling All Gamers!" session. Youth Track wrapped up with "Let's Get Social:
Distancing and Beyond," a philosophy session about using alternative blindness
skills to navigate the new normal.</p> <p><strong>Cane Walk</strong></p> <p>Yes,
with the support of the NFB, some incredible cane travel instructors, and great
technology resources, we continued to offer the Cane Walk. The Cane Walk is a
program that offers free NFB long white canes, expert structured discovery
instruction, and invaluable mentoring, all geared toward providing blind children
the tools and skills they need to travel confidently and independently at an
age-appropriate level. Through distance technology, talented cane instructors
taught children and their families the role of the long white cane in securing
lifelong independence and opportunities for our children.</p> <p><strong>Reflections</strong></p>
<p>In hindsight, maybe that saying "May you live in interesting times" is not such
a curse after all. We grow and develop when we are presented with new and formidable
challenges. This year we met and gathered virtually, but our experience was
real.</p> <p>While we still long to meet in person again, we have gained skills
and knowledge from our virtual conference. No matter what the next year brings,
we are better prepared and energized to do what is needed to ensure that our blind
children can live the lives they want. Blindness will not hold them back.</p>
<p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Gabe Cazares sits at his desk with his Braille display.]</p>
<h2 id="navigating-our-brave-new-world">Navigating Our Brave New World</h2> <p>by
Gabe Cazares</p> <p><em>Introduction by Carlton Walker: When we give our Twig
Awards, we talk about bending twigs to affect how trees will grow. Now we have
the honor of hearing from one of the trees that our Twig Award recipients, Mark
and Melissa Riccobono, have nurtured. Please welcome Gabe Cazares, director of
the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities for the city of Houston,
Texas.</em></p> <p>I'm very excited to be here this morning, although I wish I
were not greeting all of you from the headquarters of the Mayor's Office for People
with Disabilities. I wish I were a mile and a half down the road at the Hilton
Americas with three thousand of my best friends from around the country! But I'm
delighted to join my Federation family virtually.</p> <p>For those of you who
don't know me, my name is Gabe Cazares. I have been a member of the Federation
for ten years now, and I have had the good fortune of working closely with, being
mentored by, and being personal friends with Mark and Melissa Riccobono. They are
exceptional people who are committed to our organization and to our movement. They
give of themselves to advance our priorities.</p> <p>Talking to parents is one of
my favorite activities. You all are pretty cool—don't tell the students I
said that!</p> <p>My parents were Mexican immigrants who came to the United States
in the early nineties. I wish they had the opportunity to sit in a room like this
and hear from blind people who found a way for themselves and who also committed
themselves to making the experience of living as a blind person better for those
who come after us. That commitment is at the heart of the National Federation of
the Blind. You'll hear a lot this week that the National Federation of the Blind
knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future.
We'll remind you every day that we work to raise the expectations of blind people
because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. It
wasn't until I engaged with the Federation in a real way that I realized what we
say is true. You can live the life you want. Blindness is not what holds you
back.</p> <p>For the next few minutes I'm going to share with you a little bit of
my personal story. I want to start with the caveat that no one's story is the same
as anyone else's. The bond that brings us together is our participation in the
movement.</p> <p>As Carlton said, I'm currently the director of the Mayor's Office
for People with Disabilities in the city of Houston. My boss is Mayor Sylvester
Turner. We're the fourth largest city in the country. My responsibility is to
oversee the timely and accessible delivery of services and programs to over 215,000
Houstonians with disabilities. When you take into account the number of people
with disabilities who are undocumented in our region, the number rises to close
to 600,000. I would not have the confidence to do this job on a daily basis if it
weren't for the mentors and friends I found in the National Federation of the
Blind.</p> <p>Blindness was not new to my family. I grew up with hereditary
glaucoma. My father was blind; my grandfather was blind; my older siblings have
some degree of vision loss. The experience of not being able to see in the ordinary
way—whatever that is—was not new when I met the National Federation
of the Blind in 2010. What was new was a network of friends and mentors who were
interested in pushing me further than I thought was possible. Before I met the
National Federation of the Blind, for example, college was a word that was thrown
around sometimes in my inner-city high school. But no one really sat down to
explain to me what that meant, what obtaining a postsecondary education can do
for you and your job opportunities, particularly as a person with a disability.
No one explained to me how to apply for school or how to fill out a financial aid
application. It was my blind friends in the National Federation of the Blind of
Texas who worked with me every step of the way to make sure I got into college.
They were some of the first people to invest in my future by awarding me a National
Federation of the Blind of Texas scholarship to help fund my education.</p> <p>It
was also my friends in the National Federation of the Blind who told me some of
the hard truths about my experience with blindness. My Federation family challenged
me to strengthen my travel skills, my Braille reading skills, and my technology
skills. As a high school hot-shot who knew it all—what eighteen-year-old
doesn't know it all!—I thought I had what I needed to be successful in
college. I didn't have any issues with the academics, but even so, I almost failed
my first year of college. I could do the work, but I didn't have the blindness
skills to help me successfully navigate my college campus, and I didn't have the
confidence to advocate for myself.</p> <p>Finally I hit rock bottom. I was convinced
I would have to drop out. But my mentors in the National Federation of the Blind
were there to help me pick myself up. They made sure I used that experience as a
learning opportunity.</p> <p>I enrolled as a student at the Louisiana Center for
the Blind in June of 2011. It was the best decision I have ever made in my life!
I learned so much more than cane travel, Braille, and home management! I learned
confidence. Confidence is a trait that no one, no circumstance, will ever be able
to take away from you or your blind children.</p> <p>At the Louisiana Center for
the Blind I was exposed to fabulous role models such as Pam and Roland Allen and
the rest of the staff. After I completed the curriculum at the center I went back
to school. I graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and
a minor in Spanish. Because of my involvement in our movement and the relationships
I had built through my participation, President Riccobono granted me the privilege
of going to Baltimore and joining the Government Affairs staff at our national
center.</p> <p>I had done some political work during college. I worked on campaigns
at different levels, but I had no policy experience. Even with the confidence I
had gained at the Louisiana Center, I didn't think I had the capacity to dive deep
into policymaking, to understand the nitty-gritty of how laws get made. I didn't
know how regulations are implemented so that blind people really can live the
lives they want. But because of the mentorship I received from my Federation
family, I participated in negotiations to push for accessibility in instructional
materials. I worked on voting access. I worked on making sure that blind people
and the needs of blind people are represented when we talk about things like
immigration. I worked extensively on the legislative efforts to ratify the Marrakesh
Treaty to facilitate international access to published works for the print disabled.
Ultimately, because of the faith that my Federation family placed in me and my
personal development, I was invited to interview for and accepted the position I
now hold.</p> <p>This sounds like a really good story with a happy ending. But
let me tell you, I'm still writing my story. Because this is life, I expect that
there will continue to be challenges. I take comfort in knowing that my participation
in the movement, my friends and family in this organization, will always be in my
corner to lift me up, to give me advice, to give me support, and to give me
encouragement. That's what we're here to offer you this week.</p> <p>Every year
the national convention serves as an opportunity for me to reflect on what the
Federation has given me. It allows me to recommit myself to make my contributions
matter for the next generation. I'm very pleased that you're here with us this
week. We would have received you with a Texas-sized welcome and breakfast tacos!
But because you aren't here, I've had to eat the breakfast tacos myself.</p> <p>I'm
very glad you're here, and I hope that my story will help you understand the value
of this organization. If you're not a member yet, let me invite you to join us.
Together let's transform our dreams into reality. Thank you so much!</p>
<p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Trisha Kulkarni]</p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Precious Perez]</p>
<p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Qualik Ford]</p> <h2 id="students-speak">Students Speak:</h2>
<h2 id="building-and-using-your-blindness-network">Building and Using Your Blindness
Network</h2> <p>by Trisha Kulkarni, Precious Perez, and Qualik Ford</p> <p><em>From
the Editor: At the NOPBC Conference, three student leaders spoke about their lives
and the evolution of their feelings about blindness and activism. Trisha Kulkarni
is pursuing an undergraduate degree in computer science at Stanford University.
She serves as a board member for the National Association of Blind Students (NABS),
the student division of the National Federation of the Blind. Precious Perez, who
is pursuing undergraduate degrees in music education and vocal performance at
Berklee College of Music, serves as president of the Massachusetts Association of
Blind Students and is a member of the NFB of Massachusetts affiliate board. Qualik
Ford is a member of the class of 2020 at Parkville High School in Maryland and
the Maryland School for the Blind. He serves as president of the Maryland Association
of Blind Students. NOPBC President Carlton Anne Cook Walker moderated the
panel.</em></p> <p><em>Carlton Anne Cook Walker:</em> Precious, please share with
us what the NFB has meant to you and how you are continuing to shine in the
interesting times in which we live.</p> <p><em>Precious Perez:</em> I got involved
with the Federation when I was fifteen years old. It was at the Massachusetts
state convention. The president of the student division said, "I'm stepping down.
Who wants to be president?" There was silence in the room, so I said, "Okay, I'll
do it!" I've been president of the Massachusetts Association of Blind Students
ever since then.</p> <p>I attended the BLIND, Inc., summer program in 2017. NFB
has shown me that I am capable of doing what I want to do. I grew up with all of
the services I needed. I was surrounded by wonderful people who encouraged me to
advocate and showed me what it meant to do that. NFB strengthened that philosophy
and showed me how to apply it to my own life and the things that I'm doing. I'm
currently pursuing a degree in music education, and I'm also a performer. My goal
is to teach blind students and sighted students in the public schools. I hope to
use my experience from the different communities I represent—I'm Puerto
Rican, and I come from a low-income background. My goal is to use the avenues I
have to inspire the next generation and teach kids of that generation that they
can do whatever they want to do in life. It's something that I have a passion for.
I think there are still a lot of stereotypes prevalent in our society. I want to
use the gifts I've been given to abolish those stereotypes.</p> <p><em>Qualik
Ford:</em> That was great! My name is Qualik Ford, and I'm president of the Maryland
Association of Blind Students. I'm also on the Youth Leadership Committee of the
World Blind Union North American Division. Technically I've been a Federationist
my whole life. When I was born my dad brought me down to the Jernigan Institute
to show me off!</p> <p>When I was in high school I got active in the Federation,
and I started looking for leadership positions. I was looking to grow as a student
and as a person. I saw how some of the blind students around me viewed themselves,
and I didn't like it. They seemed to think they were less than their sighted peers.
Once a friend told me, "I don't think I better have kids." I asked her why not,
and she said, "I was trying to feed my baby cousin, and I accidentally put the
bottle up to her forehead instead of her mouth." I said, "That was a mistake. If
someone taught you how to do it, you'd get it." When you've got pressure from the
people around you, telling you that you can't do things, it gets you into very
wrong thinking.</p> <p>There are so many blind people who are out there doing
things, making waves! On my own board, my secretary runs her own nonprofit. I
think that is totally awesome! My vice president has been teaching in the BELL
Academy for years. So many blind students are doing things when they have the
tools to help them grow!</p> <p>In school I had a lot of people looking out for
me and helping me mature. I finished high school, and I'm going to the Louisiana
Center for the Blind on August 4. I'm really excited about that! It's a chance
for me to refine my blindness skills before I go off to college. Eventually I want
to become a teacher of the visually impaired. I want to go to Louisiana Tech and
learn the structured discovery method that we all prize. I want to make sure that
my students know they can do a lot with their lives—go skiing, go to Space
Camp and learn about astronauts. There are so many opportunities! My goal is to
push for change for everyone.</p> <p><em>Trisha Kulkarni:</em> I'm originally from
Dayton, Ohio. I lost my vision unexpectedly when I was in seventh grade. During
high school I learned Braille and technology. I was an NFB scholarship winner when
I was eighteen, the summer after I graduated from high school. That's when I first
met the National Federation of the Blind, and my life has transformed since then!
It's crazy that it's only been a couple of years, because I feel like this is my
family.</p> <p>I serve as a board member of the National Association of Blind
Students (NABS), and it's been an honor to serve as chair of the Legislative and
Advocacy Committee. For the past six months I've had the chance to work with
Carlton, encouraging students to advocate for themselves and to advocate for other
students who might not have the resources that we have.</p> <p>I am a rising junior
at Stanford University, majoring in computer science. I honestly don't know how
I'm a junior already! It feels like I just started! I want to use my technical
knowledge and the resources I've gained through NABS to have an impact wherever
possible. I'm waiting to know what that will look like.</p> <p><em>CW:</em> I'm
going to throw out a couple of questions for you guys to answer. What would you
tell your younger self, five, ten, fifteen years ago—okay, you're pretty
young to talk about fifteen years ago! What would you tell your parents? Not that
they've done horrible things, but what do you wish they had known?</p> <p><em>Qualik
Ford:</em> I grew up with two blind parents, so in theory I had a very ideal
situation. But I think my mom had a hard time adjusting. A lot of things were
going on. From 2010 until now there have been revolutionary changes in technology,
for instance, and it's hard for her to understand that things for me are very
different from what she experienced growing up. It's important for us to have
active conversations so she understands. I have to grow with the opportunities I
have. I definitely have it easier than she did. I appreciate that she had knowledge
of blindness, but I wish I could have given her that boost to expand her understanding
and help her be more open-minded.</p> <p>The second thing is that I would tell
myself to be more physically active, to get myself out there. On the local and
national levels the NFB has so much going on. When I went to my very first NABS
seminar—that was huge! There were all these young leaders who had so much
going for them. It blew my mind! It sent me onto a path where I knew I wanted to
be like them. I needed to grow. I wanted to get everything I needed. I was learning
things I never learned at a younger age, and it changed my life.</p> <p><em>Precious
Perez:</em> I'm going to go with five years ago, because I don't remember much
about my life when I was eleven. When I was sixteen I was terrified of college
because I didn't know what to expect. I was terrified about what came next. I knew
I had goals, but I didn't have any idea how to reach them. I had been underestimated
all the time. I was blind, and I had a high-pitched voice, and people treated me
like a cute little girl. Looking back, I wish I could tell myself, "You're going
to do more than you think you're going to do. Give it time. Pursue the things
you're passionate about. Lean on the people who support you, inside and outside
the Federation. Believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, even if other
people don't, you have the power to succeed."</p> <p><em>Trisha Kulkarni:</em>
When I lost my vision my parents and I had to fight furiously to get my accommodations.
Under the circumstances I think my parents did everything they could. They got me
started in learning Braille and assistive technology and cane travel. I think we
all needed to understand that even though independence is the goal, that doesn't
mean that you have to go it alone. If my parents had known about the NOPBC, they
could have spent their energy much more efficiently. They could have worked to
change the system rather than just fighting for me day to day. That's something
I also had to learn the hard way. Now that I've connected with other blind people,
I realize that even though you can be independent and do everything you need to
do, you start at a higher point if you learn through the collective knowledge of
our organization.</p> <p><em>Carlton Walker:</em> Thank you so much. Enjoy
convention!</p> <p><strong>NOPBC WORKSHOPS</strong></p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Melissa
Riccobono]</p> <h2 id="lets-socialize-teaching-your-child-common-physical-movements">Let's
Socialize: Teaching Your Child Common Physical Movements </h2> <p>by Melissa
Riccobono</p> <p><em>From the Editor: In addition to being the First Lady of the
National Federation of the Blind, Melissa Riccobono is a school guidance counselor,
and she is the mother of three children, two of whom are blind. In this article,
based on a workshop she conducted at the 2020 NFB National Convention, she draws
upon her experience as a mother, a mentor, and a blind woman.</em></p> <p>Growing
up as a blind child, I didn't pick up visual communication automatically the way
sighted children do. Fortunately I wasn't afraid to ask questions, and I learned
some of the basics at an early age. Even then, though, my understanding could be
a little bit off, and the people around me needed to set me straight.</p> <p>For
instance, I had to learn the nuances of nodding and shaking my head. When I wanted
to say yes, I would nod my head really hard, so it was more like "YESSS!!!!!"
Eventually someone explained, "People don't usually nod so hard. Just nod lightly
up and down. And you only need to do it a couple of times." It was the same with
shaking my head no. I would shake my head very hard from side to side and side to
side again. Finally somebody said, "That's not the way most people do it. Just
shake your head a little bit."</p> <p>It's very important for blind children and
teens to understand the gestures that are part of our nonverbal language. When I
was in fourth grade a friend said, "Do thumbs up." I said, "What do you mean?"
I'd heard the term, but I had no idea how to do the thumbs up gesture, so my friend
showed me how.</p> <p>Then there are things that are a little bit naughty. I'm
not suggesting that you encourage your children to give anyone the middle finger!
But they definitely should know that, in our society, that finger is equated with
something not very nice. When they're old enough you should show them how the
gesture is usually done so they won't do it accidentally. You don't want them to
do it, but you want them to have that frame of reference.</p> <p>The importance
of frame of reference really came home to me when I was serving on jury duty. The
judge told everyone to raise their right hand. I had heard that expression for
years, but I never thought to ask how it's done. I assumed it didn't mean I should
raise my hand up over my head as though I were answering a question in school. I
couldn't ask the person next to me, "Excuse me, how do I raise my right hand?"
People expect everyone to know. If you're not sure, you look around and see what
everyone else is doing, and you copy that movement.</p> <p>Another gesture I've
never gotten very good at is waving. I tend to use my whole hand, but I've been
told you just use your wrist.</p> <p>These are all gestures that people use every
day without thinking about it. While you're using them, please keep your blind
child in mind. As your children grow older, they need to be able to use those
gestures so they don't feel uncomfortable, especially if they don't have a good
friend to ask.</p> <p>When I was in seventh and eighth grade, we started to have
school dances. I knew how to dance fast, but I really didn't know how people slow
dance. I asked a friend of mine, "What do people do?" She showed me how people
put a hand on the waist or a hand on the shoulder, and how they might giggle and
put their heads down a little bit. She was very descriptive. I was very, very
lucky to have her in my life to teach me! By the time I was in seventh or eighth
grade I didn't want to ask my mom or dad. I didn't want to have to ask any adult!</p>
<p>It's very important for your children to have as many adults and friends and
blind mentors in their lives as possible. It really does take a village to raise
a child. I never understood this so well until I had three children of my own!
Right now they're thirteen, ten, and eight years old. For the most part they still
come to me when they have a question. But I know that at some point I won't be
the person they want to go to anymore. From the time they were very little, I've
tried to surround them with as many really good people as I can find. If they
don't want to come to me and ask something, I hope they can go to another adult.
I might not always have the answers anyway.</p> <p>As far as teaching gestures to
children and explaining when they're used, the earlier you start, the better it
is. As your children get older, they're not going to want to learn from you. They
may have more and more experiences where they feel that everyone around them knows
how to do something, and they feel left behind.</p> <p>Preschool is a great place
to begin. In preschool children learn a lot of dances and a lot of songs that use
gestures and movements. Through those songs and dances you can work on building
many skills. There's the Hokey Pokey:</p> <p>You put your right arm in!</p> <p>You
put your right arm out!</p> <p>You put your right arm in,</p> <p>And you shake it
all about!</p> <p>Make sure your child knows how to do those movements. It's a
terrific teaching opportunity. They're not just learning a dance. They're learning
left and right and in and out. They're learning to follow directions, and they're
having fun at the same time. If you teach the dance at home, then your children
will be all set when they do it in class. They won't approach it with dread,
feeling that they don't know what everybody else is doing.</p> <p>Make sure you
know which dances will be done in your child's preschool, whether the program is
virtual or face-to-face. Work on them at home so your child has a leg up. If you
don't have enough time, or if there are just too many new dances being introduced,
a paraprofessional might be able to help. Maybe the IEP could incorporate movement
and dance instruction by the child's teacher of blind students. Talk to the
classroom teacher about giving verbal instructions. Good descriptive language
benefits all of the children. "Now put your hands over your head and clap three
times!" or "Get down on your hands and knees" are much better instructions than,
"Now go like this."</p> <p>If your child learns to do the dances ahead of time,
he or she can be a leader in class. Other children can watch and learn to do the
dance from your blind child, and that's really powerful! They can see that your
child isn't all that different and actually has a lot to offer.</p> <p>In addition
to gestures and dance, make sure your child is comfortable with common exercises.
Jumping, hopping on one foot, galloping, skipping, and running all are things
they'll do in school. The earlier you teach them, the better it will be. When the
teacher says, "Do five jumping-jacks," your child will be able to do those
jumping-jacks along with every other kid in the group.</p> <p>There's a lot to be
said on this topic, and I've just gotten started. Now I'd like to hear your
questions.</p> <p><em>Ashley:</em> I'm a youth coordinator for SAAVI Services for
the Blind in Arizona, so I work with a lot of blind kids. I also have an
eighteen-month-old daughter who is blind. I find that talking about gestures and
dances sometimes makes children uncomfortable or embarrassed. This is especially
true for the teenagers. They realize they don't know these things, and they get
shy. Do you have any tips for opening the conversation?</p> <p><em>Melissa:</em>
I think the best thing is to get the kids together and say, "We're all going to
learn these dances." Don't ask, "Do you know how to do this dance?" You might say,
"If you know how, you can show other people." If you have a couple of blind people
who can explain to the teens how they do the dance, that's very helpful. Maybe
you could have the teens learn the dances and teach them to the younger kids.</p>
<p>I also think it's important for you, as a sighted person, to let blind kids
know that not everyone does these things perfectly. There's a whole range of
abilities in dancing, as in everything else. As blind people we tend to feel that
we're the only ones who are uncomfortable or limited. It's probably not the case,
but we don't always have a good friend around who will tell us the truth.</p>
<p><em>Favia:</em> I cannot overstate the importance of everything that is being
discussed! It might seem that academic success is more important than social
skills, and that social skills can be thought about later. But social skills and
body language are important right now!</p> <p><em>Melissa:</em> I haven't talked
very much about body language, and it's tremendously important. It is so, so
important for your children to look at someone when they're talking to them. It's
important for your children to learn to keep their heads up and keep their eyes
open if they can. A girl needs to know not to sit with her legs spread apart if
she's wearing a dress. These are all things sighted people take for granted, but
since your children can't look around and see what other people are doing, they
need to be taught. That's another reason why it's important to have other adults
on board.</p> <p>For a lot of kids personal space is a huge issue. I've often
observed that blind children, especially young ones, want to be very close to me.
They're trying to figure out where I am and what I'm doing. Teachers and other
people in their lives tend to give them a pass. They think, she's blind, she
doesn't know where I am, she needs to be close to me. It's okay for a three- or
four-year-old to be close and to touch a lot, but it becomes more and more
uncomfortable for others as the child gets older. Imagine you're talking to a
sixteen-year-old, one of the opposite gender! Having a teen standing too close to
you can be very uncomfortable very quickly.</p> <p>It's important to teach your
child to ask permission before touching others. If people are talking about my
earrings and a child wants to touch them, they're welcome to touch them and find
out what they're like, but I appreciate being asked first. Make sure the other
adults in your child's life understand and reinforce the expectations about personal
space.</p> <p>Often our children touch and grab others because they themselves
are touched and grabbed, pushed and pulled so much without permission. It is
essential that you teach your young blind children that they can say no. They can
learn to say it politely but firmly. Their bodies truly belong to them! Just
because they're blind, it doesn't mean someone can march up and grab them and say,
"Okay, we're going now!" Even as an adult, pre-COVID, I got touched and grabbed
and patted or literally hand-held when I did not want any of that touching! It's
incredibly important to teach kids when they're little that unwanted touch is not
acceptable. When I was little I was told, "They mean well; they're just trying to
help." I was not encouraged to establish my own boundaries. Our kids can learn to
say, "No thank you. I can walk to the office by myself. I know where I'm going.
I don't need help right now."</p> <p><em>Serena:</em> When I dance, I do it without
my cane. But what do you do when you want to leave the dance floor and go back to
your table?</p> <p><em>Melissa:</em> This is one time where a folding cane can
come in handy. If you don't have a pocket, maybe your date has one. You even can
hold a folding cane under your arm. Once in a while I have a table right by the
dance floor. If I have friends at the table, they can call out to me.</p>
<p><em>Juliet:</em> I know it's important for my son to look at people when they're
speaking to him. He also has to look at people when he's speaking to them. We're
still working on having him remember to close his blinds in the morning before he
gets dressed. With his light perception he likes to keep the blinds open so he
can see the sun rise and know when it's time to get up. But he has to close the
blinds before he gets dressed!</p> <p><em>Melissa:</em> That's a very good point!
You can't see other people, but they can see you. Of course, the downside is that
kids can start to feel like people are constantly watching them. I still have to
remind myself sometimes that everyone isn't watching me 24/7; I'm just not all
that interesting! But often we are watched. Because we have a cane or a guide dog,
we draw attention. Parents all over the universe are teaching their kids things
like, "Don't pick your nose!" This isn't just unique to having a blind child, but
it's really important for our blind kids to learn.</p> <p><em>Annie:</em> What
about self-stimming behaviors like head-shaking or hand-flapping? How do you talk
to your children about that?</p> <p><em>Melissa:</em> Again, the younger you can
start those conversations, the better it is. It can help to figure out when the
stim behaviors happen. Are they happening because the child is bored and looking
for something else to do? If that's the case, try to get them involved with a toy
or an activity. A stress ball or some other toy held in the hand may re-channel
the need for stimming. Sometimes you and the child might agree upon a key word or
signal as a reminder. Breathing exercises can help calm nervous energy.</p>
<p>Having other people on board really can help here. It doesn't matter how often
you tell your child something, but it might just click when it comes from somebody
else—a teacher they love, or a favorite aunt.</p> <p><em>Favia:</em> In a
situation where there are multiple speakers, how do you know who to look at? And
what do you do in a group where people are constantly moving around?</p>
<p><em>Melissa:</em> That's a tough one! I think the best thing to do is to cue
in on a person who's speaking and turn or lean in that direction. If someone is
behind you, I think the best thing is to turn around and invite them to sit with
you or come closer. It's probably uncomfortable for them to be behind you if you're
involved in a group conversation, so you can invite them to join your table or
circle.</p> <p>If you have younger children, it can be important to talk to the
teacher and the classmates and explain that if they're going to leave, please let
the blind child know. There is nothing more embarrassing than talking to somebody
who has left! Even well-intentioned people sometimes forget and walk away because
they're thinking about something else. It's okay for the child to say the person's
name if you're not sure they're still there, just to check and find out whether
they have moved.</p> <p><em>Treva:</em> How do you deal with the loud music in a
dance situation? It can be pretty overwhelming!</p> <p><em>Melissa</em>: Talk
about thinking back to high school! I used to go with no cane all the time to
places with friends, and I just assumed my friends would be there to help me out.
I didn't want to look different, standing there with a cane. I figured I'd leave
the cane at home, and then I wouldn't look weird. It would be all well and good
till my friends saw other friends across the room and walked away. They weren't
trying to be mean; they just wanted to see their other friends. I had no idea
where they were, and the music was so loud I couldn't get my bearings. I'm sure
I looked much weirder, walking with my hand in front of me, than I would have
looked if I had my cane and could move with confidence.</p> <p>Talk to your teens
about how they'll need their cane in a loud place. They're going to need every
source of information they can get. If a teenager really doesn't want to go to
that loud dance, maybe they can have a party at the house, where they can control
the volume. After that they might be more comfortable with the idea of going
somewhere with louder music.</p> <p>As far as showing up at a club by myself, I
can't imagine doing it! That's just me. If I'm going with other people, I want to
have a conversation beforehand. We might agree on a meeting place. We might use
our cell phones if I can hear texts with earbuds. Find out if you can take a
friend's arm so you don't get separated. Making plans ahead of time can be very
helpful.</p> <p>Thank you all for attending this session, and thanks for your
great questions. Please feel free to contact me. My email is <a
href="mailto:melissaariccobono@gmail.com">melissaariccobono@gmail.com</a>, and my
cell is 443-803-0266.</p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Maurice Peret]</p> <h2
id="fourteen-its-a-magical-age">Fourteen: It's a Magical Age</h2> <p>by Maurice
Peret</p> <p><em>Introduction by Carlton Walker: Maurice Peret is an orientation
and mobility instructor with NOMC certification, and he is in charge of youth
mentoring programs for the NFB. In this presentation he talks about the transition
planning that officially begins for our blind and low vision children when they
reach the age of fourteen.</em></p> <p>I want to thank the board of directors of
the NOPBC for inviting me to speak to you today. We often say that your children
are our children, and it's really true. Your children are our future. It is really
an honor to speak on the topic of transition.</p> <p>Fourteen is a magical age or
a miserable age, depending on how you look at it. Before we get to that magical
age, I want to remind everyone that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure. Preparation is vitally important! It's important to make sure blindness
skills are in place as early as possible. If your child has a progressive eye
condition, it's essential for them to learn blindness skills as soon as they can,
even if right now they're getting along using the vision they still have. If they
learn to use a cane, they're not going to forget how to use their vision! They
need to learn Braille as early as they can. Again, learning Braille won't stop
them from learning to read print. One more part of literacy for blind kids is
keyboarding, or touch typing. Knowing how to type will allow them to use a computer
at school and in the workplace.</p> <p>By the time we get to that magical age of
fourteen, a lot of things are happening for our kids. Puberty has kicked in.
Friends are changing. Pretty soon peers will be learning to drive. Extracurricular
activities change schedules so teens aren't always home when they used to be. They
don't have time to eat dinner with the family anymore.</p> <p>This is a time when
kids are learning soft skills. They're learning to prepare meals, even if it just
amounts to putting food in the microwave. They need to start learning to travel
independently, without an adult, in age-appropriate ways.</p> <p>At fourteen our
kids are in eighth grade, or maybe they're freshmen in high school. The government
designates ages fourteen to twenty-one as a period called transition. When our
kids reach fourteen they become eligible for certain services. You will need to
get your child enrolled with the Department of Rehabilitation Services in your
state. In some states rehab services are handled by a commission for the blind.
It's wise to start the process as soon as you can, because there can be a lot of
paperwork involved.</p> <p>What Services Can Your Child Receive?</p> <p>Until now
planning has usually focused on helping your child succeed in classes at school.
Developing an IPE is all about long-term strategies. Your child should take an
active role in their IPE meetings. They need to think beyond what will get them
through a particular class and start to look ahead toward what they want in terms
of education and possible career. Vocational rehabilitation (VR) will look at
career goals and determine what steps must be taken to support your child's goal.
If the student needs comprehensive rehabilitation training, now is the time to
begin thinking about it. It might be college, or it might be training in skills
that will lead to a professional license in a field such as electronics, auto
mechanics, or massage.</p> <p>A number of transition services are available through
rehabilitation programs. These may include youth training programs that take place
during the summer, where kids can learn some of the blindness skills I mentioned
earlier. They can also work on those soft skills, such as cooking. They can work
on travel—indoor and outdoor, in both familiar and unfamiliar places. They
begin to socialize with other young people who are also blind or have low vision.</p>
<p>I cannot emphasize too strongly the value of this training. At this point in
life, identity becomes extremely important. In order for our kids to hold high
expectations for themselves and to believe that blindness won't stand between them
and their dreams, they need to know peers who are going through some of the same
things they are experiencing. They especially need to know blind adult role models
who have gone down this path and can help them solve problems so they don't have
to reinvent the wheel. In most cases our kids are the only blind students in their
school, or even in their county. Blind adults play an extremely important role by
modeling high expectations and showing them what's possible.</p> <p>When I was
growing up, the question in my mind always was: What jobs can I do as a blind
person? Now I recognize that that's an unfortunate place to start from. You need
to start by thinking about what you want to do. What are your dreams? The meeting
with the VR counselor should focus on that goal. Don't let anyone talk your child
out of that dream on the basis of blindness. You want to be a medical doctor? We
know some blind doctors. You want to go into law enforcement? There are roles in
law enforcement that a blind person certainly can play. The time soon may come
when opportunities will open up in the military. With all of our digital operations,
many tasks carried out in the armed forces do not require vision.</p> <p>Apart
from blindness, of course, your child has to look at the skills needed for the
job. We need to recognize all of our children's skills and challenges.</p> <p>Summer
training programs for blind teens can focus on job readiness, career exploration,
and even recreation and socialization. Programs might be built around skills such
as technology, Braille, or travel.</p> <p>Rehab services also can help your kids
obtain tools and technology they need. Computer skills are critically important.
Young people I work with often tell me, "I'm great with technology!" When I explore
with them what they mean, I find out they're saying that they know how to use
their phone. They know how to text. They don't know much about using email or word
processing. We have to make kids get all of those computer skills.</p> <p>If
Braille is the student's primary reading medium, we have to find out which tools
will work best in the long run. Often young people are introduced to Braille
notetaking devices such as the BrailleNote Touch. However, they need computer
skills to use in tandem with the Braille device. If students go off to college
with a Braille device and have no computer skills, they won't know how to create
documents in the format that professors expect. They will face quite a steep
learning curve. We have to make sure that our children are learning to use equipment
that will serve them beyond high school. They need to be able to integrate smoothly
into a new environment. In college there are no IEPs. Our children need to have
strong self-advocacy skills so they can ask for the accommodations they need.</p>
<p>I've spent most of my career as an orientation and mobility instructor, teaching
cane travel skills. The NFB challenged the idea that blind people couldn't teach
cane travel, which was the prevailing belief among a lot of professionals. The
NFB said, "Hey, we've been teaching each other for decades." When I was growing
up the term they used to describe me was "partially sighted." I thought that meant
I was more sighted than blind, but I was quite mistaken. By the time I turned
thirteen I found out that the little vision I had would gradually disappear.
Changes in vision can be added to the changes our children are going through by
the time they reach fourteen.</p> <p>I'm curious to know what is on your minds.
What are some of the questions you have?</p> <p><em>KAREN:</em> One of our
frustrations has been accessing things that will help my daughter, who is thirteen
right now. Because there is this gateway at fourteen, we keep hearing, "We can't
help you until she's fourteen!" There are so many things that would help her in
her education, but she can't access them yet. Why aren't we providing opportunities
to our younger children so they can start gaining these skills earlier?</p>
<p><em>MAURICE:</em> It's true; starting services at fourteen is a bit arbitrary.
Part of the reason is that there's a bit of a tussle going on between the
rehabilitation establishment and the education system. I don't want to let the
education system off the hook around providing necessary skills and an equal
education. We all know that the education system is often inadequate when it comes
to serving our blind children. The schools are responsible for providing those
necessary skills to our younger children, however we can make that happen.</p>
<p>The VR system is designed to complement education. It isn't meant to provide
education per se, but to support the student's long-range goals. Our NFB training
centers around the country host programs for children under fourteen every summer.
We also connect with children through our BELL<sup>®</sup> Academies, where
they learn basic Braille and mobility skills and are exposed to blind volunteers
who serve as role models.</p> <p><em>HAILEY:</em> My son is fourteen, and I just
learned that he should be looking into transition services. He's a little bit
behind, and I want to know how I can help him try new things that might scare him.
Sometimes it seems that state agencies try to force people in directions that they
don't want or need to go. For instance, they'll pay for your child to go to their
program, which we don't want, but they won't pay for an NFB program. How can we
avoid this pitfall?</p> <p><em>MAURICE:</em> There is a provision in the VR law
called the right to informed choice. If you can make the argument that an NFB
summer program can provide something that is not offered by the VR agency's program,
they have to honor your choice. It can be a bit of a struggle. Leaders in your
affiliate can help by advocating for you.</p> <p>As far as how to sell a program
to your son, you can pitch it by telling him that the summer programs aren't all
just scary hard work. There is socialization, the chance to get to know kids his
age and to make friends. Some of his emotional delay may come from feeling alienated.
In a summer program he won't be the only kid who doesn't present as what you'd
expect of a fourteen-year-old.</p> <p><em>MARISOL:</em> I'm blind, and I'm interested
in getting involved with parents and using my personal and professional experience
to help them along the way. Does the NFB have advocates who help parents with the
IEP process?</p> <p><em>MAURICE:</em> I can say unequivocally yes. Families can
invite anyone they want to the IEP meeting. They can bring as many people as they
want. You don't have to be a parent to be an advocate, that's for sure!</p>
<p><em>KIMBERLY:</em> Hi, this is Kimberley Banks. I'm on the board of the NOPBC.
If you want to get involved with advocacy, I strongly encourage you to get involved
with your state affiliate. Usually the first contact a parent has, when they're
dealing with an IEP issue, is with their state affiliate president. The affiliate
president will put the parent in contact with an advocate. You also can reach out
to us at the NOPBC. We have people who can join an IEP meeting over the phone or
through Zoom. Reach out to us, and we can give you more information.</p>
<p><em>CHRIS:</em> My son is now fourteen, and my daughter is twelve. I want to
ask about shaving. Should I get my son an electric razor? How would you tackle
that, from a man's point of view?</p> <p><em>MAURICE:</em> Now I have to put on
my mentoring hat! The cool thing about shaving is that it's inherently a tactile
activity. Whether you start out with an electric razor or disposable razors is a
matter of personal preference. Your son will have to do a bit of experimentation,
but you can show him the basics. Show him the way the blade should be facing and
how to check that.</p> <p><em>KAREN:</em> You touched on self-advocacy and having
your child attend the IPE meeting. I have noticed that when my daughter attends
IEP meetings, the experience has exacerbated her depression and self-depreciation.
She'll say, "Why am I blind? I hate being blind!" I try to put a positive spin on
it—being blind isn't the worst thing in the world. How can you help your
child with their emotional well-being while trying to teach them to self-advocate?</p>
<p><em>MAURICE:</em> I'm so sorry she's struggling with those feelings! Actually
those are pretty typical feelings for kids her age. We want to help her understand
that going to an IEP meeting, something that makes her feel like an outsider, can
really be empowering. You might pitch it as, "You might be an executive some day.
This is good practice for going to a board meeting." All the people around the
table are there to support her in reaching her goal, and in a way, she calls the
shots. A lot of skills come into play, such as negotiating. Help her understand
that there is a team to support her, and she is the center of the team. She's the
CEO. When she goes to college that team will be gone, and she'll get to be who
she gets to be.</p> <p>Again, skills training is very important. I hear people
say sometimes, "I don't want to use a cane! It makes me stand out like a sore
thumb." I try to make them realize that once they master the skills of using the
cane, they blend in. The cane becomes invisible. You get past feeling that using
the cane is weird. Actually, <em>not</em> using a cane when you need one really
looks weird! You need to master blindness skills so that they become background.
It's a process that your daughter needs to understand. It's not quick and easy.</p>
<p>Maybe the IEP meeting can start by having your daughter lay out her goals. She
can explain what she would like to see happen. Then she can have the last word at
the meeting as well. No matter what happens in the middle, she can have the first
word and the last word. Having an adult blind mentor at the meeting can also
help.</p> <p><em>KATHY:</em> I'm a rehabilitation counselor with the state of
Illinois. When it comes time for a student to have an IPE [individualized plan
for employment], the student becomes the leader in addressing their transition
goals. This gives the student ownership and responsibility with the IPE.</p>
<p><em>MAURICE:</em> That's awesome. We need you in other states!</p> <p><em>HAILEY:</em>
What are some things that parents and students can ask VR to provide that we might
not think of right off the bat?</p> <p><em>MAURICE:</em> Technology is a big one.
Find out what your child needs. Is it software? Is it equipment? What will provide
your child with the same access to materials that their classmates have?</p> <p>I
also want to mention that the NFB has a career mentoring program in several states.
Your daughter can sign up as a mentee and be connected with blind adults who can
help her deal with some of the issues she's going through. She can apply at
nfb.org/nfb.mentee.application. The program is in Maryland, Nebraska, and Mississippi,
and we're hoping to expand into other states.</p> <p>I'm on staff at the NFB, and
I'd be happy to talk offline to any parents who have questions. I sincerely hope
that the next time we get together, it will be in person! My email is mperet@nfb.org.</p>
<p><strong>NOPBC BOARD MEETING</strong></p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Carol Castellano]</p>
<h2 id="nopbc-past-present-and-future">NOPBC: Past, Present, and Future</h2> <p>by
Carol Castellano</p> <p><em>Introduction by Carlton Anne Cook Walker: In order to
know where we are headed, it is important to know where we came from. The perfect
person to take us on this journey is Carol Castellano, one of our great parent
and Federation leaders. Like many of us, Carol came to the Federation and to the
NOPBC looking for help. Through her articles, her books, her presentations, and
her advocacy, through her services and her heart, Carol makes certain that we have
the information we need and that we feel the love she has for us and for our
children.</em></p> <p>You are here as part of the National Organization of Parents
of Blind Children, a proud division of the National Federation of the Blind. It's
an exciting place to be! I think this is really where the action is.</p> <p>Our
history began in 1983, when the division was organized, but the Federation's
interest in parents began long before that. For example, in 1954, longtime NFB
President Dr. Jacobus tenBroek and Kenneth Jernigan organized a statewide seminar
for parents in California on the subject of the education of blind children. In
the 1970s our longtime NOPBC president, Barbara Cheadle, organized a seminar for
parents in Nebraska. In 1983 Dr. Jernigan saw the need to organize a division in
which parents would work alongside blind adult Federation members to improve the
lives of the blind.</p> <p>Some of you might have noticed that the NFB is an
organization with a point of view. We call it our philosophy of blindness. Dr.
Jernigan's idea was to apply the Federation philosophy to the lives of blind
children as they were growing up.</p> <p>So what is our philosophy of blindness?
It's the idea that blindness does not have to be a limiting factor in a person's
life, that it's okay to be blind. Our children deserve a full education and
meaningful literacy. We believe that the skills of blindness, such as Braille,
cane travel, and access technology, are the keys to living a fully independent
life. Our philosophy is the belief that, with proper training and opportunity, a
blind person can compete on terms of equality. It's the belief that the blind can
speak for themselves and the belief that the real experts on blindness are the
blind.</p> <p>Beginning in the 1980s, the NOPBC became not only a critical source
of support and information for parents, but also an agent for change in society.
These two areas, information and support and agent for change, pretty much summarize
what we do.</p> <p>Over the years we established our national magazine, <em>Future
Reflections</em>. We began to hold national seminars like this one for parents
and teachers. We organized chapters in the states. We began programs such as Slate
Pals, Braille Readers Are Leaders, Braille Reading Pals, Early Explorers, the Cane
Walk, STEM programs, IEP workshops, the Parent Leadership Program, mentoring
programs, and so much more. We've published books and articles that have been read
by thousands of people across the nation.</p> <p>Yes, we are an agent for change
in society. We change the lives of individual children and their families, and we
move beyond the individual to make changes in the larger system. Twenty-five years
ago expectations were far lower for blind children, and opportunities were fewer.
NOPBC raised the bar. It raised expectations of parents and teachers and of the
blind children themselves. Instead of being doomed to illiteracy, dependency, and
helplessness, our kids now learn a can-do attitude, and they find out it's okay
to be blind.</p> <p>Blindness in children is one of the lowest incidence disabilities.
When a blind child comes into a community or a school system, they're usually the
first such child in anyone's memory. No one knows what to do. When parents begin
the search for information, they're often barraged by negatives. They hear
pessimistic predictions about their child's ability to reach developmental
milestones, negative assumptions about what the child will be able to accomplish,
depressing messages about how hard it is to be blind, discouraging presumptions
about how blindness will affect family life. When a family discovers NOPBC, suddenly
they find a new way to look at blindness and the possibilities for their child's
future. The message of despair suddenly becomes a message of empowerment and
hope.</p> <p>Because we were founded in partnership with the National Federation
of the Blind, we and our children can call upon the experience of more than fifty
thousand blind people across the country. Those blind people become our mentors,
our role models, and our friends. And of course our children have this organization
to grow into.</p> <p>In addition to changing the lives of individual families and
children, NOPBC works to get laws passed to safeguard our children's right to a
full education and an independent future. In fact, it has been the NFB and the
NOPBC that have gotten most of the laws passed that impact blind children and
adults in a positive way. We fought for the right of blind and low-vision children
to learn Braille and to get their textbooks on time. We led the campaign to get
canes into the hands of very young blind children. We got the National Library
Service (NLS) to hire its first children's librarian. We have participated on
national committees to protect civil rights and to establish national standards
in the blindness field.</p> <p>This kind of parent advocacy simply was not available
before our organization came into existence. We insist on equal access for our
kids. We insist on them getting the opportunity to learn blindness skills to make
them independent, and we don't take no for an answer. This is the place to be!
This is where the action is!</p> <p>We have such a great organization because of
the people in it, and that means each of you. NOPBC is strong because of the
leadership, dedication, advocacy, and passion of its members.</p> <p>NOPBC presents
parents with a choice. We can view blindness as a tragedy, and we can feel sorry
for ourselves and our children. Or we can bring up our children to regard themselves
as full human beings, complete, competent, and empowered. We can ask for accommodation
after accommodation for our children, or we can equip our children with the skills
and tools to get the job done. We can accept custodialism and dependence, or we
can insist on our children learning to take care of themselves and earning the
respect of their peers because of it. Parents who stick with us tend to choose
the hope and empowerment!</p> <p>We're not a club, though we do have common
interests. We're not a social organization, although we certainly do have fun.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are part of a movement! It's a movement for civil rights,
for full access to all parts of life for blind adults and for our blind children.
We have important work ahead of us!</p> <p>The future might look different, but
we will certainly continue to do it. It will be difficult, but we have the strength.
It will be demanding, but we have the energy. It will take time, but we have the
endurance.</p> <p>Hello, parents! Together in the NOPBC we are making history!</p>
<h2 id="virtual-reality-versus-reality">Virtual Reality Versus Reality</h2> <p>by
Graciela L. Olivo</p> <p>2020 Distinguished Educator of Blind Students</p>
<p><em>Introduction by Carlton Anne Cook Walker: Each year the National Federation
of the Blind and the NOPBC honor a distinguished teacher of blind children with
a very special award. Our 2020 Distinguished Educator is Graciela L. Olivo of
Texas. Her story speaks to the experience of not necessarily knowing that we can
do a thing, but making it work anyway. Welcome, Graciela!</em></p> <p>Good afternoon,
NFB members and parents of blind children. First of all I'd like to extend my
heartfelt thanks to the following persons for choosing me as this year's Distinguished
Educator of Blind Students. My thanks go out to Mark Riccobono, Carla McQuillan,
Carlton Anne Cook Walker, Kimberly Banks, Norma Crosby, Liz Wisecarver, Daniel
Martinez (my former student, who initiated my nomination), and to our local NFB
chapter in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Thanks to all of you for thinking so
highly of me. I'm humbled and honored to be part of the NFB. I'm grateful for this
prestigious award, as well as for the opportunity to serve others through the
National Federation of the Blind. I only ask that I be permitted to continue
working with the blind and visually impaired for many years to come.</p> <p>My
philosophy for working with blind and visually impaired students centers on
education. The education that I give my students allows them to compete alongside
their sighted peers and to be able to leave a legacy to others who follow in their
footsteps. I've seen my students forge ahead and make use of their knowledge and
opportunities. This has been done through the active participation of the students
themselves and of their parents and family members, leading them to become a
community of participants. They participate through role playing, discussions,
reading aloud to others, making use of experiences in Braille skills and low-vision
techniques, and participating in organizations such as clubs, civic groups, and
other endeavors, including the National Federation of the Blind.</p> <p>What I
have taught my students has been magnified a million times over for students and
adults outside of this country. For me those students have been in Mexico. I
assumed that blind people in Mexico knew basic Braille, technology, and orientation
and mobility, but that's not always true. You start from the beginning. Assume
nothing. That's reality.</p> <p>When Carlton Anne Cook Walker asked me for the
title of my speech, I said, "Virtual Reality Versus Reality." How's this? you say.
I never thought of teaching blind students. I was teaching home economics, food
service skills, to middle-school students when I was approached about a blind
student requesting to be in my class. <em>What??? No way!!! I don't want to work
with blind kids! I'm not trained to work with them!</em></p> <p>This blind student's
TVI told me that he had every right to be in my class and that I had the
responsibility, as a vocational teacher, to teach him just as I was teaching all
the other students in the class. By the time our conversation was over, we were
both a mess. She walked out of my classroom crying, and I went over to the
principal's office crying my eyes out. I told him there was no way this was ever
going to happen and that I would rather quit than do this.</p> <p>The principal
calmed me down and said we could talk tomorrow. When I came into school the next
day, right before me as I signed in was a poster that read, "University of Texas
teachers of the blind will be coming down to the Number One Service Center and
will be offering classes for educators to become certified teachers of the blind
and visually impaired."</p> <p>This notice really made me angry! I hadn't seen it
before. I approached the principal saying, "You did this on purpose!" He told me
he hadn't seen the notice, but that maybe it was a sign from a higher power. He
asked me if I believed in God and said that He has plans for us that sometimes we
don't pay attention to. He told me that maybe we could see what the plan was for
me. We could work it out together if I was willing to do so.</p> <p>That afternoon
the principal got me the information I needed. That was my entry into the world
of blindness.</p> <p>The information stated that I would need to go to Edinburgh,
which is a city about forty-five miles away, to take classes every other weekend.
Classes would start on Fridays and end on Sunday afternoons. This meant I would
have to leave my classes early on Fridays and get a substitute. It was all too
much for me to handle, but my principal made the arrangements for me to be out
and told me not to stress too much. It all meant traveling back and forth, which
meant gas money. Times were hard, and money was tight in my family. My travel and
staying at a hotel were later paid by the university. Eventually the university
provided my books and registration at no cost. Things started falling into place.
I really couldn't believe it!</p> <p>After all my coursework was done, I got a
call from the special ed department of my school district saying they were in need
of my services. Reluctantly I left home economics, but I've never looked back.
This was definitely my calling. You do what the Lord has planned for you, not what
you want! This is reality.</p> <p>I've learned that visual impairments come in
all shapes, sizes, and ages. My oldest student was a ninety-five-year-old woman.
Her son called me because he had heard that I might be able to help. He didn't
know how to handle certain problems that his parents were experiencing. He invited
me to visit their home and see if I could come up with ideas.</p> <p>One problem
was that his parents had an upstairs bedroom. When his father would go downstairs,
he'd turn off the light. The stairwell was painted dark brown, and since it was
an old home, there were no handrails for his mother to use. When his mother wanted
to go downstairs, she had trouble seeing the steps. The light switch was downstairs,
and her husband was extremely hard of hearing. He couldn't hear her calling him
to turn on the light for her.</p> <p>We added lighting to the staircase, moving
furniture around so his mom could make use of the sunlight. We ordered some
magnification devices, as she still liked to read her own mail. They were easy
things to take care of.</p> <p>BELL Academy<sup>®</sup> is an ongoing summer
activity that allows me to put into practice my skills in several academic areas.
It lets me work with parents as well as the children. It's been great working with
NFB teachers, exchanging ideas, and working with the students from our surrounding
areas. For many of them this was the first time they had participated in such a
program. Sometimes parents need ideas about nonvisual ways to present a skill such
as tying shoes. Sometimes they need help dealing with their guilty feelings about
not allowing their child to be more independent.</p> <p>Our local NFB chapter has
initiated a program called Cambiando Vidas, which means Changing Lives. We've
gotten the chance to go to Mexico and work with blind adults there. The program
is a means of presenting skills and experiences that many of these adults have
not had previously, doing it all in Spanish. This experience has exposed me to a
different way of teaching. Since these are adults who have many skills and needs
not related to their blindness, it makes it even tougher.</p> <p>In the United
States it's easy to fall back on equipment that we take for granted, such as the
Perkins Brailler. Braillers are extremely hard to come by in Mexico. Learning to
read and write Braille, grilling a tortilla with cheese, cutting up fruit for a
fruit salad, orientation and mobility skills—much of this was just not
happening! There is still the widespread mentality of "poor little blind man or
woman." And of course we have to deal with the macho syndrome: "I'm a man, and a
man doesn't help out in any way. That's why my mother, my wife, and my sister are
there. They can do this for me." Mind you, this has been by far the hardest area
of teaching that I've had to deal with, trying to break those barriers. But that's
reality.</p> <p>Working in Mexico with blind or visually impaired persons is not
the only bridge I've had to cross in my teaching career. My husband is on the Good
Neighbors Settlement House board, where we both help out as volunteers. Good
Neighbors is a nonprofit organization that provides the homeless of Brownsville,
Texas, with food and essential items. It also has helped asylum seekers coming in
from other countries, such as Honduras, El Salvador, and Cuba.</p> <p>At one point
my husband called me to come speak to the parent of a young blind child. The family
was there at Good Neighbors, waiting for a family member in Dallas to send them
a bus ticket. I spoke to the mother and found out that she had left El Salvador
to try to find a better life for this one child. She had left her three other
children with their dad back in El Salvador, maybe never to see them again. I
asked her what she thought she would be doing for this child. She started to cry,
and she told me she had no idea. Now she was far away from home, and with a scared
child.</p> <p>I talked to her about getting hold of a school district once she
got to Dallas. I told her to let them know that her child is blind and would need
help right away. She was so grateful! She said she felt a great weight removed
from her shoulders. She knew that her child would benefit from being brought to
the United States, even if she only stayed for a little while. Now, that's
reality!</p> <p>Education of blind children can happen in any way and anywhere.
That's exactly what happened this year with the COVID-19 situation. Students went
from face-to-face classrooms to virtual online classes. This was a first for me
and for my students. The most interesting part was teaching a virtual online class
with a student located in Mexico. She had wanted to be with her mother who had
been deported a couple of months before. Teaching a Nemeth tutorial class online
to a totally blind student is hard enough, but doing it virtually, going back and
forth about where her dots were located in her Nemeth Code problems was a real
eye opener! There were times we had to cancel class because there was no
WiFi—you can't count on it in Mexico. Sometimes we couldn't meet because
her family was dealing with problems with the cartel. I'm thankful that we were
able to finish up the year and finish the Nemeth tutorials. I found that we were
able to confront obstacles and face problems head-on, here or anywhere, using any
platform. That's reality!</p> <p>My reality in my career of almost forty years as
a TVI has been one of adapting to new challenges. I've gone from adapting to being
a home economics teacher to adapting to being a teacher of the blind and visually
impaired. I've had to adapt to teaching adults in a second language, using technology
and other resources that are completely foreign to them. Most recently I have
adapted to virtual learning in an era of global pandemic.</p> <p>Mostly I've
learned to adapt to one undeniable fact. It's not about doing what I want, it's
about being where I'm needed in God's plan.</p> <p>I'd like to finish by reading
a quote from Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus from the American Association of Retired
Persons. "The human contribution is the essential ingredient. It is only in the
giving of oneself to others that we truly live." Thank you again to everyone I
mentioned at the beginning and to everyone here who took the time to listen to my
journey. I can't thank you enough for the recognition! I look forward to continuing
my journey in helping the blind and visually impaired. Good afternoon.</p> <h2
id="kids-speak-out">Kids Speak Out</h2> <p>by Salome Cummins, Ian Oliver, and
Clara Scelsi</p> <p><em>Introduction by Carlton Anne Cook Walker: A terrifically
fun part of our program each year is our kids' panel. This year we have three
young people who will talk to you. First we'll hear from Salome Cummins. She is
a rising fourth-grade student from Missouri. She is nine years old. We're also
going to hear from Ian Oliver, a rising seventh-grader from Alabama, who is twelve
years old. Finally we'll hear from Clara Scelsi, also from Alabama. She's a rising
fifth-grade student, and she's nine years old. Salome, you go first. It looks like
you're ready to go!</em></p> <p><em>Salome:</em> I'm still kind of tense. I've
got this feeling like I'm really in trouble!</p> <p>Hi. You're listening to Salome's
speech. I'm nine years old, like she already said. I was born in the Republic of
Georgia in 2011.</p> <p>The first thing I want to tell you about is that I did
not like tying my shoes at all. It was my least favorite thing to do! I would try
to tie my shoes, and then I would start crying because something was not working.
But recently I learned how to tie my shoes! I run track, and I do long jump, and
I sprint. And now, even when I'm in a huge rush to get to track, I can tie my
shoes. But sometimes my mom still helps me, because she thinks I should do it more
quickly. Pressure. Always pressure!</p> <p>It's fun to be blind sometimes, because
you get to use so many cool materials. I'm in Spectra at my school. It's the gifted
and talented program. It was really hard because I had to start virtually. Because
I use JAWS I could get through that course very easily. I get to use VoiceOver
and a Braille display also.</p> <p>Now I want to talk about responsibility. It's
really sad, but both blind people and sighted people all get chores. But we also
get to have pets to take care of. I have birds. I'm very fond of them.</p> <p>One
of my favorite things is BELL. That's Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning.
I also got to attend the Braille Challenge, where you compete. You're in different
levels of difficulty. In April you find out if you made it to the national
competition. That means you're in the top of the whole country and Canada, too!
I made first place in second grade, and I'm doing it again this year.</p> <p>In
conclusion, I do not think you should be wishing that you aren't blind. Thank you
for listening.</p> <p><em>Carlton:</em> I want to highlight that she said virtual
instruction didn't stop for her, because she had all the right tools. She had
JAWS, and she had a refreshable Braille display.</p> <p><em>Ian Oliver:</em> Hi!
I am deafblind, so I can't really use stuff that is audio. This virtual stuff, I
think it could be better. There are major improvements needed, but hey, this is
just the beginning. Nothing is perfect. But there's one thing I've got to say.
Braille rocks!</p> <p><em>Carlton:</em> Thank you, Ian! This year you were at our
BELL Academy, and we had to do everything online because we had no other choice.
When we do something new, are we good at it immediately?</p> <p><em>Ian:</em> No.
You've got to keep trying and trying and trying again.</p> <p><em>Carlton:</em>
That's right, and learn to do things better. We love to teach, and we love to
learn. Now we'll hear from Clara. Welcome! Take it away!</p> <p><em>Clara:</em>
Hi! My name is Clara Isabella Scelsi. I'm nine years old, and I live in Alabama.
I'm going into fifth grade, but I'll be taking sixth-grade math. Some of my favorite
things are reading Braille, playing music, singing songs, dancing, and jujitsu.
I have been in jujitsu for almost a year. I'm hoping to get my gray and white
belts soon.</p> <p>Jujitsu is a martial art that helps people know how to defend
themselves when in a tough situation. Some of my teachers have had experience with
blind children, so they knew some adaptations to help me. They clapped so I would
know where to go. They explain things, like instead of saying, "Put your knee
here," they say, "Put your left knee behind your head."</p> <p>When COVID came,
luckily we had a way to practice with an iPad. The jujitsu coaches allowed us to
borrow some mats. We did lessons through Zoom. We also used VoiceOver. We could
all do it the same as when we were physically right next to each other.</p> <p>Thank
you for allowing me on this kids' panel. Are there any questions?</p> <p><em>Carlton:</em>
How are all three of you so darn awesome? I love how you all explained that doing
things differently isn't doing things worse. We heard from three great young
problem solvers today. The future is looking very good, my friends. Thank you
Salome, thank you Ian, thank you Clara. Great job!</p> <p><strong>GENERAL
SESSIONS</strong></p> <h2
id="our-roots-advancing-human-rights-and-the-tradition-of-serving-our-nation">Our
Roots: Advancing Human Rights and the Tradition of Serving Our Nation</h2> <p>by
Mariyam Cementwala</p> <p>Reprinted from <em>Braille Monitor</em>, Volume 63,
Number 8, August-September 2020</p> <p><em>Introduction by Mark Riccobono: Our
speaker is a policy advisor in the United States Department of State's Office of
International Religious Freedom. She has many distinctions, including having worked
for Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. She advances religious freedom in United
States government foreign policy, working at the intersection of promoting religious
freedom and conflict prevention, including countering violent extremism. She speaks
four South Asian languages as well as Arabic, and she has a wealth of experience
in several international contexts. If you have been around the Federation for a
while, you have probably met her before. She is a lawyer by training who received
her JD from the University of California at Berkeley in 2007. Among other
achievements, she is the first blind Muslim American woman to receive the prestigious
George J. Mitchell Scholarship. She has been one of our national scholarship
winners, which you know is a distinction, and she served for a time at various
levels of our student division. I'm really pleased to introduce her to our
podium—literally to our podium, because she's in the building, so I'm
grabbing my NFB mask to put on! Here is Mariyam Cementwala!</em></p> <p>Thank you,
Mark, and thank you, Senator Durbin, for your kind words, and to your staff,
particularly your Chief Counsel Joe Zogby, who gave a young blind lawyer a chance
to enter the field of government affairs a decade ago. I've been honored and
privileged to work for two incredible public servants, Senator Durbin, and the
person who leads the US Department of State's Office of International Religious
Freedom, where I work now and which we'll talk about a bit later.</p> <p>If you
pluck up a shrub, a plant, even a full-grown tree and try to replant it somewhere
else without its roots, that shrub, plant, or tree will not survive. It will
wither. It will die. But if you pull up even a budding plant or shrub—let
alone a tree or even its branch—by its roots and take them along, then
replant it anywhere else, that shrub will blossom and bloom. That tree will bear
fruit. It will thrive.</p> <p>Now, I didn't come here to talk about botany, but
we're not that different from plants in this way. Like them we, too, need our
roots to survive, to thrive.</p> <p>So what are our roots? Let me come back to
this question.</p> <p>On a sunny morning in early 2012, I hailed a taxi outside
my apartment building to go to work, expecting an ordinary twenty-minute drive.
I was an officer in the Political Section at the US Embassy, and I explained to
the driver that, when he approached the American Embassy, he should pull up at
the first guard entrance rather than the second one. In conversation, I discovered
that the driver was Pakistani, spoke Urdu, and was unusually curious.</p> <p>We
began with a game I would often play with expat taxi drivers. They ask in Hindi,
Urdu, or Arabic, "So where are you from?" And I ask them to tell me where they
think I'm from, believing that the obvious clue is that they're dropping me off
at the staff entrance of the American Embassy. This particular driver became
exasperated with the game, naming every country in South Asia, proceeding to Iran
and the "stans," and finally bellowing: "Why don't you just tell me where you're
from?"</p> <p>So I asked: "Where am I going?"</p> <p>He said, "The American Embassy,
but I thought that's because you need a visa."</p> <p>"No," I explained, "I asked
you to stop at the first entrance—the staff entrance—not the visa
entrance."</p> <p>"Oh," he said, "but that's because I figured you didn't know
which entrance because you're blind."</p> <p>I chuckled and said, "Yes, I'm blind,
and I'm also American, and I work there."</p> <p>"You work there? They let you
work there? But how? I mean, you're Muslim, and you wear a hijab, and you're ...
blind!" He was incredulous, as though he were looking at a ghost.</p> <p>I replied,
"Yes, I work there, and they don't let me work there—they want me to work
there. They need me to work there because I help make their understanding of
foreign cultures, foreign peoples, and foreign policy better."</p> <p>At that
moment, I didn't quite realize the magnitude of his incredulity and of my immense
privilege. I didn't realize how much I took for granted in my daily life. What
this taxi driver was questioning in 2012 was what the National Federation of the
Blind's founder and first president, Jacobus tenBroek, had written about in the
<em>California Law Review</em> in 1966: "Whether and how we, as blind people, as
people with human differences, abilities and disabilities, have 'the [human] right
to live in the world', the right to work in it and to influence the course of
human destiny rather than allowing charitable actors to influence ours as wards
of others. Don't we deserve the right to belong in the world and out of it; the
right to privacy; the right to enjoy full and equal access to the modes of
transportation, communication, information, and public accommodation; and the
right to contribute as full and equal citizens to our communities and our
countries?"</p> <p>My conversation with the taxi driver triggered my memories of
teaching a course on the blind civil rights movement at UC Berkeley in 2002, where
tenBroek had once taught as a law professor, and from where he had founded this
organization that celebrates its eightieth birthday this year. It also triggered
my memory of the gentleman I met at the 2002 NFB convention and an unfinished
story that I had always wanted to hear.</p> <p>For those of you who never met him
or only knew of him through his obituary and writings, let me share our collective
story, and with it, the story of this organization's role in changing our nation's
diplomatic history. Avraham Rabby, known to his friends as Rami, was going off to
the American Embassy in New Delhi to serve our country as a diplomat managing
public affairs—our outward messaging, public outreach, and programming
within India.</p> <p>I'm of Indian descent, and I speak several South Asian
languages. So on one of those typical convention evenings, when groups huddle in
conversations in corners of hotel lobbies or hotel rooms, Rami peppered me in his
distinctive British accent with questions I was completely ill-equipped to answer
about the host country where he would soon be posted. His job traveling all around
the world, living in and learning about different cultures and places, and building
or strengthening relationships with foreign governments and peoples on behalf of
the United States sounded intriguing and even glamorous to a twenty-something who
had studied international relations and just completed her bachelor's degree in
political science.</p> <p>That night Rami planted a seed in my mind, but I was
destined for law school and a lifetime practicing law, or so I thought . . .</p>
<p>The story Rami didn't tell me that evening, and that I subsequently spent some
time researching, was how, despite graduating with degrees from Oxford University
and the University of Chicago and speaking several languages fluently, he had
struggled—back in the 1980s—to join the US Department of State's
Foreign Service. It was the story of how the National Federation of the Blind gave
him support and stood with him in the fight to open the doors of the diplomatic
corps for aspiring diplomats with disabilities.</p> <p>Even though he had passed
the written and oral assessments, some leaders in our government, including the
then-Director General of the Foreign Service George Vest, questioned whether he
could understand and interpret the nuances of diplomatic negotiations, such as
body language and facial expression, without sight. Could he protect classified
information and reside safely in foreign countries where he would be asked to
serve?</p> <p>Rami had grown up as a leader in the National Federation of the
Blind, working with Dr. Kenneth Jernigan to organize the Illinois affiliate and
fighting for civil rights and equal employment opportunities. He refused to go
away or back down or to be bought off by a financial settlement. He refused to
cower before the United States Congress, which held hearings in 1989 on his ability
to serve as a foreign service officer. Confident in his own skills and abilities,
Rami stridently made the case that "No international treaty has ever been decided
on the basis of a wink or a nod!"</p> <p>Many leaders and members of this organization
worked with Rami to convince state department bureaucrats and piled into the halls
of Congress to support his bid to join our country's diplomatic corps. They changed
the department's policy through concerted collective action, never caving to
complacency with the world as it is. Over thirty years ago, they pushed the
department to take a case-by-case approach to allow individuals with disabilities
to serve in the United States Foreign Service. Today people like me are the
beneficiaries of those important advances in our country's quest for human
rights.</p> <p>So I come back to the question: What are our roots?</p> <p>Our
roots can be found in our history, in our philosophical and attitudinal architecture,
in our faith and values that keep us grounded, and in the people who remind us of
and help reinforce those values in our lives.</p> <p>Like Rami, I grew up in the
blind civil rights movement, and I am glad that I developed some of my leadership
skills and policy chops there. I helped organize state student division events
and advocated for myself and others to have the right to make our own choices
about the rehabilitation programs we attended. I even walked out in protest from
a camp with fellow blind colleagues because the camp's administrators decided to
segregate blind camp counselors from sighted camp counselors so as not to influence
young blind campers to think it was okay to be "too independent!"</p> <p>If you
haven't read Dr. tenBroek's parable of the organization of the bald "malcontents"
or "pariahs" in his 1956 banquet address, "Within the Grace of God," now's a good
time to catch up on it. The stuff of the late 90s and early 2000s wasn't all that
different from 1956, I discovered. Perhaps we've still got a way to go now.</p>
<p>One of the turning points in my life was choosing to go to the Louisiana Center
for the Blind and fighting with California's Department of Rehabilitation to get
there. Unfortunately, this remains an age-old struggle. After getting through
layers of bureaucracy, I finally told the district administrator that he could
deny me the right to exercise my choice, and if he did, I would appeal; or he
could grant my request—but either way, I was going. He decided that he
wouldn't bother denying my request. In my teens and twenties, I was learning well
how to be a "malcontent" or "pariah." I was learning from people like Joanne and
Harold Wilson, Rosy Carranza, and Nathanael Wales, people who knew me before I
was a diplomat, who keep me grounded, and who still shape and enrich my life
today—along with that guy who told me to go to the center in the first
place (on our first date, no less!), my husband Ali, known to many as "Chris"
Foster. Ladies, if your guy tells you to go to a training center, he's a keeper!</p>
<p>The lessons I learned about life, attitudes about blindness and disability,
travel, people, and yes, even home economics are priceless gems I carry with me
all around the world. Joanne Wilson, the founder and first director of the Louisiana
Center, visited me at one of my former posts. She is the epitome of a great leader
in my view, and she is someone I'm very grateful to call a mentor. I proudly showed
her my Freedom Bell and the five-tier spinning carousel bookcase I haul around
the globe from post to post. These tokens stand as daily reminders of my philosophical
foundation and roots. They remind me that blindness can be reduced to a characteristic,
not a handicap, with the right tools, training, opportunity, and attitude; that
we can and must compete on terms of equality; and that, if needed, I can use a
radial arm saw and table saw again!</p> <p>Rami began his diplomatic career in
1990. After law school and law firm practice, among other advocacy jobs, I started
my diplomatic career in March 2011—long after Rami had retired! People had
all kinds of questions for Rami before he was hired. What about now?</p> <p>Well,
as one of my local staff members got really comfortable with me, she piped up
memorably one day as we rode up in the Embassy elevator, "Mariyam, you know how
you said it was okay to ask you anything about your blindness; well, I have a
question . . . How do you know when you get your period?" to which I answered,
"Well, how do you know when you get yours?!"</p> <p>During one of my early tours,
I arrived at a charity reception on behalf of the Embassy, and a bunch of women
suddenly encircled me. "We want to hear your story! We want to know how you got
here!"</p> <p>I was confused. "Here? In a car . . ."</p> <p>"No, how did you get
here—to this country!?"</p> <p>"On an airplane . . ."</p> <p>"No, no! To
this country, representing the American Embassy and the American government! We
want to know everything! You are so amazing!"</p> <p>When I returned from this
reception, I shared the exchange with my then-deputy chief of mission, who channeled
Michael Bailiff when he advised, "It could be worse if they thought you weren't
amazing! If you're going to have extremes, you may as well have their positive
impression. Use it to build the connections and trust. Use it to your advantage."</p>
<p>So I did. Candidly, my disability has been a huge advantage in building
relationships of trust with contacts and working on sensitive issues of human
rights and religious freedom, because one of my perceived vulnerabilities is on
display for all to see. Seeing that I have a vulnerability makes others more
comfortable to open up. I learned early in my diplomatic career that the currency
of diplomacy is reliable and accurate information.</p> <p>In every posting I've
used as an advantage what others in society might continue to perceive as a
vulnerability. For instance, in one of my recent tours I was given an incredible
opportunity and an impossible task. I had eighteen hours (as I was packing out of
my post) to get in a car and go to a far-flung region of the country in which I
was posted, then organize meetings there, return two days later, and produce a
draft cable about the political landscape and people's attitudes. I knew no one
there, but I had a strong network of people with disabilities in the capital city.
I contacted a couple of its leaders—both blind—and asked them to
help me organize meetings with their professional and social networks. They didn't
just help me because I am an American diplomat; they helped me because we had
built a relationship driven by our commonalities of human difference. In my success
was their support and their success!</p> <p>Today, in my current posting, I work
in the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom under the
leadership of Ambassador-at-Large Sam Brownback. He has a legacy of championing
the rights of persons with disabilities in his distinguished political career.
Supported by him beyond office leadership, I again brought my disability experience
to bear in recognizing a policy gap and working to address it. Our office works
to promote and protect the right of religious freedom of people around the globe,
including minorities. But when houses of worship are inaccessible, when faith
leaders organizing religious pilgrimages gently turn people with disabilities
away, when faith leaders preach that albinism or other physical disabilities are
the results of witchcraft and evil, when virtual worship services and activities
are not on accessible platforms, persons with disabilities are once again left
behind in exercising their fundamental freedom of religion or belief, from
participating in community with others, and from enjoying freedom from stigma and
their "right to live in the world."</p> <p>I'm blessed to come from a faith
community in which my spiritual guide, and before him, his father, have been
incredible pillars of strength, support, open-mindedness, and inclusion. When
there were plenty of naysayers, they have been my champions, never limiting me on
account of disability.</p> <p>But every community of faith has those who are not
so enlightened. Once someone who clearly disregards the concept of reasonable
accommodation said to me that I use my blindness like a "sympathy card." Ironically
I was on a religious pilgrimage abroad without family or personal assistance. I
was essentially requesting to be close up, to touch and be touched, since I don't
experience by sight as others do. Another time, when I was being guided amidst a
throbbing crowd to the sacred black stone at the Kaaba, someone taunted loudly
from behind, "If she's blind, why is she even here? Why are you bringing her?"
disregarding that, as a human being and a Muslim, I have the same right, obligation,
or desire as anyone else would to kiss the sacred black stone known as the
Hajr-e-Aswad.</p> <p>You can't expect everyone to be enlightened, wise, or inclusive.
But when people try to shun, exclude, or belittle you, don't recoil or allow
yourself to be distanced from your community and your faith. Confront ignorance,
indifference, and injustice by calling it out. If you don't, you enable its
perpetuation, not only toward you, but toward countless others who may not have
your strength or conviction.</p> <p>My experiences have inspired me to work with
colleagues from our Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor as well as our
Agency for International Development to launch the disability and FORB (Freedom
of Religion and Belief) interagency working group last October. Our purpose is
not only to identify the challenges to religious freedom that persons with
disabilities face, but also to find the champions of inclusion among faith leaders
to derive the best practices for community inclusion. Faith leaders play key roles
as social and political influencers. Engaging them on disability rights is something
we hadn't done before as a concerted part of our foreign policy. What's more, we
realized that they could have a tangible impact on service delivery and challenging
stereotypes about a disabled person's quality of life during the COVID-19 crisis.
On July 1 we launched a global social media campaign called "Every Life Is Worthy."
It will continue until the ADA's thirtieth anniversary and will conclude with a
virtual roundtable. I hope you will tune in!</p> <p>You can learn more about how
I do my job, the working group, and the Office of International Religious Freedom
during tomorrow's breakout session at 11:30 a.m. But for those who won't be up
quite that early, what I hope you'll remember is that your perceived vulnerability
is not a disadvantage at all. It's just part of your humanity, as it's part of
mine. It has made me a sharper, smarter diplomat who is more rooted in and committed
to the principles of human dignity, respect for human difference, human rights,
and equal justice.</p> <p>My own background in advocating for my rights and the
rights of others, at Washington Seminars decades ago and elsewhere, has instilled
in me as a diplomat the important recognition of civil society's value in formulating
good policy. Without organizations like the National Federation of the Blind who
speak loudly as constituents for themselves, ready for a fight, ready to go to
the barricades, can you even imagine what policies and laws would look like for
persons with disabilities—not just in the United States but the world over?
Our thinking and approach don't just matter at home. They have a global impact.</p>
<p>Advancing human rights—not charity but opportunity, not compassion but
understanding, not tolerance but respect and acceptance, not dependency but
independence, not exclusion but equality—is in this organization's DNA.
It's in our roots.</p> <p>So as the leaders and members of this organization look
ahead on this eightieth birthday to our next eighty years, I leave you with a
challenge. In 1997, toward the sunset of his life, Kenneth Jernigan harkened that
"The day after civil rights is fast approaching." Sitting then in the audience as
a young scholarship winner, I thought like many that we had almost arrived! It
was imminent. We wouldn't need to raise voices and signs in protest any longer.
The days of confrontation were our past—our future would be communication
and public education.</p> <p>But according to Cornell University's disability
statistics research, between 1997 and 2017 the employment rate for persons with
disabilities (or those identifying as having a work limitation) between the ages
of eighteen and sixty-four had risen by less than 12 percent, from 25.5 percent
to 37 percent. And 63 percent are still unemployed. In twenty years the rate among
this group that lived below the poverty line had only dropped by 1.8 percent.</p>
<p>Here's another snapshot: Looking at the picture just three years ago in 2017,
34.5 percent of nondisabled Americans between the ages of twenty-one and sixty-four
had obtained a bachelor's degree or higher education, compared to just 14.8 percent
of Americans with disabilities in the same age range.</p> <p>Looking at this yet
another way, ask yourself how many employed blind people you know work exclusively
in the field of blindness or disability, even disability law, because they were
pushed to do so in order to get a secure job.</p> <p>From my own experiences and
from reflecting on Rami's life, I know that progress toward integration has been
paved—with this organization playing a crucial role. But perhaps, despite
our optimism in 1997, we haven't quite arrived at that day after civil rights.</p>
<p>Hindsight is always 20/20! While it is acceptable, even normal, for civil
society organizations to build up communication and public education campaigns to
become the recognized expert conveners instead of the outsiders, confrontation
remains a necessary tool to combat covert and overt discrimination.</p> <p>The
shape of injustice may have changed, but the root of injustice has not. It still
stems from willful or uncorrected ignorance, a belief in the superiority of ability
and the inferiority of disability, and unequal access or no access at all.</p>
<p>Today, the fights are different. There is access to the buildings perhaps, but
not to the technology that helps run them. There is access to millions of books
and newspapers, but not equal access to the tangible information and technology
that can help persons with disabilities get jobs and keep them.</p> <p>There's
even the legal concept of reasonable accommodation. The sighted, nondisabled
implementers—in their infinite wisdom and years of experience with disability
and blindness—are more than happy to set the policy on what effective
reasonable accommodation means, such as how and when to use readers. They will
determine your reasonable accommodations if you just keep your head down, quietly
do your job, and let them push you around.</p> <p>As Dr. Martin Luther King said,
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."</p> <p>The challenge is
how and when to speak up, how to confront while convening, how to harness collective
action once again and fight complacency, and when necessary, how to get on the
barricades and not back down.</p> <p>But being on the front lines of the barricades
is part of the roots of this organization. Rami Rabby never backed down, and he
taught me by example never to do so, either. These are my roots, and they are
yours. When I move around the world, I thrive because these foundational lessons
are always with me. No matter where I go, as long as I have my roots, I know my
spirit won't wither, it won't die.</p> <p>No matter where you go, now and over
the next eighty years, or eight hundred, hold on to your roots (as Rami Rabby did,
as Jerry Whittle did, as Brian Miller did), and you, too, will continue to
thrive.</p> <p>God bless you, and God bless the United States of America! Thank
you.</p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Laura Wolk stands in front of the US Supreme Court
building.]</p> <h2 id="equal-justice-under-law">Equal Justice Under Law: </h2>
<h2 id="a-blind-clerk-blazes-a-trail-behind-the-scenes-at-the-supreme-court">A
Blind Clerk Blazes a Trail behind the Scenes at the Supreme Court</h2> <p>by Laura
Wolk</p> <p>Reprinted from <em>Braille Monitor,</em> Volume 63, Number 8,
August-September 2020</p> <p><em>Introduction by Mark Riccobono: Our next presenter
is the first of our Notre Dame graduates on the agenda! This is an individual who
you can really say grew up in the Federation in Pennsylvania. Her dad actually
started our parent's division in Pennsylvania. She has a law degree from Notre
Dame, juris doctor summa cum laude, and she went to Swarthmore, where she got a
BA in psychology. She has been serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Clarence
Thomas, and she has been an active member of our National Association of Blind
Lawyers, including successfully advocating and leading the way to make sure some
of the technology companies make sure their tools work effectively for blind
lawyers. I am proud to introduce Laura Wolk.</em></p> <p>Thank you so much,
President Riccobono. Good evening, everyone. It is such an honor to be with you
tonight. As President Riccobono mentioned, I went to my first state affiliate
convention when I was very, very young. It's been a while since I've been to one,
a national convention in person. So it's really an honor for me to be here presenting
this evening.</p> <p>As President Riccobono mentioned, I just last week finished
up a year clerking for Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United
States. I hope in hearing that sentence you know it was an extraordinary year for
me. It was a transformative year for me personally and professionally—I
mean in every aspect of my life, including what it means for me to be a blind
person in the United States.</p> <p>I'd like to give a little sense of what it
means to be a law clerk, for those who might not be familiar with what that job
entails. Then I'll talk a bit about two main takeaways that I took from the job.
I think they are broadly applicable to everyone who is currently involved in the
National Federation of the Blind.</p> <p>There are nine justices on the Supreme
Court. Each justice has four clerks assigned to him or her, and each clerkship
lasts one year. You spend a year of your life working very intimately with a
justice. Your job duties break down into two main categories: you assist the
justice preparing for oral argument, and you also assist even with the drafting
of the opinions that ultimately become the decisions of the Supreme Court. Sometimes
that means you assist the justice with preparing an opinion for the majority of
justices on the court or the entire court, and other times it means that you
prepare or you assist with drafting an opinion for a smaller number of members or
even for the justice writing only for himself or herself. So it is an incredible
experience.</p> <p>It is a great responsibility, and there is a lot of trust
reposed in a law clerk. You have to be 150 percent there every day, every hour of
every day. Without the assistance of the law clerks, the Supreme Court cannot
function. Beyond the access and the amazing mentorship and lifelong relationship
that you create with your justice, being a law clerk is so extraordinary because
you also get to interact with the other eight justices on the Supreme Court. You
also get to interact with all of the clerks from the other chambers. There were
about thirty-nine of us this past term. You get to work with these bright lawyers,
these young minds who are going to go out and do great things in the legal field,
whether they go to firms or back to the government. You get to spend a year learning
from them, debating with them, sometimes very heatedly arguing with them. You get
a front row seat for an entire year into the inner workings of this very important
institution to our government that so few people and even very few lawyers will
ever get to witness.</p> <p>From the moment I walked in the door on my first day
to last Friday, when I tearfully pulled myself out of the building for the last
time, it felt very surreal. Every day it felt surreal to me that I was there, that
my workplace was the Supreme Court of the United States. The conversations that
I got to have, the people that I came to call friends—this was an experience
I will keep with me for the rest of my life.</p> <p>I don't think that my approach
to the job is uncommon. I think that many of my co-clerks and other clerks approach
the job with a sense of humility and an understanding of the responsibility that
has been given to them. But I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge that I also
felt a particular responsibility and a particular honor to be asked to serve in
that position as a blind person. It is increasingly difficult to succeed in the
higher echelons of our career paths, and I felt that I was being asked to do
something very good, not just for myself but for the entire movement of the
organized blind. I had the opportunity to spend a year with the eight other justices
and hopefully to show them that blindness is not an impediment. I could spend the
year talking about accessibility and the need for young people coming up into the
institutions to know about accessibility and to realize the massive gap between
what a blind person can do if given all the tools and resources and what a blind
person is allowed to do by virtue of the various obstacles put into our path that
we have no control over and have constantly to fight against.</p> <p>When I say
I carry that responsibility with me, I don't mean that to imply any negative
connotation. It felt like an honor to me that I would be asked to do that and to
participate in the long line of work that the NFB has done for the past eighty
years even to make this opportunity possible for me. From those experiences, I've
done a lot of reflecting this year—a lot of reflecting on what this experience
has meant to me personally and professionally, but also the takeaways, as I
mentioned earlier, that can broadly be applied to all people in the NFB and all
of your friends who might not yet be part of the NFB.</p> <p>There are two takeaways
I would like to share with you this evening. The first is that, as I alluded a
moment ago, I firmly believe that this opportunity would not have been possible
for me if I were not a member of many communities. I think it is absolutely
imperative that we as blind people include ourselves in as many communities as
possible in society. Faith-based communities, civic engagement communities, sports,
whatever it is that makes you feel alive and makes you feel like you are flourishing
in what truly interests you about life. We need to include ourselves and integrate
ourselves into those communities.</p> <p>I think a lot of times there is an
understanding that we focus on where the barriers are. We say, there are barriers
to education, so we have to talk to the educators. There are barriers to employment.
We have to talk to the employers. We have to talk to the developers. That is very
true, very necessary. Very, very important hard work is being done. But the fact
remains that educators do not spend 100 percent of their time educating, and web
developers do not spend 100 percent of their time web developing. They are human
beings, and they are going out into communities, living their lives in robust and
rich ways. The more blind people who are out there, people they can encounter in
any capacity whatsoever, it makes a huge difference. Let's say someone is hiring,
and maybe they casually mention at a dinner party that they have a blind job
candidate. We increase the chances that someone is going to say, "Oh, I know a
blind person. This person, just because they're blind, doesn't mean they can't do
the job," or play the sport or take the leadership role or go to Harvard Law
School. I really encourage anyone who's out there listening tonight—if
there ever has been something you wanted to try, if you have been holding yourself
back for fear of what it would be like to try to get into that community, I really
encourage you to do that.</p> <p>I have experienced this because of the pandemic
in a very concrete and tangible way this year. I will give you one example. I am
a runner. I use running not only as a way to stay physically active, but also for
benefits to my mental health. It also helps me to clear my head and to process
ideas and arguments that I'm actually stuck on when I'm thinking about a legal
argument.</p> <p>When the pandemic struck, all of that was stripped away from me
immediately. I could tell almost instantly that it was impacting my work because
this was a way that I handle stress, and I was in a very stressful job. So I wrote
to my friends in my running communities (some of them have blindness-related
aspects and many do not), and I asked for help. The next thing I knew, friends
came to my aid and provided me with a bike and a trainer so that I could continue
to exercise in my apartment and stay focused. When I first took myself out of my
comfort zone to show up at running events and ask sighted people if they would
run with me, I never imagined it would impact me professionally, that running
would affect my career development. I also never could have imagined that my year
on the Supreme Court would include a pandemic and going remote and being in
quarantine! My running community, which I never expected to show up and help me
in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, really pulled through for me.</p> <p>The
second takeaway that I want to share with you all is not going to be groundbreaking
if you are a lifelong Federationist, but I think it bears emphasizing as many
times as necessary. In order to be successful as a blind person in the United
States in 2020, we have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. Okay? President
Riccobono mentioned my clerkship on the Supreme Court. But I had two previous
one-year clerkships before then, and I also spent a year at a firm. I've had four
jobs in four years. All four of those places either had never hired a blind person
before or had not hired a blind person in a very long time. Four times I had to
go through the process of teaching an entire institution how to make things
accessible for me. It is very, very difficult sometimes, disheartening sometimes.
Even when you have amazing support, it can be really disheartening. But if you've
ever been to a training center and held a chainsaw, if you've ever walked with a
cane for the first time, if you've ever confronted your fear of pulling a stroller
or a shopping cart behind you, you know that all of these things help us learn to
be comfortable being uncomfortable. The more comfortable we get having difficult
conversations, the more we gain control over the conversations themselves. The
more we get comfortable talking to a supervisor and remaining calm when things
get heated and stressful, the more we have the power. We regain the power to direct
the conversation back to us and our needs instead of what other people tell us
our needs are or what might work better than what we're proposing.</p> <p>Ideally
we should be living in a world where universal design is the norm, where things
are designed to be accessible from the ground up, where there's no discrimination,
no stigma, no bigotry. We've made immense progress, but that world is not where
we are, and it's not where we'll be tomorrow.</p> <p>We're faced with a choice.
What do we do with these circumstances? If we learn to be comfortable being
uncomfortable, if we embrace that instead of becoming angry or frustrated or
disheartened, then we develop ourselves the qualities of leadership. We develop
grit. We're adaptable. We're resilient. We're smart. We're flexible. We're creative.
We're all of the things that a company needs today. We are all the things that a
family needs, that a community group needs. These are the qualities of a good
leader. So if we collectively embrace that, we'll not only be making our own lives
better as individual blind people, but we will be making the lives of every other
blind person in the country better. All of our successes are connected.</p> <p>I
want to close with that. As President Riccobono said, I have grown up in the
Federation. I am thankfully aware of the history that has come before me and the
very hard work that our leaders have done. I am very grateful for that work, and
I know that the extraordinary opportunity I have just had would not have been
possible without it. I feel that in each of our lives, our role is to work to
break down accessibility barriers. Even if we don't make things perfect, you are
adding one more step on top of a flight of stairs. When I came along, even though
it was still a very steep climb, I didn't have to jump from the bottom all the
way to the top. I could climb. I'm very, very appreciative of that! I hope that
through this past year and through the other work I've done so far in my career,
that I have added a step for the next person. I look forward very much to seeing
what comes next for us in the years to come. Thank you.</p> <p><strong>AWARDS</strong></p>
<p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: Marilee Talkington stands at the podium.]</p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION:
Portrait of Kate Meredith and her guide dog, Ranger]</p> <h2 id="dr.-jacob-bolotin-awards">Dr.
Jacob Bolotin Awards</h2> <p>Presented by James Gashel</p> <p>Reprinted from
<em>Braille Monitor,</em> Volume 63, Number 8, August-September 2020</p> <p><em>James
Gashel:</em> President Riccobono and my Federation family, thank you very much!
As we say here in Hawaii, thank you my Federation <em>ohana</em> everywhere.</p>
<p>Jacob Bolotin was a blind guy. He would tell you that. He wanted you to know
that. He grew up blind and graduated from the Illinois School for the Blind. He
lived in Chicago. Whether he could have done so or not, he never tried to pass
himself off as anything other than blind. He did a lot of things in his short
life, thirty-six years from 1888 to 1924. But unflagging determination to break
the mold of low expectations of what blind people could be and become in his time
tells Bolotin's story more than anything else. At age twenty-five, he became a
medical doctor. He specialized in diseases of the heart and lungs. You know, this
is what we mean when we say you can live the life you want.</p> <p>Bolotin was a
member of our Federation family before the Federation itself. I like to think of
it that way. His story has been told by his niece, Rosalind Perlman, in a biography
called <em>The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin Story.</em> You need to read this
book. You can get it from Amazon in print, or if you want to pay a lot you can
also get it on audio CD. Or you can get it from the Library of Congress books for
the blind and print disabled program [NLS]. Our annual Bolotin Awards keep his
memory alive. And they also support worthy efforts to break the mold of low
expectations of what blind people can be and become.</p> <p>This is the thirteenth
year for these awards made possible by the NFB with help from the Santa Barbara
Foundation and the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust. To date, we've presented
$680,000 to sixty-four recipients. Two new winners are being honored this year.
The awards include a cash prize for each recipient and an engraved commemorative
plaque with a medallion appropriately configured as you'll see to recognize the
award's significance. Here is the text on the plaque. "Presented to," then the
name of the organization, "the National Federation of the Blind and the Santa
Barbara Foundation, July 2020." The medallion, suspended above the plaque, has
the NFB logo on the obverse side with these inscribed words: "The Dr. Jacob Bolotin
Award, celebrating achievement, creating opportunity." The reverse side of the
medallion has Dr. Bolotin's bust with these inscribed words: "Dr. Jacob Bolotin,
1888-1924. Celebrating his life, the Alfred and Rosalind Perlman Trust."</p>
<p>[Video.] Ladies and gentlemen, the National Federation of the Blind is proud
to introduce the 2020 recipients of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards. Our winners have
broken down barriers faced by blind people in innovative ways, changed negative
perception of blindness and blind people, and pushed past existing boundaries to
inspire blind people to achieve new heights. The winners are:</p> <p>Geneva Lake
Astrophysics and STEAM Education for its innovative work to make astrophysics and
astronomy data accessible to the blind. Here's president and education director,
Kate Meredith:</p> <p><em>Kate Meredith:</em> We had multiple projects where
students were able to enjoy, discover, and understand astronomy. We provided that
with lots of different kinds of tactiles. But when it comes to capturing your own
image from a telescope and getting the image back, astronomical images are just
numbers on a spreadsheet. That's all it is. And what we do as sighted people,
since we love the beautiful images, we create visuals out of those numbers. But
astronomy is not inherently anymore a visual science. It might have been one
hundred years ago when everyone had to look through a telescope and draw what they
saw. But now scientists take the numbers, and they create ways to interact with
the numbers.</p> <p>What we wanted to do with the data processing software is
that, no matter what your visual acuity, you can load an image into the software
and analyze it, measure the brightness of objects and compare how it changes over
time, calculate a position of the object in the sky, and see how maybe an asteroid
moved. We wanted those tools to be accessible so that a person, regardless of
their visual ability, could capture their own data, load it into the software,
choose which data they wanted to analyze, acquire those data, and analyze it
themselves without the help of a sighted peer. It is one thing to be given a
National Science Foundation Award to do something no one else has done before.
But to be recognized by a leading organization that represents the people you're
trying to work with and serve means everything. To be acknowledged means we've
done our homework, done our due diligence, and worked hard to do it right. And to
get that vote of approval means more to me than anything you can actually possibly
imagine. It is that important to us.</p> <p>Marilee Talkington, actor and executive
director of Access Acting Academy.</p> <p><em>Marilee Talkington:</em> Access
Acting Academy was to fulfill a couple things: one to actually train actors to go
out on audition so I basically get to say, you can't use the excuse anymore that
we're not trained, we're not out there. Sorry. That's not the excuse you get to
use anymore. And two, to actually develop a totally inclusive pedagogy of actor
training that is fully accessible for blind and low vision actors, which is what
we did. That in itself, the evolution of training that has been offered for decades.
Some of it even centuries, some of this is centuries old training, so that we can
access this work, was a profound experience for me. I learned a ton. I think
ultimately the academy was a place for blind and low vision actors to learn but
also to teach where we need to grow as blind and low vision leaders.</p> <p>When
I got the call from you that I was to receive this award, I looked it up, and I
started to cry. It's a profound privilege to receive it. Deeply honored by it! To
be associated with these incredible pioneers, it's also validating, because I've
been working so hard for so long in this sphere, a lot of times alone. So to be
recognized in that way feels really amazing. I'm very grateful for it. Deeply.
And when I saw that there was a cash element, and I was like, I could get a few
thousand dollars! All of a sudden I was like, this is the sign that I needed to
dive back into Access Acting Academy. In the past week, I have spoken with four
other blind and low vision teachers. We're ready now, I'm ready now, to create an
entire virtual studio through Access Acting Academy. I'm actually going to launch
it at the awards ceremony for this award. We'll open up classes for the fall. It
will be totally virtual. There will be acting classes, embodiment classes, voice
classes, movement theater classes, hopefully Shakespeare classes. Because it's
time that the reach just keeps going out in the world. I want to service as many
people as we possibly can. It's not only to cultivate the next generation of blind
and low vision actors but the next generation of blind and low vision leaders.</p>
<p><em>James Gashel:</em> Ladies and gentlemen, these winners will each receive
a trophy and a monetary prize to advance their work to help blind people live the
lives we want. Now the National Federation of the Blind proudly presents them with
their 2020 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards. (end of video.)</p> <p><em>James Gashel:</em>
Okay, guys, these are our two winners. What an outstanding class of programs, of
unflagging determination to break the mold of low expectations of what blind people
can be and become. As I like to say, keeping Jacob Bolotin's legacy alive. Now,
what you don't know, and what they don't know, is what is the amount of the cash
prize each one of them is going to receive? But I do know.</p> <p>Our first winner
is Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM Education for its groundbreaking work to
create opportunities for the blind in astronomy as education and career objectives.
Now, who would have thought? Blind people becoming experts in viewing the planets,
the stars, and beyond! Kate Meredith and her team at Geneva Lake Astrophysics and
STEAM Education believe in blind people, just as Jacob Bolotin believed that blind
people can achieve in medicine, and he became a medical doctor. Congratulations
to Kate Meredith, who is president and head of the team at Geneva Lake Astrophysics
and STEAM Education. She's here tonight to accept the Jacob Bolotin Award to that
organization in the amount of $25,000. Here's Kate Meredith.</p> <p><em>Kate
Meredith:</em> Okay! Thank you so much. And you promised me ten extra seconds to
jump up and down for absolute joy. I'm here with staff members, Adam and Stephanie.
Those of you using screen readers may already know of us as GLASE Education, but
we are Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM Education. At GLASE, we collaborate with
blind and sighted members of the scientific community to dismantle barriers,
increase accessibility in STEM, and blaze new trails in order for everyone to
participate equally in every aspect of science, rather than passively participate
in what others create on their behalf. GLASE allows anyone, regardless of vision,
to explore the universe to the limits of their own imagination rather than those
imposed on them by others' lack of imagination. There are so many people to thank
for how far we've come as an organization. If it were not for the dedication of
Vivian Hetty, we would not have taken those first steps to partner with the
Wisconsin School for the Blind over twenty years ago. Without two consecutive
awards from the National Science Foundation, we would not have trod the difficult
path from 3D models and inaccessible curricula to confronting the challenges of
creating accessible image processing software. This process is essential for
independent scientific exploration of the universe by those who are blind or
visually impaired.</p> <p>From the beginning, NFB members have guided what we have
become as a community. Our deepest thanks to Jeremiah Beasley, David Hyde, and
Katie Watson Corbitt for their steadfast support of us over the years. We thank
Williams Bay Lions Club, without whose contribution we would not have been able
to host blind astronomers at Yerkes Observatory and GLASE. A special thanks to
blind astronomer Dr. Nic Bonne for his unwavering dedication and the center for
cosmology in Portsmouth, UK, for allowing his extended stays with us to be part
of his actual workload.</p> <p>A personal thanks to Chris Matthews, Alex Trob,
and Tia Berts, who agreed to be a part of the NSF grant to develop accessible
tools for astronomy. They represent the blind community with creativity, patience,
and truly untold perseverance.</p> <p>Lastly, we want to thank you. We want you
to be proud with us for all of our future work. Your recognition today lets us
know that we're on the right track. Thank you so much from myself, Adam and Deb
and Chris who are all here tonight from Wisconsin. We wish we were in Hawaii, but
thank you.</p> <p><em>James Gashel:</em> Thank you, Kate. Incidentally, if you
were wondering as I was wondering what in the world STEAM means in the name of
this organization, I can now tell you. This is an acronym for science, technology,
engineering, art, and mathematics. I know you knew that already, but I didn't.
Now I do.</p> <p>Also know that the NFB has had a STEM2U program. After tonight,
I'm thinking that after tonight that ought to become a STEAM2U program.</p> <p>Now,
our second winner is Marilee Talkington. She's being recognized for her personal
initiative and her creativity in forming Access Acting Academy for low vision
adults and kids. This is the first of its kind venture, which Marilee was inspired
to undertake based on interest shown by people within our Performing Arts
Division.</p> <p>Marilee has said about this academy so well, "Actor training of
this caliber and level of accessibility has never been available before. Now is
the time when profoundly rich and untapped talent should be cultivated, collaborated
with, celebrated, and realized." You know, these are the profound words of what
it means to have unflagging determination, to break the mold of low expectations
of what blind people can be and become, keeping the legacy of Jacob Bolotin alive.
That's what you're doing, Marilee. Congratulations for your leadership, your belief
in yourself, and your belief in other blind people. Now, Marilee Talkington is
with us tonight to receive her personal Dr. Jacob Bolotin award in the amount of
$25,000. Here's Marilee Talkington.</p> <p><em>Marilee Talkington:</em> Oh, my
God! Oh, my God. Oh, my God! I'm-wow. I'm a little overwhelmed by that. I did
not-oh, my goodness gracious. I had a speech. That might get thrown out. Wow.
Okay. Okay. Focus. Here we go. I'm a performer. I'm a professional performer and
speaker. Let me get focused here.</p> <p>I am so honored and privileged to be
receiving this and to be associated with such incredible pioneers like Kate Meredith
and her team and everybody else that is doing work to actually raise the bar,
because it has been so low! In the entertainment industry, the bar literally
doesn't exist. We've been invisible this whole time. So to be recognized for the
work that I'm doing not only as an individual artist for twenty-five years but
also to be recognized doing the work for Access Acting Academy is incredible.</p>
<p>I want to say, this is what I want to say, because when you called me to let
me know about this award, a fire lit inside me, because I've been suffering from
the pandemic blues, just like everybody else. And what the fire said, because it
spoke to me, it said, it's time. It's time now, and the vision has to get bigger.
And now you have to go because more people need this.</p> <p>So in the past month
I have constructed an entire faculty that will be serving adults, teens, and kids
on a virtual platform. This will be the first-ever professional actor's academy
for blind/low vision folks. And there's also going to be a leadership track as
well so people not in the arts industry can come and study and find the ownership
of their authentic power and voices. So if you go to www.accessacting.com, you'll
find everything on there. We're going to launch officially in August. And I am
so, so grateful for this honor and this award. And the money, what can I say? I'm
a starving artist. This helps. So thank you so much. I can't wait to do more work
together with you so we can keep going forward into the entertainment industry
and crush it! The revolution has begun! Thank you.</p> <p><em>James Gashel:</em>
Thank you, Marilee. That's what it's all about. Now, to all of you, please visit
our Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award page at www.nfb.org. You'll be able to find out more
about these winners, and you can get the full-length version of their interviews,
too. Thank you to Ron Brown, Mary Ellen Jernigan, Everette Bacon, and Marc Maurer
for all their hard work and enlightened experience in helping to select these
award winners again this year. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my report and the
presentation of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards for 2020. Aloha.</p> <h2
id="thank-you-to-our-scholarship-sponsors">Thank You to Our Scholarship Sponsors</h2>
<p>The scholarship program of the National Federation of the Blind is the largest
of its kind for blind students in the United States. Each year we award more than
$120,000 in cash and prizes. We would like to recognize the generous partners who
contribute to our scholarships and those who add cash and prizes to help make this
such a dynamic program.</p> <p>Some scholarships are supported by the Lillian S.
Edelstein Trust. All scholarships that are awarded to blind women and are not
otherwise endowed are made possible by a generous bequest from the estate of
Dorothy R. Olson. Some NFB scholarships are made possible in part through the
support of the Jesse and Hertha Adams Charitable Trust. Through the trust, Jesse
and Hertha Adams wanted to help people with disabilities lead productive and
meaningful lives.</p> <p>Thank you to the partners who add cash and prizes to each
of our winners' packages: The Kurzweil Foundation and Ray Kurzweil add $1,000 to
each recipient's award and provide each finalist with a commemorative plaque in
both print and Braille. Ray Kurzweil is a longtime friend of the Federation and
deserves our special recognition. Google, Inc., adds another $1,000 to each winner's
scholarship. Google also provides each recipient with an Acer Chromebook. Independence
Science is proud to award each winner a $1,500 gift certificate to be redeemed
toward the purchase of a new Sci-Voice Talking LabQuest, version 2. Vispero will
award each winner with a five-year home software license for their choice of either
JAWS screen reading software or ZoomText magnifier with speech. Winners also enjoy
the gift of a KNFB Reader, courtesy of the National Federation of the Blind.</p>
<p>Thank you to these contributors for helping to fund our twenty-two $3,000
scholarships: The E. U. and Gene Parker Scholarship honors two longtime leaders
of the National Federation of the Blind whose participation stood for strong
principles and strong support of the Federation's work. The Charles and Betty
Allen Scholarship is funded by Betty Allen. This scholarship is given by a longtime
leader in the National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky. Betty and her late
husband Charles began this scholarship prior to his passing to support young people
in attaining higher education. Charlie, who was extremely successful, left school
at an early age to care for his family, but he retained a strong belief in education.
The Adrienne Asch Memorial Scholarship is given in loving memory of Dr. Adrienne
Asch, a consummate scholar and a longtime member of our Scholarship Committee.
The Edith R. and Alvin J. Domroe Foundation supports college scholarships and has
funded its scholarship to encourage academic excellence. One Charles and Melba T.
Owen Memorial Scholarship is funded in the amount of $3,000. The NFB STEM Scholarship
is jointly supported by the Science and Engineering and Computer Science Divisions
and is awarded to a student studying in science, technology, engineering, mathematics,
or a related field. Members of these divisions wish to encourage the success of
blind STEM students in their chosen field of study.</p> <p>Anonymous
contributors—you know who you are—we thank you very much. Our
gratitude goes out to the collective membership of the NFB for funding many National
Federation of the Blind scholarships. This year, one of our NFB scholarships will
be dedicated to Federationists impacted by, and first responders coping with,
COVID-19. Also this year we will present four awards in the amount of $5,000 each.
The first of these is funded by the collective membership of the National Federation
of the Blind. The Pearson Award is funded by Pearson Education and is given to a
student who plans a career in education. For Pearson, learning is a never-ending
road of discovery. The Mimi and Marvin Sandler Award is funded by longtime friends
of the Federation. Marvin Sandler served as president of Independent Living Aids
for more than thirty years. He and his wife wish to further academic excellence
by sponsoring this award.</p> <p>The JAWS for Windows Scholarship is funded by
the developers of the JAWS screen reader, Vispero. JAWS, Job Access with Speech,
has been committed to expanding the opportunities for education and employment
for the blind with both speech and Braille since the late 1980s. In establishing
this award Vispero said, "On behalf of all the individuals responsible for the
development and support of this product over the years, we are honored to establish
this scholarship for students recognized by the Federation."</p> <p>We have two
$8,000 scholarships, both donated by Oracle. Thank you, Oracle. The first is the
Oracle Scholarship for Excellence in Computer Science. Oracle seeks to hire the
best and brightest talent to build its products. It recognizes the significant
impact that its products and technologies can have on people with disabilities.
This scholarship is for a student in the field of computer science, computer
engineering, user experience, or a related field. The second is the Oracle
Scholarship for Excellence in a STEM Field. This scholarship awards academic
excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
Oracle wishes to promote excellence and funds this scholarship based on Oracle's
understanding of its impact on disabled employees and customers around the globe.</p>
<p>Our $10,000 scholarship is another Charles and Melva T. Owen Memorial Scholarship.
First established by Charles Owen in loving memory of his blind wife, this award
is now endowed to honor the memory of both. In founding the scholarship, Charles
Owen wrote: "There shall be no limitation as to field of study, except that it
shall be directed toward attaining financial independence."</p> <p>Finally, we
have our most prestigious scholarship, the Kenneth Jernigan Scholarship for $12,000.
This scholarship is given yearly by the American Action Fund for Blind Children
and Adults, a nonprofit organization that assists blind people and works to create
publications in Braille. Kenneth Jernigan is viewed in our field as the most
important figure in the twentieth century in the lives of blind people. The Action
Fund wishes to keep the understandings he brought to the field alive and well
throughout the twenty-first century. It has endowed this scholarship dedicated to
his memory and to the continuation of the work he began.</p> <p>Each of our thirty
scholarships rewards academic excellence and promotes leadership in the blindness
community. The scholarships are all made possible by the generous contributions
of many individuals and partners. Our winners are living the lives they want, and
we sincerely thank all of you. You help make dreams come true!</p> <p>[PHOTO
CAPTION: The Scholarship Class of 2020: From top left: Alek Wolfe, Bri Broadwater,
Brian Mucyo, Chris Bove, Marissa Nissley, Griffin Miller, Deiascha-Britte
Bancayanvega, Rob Blachowicz, Emily Keihl, Matthew Duffell-Hoffman, Logan Stenzel,
Elaine Hardin, Precious Perez, Kevin Darcy, Sara Luna, Kaitlin Hippe, Mick Carey,
Brayan Zamarripa, Jillian Skye Milton, Marie Villaneda, Moreblessings Chikavanga,
Paxton Franke, Nick Spohn, Josh Loebner, Natalie Charbonneau, and Danielle
Schultz.]</p> <h2 id="the-nfb-scholarship-class-of-2020">The NFB Scholarship Class
of 2020</h2> <p>Presented by Cayte Mendez</p> <p>Reprinted from <em>Braille
Monitor,</em> Volume 63, Number 8, August-September 2020</p> <p><em>From the
Editor: At the annual board meeting of the National Federation of the Blind, NFB
Scholarship Committee Chairperson Cayte Mendez presented the thirty 2020 NFB
Scholarship finalists. Introducing Cayte Mendez, NFB President Mark Riccobono
stated, "Our scholarship program is premier in terms of acknowledging the hard
work of blind students across the country. Our scholarship chair has been juggling
a lot of new things in the last few months. She is doing a great job of shepherding
the members of the Scholarship Committee and dealing with the hundreds of applications
we get in a very competitive program. Here to present our 2020 scholarship finalists,
from the great State of New York, is Cayte Mendez."</em></p> <p><em>Cayte Mendez:</em>
Thank you, President Riccobono. It's a privilege to be here with all of you this
afternoon. As you know, our scholarship program is one of the ways our organization
makes an investment in its future and in the future of blind people across the
nation. Every year we give more than $120,000 in cash and prizes to thirty blind
students from across the country who have demonstrated excellence in both their
academic pursuits and their community involvement and leadership.</p> <p>Like so
many this year, I miss the opportunity to connect in person with my fellow
Federationists. But the thing I've been missing the absolute most has been the
chance to spend lots of in-person time with this amazing group of thirty scholarship
finalists. I've had the opportunity to get to know them thus far over a series of
Zoom calls, and they are truly an impressive and diverse group of leaders and
scholars. Their enthusiasm for the scholarship process and determination to achieve
their goals and aspirations are evident, even through the virtual medium. It's my
honor to introduce them to you this afternoon.</p> <p>I'm going to introduce the
finalists in alphabetical order by name, of course, and then I'm going to say two
states. The first state will be the student's home state. That's the state either
where they spend the most time or where they consider home, and the second will
be their school state, where they'll be attending college in the fall. I'm also
going to share briefly their vocational goals, and each student will introduce
themselves. Throughout the presentation I'm going to share some fun facts about
this scholarship class. They're a great group of finalists. Without further ado,
it's my privilege to present the NFB scholarship class of 2020.</p> <p><em>Deiascha-Britte
Bancayanvega, Rhode Island, California. She will be entering the field of
healthcare:</em> I would like to recognize the San Diego chapter and the National
Federation of the Blind for their love and support. I am halfway in my medical
education as a blind individual. My goal is to promote healthcare inclusion for
the visually impaired patients and also for visually impaired healthcare workers
who truly want to help yet accessibility is not fully granted. Now I speak for
those who have an interest in medicine. I believe in your potential, and we all
can partake in the creation of an inclusive healthcare system that welcomes
everyone.</p> <p><em>Rob Blachowicz, Arkansas, Arkansas. Rob is getting a degree
in counseling:</em> Scholars are not just academics. It is very important to note
that scholars also volunteer and commit our time to helping people with technology
and Braille. I have also given my time to food banks and homeless shelters. With
that being said though, school counseling and being a scholar are not just about
volunteering, academics, and advocacy. It's also about teaching skills. One of
the most important skills we can teach is teamwork, because together we can achieve
our dreams.</p> <p><em>Chris Bove, Rhode Island, Rhode Island. Chris will be
pursuing a career in public service:</em> Hello everyone. Before I start I would
just like to thank you all for the opportunity to be here today. I have been
working toward a career in public service for about five years now. In high school
I served as a member of the Rhode Island Board of Education and as an intern in
the office of Governor Gina Raimondo. At the University of Rhode Island, I serve
as a committee chair on the student senate and as a member of the board of trustees.
I am also an extremely active member of the Rhode Island affiliate of the NFB,
and I serve as a member of the legislative team. My dream in life is to serve in
government and provide a voice for people like us who have long been overlooked.
This investment in my future will help get me one step closer to making that dream
a reality. Thank you.</p> <p><em>Bri Broadwater, Maryland, New Jersey. Bri will
be seeking a career as a psychologist:</em> I have been of the mindset that your
life is your own, and you do with it what you choose. So that's what I do. I'm a
base and tumbler on my school's cheer team, I'm an amateur baker, and I really
enjoy rock climbing and hiking. I've had so many people help me during this time,
so I want to help other people through volunteering with special education, helping
out in my community, mentoring other blind students like myself, and now pursuing
a career in psychology. I want to give back to the world like the world has given
to me.</p> <p><em>Sean Carlson, Oregon, Oregon. Sean is looking forward to a career
in rehab, specifically as a teacher of blind students:</em> Greetings. It's an
honor to have been selected as a national scholarship finalist. When I joined the
NFB in January 2019, I was simply seeking connection with other blind individuals
like myself. What I found was a movement of successful and inspirational people
doing so much good in the blind movement that I wanted to join in. I'm currently
president of the Oregon student division, and the vice president of the Portland
Central Chapter. After hearing about the 70 percent unemployment or underemployment
of us in the blind community, I decided to switch my college major. I decided to
pursue degrees which would enable me to lead and inspire others to show them that
blindness is not an obstacle to becoming a successful person and leading a dignified,
independent life. Thank you.</p> <p><em>Natalie Charbonneau, Oregon, Oregon.
Natalie is going into animal genetics and conservation:</em> I'm stepping off the
path of societal expectations that I've been traveling to pursue a career in
conservation and animal genetics. My ultimate goal is to work at a university
conducting research and teaching, allowing me to apply skills from my previous
career path combined with my passion for animals and conservation, to actively
model and continue advocating for true inclusivity and access in higher education.</p>
<p><em>Moreblessings Chikavanga, Texas, Texas. Moreblessings is looking forward
to a career in law:</em> Hello. A little bit about myself. I enjoy being an engaged
citizen. I love helping people as the president of the local Leo's Club. In my
high school I enjoyed volunteering by fundraising for a local children's home. I
graduated from LCB in 2018, where I became more confident and met a lot of great
role models. To give back to my blind community, I have worked as a buddy counselor
last summer and have been participating in the Texas Affiliate since. I have a
passion in diversity and inclusion, and I love advocacy work. With that being
said, this summer I have had an opportunity to work at the Iowa Department for
the Blind as a summer youth counselor, where I work with students with multiple
disabilities teaching cane travel and technology to enforce independence and
self-advocacy. I'm honored to be one of the 2020 finalists.</p> <p><em>Cayte
Mendez: This next finalist is one of the five finalists whose birthdays are in
April. Apparently April is a really good month for having a birthday if you want
to be a 2020 scholarship finalist.</em></p> <p><em>Kevin Darcy, Colorado, Colorado.
Kevin is looking forward to a career as a professor of anthropology:</em> The life
I want is to be an anthropologist. When I was told that blind people can't become
anthropologists, I didn't let blindness hold me back. When I was told that blind
people shouldn't do research in developing areas of the world, blindness didn't
hold me back. I refused to become society's image of a blind person. Even so, I
recognized that my identity as a white male comes with privileges and access to
opportunities and resources that other blind people may not have. One of my
professional goals is to shape public policy to increase access and opportunities
for other blind students, and I've begun doing that through my work at CU Boulder.</p>
<p><em>Matthew Duffell-Hoffman, South Carolina, South Carolina. Matthew is looking
forward to a career in electrical engineering:</em> Hello everyone. A little about
me: I am an athlete. In high school I was captain of both the wrestling team and
the cross country team, and I now do jujitsu. I have volunteered at the NFB BELL
Academy and at the NFB of SC's Rocky Bottom Children's Camp for the Blind. I'm
currently working at our program called Summer Teen. My career aspiration is to
be an entrepreneur and start a business converting ordinary cars into accessible
self-driving cars, which comes from my personal desire to own a self-driving Dodge
Viper.</p> <p><em>Paxton Franke, North Dakota, North Dakota. Paxton will be getting
his degree in biology and heading into a career in forensic pathology:</em> I am
at my very nature a curious person. I am passionate about my curiosity through
the study of chemistry and physics. There is no better feeling for me than spending
twenty minutes on a chemistry problem and finally understanding one of the mechanisms
that make up this beautiful world. I want to further my understanding through the
practice of forensic pathology and not only sustain my curiosity but contribute
to a future that I would be happy to be a part of.</p> <p><em>Elaine Hardin,
Georgia, California. Elaine will be pursuing a degree in higher education with
the goal of working in higher ed student affairs:</em> Hi everyone. It's an honor
to be here. I just graduated from Vanderbilt University, where I studied special
education, taught and mentored in public schools as a student teacher, and served
in several leadership positions. These experiences made me aware of inequities in
education, and I'm dedicated to making a difference. This summer I'm beginning a
one-year master's program in student affairs administration at UCLA. In my career
I hope to have a big impact on the lives of students and on equity, diversity,
inclusion, and accessibility in higher education.</p> <p><em>Kat Hippe, Wisconsin,
Michigan. Kat will be pursuing a career in languages and special education</em>:
I just want to say thank you so much for this opportunity. It means a lot to me.
I will be pursuing special education in foreign languages because I believe in
advocating for other students who are underrepresented. In other countries they
don't have as many opportunities as we do. So by getting a certification in foreign
languages and special education, I can hopefully go over and represent the children
who cannot be represented as well because I believe that everyone deserves a chance
to live life to the fullest. Thank you.</p> <p><em>Emily Kiehl, Ohio, Ohio. Emily
will be pursuing a career in technology and business:</em> Outside my information
technology classes, I play tuba, oboe, and saxophone in several bands at the
University of Cincinnati. I'm also a software developer who has gone to hack-a-thons
across the country and presented at the world's largest consumer electronics show.
I got involved with the NFB after having a blast volunteering at the BELL camp
last summer. Now I'm on the board of the Ohio Association of Blind Students. Thank
you so much for this opportunity.</p> <p><em>Josh Loebner, Tennessee, South
Carolina. Josh will be pursuing his PhD in rhetoric and communications with the
goal of working in advertising and as a professor:</em> The NFB scholarship allows
me to continue my PhD, advancing research and advocacy for disability in advertising.
I serve on the Mosaic Council, the ad industry's premier think tank for diversity
and inclusion, and mentor disabled students interested in pursuing careers in
advertising, media, and entertainment. While positive strides have been made, more
needs to be done to include people with disabilities. My career goal is to develop
the first textbook and college course dedicated to teaching advertising and
disability inclusion. Advertising is powerful. So is the disability community.</p>
<p><em>Sara Luna, Illinois, Illinois. Sara is entering a career in museum
accessibility:</em> I would wager that most of you in attendance have visited a
history museum at some point. Perhaps like me you were disappointed by the
overwhelmingly visual experience. The intent of museums is to preserve history
and educate the public. Personally, studying history has vastly increased my
understanding and appreciation of my African-American and Mexican heritage.
Therefore, I intend to work to help make museums a more accessible space so that
everyone may learn from these incredible institutions. Thank you.</p> <p><em>Victor
Marques, Michigan, Michigan. Victor will be entering a career in vision rehab
therapy:</em> I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to be a
finalist this year. I'm a graduate student at Western Michigan University. If
everything goes well in April, I will graduate summa cum laude with my master's
degree. I am a professional musician. I am heavily involved with Toastmasters
International, and I also work as a patient services coordinator at a free health
clinic, where I help patients overcome barriers to accessing healthcare. My main
goal as a rehabilitation professional is to provide quality comprehensive services
so that my consumers can live the lives that they choose without limits. Thank
you.</p> <p><em>Griffin Miller, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Griffin intends to
pursue a career as an actuary:</em> Hello, I'm Griffin. I'm pursuing a career as
an actuary. I've always been interested in math since I was young and always been
in advanced math classes for my age. I actually took algebra one in third grade.
In addition to that, I have been interested in technology for the blind. There's
another blind student at my school who I help with technology, and I also participate
in the choir.</p> <p><em>Jillian Milton, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Jillian will
be pursuing a career in product development:</em> Hi. As a legally blind student
I am proud to have graduated twelfth in a class of about four hundred students.
I became the first student in the nation to test with dual screens on multiple
standardized tests. For the past four years I have participated in competitive
sports like marching band and track that helped break barriers for other students
with disabilities. I was an elected officer in the music and science honor societies.
My volunteerism includes kayaking and open water swims and the BELL camp. In
college I would like to study engineering or computer science to create technology
products that are accessible for all.</p> <p><em>Brian Mucyo, Arizona, New York.
Brian will be entering a career in human rights law:</em> I would like to start
off by thanking the committee for this great opportunity to be a finalist this
year. I just graduated from Grand Canyon University with an honors bachelor's in
finance and economics. I was actually also named the top student for our college
of business, so once our graduation is rescheduled, I'll be giving the commencement
speech. Among other things in the past year I have been serving on the student
board of the Arizona affiliate and on the board of the Guide Dogs for the Blind
chapter in Phoenix. I am currently working with a business consulting firm, where
we're actively working to help businesses navigate and survive this pandemic. In
the fall I start my new chapter going to law school, where I hope to gain more
experience and resources to be an even better advocate.</p> <p><em>Cayte: Our
scholarship class this year spans exactly three decades. Our youngest scholarship
finalist is the next one I'm going to introduce. She is still seventeen and will
be turning eighteen at the end of this month. Our most senior finalist is forty-seven,
so just exactly thirty years between.</em></p> <p><em>Marissa Nissley, New Jersey,
District of Columbia. Marissa will be getting a degree in economics and entering
a career in law:</em> Hello everyone. Throughout high school I served as captain
of my school's mock trial team, and for the first time this year our team placed
third in the state. I served as vice president of my local DECA chapter, where I
not only competed in business role-play events but also organized community
fundraisers for several charities. Next year I plan to attend Georgetown University
and major in economics with the goal of attending law school after undergrad.
Thank you, and I'm honored to be an NFB scholarship finalist.</p> <p><em>Sherry
Pablo, California, California. Sherry will be pursuing a career in health policy
and management:</em> Ten years ago I unexpectedly lost my sight after graduating
from college. My journey since then has included teaching myself how to read
Braille, volunteering with seniors, providing health education to youth in a
clinic, and most recently leading a team in a statewide program addressing the
opioid epidemic. With a master's in public health from UC Berkeley, I plan to
improve accessibility and promote equity within healthcare systems and in health
policy. Thank you so much for this opportunity and investment in my future.</p>
<p><em>Cayte: Our next finalist is a tenBroek Fellow. The tenBroek fellowships
are awarded to scholarship finalists who have previously won a National Federation
of the Blind scholarship, and they are named after the first president of the NFB,
Dr. Jacobus tenBroek. So let me introduce you to Precious Perez.</em></p>
<p><em>Precious Perez, Massachusetts, Massachusetts. Precious will be entering a
career in music education:</em> Hi everyone. This is an honor, so thank you to
the scholarship committee. I'm a vocalist, songwriter, and music educator. I'm a
first generation college student, a Puerto Rican woman with anxiety from a low
income family. I'm the first blind student to study music education at Berkelee
and the first blind student to study abroad at a Valencia [College] campus. My
goal is to break down barriers for blind educators and performers to lead by
example in the mainstream setting. I represent multiple communities, so I will
strive to teach my students beauty and diversity. Music is unity; education is
power, and I will use both to abolish blindness stereotypes. Thank you.</p>
<p><em>Teresita Rios, California, Indiana. Teresita will be pursuing a career in
law:</em> I was born in Mexico and moved to the US at the age of eleven. I would
not be as academically inclined if not for my parents. In high school through mock
trial I fell in love with the founding documents of this nation. Throughout college
I volunteered and interned in different legal resource centers which cemented my
interest in the law. Graduating cum laude with honors from UCL, today I am thrilled
to say that I am attending law school in the fall, and in three years I will be
better equipped to at least in part pay my parents for their countless sacrifices
and have a deeper understanding of the US Constitution. Thank you so very much
for helping me achieve my dream. Thank you.</p> <p><em>Cayte: So before we introduce
this next scholarship finalist, I would just like to say that our class is
representative of twenty-six states. Some folks represent two states because of
their home state and their school state. This next finalist will be representing
one state and that is the state of Nebraska.</em></p> <p><em>Dannielle Schutz,
Nebraska, Nebraska. Danielle will be pursuing a degree in biological systems
engineering and will be pursuing a career in medical research:</em> I have received
many academic and athletic awards throughout my high school career. I have shown
goats and pigs for eleven years through 4H and FFA. At the University of Nebraska,
I plan to study biological systems engineering. As a medical scientist I plan to
research genetic eye disorders. I was born with a rare form of Stargardt disease.
My doctors inspired me to follow a path that would combine my love of science with
my desire to improve the lives of others.</p> <p><em>Nick Spohn, Pennsylvania,
Pennsylvania. Nick will be pursuing a career in mechanical engineering:</em> I
became visually impaired right before my ninth grade school year. I have led others
by example through my hard work and dedication. I was one of the students involved
in advocating for the college board to administer proper accommodations during
this year's AP exams. Everyone should have an equal opportunity when it comes to
education. My career goal is to become a mechanical engineer and make an impact
on society.</p> <p><em>Logan Stenzel, Minnesota, Minnesota. Logan will be entering
the field of finance and technology entrepreneurship:</em> Mixing technical and
communication skills is essential to life as a blind person. Being able to come
up with clever solutions to access issues is essential to success as a blind person
and for the entire blind community. As a high school debater, I utilized these
skills to achieve competitive success, unanimously winning the Minnesota state
debate championship while advocating for more inclusive practices in debate. I'm
grateful for the NFB scholarship for allowing me to continue this work into
college.</p> <p><em>Marie Villaneda, Indiana, Indiana. Marie will be pursuing a
career as an orientation and mobility instructor:</em> As we all know, it is very
important for blind youth to connect with and learn from blind adults. This is
one driving factor in my passion to address the shortage of blind orientation and
mobility instructors. I worked for four years with youth at the Indiana School
for the Blind, and I have been involved with the NFB since 2017 through conventions
and Washington Seminar. I look forward to a continued engagement with the Federation
and sincerely appreciate the investment in my future.</p> <p><em>Shane Wegner,
Minnesota, Minnesota. Shane will be undertaking a career in corporate law:</em>
What could be more exciting than a career in corporate law? Yeah, I've never heard
anybody say that. No. It's not exciting. But you want to know what it is: how
corporate America views diversity and inclusion. Has anyone noticed what group of
people are not represented? Well, it's you and me, people with a disability. That
bothers me. I want that to change. That is why I am excited about corporate law.
I want to drive that change for people like us. Thank you to the scholarship
committee and the board of directors for giving me this opportunity.</p> <p><em>Alek
Wolfe, Vermont, Vermont. Alek will be pursuing a career in broadcasting:</em> Hi,
thank you for this incredible honor. A very important quote that my basketball
coach told me when I first got into radio was, "You live and you learn." Through
my time in radio I've gotten the opportunity to give back to my community, a very
important part of that being a community garden and being able to broadcast on
live radio a soccer tournament in honor of a resident who had passed away from a
car accident. Since then I have been able to give to many charities in her name
and through radio. With this scholarship I hope to continue the work through radio
and give back to the community, and I want to thank the committee for letting me
be here and continue my work in giving back to the community.</p> <p><em>Brayan
Zamarripa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma. Brayan will be entering the field of media production
and accessibility:</em> Hello everybody. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.
I am primarily a musician. I play guitar, violin, and a bit of voice too. I compose
in many different genres and do a little bit of production as well. I also do
testing for music software and accessibility in order to provide access for all
who use it. Outside of music I am the secretary for my state NFB affiliate, and
I also serve on committees in my local chapter. I love studying languages. I speak
four of them. And I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone.</p>
<p><em>Cayte Mendez</em>: <em>Mr. President, this concludes the presentation of
the 2020 scholarship class.</em></p> <p>At the virtual banquet during the 2020
NFB National Convention, Cayte Mendez presented this year's NFB National Scholarship
winners.</p> <p><em>Cayte Mendez:</em> For the past few years, it's been my
privilege to stand at the podium on banquet night and celebrate the tremendous
achievements of our NFB scholars. Each year the thirty students selected by the
community impress us all with their drive and the desire to live their best lives
and to improve the lives of others. Throughout the convention the members of the
organization get to know them through their public presentations at the meeting
of NABS (National Association of Blind Students), the board meeting, and through
interacting with them in the hallways and during meetings.</p> <p>From year to
year our scholarship winners are stars of the convention experience. It's been my
privilege for the last few years to introduce them to all of you. This spring,
even before the official decision was made to take the convention virtual, President
Riccobono, the Scholarship Committee, and I had already begun thinking about how
we could make sure our 2020 scholarship finalists could be guaranteed the best
convention experience possible under the unique and challenging conditions in
which we all suddenly found ourselves. We made it a priority to ensure that each
of the thirty scholarship finalists would have the most impactful, engaging, and
interactive experience we could create as they got to know the committee and the
Federation through the various convention events and their surrounding networking
and social opportunities.</p> <p>We knew that the true gift of the NFB scholarship
program is the Federation itself, above and beyond the dollar amounts, and we were
determined to ensure that the 2020 finalists would get to experience everything
that our organization has to offer.</p> <p>I'm so pleased to tell you all that
this amazing group of finalists has dived into our remote convention experience
with the kind of gusto and enthusiasm that I've always admired in our scholarship
winners. They've immersed themselves deeply into our convention activities throughout
the past week and have shared their questions and feedback with their mentors via
Zoom, text, WhatsApp, email, and a few good old-fashioned phone calls. They've
stayed connected to the committee and to one another, and they've forged new
friendships and contacts throughout these past five days. Despite the time
differences and the long hours behind devices, they've carried on the perennial
scholarship tradition of twenty-hour-plus days with very little sleep as they have
soaked up Federation philosophy, community, and activism.</p> <p>To you guys, the
scholarship class of 2020, we've all been delighted to get to know you. You've
impressed me, the committee, and the membership of the organization with your
tremendous stories of struggle and success, your passion for diversity and inclusion,
and your commitment to advancing the future of others as well as achieving your
own lofty goals.</p> <p>I am really sorry to see that our time together is drawing
to a close. However, this just means that we'll have more things to learn about
one another and to share with one another when we do finally get a chance to meet
in person.</p> <p>Back in May we announced that travel and public health restrictions
permitting, there will be an in-person event for all the 2020 scholarship finalists
in February 2021. That will be taking place in Baltimore. The details for this
event are still in the works, but we know how important it is for the members of
each scholarship class to develop in-person connections with one another, with
their mentors on the committee, as well as with other Federation members and
leaders. The money that you guys will all win as scholarship finalists will
eventually be spent. But the relationships that you'll build with one another and
with the members of the Federation as a part of your scholarship process will last
for a lifetime. And to give you an example, I'm still friends with my scholarship
roommate, and that was nineteen years ago! So right now, our in-person event is
scheduled for the weekend of February 4, 2021. Please save that date. Dr. Kurzweil,
that might be a lovely time to do that handshake that you were lamenting having
missed this evening.</p> <p>As you all know, each year our thirty NFB scholarships
range in value from $3,000 to $12,000. These scholarships are also augmented by
additional grants and prizes, so that at a minimum each winner leaves our convention
with $5,000 plus gifts including a beautiful plaque from Dr. Kurzweil and the
Kurzweil Foundation and a Chromebook from Google. In the video we aired earlier
this evening, we thanked our generous donors and partners for their support. But
I'm going to take this opportunity to say it once more: thank you. Thank you so
much. Your support helps make it possible for these future leaders and scholars
to achieve their dreams and to live the lives they want. So, sincerely, from all
of us, thank you.</p> <p>Traditionally the determination of which of the thirty
finalists will receive the eight scholarships with base values exceeding $3,000
has been made on the final night of convention, after a week where the finalists
get to know the scholarship committee and the committee members get to know each
of the finalists. This year, given the challenges and potential inequities of
adhering to our usual protocol, the decision was made to award our scholarships
a little differently. In May we announced that each finalist who participated
fully in the remote convention will be receiving a $3,000 scholarship plus all
the additional cash and prizes. The determination of which finalist would be
awarded the eight amounts exceeding $3,000, including our prestigious Kenneth
Jernigan Memorial Scholarship, will be made at the in-person event in February,
where, again, public health and travel permitting, the committee and other Federation
members in attendance will be able to get to know each of these inspiring scholars
without the barriers of screens and headphones and weird internet stuff.</p> <p>In
closing this evening I have the honor to introduce one more time in full the
scholarship class of 2020. Now, usually at this point when I start reading names,
I'd have to tell you please hold your applause and please wait to cheer. But this
year, because you're all in webinar mode, I definitely encourage you to cheer,
hoot, holler, scream, yell, and carry on as loud as you please while I read the
names of our fabulous 2020 scholarship winners. I'll read everybody's name, first
name, last name, home state, school state, and vocational goal.</p> <p>Deiascha-Britte
Bancayanvega, Rhode Island, California, healthcare inclusion.</p> <p>Rob Blachowicz,
Arkansas, Arkansas, counseling.</p> <p>Chris Bove, Rhode Island, Rhode Island,
public service.</p> <p>Bri Broadwater, Maryland, New Jersey, psychology.</p>
<p>Sean Carlson, Oregon, Oregon, teacher of blind students.</p> <p>Natalie
Charbonneau, Oregon, Oregon, animal genetics and conservation.</p> <p>Moreblessings
Chikavanga, Texas, Texas, law and policy.</p> <p>Kevin Darcy, Colorado, Colorado,
professor of anthropology.</p> <p>Matthew Duffell-Hoffman, South Carolina, South
Carolina, electrical engineering.</p> <p>Paxton Franke, North Dakota, North Dakota,
forensic pathology.</p> <p>Elaine Hardin, Georgia, California, higher education
student administration.</p> <p>Kat Hippe, Wisconsin, Michigan, linguistics and
special education.</p> <p>Emily Kiehl, Ohio, Ohio, technology and business.</p>
<p>Josh Loebner, Tennessee, South Carolina, advertising and academic faculty.</p>
<p>Sara Luna, Illinois, Illinois, museum accessibility.</p> <p>Victor Marques,
Michigan, Michigan, rehabilitation.</p> <p>Griffin Miller, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania,
actuary.</p> <p>Jillian Milton, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, software product
development.</p> <p>Brian Mucyo, Arizona, New York, human rights law.</p> <p>Marissa
Nissley, New Jersey, District of Columbia, law.</p> <p>Sherry Pablo, California,
California, health policy and management.</p> <p>Precious Perez, (a tenBroek
Fellow, congratulations Precious on your second NFB scholarship), Massachusetts,
Massachusetts, music education.</p> <p>Teresita Rios, California, Indiana, law.</p>
<p>Dannielle Schutz, Nebraska, Nebraska, biomedical research.</p> <p>Nick Spohn,
Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, mechanical engineering.</p> <p>Logan Stenzel, Minnesota,
Minnesota, finance and entrepreneurship.</p> <p>Marie Villaneda, Indiana, Indiana,
orientation and mobility instructor.</p> <p>Shane Wegner, Minnesota, Minnesota,
corporate law.</p> <p>Alek Wolfe, Vermont, Vermont, broadcasting.</p> <p>Brayan
Zamarripa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, media production accessibility.</p> <p>Folks, I
hope you're still cheering and making a ton of noise, banging your cups and plates
and cutlery—whatever you have—in celebration of the scholarship
class of 2020. See you all in February!</p> <p><strong>EXTRAS</strong></p> <h2
id="accessible-games-ideas-from-nopbc-game-night">Accessible Games: Ideas from
NOPBC Game Night</h2> <p><em>From the Editor: Family Game Night has become a
popular event at the NFB National Convention. Usually families gather in an ample
meeting room lined with tables to play familiar games such as Scrabble, Monopoly,
and Uno, and to discover new games recently adapted to be fully accessible. COVID-19
did not defeat Family Game Night this year. Although gamers couldn't sit at tables
together, rolling dice or shuffling cards, they found ways to play an assortment
of exciting games virtually.</em></p> <p><em>In addition to playing games, parents
and kids were invited to enter a chat room where they shared ideas for creating
accessible games. This article is based on the ideas that were recorded during
this chat session.</em></p> <p><strong>Board Games</strong></p> <p>Many classic
board games are available in accessible versions from sources such as American
Printing House for the Blind (APH) and the NFB Independence Market. Here is a
partial list:</p> <p>Scrabble</p> <p>Monopoly</p> <p>Chess</p> <p>Connect 4</p>
<p>Checkers</p> <p>Backgammon</p> <p>With a bit of time and ingenuity, it's fairly
straightforward to make most store-bought games fully accessible. Add Braille to
game cards with a Perkins Brailler or a slate and stylus. Wikki Stix, puff paint,
clear Dymo tape, or found objects such as bottle caps, paper clips, and buttons
can transform a flat playing board into a world of three dimensions. The investment
of an hour or two of effort can lead to years of enjoyment for the whole family.</p>
<p>It's a good idea to keep a supply of tools and materials on hand for those
times when an inaccessible board game crosses your threshold. Here is a list of
supplies that will help you adapt games at home:</p> <p>Matte Graphic Tape</p>
<p>Sticky-Backed Velcro</p> <p>Puff Paint (it takes from 24 to 48 hours to dry)</p>
<p>Wikki Stix</p> <p>Clear Label Paper, available from American Thermoform</p>
<p>Clear Dymo Label Tape</p> <p>Feel and Peel Stickers, available from American
Printing House for the Blind (APH)</p> <p>If you want to go more high tech, explore
the Thingiverse 3D Printing and Laser-Cut Game Expansions.</p> <p><strong>Dice
Games</strong></p> <p>The numbers on ordinary dice are easy to feel, so many dice
games need little or no adaptation to be accessible. For those who have trouble
reading the indented dots on standard dice, dice with raised dots can be purchased
from sources such as the NFB Independence Market. Here is a short list of dice
games that you and your children can play together:</p> <p>Farkle</p> <p>Yahtzee</p>
<p>Cootie (rolling dice to build a plastic bug)</p> <p><strong>Card Games</strong></p>
<p>The number of games you and your children can play with an ordinary deck of
cards is almost infinite. You can buy Braille cards from sources such as the NFB
Independence Market, or you can simply make your own by adding Braille at the
corners of each card in a standard print deck. Here is a short list of card games
you may enjoy:</p> <p>UNO</p> <p>Crazy Eights</p> <p>Go Fish!</p> <p>In a Pickle</p>
<p>War</p> <p><strong>Handheld Electronic Games</strong></p> <p>Most of us are
familiar with the Bop It, a mainstream toy that has been available for many years.
Bop It provides verbal instructions and sound cues that allow blind players to
challenge themselves, gaining speed and dexterity as they reach more advanced
levels. Bop It is just one of the many electronic games that blind children can
enjoy off the shelf. Here are a few more:</p> <p>Simon Air</p> <p>Turbo Twist
Math, or Leap Frog</p> <p>Gas Out</p> <p><strong>Resources</strong></p> <p>64 Oz.
Games</p> <p><a href="http://64ozgames.com/">http://64ozgames.com/</a></p> <p>Blog:
<a href="http://64ozgames.com/blog/">http://64ozgames.com/blog/</a></p> <p>Kits
for making commercially available games fully accessible.</p> <p>American Printing
House for the Blind</p> <p><a href="http://www.aph.org">www.aph.org</a></p>
<p>Contact: 800-223-1839</p> <p>A variety of puzzles, building kits, audible balls,
and more. Most products from APH can be purchased by school districts through
Quota Funds.</p> <p>American Thermoform</p> <p><a
href="http://www.americanthermoform.com">www.americanthermoform.com</a></p>
<p>Contact: 800-331-3676</p> <p><a
href="mailto:sales@americanthermoform.com">sales@americanthermoform.com</a></p>
<p>Sells clear adhesive tape for labeling.</p> <p>Audio Games</p> <p><a
href="http://audiogames.net">audiogames.net</a></p> <p>An archive of audio games
and reviews, articles on blind-accessible games, a forum to support the audiogaming
community, a submit-a-game functionality that allows users to submit new games,
and links to resources in the field.</p> <p>Easy Roller Dice Company</p> <p><a
href="https://easyrollerdice.com">https://easyrollerdice.com</a></p> <p>Contact:
888-669-8219</p> <p><a href="mailto:support@easyrollerdice.com">support@easyrollerdice.com</a></p>
<p>Sells a variety of dice and accessories for narrative games such as Dungeons
and Dragons.</p> <p>Fat Brain Toys</p> <p><a
href="https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toys/toy_categories/">https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toys/toy_categories/</a></p>
<p>Evaluates commercially available games for accessibility and appeal to children
with a variety of disabilities and learning differences.</p> <p>Future Aids: The
Braille Superstore</p> <p><a href="http://www.braillebookstore.com">www.braillebookstore.com</a></p>
<p>Contact: 800-987-1231</p> <p>A wide selection of accessible games including
Parcheesi, Chinese Checkers, Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly, and Scrabble.</p>
<p>Hape Toys</p> <p><a href="https://www.hape.com">https://www.hape.com</a></p>
<p>Contact: 800-661-4142</p> <p><a
href="mailto:customercare@hapetoys.com">customercare@hapetoys.com</a></p> <p>Games
and toys that encourage creative play, including dollhouses, train sets, magnetic
mazes, and musical toys.</p> <p>NFB Independence Market</p> <p><a
href="https://nfb.org/independence-market">https://nfb.org/independence-market</a></p>
<p>Contact: <a href="mailto:independencemarket@nfb.org">independencemarket@nfb.org</a></p>
<p>410-659-9314, Extension 2216</p> <p>Braille playing cards and games including
chess, checkers, backgammon, dominoes, Sodoku, Nine Men's Morris, and Fox and
Geese, as well as tape and buttons for labeling. Braille and print catalogs
available on request.</p> <p>[PHOTO/CAPTION: One of the NOPBC PAC Mules]</p> <h2
id="the-pac-mule-stable-grows-at-the-2020-nfb-convention">The PAC Mule Stable
Grows at the 2020 NFB Convention</h2> <p>As a proud division of the National
Federation of the Blind (NFB), the National Organization of Parents of Blind
Children (NOPBC) works to support the NFB and its initiatives. In turn, the NFB
provides vital support and resources to the NOPBC as well as to parents and blind
children who are not yet members of the NOPBC or the NFB. One way members support
the NFB is by joining the PAC Plan (Preauthorized Check Plan).</p> <p>Projects
funded by the PAC Plan include free literature on blindness, the Free White Cane
program, the Free Slate and Stylus program, the Braille Enrichment for Literacy
and Learning (BELL) Academy<sup>®</sup> program for blind children, STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs for blind youth, and funding
for legal battles to ensure educational and civil rights for blind people of all
ages.</p> <p>Each year at our National Convention, NFB divisions compete for the
PAC Mule, an award presented to the division with the most members who increase
an existing pledge or start a new PAC Plan pledge during National Convention.</p>
<p>Though we were physically distanced in our first-ever online NFB National
Convention, we still gathered to meet, share, and support one another. We also
gathered to show our appreciation for the unwavering support we receive from the
National Federation of the Blind. With support from families and allies of blind
children from across the nation, the NOPBC won the PAC Mule this year! This
achievement brings the NOPBC PAC Mule herd to six, representing our love for and
investment in the National Federation of the Blind. NOPBC was awarded the PAC Mule
in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, and again in 2020.</p> <p>The NFB is the organization
that believes in our children and remains dedicated to helping us provide them
with the blindness skills they need to LIVE THE LIVES THEY WANT.</p> <h2
id="nopbc-news">NOPBC News</h2> <p>Announcing NOPBC Twig Membership Tier</p>
<p>Alexander Pope wrote, "As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined." These
words are the inspiration behind the title of the Twig Award, which we bestow to
honor those whose work has influenced the direction in which our children grow.</p>
<p>The board of the NOPBC has established a new membership tier, Twig Membership.
This new membership tier is named after our Twig Award.</p> <p>The NOPBC Twig
Membership fee is $12 per year. Benefits of Twig Membership include:</p> <p>•
Membership in the NOPBC</p> <p>Founded in 1983, the National Organization of
Parents of Blind Children is a national membership organization of parents and
friends of blind children reaching out to each other to give vital support,
encouragement, and information. Find out more on our website: <a
href="https://nopbc.org">https://nopbc.org</a>.</p> <p>• FREE Freedom
Scientific Software (available to individuals in the US only)</p> <p>Freedom
Scientific will provide each NOPBC Twig member with a free annual home license
for JAWS, Fusion, or Zoomtext. This free license (worth $80-160, depending on the
software chosen) is exclusive to NOPBC Twig members. You will receive a link for
access to the software shortly after your Twig membership is verified.</p>
<p>• Monthly NOPBC E-Newsletter, <em>The Village</em></p> <p>• Early
Access to NOPBC Resources</p> <p>NOPBC Twig members will receive announcements
and new resources before they are released to the general public.</p> <p>Again,
annual NOPBC membership runs from July 1 through June 30, regardless of when the
annual dues are paid.</p> <p>New Twig members may join at (<a
href="https://nopbc.org/join">https://nopbc.org/join</a>)</p> <h2
id="announcements">Announcements</h2> <p><strong>CONFERENCE</strong></p> <p>Speaking
Up and Branching Out</p> <p>National Association of Blind Students (NABS)</p>
<p><a href="https://nabslink.org">https://nabslink.org</a></p> <p>Contact: Kinshuk
Tella at <a href="mailto:kinshuk.tella@gmail.com">kinshuk.tella@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Dates: January 9-10, 2021</p> <p>Deadline for Registration: December 15, 2020</p>
<p>Location: Virtual</p> <p>Terrified of public speaking? Have experience but are
excited to refine your skills? NABS is excited to launch its first-ever virtual
NABS At Large seminar, focused on encouraging students to own their voices. The
conference is designed to empower blind students to sharpen their public speaking
skills. It hopes to equip attendees with self-confidence to advocate effectively
in academic and everyday life.</p> <p><strong>CONTEST</strong></p> <p>2020-2021
Braille Readers Are Leaders</p> <p><a
href="https://actionfund.org/BRAL">https://actionfund.org/BRAL</a></p> <p>Contact:
410-659-9315</p> <p>Registration period: November 1, 2020 to January 18, 2021</p>
<p>Contest Reading Period: December 1, 2020 to January 18, 2021</p> <p>Join the
American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults and the National Federation of
the Blind in this contest to promote Braille. K-12 students and adults learning
Braille across the US compete for seven weeks to read the most Braille pages,
going against participants in similar contest categories. Top readers in each
category win cash prizes, and all participants will receive a gift bag at the end
of the contest. Additional awards are given to students who face barriers to
learning Braille and demonstrate great determination in their journey to literacy,
such as being an English language learner or having disabilities in addition to
blindness. Join us as we continue to promote Braille throughout the nation, a
cornerstone mission of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults and
the National Federation of the Blind.</p> <p><strong>SCHOLARSHIPS</strong></p>
<p>NFB National Scholarships</p> <p><a
href="https://nfb.org/scholarships">https://nfb.org/scholarships</a></p> <p>Contact:
<a href="mailto:scholarships@nfb.org">scholarships@nfb.org</a></p> <p>Application
Deadline: March 31, 2021</p> <p>The annual scholarship program of the National
Federation of the Blind is the largest of its kind in the United States. Every
year more than $120,000 is awarded to blind scholars across the United States and
Puerto Rico in recognition of their achievements and professional aspirations.
Thanks to our generous partners, more than twenty merit-based scholarships are
available, ranging from $3,000 to $12,000. All scholarships are awarded on the
basis of academic excellence, community service, and leadership. Scholarship
finalists attend the NFB National Convention in July, when the winners of each
individual scholarship are selected. Scholarship winners have gone on to succeed
in careers ranging from computer science and engineering to civil rights law and
international diplomacy. Applicants must be legally blind in both eyes; must reside
in the United States or Puerto Rico; must be pursuing or planning to pursue a
full-time, postsecondary course of study in a degree-granting program in the fall
of 2021; and must participate in the entire NFB national convention and all of
its scheduled scholarship program activities.</p> <p><strong>SURVEYS</strong></p>
<p>Education Technology Survey</p> <p><a
href="https://www.nfb.org/programs-services/legal-program/education-technology-survey">https://www.nfb.org/programs-services/legal-program/education-technology-survey</a></p>
<p>As a result of schools shifting to virtual instruction to minimize the dangers
of COVID-19, blind students may encounter increased accessibility barriers. Your
feedback is critical. The National Federation of the Blind gathers information
regarding the accessibility of virtual instruction and educational technology used
by our nation's schools (kindergarten through graduate level). This provides
valuable data for our advocacy and legal efforts. If you are a student, parent,
teacher, or administrator who uses screen access software or other accommodations
to participate nonvisually in educational programs or services, or if you are the
parent, teacher, or administrator of someone who does, please complete this survey
and contribute to our important research.</p> <p>NFB Science and Engineering
Division Survey on STEM Student Experiences in Higher Education</p> <p><a
href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMPK9xwm9gwcGvnSUMEWKvjmfy0noNa4xMGI63PDKpurUeiw/viewform">https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMPK9xwm9gwcGvnSUMEWKvjmfy0noNa4xMGI63PDKpurUeiw/viewform</a></p>
<p>Contact: Don Winiecki, 208-426-1899</p> <p><a
href="mailto:dwiniecki@boisestate.edu">dwiniecki@boisestate.edu</a></p> <p>If you
are or have been a student in a STEM major in higher education, the Science and
Engineering Division of the NFB would like to hear from you. The division has
designed a survey to help you share your experience as a STEM student. The
information will be used to help other students choose the best schools for their
studies and to help colleges and universities improve their support for blind and
low-vision students.</p> <p><strong>EDUCATION</strong></p> <p>Teachers of Tomorrow</p>
<p><a
href="https://www.nfb.org/programs-services/education/teachers-tomorrow">https://www.nfb.org/programs-services/education/teachers-tomorrow</a></p>
<p>Teachers of Tomorrow is an immersive professional development program that
connects teachers of blind and low-vision students with the lived experiences of
blind people, equipping participants with knowledge about the skills and attitudes
that can help blind students thrive in school and beyond. The program is free to
participants thanks to a partnership between the National Federation of the Blind
and the Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation. If you are preparing
for a career in teaching blind students or if you are an early career educator
looking to enhance your teaching, then the National Federation of the Blind invites
you to apply for a spot in the first cohort. The program will begin in January
2021 and will continue with monthly sessions throughout the year. Sessions will
address Braille literacy, orientation and mobility, access technology, accessible
STEM instruction, diversity, and other topics that participants wish to explore.
The perspective centers on the blind community, drawing upon the expertise of
blind mentors and teachers experienced with integrating this approach into their
work with students and families.</p> <p><strong>HISTORY</strong></p> <p>The Blind
History Lady</p> <p><a href="http://www.smashwords.com"><span
class="underline">www.smashwords.com</span></a></p> <p>Contact: <a
href="mailto:theblindhistorylady@gmail.com">theblindhistorylady@gmail.com</a></p>
<p>Did you know that a blind man was president of a bank in New Mexico for more
than twenty-five years; a blind woman wrote several cookbooks, had her own cooking
show in San Francisco, and started a frozen food business; or that a blind man
invented cruise control? The Blind History Lady has many stories to tell and can
provide blind children with a host of topics to research. We have blind ancestors
who led their community and our nation. Some have been farmers while others founded
businesses that long outlived their blind founder. Peggy Chong has spent decades
collecting material about blind women and men who have made a difference. You can
explore her website at smashwords.com or email her to subscribe to her monthly
newsletter.</p> </body> </html>